A Fine Companion

Close your eyes and imagine the time of the troubadours. What do you see? For those of us who came of age in the latter part of the twentieth century, our imaginations may be caught between Princess Bride and Monty Python—scenes of men in tunics, women in gowns, and knights on horseback, perhaps with a patina of comedy and melodramatic romance. The songs of the troubadours themselves, though, reveal a much richer tapestry—one of love and travel, but also of politics, grief, playfulness, gambling, loyalty, and poets who insist on staying awake to see the dawn.

We have loved working with these almost-millennia-old texts alongside composer, Charles Mueller, and sister ensemble, Freelance Nun. Many of the poets chosen close by instructing the listener to pass on a message to another person or place. We hope that by engaging with these words and songs we pass their messages on to still another time, and another world.