In 1516, Ludovico Ariosto published his Orlando Furioso, a saga which would inspire countless dramas and operas in the generations to follow. The intercultural encounters and personal struggles that drive the plot manifest the zeitgeist of Ariosto’s time: excitement over the discovery of foreign lands, religious and national conflict, battles and heroism, love across enemy lines, and the losing and re-finding of one’s own self.

Our program focuses on the story of the warrior Orlando, the epic’s titular character, his journey through love and madness, and his ultimate return to sanity. We present our excerpts as recitation accompanied by the lira da braccio, the instrument favored by the Renaissance Humanists for its symbolic value, associated as it was with classical poetry and the figure of Orpheus. The appeal of this pairing is testified by Baldassare Castiglione in his Il libro del cortegiano: “above all, it is reciting with the viola that is most delightful: for it adds to the words a wonderful charm and effectiveness, which is a great marvel.” For a taste of the polyphony popular at the time of Orlando’s publication, we interpolate several frottole from Ottaviano Petrucci’s series of publications, with poetically compelling and thematic texts. Adapting and intabulating polyphonic songs was the practice among accomplished violists, as was improvising the recitation melodies - we too have composed the music for our recitation.

We hope to show the wild whimsy and dramatic potency of this story and its performance sung to the lira, and the timeless relevance of a tale of human conflict and complication, played out both in society at large and within the individual.

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