Mothers and wives are the roles traditionally assigned to women. For centuries, however, a large number of well-educated and privileged women — empresses, queens, nuns, aristocrats, and businesswomen — have played a fundamental role in the history of music as promoters and interpreters of new repertory, as collectors, heads of institutions, and artist patrons. As queen consort, Leonor Plantagenet (Leonor of England) promoted the founding in 1187 of Las Huelgas Monastery. After her marriage to Alfonso VIII, the sovereign bequeathed the resources necessary to turn it into the main convent of her time and an important center of musical activity. The female vocal group Psallentes celebrates the patronage of Queen Leonor with anonymous medieval works preserved in the codex linked to the monastery, as well as selections by Hildegard of Bingen.
Tonight’s program was recorded live in concert March 6, 2024 in Madrid’s Fundacion Juan March. Thanks to WFMT’s association with the European Broadcasting Union, we’ll able to offer tonight’s program as an on-demand stream for thirty days following the broadcast. Visit wfmt.com/listen.