Medieval Studies

The Royal Conservatoire is one of the few institutions in Europe that offers the opportunity to follow a specialization program in medieval music.

The program attracts singers and instrumentalists looking to gain a solid grounding in the performance practice of the earliest Western repertoires until about 1450, but also composers curious about the writing techniques of their distant predecessors.

The Medieval Programme aims to give a complete technical grounding for the performance and understanding of medieval and early Renaissance music. Through a combination of theoretical and practical training, students acquire knowledge of different types of mensural and non-mensural notation, early music theory including the use of hexachords and musica ficta, early tuning systems, familiarity with manuscripts and principles of codicology, medieval Latin, as well as as competency with musicological research tools.

The program consists of four classes usually taken over two years, supplemented by an average of two performance projects per year, whose contents vary.

The first year is usually devoted to the acquisition of basic historical and technical knowledge through the general Medieval Analysis class and the Gregorian class.

The second year is usually devoted to intensive performance through participation in the Ars Nova class and in the performance projects. All students of medieval music are required to follow the course Latin for Musicians, which can be done in either the first or the second year.

The Medieval Programme at the Royal Conservatoire is rigorous and trains students to perform at a professional level. Graduates of the Programme are in high demand and have gone on to perform with the leading professional ensembles of medieval music.