On Wednesday, April 10, from 5:30-7pm, Professor Mark Everist, University of Southampton, presents a talk titled “´Cantum pulcriorem invenire´: Medieval Latin Poetry and Music“, at Columbia’s Faculty House. From the event description:

    “The long thirteenth century (c1170 to c1320) saw the emergence of three coherent repertories of polyphonic music: settings of liturgical chant called organum, motets that were originally derived from parts of organum and the conductus. Organum and the motet have been the subject of impressive levels of musicological study in the last 150 years whereas the conductus-despite its status as the first consistent repertory of newly-composed polyphony-has remained somewhat in the shadows. Although the repertory has been catalogued, little work, admittedly very distinguished, has been built on these bibliographical foundations. The conductus therefore stands at the centre of this project, merging Latin poetry and music in a single genre.”

The  event is free and open to the public. There will be a post-talk dinner, but note that this requires an RSVP and a fee of $25. Full details of the program are available at this link.