Given that its performance practice is based on a knowledge of the origins of the works concerned and of their notation, the De Caelis ensemble is constantly confronted with problems concerned with the musical text and how it should be performed. Whoever wishes to serve mediaeval music can only proceed in a manner that at times must seem to be almost like composition: musicians of the 13th and 14th as well as the 20th and 21st centuries share common ground in that they are innovators in search of new systems of musical notation. It is precisely this, the intimate and complex link that associates symbols with sounds, that De Caelis wishes to explore.
What is particular to this ensemble is a specific process: a way of thinking how to perform a work that is inspired by its musical notation and, vice versa, a way of thinking about the work’s notation from the point of view of its sound in performance. To produce an array of sounds that can pass from one period to another has become an artistic necessity for the ensemble. The ensemble seeks to shed new light upon works of the present day by closely examining the riches of the past and, in so doing, to reveal surprising connections between them.
It is of course mankind itself that we seek within this early music, not the past. Our primary motivation today is to re-create, through full and proper use of available documentation, the treasures contained within this early repertoire so that they may enrich these times in which we live.
Man in the Middle Ages understood the arts as a unified form, whereas we now compartmentalise them. The world of the fine arts at that time was an Universum, an inseparable union of all the arts with music at its centre. Even today there are some works that still possess their share of timelessness and can touch us directly, independent from all acquired knowledge. The art of unaccompanied song makes this singular experience possible: it forges a link with our collective memory and creates an echo that resounds across the centuries.
A combination of mediaeval repertoire with contemporary compositions works not only to the benefit of both styles but also provides the listener with a totally new musical experience.
Laurence Brisset