The Knights Templars, who held sway in Jerusalem for a century, developed Europe's first financial system and were violently disbanded by French King Phillip the Fair in concord with Pope Clement V, have long been a source of fascination to scholar and layman alike. Accessing the music that they sang would presumably bring us closer to the world of the Templars than, say, a Wikipedia article might, so Naïve has its thinking cap on in compiling Le Mystère des Templiers from recordings in its own catalog. Up front it is clear ...
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The Knights Templars, who held sway in Jerusalem for a century, developed Europe's first financial system and were violently disbanded by French King Phillip the Fair in concord with Pope Clement V, have long been a source of fascination to scholar and layman alike. Accessing the music that they sang would presumably bring us closer to the world of the Templars than, say, a Wikipedia article might, so Naïve has its thinking cap on in compiling Le Mystère des Templiers from recordings in its own catalog. Up front it is clear that a crucial contributing source is Marcel Pérès and Ensemble Organum's Ambroisie disc Le chant de Templiers, in which the Ensemble Organum sing from a 12th century manuscript, kept in Jerusalem, once used by the Templars themselves. The balance of the disc is lent to a number of selections that can be seen as loosely related to the Templars or belonging to their time period. This would include Ensemble Gilles Binchois singing Notre Dame Organa, Discantus performing music of...
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