The Museo del Prado will hold a concert of medieval music on June 5, featuring instruments and voices that recreate the sounds of 14th-century temples and courts. The activity is linked to its exhibition on Mediterranean Gothic and will allow the public to enjoy a little-known musical heritage, connecting with the culture of the era through a direct auditory experience.
How digital acoustics and historical recreation define the sound 🎵
The concert uses faithful reproductions of instruments such as the organetto, the vihuela de arco, and the hurdy-gurdy, built using documented 14th-century techniques. The acoustics of the space have been adjusted through digital simulations to avoid modern reverberations. Singers train with mensural notation and historical tunings, such as Pythagorean temperament, so that each note matches the frequencies that sounded in courts and chapels of the time.
When the 14th-century Spotify was a grumpy lute player 😅
Imagine going to a concert and the musician giving you a dirty look for clapping at the wrong time. In the 14th century, there was no playlist or skip button, just a lute player who decided whether to play a sad ballad or something more upbeat. But the price was fair: free, just like this Prado event. So come prepared to feel cultured without paying and, by the way, discover that session musicians already existed back then.