Cantigas
Zana Clarke: ganassi recorder, voice flute, rebec,yayla-tanbur
Caroline Downer: vielle, harp, hurdy-gurdy
Philip Gunter: oud, lute, darabouka,bells

Cantigas plays a repertoire of mediaeval and folk-based music from Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The group explores instrumental sounds and timbres using hand-crafted Australian reproductions of period instruments. The group generally plays in mean-tone temperament and at the pitch A466 as it is believed that pitch in the Middle Ages was higher than the standard A440 that we use today. The music is all monophonic, that is single line melodies and in most cases merely fragments.

Cantigas thus recreates the music of the Middle Ages with authentic compositions which use techniques of mediaeval performance practice such as countermelodies, drones, rhythm parts and much creative improvisation.