The voice today...
What is a voice? A person who sings, an instrument that speaks, different voices coming together to form a single sound… A voice can take many forms. Inspired by the theme Giving Voice, each day in this morning reflection we explore a different facet of the voice. Today, the voice that tells a life story.
Some voices seem destined to be preserved. In the late Middle Ages, Oswald von Wolkenstein was a poet, composer, knight, diplomat and traveller. Yet of all these roles, it is above all his voice that has survived the centuries. He had his own songs carefully recorded in books, making something remarkable possible: today, we can not only hear his music, but also form a picture of the person who wrote it.
Oswald wrote remarkably close to his own life. He sings about what he encounters on his travels, the people he meets and the world around him. Sometimes his songs are grand and adventurous; at other times, surprisingly everyday. A distant journey can sit alongside a sharp remark about an acquaintance, and a love song beside a scene from daily life. His music therefore feels less like a monument from the past and more like a collection of personal observations.
This also makes Oswald a fascinating figure in the music of his time. He was not a composer who remained within a single tradition. His many journeys brought him into contact with different musical worlds, and those influences found their way into his work. Alongside monophonic songs, he also wrote polyphonic music, adapting international musical examples to his own language and context.
It is precisely this combination of the personal and the international that lies at the heart of Ensemble Leones' concert. Oswald's music is brought together with stories from the Dolomites, the landscape where he was born and later returned to live. Myths and legends add another layer to the music, showing how deeply a place can shape the stories people tell.
The result is a different portrait of the medieval composer. Not simply a name on a yellowing manuscript, but a person with a distinctive character, an adventurous life and a strong desire to make himself heard. Perhaps that is exactly why Oswald's music still speaks to us after all these centuries: he is not simply trying to sing something beautiful, but clearly has something to say.
His voice is personal, headstrong and curious. And thanks to the songs he left behind, we can still hear it today – thanks in no small part to Ensemble Leones.
