Ricordanze Launch, Week 1 roundup

Well, the album is now out into the wild!  We joined Petroc Trelawney for BBC Radio 3’s In Tune for our launch, and so much fun was had.  Listen carefully for the gasps as he announced that Ricordanze will be the featured Album of the Week on Radio 3’s Essential Classics next week – a … Read more

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Ricordanze launch events, and scores now in the web shop

With just under a week to go until the release of our new album Ricordanze, scores for all the tracks are now available in our web shop. Full perusal scores can be downloaded, and there are the usual accoutrements of keyboard and viol scores (where appropriate), and rehearsal tracks in equal temperament and meantone. And while … Read more

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Crowdfunder update

Outside, in a garden, a hand holds a book: The Marchesa, by Sarah Dunant. The cover includes a picture of Isabella d'Este.

We are now halfway through our crowdfunding campaign and making progress: the publicity roster is growing, thanks to our wonderful publicist Jo Carpenter, and the physical CDs have been ordered. First, we have a super exciting new reward iin the Crowdfunder – our lovely friend Sarah Dunant has promised signed copies of her new book, The … Read more

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An exclusive preview of our new album

And, our new double album, Ricordanze: a record of love, here!  Well, almost…. While the recording is made and the videos are excellent, production and publicity costs also need a budget. Can you help us get over the financial line? If you would like to support us, you can do so in three ways: You … Read more

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A first look at our new album, Ricordanze

A group of women in concert blacks stand around a large lectern holding two music books. A sophisticated camera on a stand is out of focus in the right foreground. They are in front of an altar in a Victorian Gothic church. The green and red altar cloth is visible, with much brass ornamentation and intricate stained glass windows in view.

2024 was a year of exciting preparation, hard work, and sorrow. In January, we recorded around 100 minutes of music from the Biffoli-Sostegni manuscript, both for our new album, Ricordanze: a record of love, and as audio material for Laurie’s forthcoming publication in the Cambridge Element format, a multimedia exploration of the history and music of … Read more

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Remembering Deborah

Deborah Roberts

Deborah Roberts, Musica Secreta’s founder and long-time co-director, died on 9 September 2024.  There have been tributes for her from the entire early music community, on social media, on the radio, and in the press: she was so clearly loved and esteemed by so many people.  While Deborah was central to Musica Secreta, we were … Read more

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2023 Christmas single – O magnum mysterium

A red Santa hat with white fur trim hangs over a green folder. The folder is on a large lectern, and it stands in front of a wall bookcase.

  On Friday we release our second digital Christmas single, O magnum mysterium – it’s Bandcamp Friday again, and 100% of sales will come to us directly. The single has two tracks and a bonus: Cristobál de Morales, “O magnum mysterium”: Josquin des Prez, “Alma redemptoris Mater”; and November’s Corpore et anima track, Marc’Antonio Ingegneri’s … Read more

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Corpore et Anima (In Body and Soul): Musica Secreta and Breast Cancer Awareness Month

For many years, Deborah and Laurie had a pipe dream of creating a programme around motets about breasts – specifically to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and support. Finally, we have taken steps to start realising that dream, with a series of videos/recordings that we will be releasing monthly between October 2023 … Read more

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Claire Williams, our new Ensemble Director

As a group, we are committed to working collectively – everyone pitches in to make sure recordings and performances go smoothly. But we felt it was time to acknowledge that very often the labour of setting tempi, getting everyone in on the right note, keeping things on track, and making in-the-moment musical decisions falls on … Read more

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Mother Sister Daughter in the news

Mother Sister Daughter CD Cover

We have had so many lovely reviews for Mother Sister Daughter, including featuring in the New York Times “5 Classical Albums You Can Listen To Right Now” for August ’22.  But we were utterly delighted to see the album included in both Alex Ross’s list in the New Yorker of “Notable Performances and Recordings of … Read more

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Christmas in the convent – new project starting

Last week, we met for a day to do some filming – it’s always odd to sing Christmas music when it’s still sunny and warm and there are leaves on the trees! We’ve long wanted to do an album of Advent and Christmas music: even though it seems like an obvious undertaking, we’ve never done … Read more

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