Epitaph for a Green Lover

The Linarol Consort of Viols with soprano Héloïse Bernard tells the remarkable story of Margaret of Austria, one of the 16th century’s greatest patrons of the arts, through music from her own manuscripts.

Margaret not only loved to dance and sing: above all, she loved her green parrot. The concert’s title comes from the remarkable chanson, ‘Soubz ce tumbel’, with its tragic text by Margaret’s court poet, Jean Lemaire, taken from his Epitaphe de l’Amant vert, in which the Green Lover refers to the beloved green parrot.

The programme comprises songs and instrumental music, played on renaissance viols, with rebec, pipes and drums.

Audience feedback:
"A really enchanting and uplifting evening"
"A joyous feast of melancholy!"
"Somewhere between perfect and sublime"