Epitaph For A Green Lover: Music From The Songbooks Of Margaret Of Austria – The Linarol Consort

During our 2022 Continuo Foundation supported tour of music from the manuscripts of Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), which we entitled Epitaph for a Green Lover, it became clear that there was keen demand for the programme. After every performance of this beautiful and unrepresented music, the audience asked if we had made a recording; in the end, we took heed. Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, was a great patron of the arts who loved to dance and sing. But, above all, she loved her green parrot.

Our programme’s title comes from the remarkable chanson Soubz ce tumbel with its tragic text by Margaret’s court poet, Jean Lemaire de Belges. In this song, we find a text drawn from de Belges’s Epitaphe de l’Amant Vert in which the amant vert (‘green lover’) refers to the beloved green parrot. This chanson, along with all the songs featured on this album, come from the two extant songbooks or chansonniers of Margaret of Austria, which are now housed in the Brussels Royal Library.

Alongside the songbooks, Margaret’s library consisted of over 350 treasures, including the Très Riches Heures de duc de Berry, the Sforza Hours and an exquisitely decorated book of basse dances on black-stained vellum with silver and gold calligraphy. Such a collection gives a sense of how Margaret was a linchpin in Renaissance culture. Our aim is to transport the modern-day listener to Margaret of Austria’s court through music. Our programme even allows us to give insight into her character since some of her own poetry was set to music by her favourite musicians; we have featured a selection on this album. We have had such pleasure exploring this music and sharing it with audiences in concert and are thrilled to now bring this stunning repertoire to listeners through this recording. © The Linarol Consort