Audio for this episode will be available Friday.

This hour, we’re celebrating the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris with a musical and architectural tour of the cathedral. Notre-Dame was severely damaged by fire in April 2019 and, after five years of restoration, reopened in December 2024 with both sacred ceremonies and secular concert music. We’ll visit the choir stalls, climb to the organ loft, and hear music fit for the queen of heaven. Our tour will end in the cloister, where the 12th-century French theologian Abelard composed songs for his beloved Heloise to celebrate their forbidden love.

PLAYLIST

Paris expers Paris: École de Notre-Dame, 1170–1240
Diabolus in Musica; Antoine Guerber
Alpha 2008 | ALPHA102
Anonymous
Tr. 1: Benedicamus domino (4:37)

Segment A:

Johannes Ockeghem: Complete Secular Music
The Medieval Ensemble of London; Peter Davies; Timothy Davies
Decca [1982] 2023 | 00028948700929
Johannes Ockeghem
Tr. 8: Se vostre cuer eslonge (1:18) (Total time: 2:49)
Tr. 17: Baisiés moy dont fort (1:31)

Perotin
The Hilliard Ensemble; Paul Hilliard
ECM Records 1989 | 00042283775121
Perotinus
Tr. 8: Beata viscera (6:08)

Christmas & New Year’s in 15th-century France & Burgundy
Blue Heron; Scott Metcalfe
Blue Heron 2024 | BHCD1014
Antoine Brumel
Tr. 6: Ave Maria gratia dei plena (1:49)

Magnificat: Two Centuries of French Organ Verses
Yves-G. Préfontaine
ATMA Classique 1996 | 00722056600729
Pierre Attaingnant
Tr. 15 Magnificat on the 8th Tone (Paris, 1531) (0:53)
Tr. 16 Magnificat on the 8th Tone: Secundus versus (Paris, 1531) (1:19)
Tr. 17 Magnificat on the 8th Tone: Tetrius versus (Paris, 1531) (1:03)

Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Francisco de Peñalosa: Missa Nunca fue pena A Late Medieval Mass
Aeolos
Cantate 2020 | CAN58049
Philippe de Vitry
Tr. 22: “In nova fert – Garrit gallus” (excerpt of 2:33)

Segment B:

O gente brunette
Odhecaton; Paolo Da Col
Ramee 2009 | RAM0902
Mathieu Sohier
Tr. 2: “Ave regina caelorum” (3:53)

Camino de Santiago: Medieval Music on the Way of St. James
Ensemble für frühe Musik Augsburg
Christophorus 1988 | CHR77300
Albertus Stampensis (attributed)
Tr. 18: “Congaudeant catholici” (2:37)

WILLAERT: Missa Christus resurgens / Magnificat / Ave Maria
Oxford Camerata; Jeremy Summerly
Naxos 1998 | 8.553211
Jean Richafort
Tr. 1: “Christus resurgens” (4:02)

Jean Mouton: Missa Faulte d’argent & Motets
The Brabant Ensemble; Stephen Rice
Hyperion 2022 | 00602458138351
Jean Mouton
Tr. 23: Missa Faulte d’argent: Crucifixus (2:03) (Total time: 5:21)
Tr. 24: Missa Faulte d’argent: Et in Spiritum Sanctum (3:18)

A Late Medieval Mass
Aeolos
Cantate 2020 | CAN58049
Philippe de Vitry
Tr. 22: “In nova fert – Garrit gallus” (2:33)

Featured release:

Orpheus’ Echo: A Carolingian Soundscape
PER-SONAT; Sabine Lutzenberger
Christophorus 2023 | CHR77469
Peter Abelard
Tr. 10: Dolorum solatium, “Planctus David super Saul et Jonatha” (11:18)

Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 [ASIN: B000005J0B], T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal