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“While Byzantium and Rome separated in the 11th century, Cluny grew and knew its

apogee; it is nourished by the traditions of the East and the West.

 

Cluny's role in the evolution of Western music was decisive, especially with his second Abbot, Saint ODON, to whom  Musica Enchiriadis, a tenth-century treatise, one of the most old text on   the first structuring of notations and rules for polyphony in Western music echoing the capitals of Cluny, illustrating the 8 tones of music.

 

At the time, Cluny was for the West what Saint Sophia of Constantinople was for the East, both a monumental symbol of Christianity, sublime and extraordinary buildings, an expression of power and influence, of innovation as excess.

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MYSTICA VOCE plunges today into the roots of mysticism.

 

Through voice and polyphony, ODO Ensemble, which takes its name from ODON, offers a journey beyond cultures, beyond History.

 

Two worlds, two expressions, Latin and Byzantine meet. By crossing them, ODO Ensemble wants to taste their genius. Reminding us that they have the same source of inspiration, the same function and carry the same message.

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An adventure in space and time, through a dialogue between the Sacred Oriental repertoire

and Western, MYSTICA VOCE borrows in turn Aramaic, Georgian, Greek, Corsican songs, from Brittany and medieval Spain and from the Pyrenees... where the practice of polyphony was developed and is still anchored and alive today. These songs, most often transmitted orally, are closely linked to popular traditions and provide a community and social function in connection with spirituality and religions on the one hand, but also with nature, death, life and love. ..

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MYSTICA VOCE by the voices, seeks and experiments in its interpretation, the availability of the present moment, in search of a sound, an ephemeral instant, a bodily crossing of the Breath and which comes to caress the soul, transports us and questions us about the importance of

transmission and on the dimension of Kairos, the Divine and the Sacred.

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ODO Ensemble invites us to live a sensory and inner journey, connecting us through the depth of our roots to our DNA which weaves a web, a link to more or less distant ancestors, that of the singers who carry within them their own history, mixed with that of civilizations and connecting us to the sky by the harmonics which densify space and which make us feel humanity and infinity.

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This is the mystery of Polyphony, the plenitude between memories and dreams... »

 

Claire Merigoux, 2022

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