Umbra Lucis Ensemble - The Lost Fresco: Music for the Anghiari Battle (2020)

The Umbra Lucis Ensemble present an intriguing disc portraying the Anghiari Battle in works by Byrd, Dowland, Andreuccetti, Dufay, de Victoria, Hume and others.

The relationship between music and war bears witness to the ethical dimension of music and its impact on the human. But warfare is also a metaphor and sign of the battles to which the existence is voted: amorous disputes, moral duels ... In a word: the dialectic between shadow and light that which incessantly beats life. Shadow and light that has marked, according to the contemporary chronicle, also one of the symbolic events of the Italian Renaissance: he Battle of Anghiari.

The Battle of Anghiari was fought on 29th June 1440 between the forces of Milan and those of the Italian league led by Florence, during the Wars of Lombardy. It is said, in fact, that the Milanese troops remained as blinded by an invasive and omnipresent light that prevented them from seeing the enemy and therefore the Florentines won the day and in doing so secured dominion over central Italy. The battle is well known for its depiction in a now lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci, hence the title of this album. Rubens completed a copy of da Vinci's work which is now exhibited int the Louvre.

In the musical journey portrayed on this album, the battle is interpreted both in its factual and metaphorical dimension: from the love battles (Dufay, Berchem, Conforti) to the battles tout court (Banchieri, Werrecore); from the theme of the return (Dowland) to the autobiographical story (Hume); to the end with a gratitude for the victory (De Victoria) which, after all, brings everyone together: winners and losers, light and shadow, now regained in peace.