Cyprus – Crossroads of musical cultures

Byzantine music, Gregorian chant, Ars nova and Ars subtilior, Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, David Eben, Philokallia Ensemble, Marios Christou

The concert will present, for the very first time in Prague, previously unknown Byzantine compositions from the archives of Cypriot monasteries, as well as the Czech premieres of polyphonic Western motets from the Ars nova and Ars subtilior periods, drawn from an important Cypriot manuscript known as the Turin Codex J. II. 9. The concert will thus feature compositions from two distinct musical traditions that converged in the Middle Ages in Cypriot churches located just a few dozen meters apart.

Byzantine music will be performed by the Philokallia Ensemble and the Cypriot psaltis (psalmist) Giorgos Demetriou, while the compositions from the Turin Codex will be presented by the leading Czech ensemble Schola Gregoriana Pragensis under the direction of David Eben.

Psaltis: Giorgos Demetriou