A Byzantine Emperor

CD Details

A Byzantine Emperor documents a singular moment in late fourteenth-century musical history. When Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos visited King Henry IV’s court in England for Christmas, the sacred music of two great Christian traditions met for the first and only time. At Eltham Palace in London, Byzantine chant, Western polyphony, royal ceremonial music, and imperial acclamations from both kingdoms sounded together in antiphonal exchange. Cappella Romana performs this repertoire using historically informed approaches to medieval music, bringing to life a Christmas celebration unlike any other before or since.

This CD features the vocal ensemble Cappella Romana, whose name evokes the medieval Byzantine concept of the inhabited world spanning both Rome and Constantinople. The recording represents the ensemble’s thirtieth release and combines scholarly research with passionate performance of early Christian music from East and West.