Media vita in morte sumus - A game of death and the life to come - IOCULATORES

Media vita in morte sumus

A game of death and the life to come
Un jeu médiéval des fins dernières

IOCULATORES
Susanne Ansorg – Fidel,Rebec
Sabine Heller – Harfe
Alexander Dinter – Laute,,Gesang (Schola),Sprecher
Veit Heller – Portativ,Zink,Gesang (Schola)
Kay Krause – Laute, Gesang (Schola)
Michael Metzler – Perkussion,Gesang (Schola)
Sebastian Pank – Schalmei,Flöte,Gesang (Schola,Solo )
Robert Weinkauf – Gesang (Solo,Schola), Sprecher
Jörg Peukert – Sprecher


Media vita in morte sumus
- the unpredictable omnipotence of death uniquely influenced life and culture in the Middle Ages.
Based on Christian hopes of life after death and prompted by the desire for spiritual salvation,the precautions taken escalated in the High Middle Ages. The ideas of hell,purgatory, the Last Judgement and the eternal dance of the blessed in heaven became all-pervading.A culture of death as something beautiful emerged,the resulting ideal of death as the final fulfilment spreading to all areas of life.
In order to incorporate the different,sometimes diametrically opposing views on this topic and their modes of expression into a dramaturgical whole, IOCULATORES used excerpts from different historical texts in concertato performances at a number of venues.This recording uses different acoustic environments,too,acquiring something of the nature of a radio play.At the recording sessions,the Romanesque monastery church in Thalbürgel was the acoustic backdrop.
Recording techniques included performing while moving from one acoustic environment to the next,the sole surround sound microphone used being carried in the process.

The Leipzig-based ensemble IOCULATORES was founded in 1984,and has researched and per-
formed western mediaeval instrumental and vocal music ever since.Its thematic programmes
comprise musical depictions of pre-1500 culture,philosophy and history.Performing on authen-
tic instruments, IOCULATORES has released a number of CDs on RAUMKLANG and appeared in
radio and television productions.Since 1991 IOCULATORES has staged the montalbâne interna-
tional festival of mediaeval music in the town of Freyburg on the River Unstrut.