Join York Early Music Festival in celebrating the very best of Medieval York through a programme of historically informed music performed to the highest international standard.

One of the great musical inventions of the Middle Ages was the cyclic mass, which created structural integrity for the sections of the liturgy by basing them on an existing song. Josquin did this in his Missa Fortuna desperata, quoting melodies from a song attributed to Busnois and manipulating them in all sorts of complex ways – including singing one of them upside down! Later composers continued this tradition of paying homage to earlier musicians: Josquin’s own music formed the basis of pieces by his successor at the Sistine Chapel, Palestrina; and in England, Byrd used music by his forebear Taverner in one of his own masses. Join the universally acclaimed Tallis Scholars as they explore these connections between the generations.

Tickets are available HERE.