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Cambiata
formed
to bring the Renaissance to life through music in eastern
Pennsylvania.
We have been introducing audiences of all ages to the sights and sounds
of
Europe's
royal courts and rural hamlets since 1993.
How
It All Started
Cambiata
began as a recorder consort in the mid-1980s, performing concerts and at
festivals for nearly a decade. Ruth Maletz and Ilse Stoll Zinnes
are founding members, and Sara Cox and Bill Thatcher joined in 1993
creating the ensemble of today. Since creating the current
ensemble, we have added a variety of colorful Renaissance instruments,
such as lute, harpsichord, krumhorns, gemshorns, viola da gamba, vielle,
and Renaissance guitar. We continue to perform throughout the
region at festivals, children's concerts, church services, weddings, and
more.
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About
the Music We Play
Music
has been a key component in human cultures throughout history, and the
role music played in the lives of men and women in Renaissance Europe is
no exception. In the royal courts, music made the pomp and pageantry
possible; in the churches, it brought the beauty and serenity of the
spiritual world to Earth.
But
much of the music was made in the homes of regular folks who, unlike
today, didn’t have CD players or MTV to entertain them. In 16th- and
17th-century
Europe,
cutting-edge technology was the
printing press, an invention that prompted mass production and
distribution of printed music. Armed with a shelf of music and a chest
of instruments, families and friends in the newly emerging middle class
could entertain themselves for hours and develop their musical skills in
the process. Some of the music printed then and that still survives was
a single melody line to which players improvised harmony and used
whatever instruments were at hand. The resulting sound is as unique and
fresh today as it was 400 years ago.
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