That was the title of the concert Alpha and I attended last night. Music from the last half of the 14th century, played on replicas of original instruments – old recorders, whistles, a hurdy-gurdy, a gothic harp, jews harp, tweety bird whistle, several interesting ancestors of the violin, including a keyed fiddle, a fiddle, which sort of resembled a violin only flatter, and several things i am forgetting. also a woman singer, who sang low, and a male countertenor who sang falsetto.

Did you know that they already did cover versions in the late 1300’s? At least, that’s what these musicians claimed. Troubadours were on their way out at the end of that century – there was no end to the information they supplied us with between the songs. It was interesting. The music was varied and fun, with a strong middle eastern influence. How they knew how to play the songs I don’t know. I find that amazing, that 600 years later they can figure that out, from a few old manuscripts, paintings and engravings, when I can’t even play the LPs I bought in college.

During the intermission, my cellphone went “chirp bzzt bzzt” and I spent the next half hour listening to a desperate graphic design guy tell me the font on my album cover design wouldn’t work and what should he do. I thought everything had been straightened out. I was so sick of the whole thing I gave him carte-blanche to pick out a new font just to get it finished.

So I missed most of the second half.