CANTUS GALLICORUM ENSEMBLES
About
Cantus Gallicorum is a Celtic organization dedicated to preserving, continuing, and expanding upon the great tradition of Choral Music by prioritizing repertoire that upholds and honors the integrity of the Medieval Notre-Dame school as well as the Franco-Flemish & Roman schools of the Renaissance period. Repertoire performed by our ensembles primarily feature sacred music in the Latin language with a cappella instrumentation, including works from the Renaissance era to the present day.
In the late Renaissance, Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi released L’Orfeo, upon the world—along with the newfound requirement for vocalists to sing over loud instruments without microphones.* This gave birth to a multitude of different schools of singing, including the Italian school of Bel Canto. Of the many schools of singing, to this day, the most popular include Bel Canto, the English School of Singing, and the German School of Singing. Cantus Gallicorum asserts that the method of singing which best preserves the choral tradition originating from the great European cathedrals can be found outside of these schools, primarily in the Nordic countries, which is fortunately being preserved by the progenies of the late Eric Gustaf Ericson—requiescat in pace.
Cantus Gallicorum provides the opportunity to latch onto this rapidly decaying art—an art form that is hundreds of years old, but is bound to disappear due to the grave mistake of the majority of the West trying to continue a tradition without considering what ought to be restored (the vocal technique applied by the Nordic choirs), kept (repertoire of this tradition that has integrity), and developed (interlocking the uniqueness of individual cultures while preserving the fundamental character of what Northern European choral music ought to be).
The sounds of the ancient Celtic world are begging to latch onto the structure that choral music can provide in order to be resurrected, and Cantus Gallicorum is here to answer that call.
*Though L’Orfeo was not the first ever Italian opera performed, it was indeed a significant player in the popularization of the genre.