What would probably shock the troubadours of the 12th century, if they were alive today, would not be to see their lyrics performed, but to witness a performance without Love. This belief generates the original expressiveness that characterizes the concerts of the Murmur Mori ensemble.
Trusting only and exclusively in the original sources, Mirkò Volpe and Silvia Kuro carry out their field research by personally viewing the manuscripts containing the lyrics whose melodies were often entrusted to oral tradition and which, just as often happens for popular music, have been envied by time.
Inspired by the popular muse and by the realities in which it still survives, the Murmur Mori ensemble investigates the jongleurs poetry working on the reconstruction of the sound of the early italian vernacular lyrics and of the secular music of the "Middle Ages". The main intent is to rediscover the musicality of vernacular poetry since most of these poems were sung even before being written, as the metric and form suggest, when no one has ever attempted to set them to music again, leaving them confined in literary studies The result is: "new early music", composed both of the musical forms of the medieval centuries and of folk music approaches. The musical instruments used are reproductions based on representations from the 12th-13th-14th centuries.
In 2022 the french version of the musical program “Poetesses, Poets and Jongleurs of Italy” was presented at the prestigious “Festes Baroques” festival. “Festes Baroques”. In the same year “Dançando la fressca Rosa”: mini-album resulting from Mirkò and Silvia's research on the Bolognese Memorials of the 13th century, carried out with the Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, MemoBo project; again in 2022 they release the single “Aiuta De’, vera lus et garçat”, a musical reconstruction of a troubadour Alba translated into a Piedmontese vernacular in the 13th century.
In 2023 they release the album “Canzoneta, va!” concerning the connection between Provençal and Italian poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries, in the same year they were contacted by the Italian Cultural Institute of Bratislava for two concerts included in the cultural events for the "Week of the Italian Language in the World". Murmur Mori won the historical "Premio Italia Medievale 2023" (Medieval Italy Award), ranking first in the "entertainment" category.
Murmur Mori ensemble has never used electricity or amplification during their concerts, a choice that is not only aesthetic but determined by the desire to offer a more authentic listening experience, since ignoring or modifying the sound of the place would be a failure towards the music that Murmur Mori wants to reconstruct. Music resonates within the historical environments that for centuries have returned it to our ears enriched with their personality. Furthermore, for this very reason, all the audio recordings of the Murmur Mori ensemble have been filmed and are available in the "video section".
Silvia Kuro
She studies and practices folk singing and Gregorian chant; she is part of the choir of the Schola Gregoriana directed by Giovanni Conti. She is an archivist and the musical paleographer for Murmur Mori. She plays the portative organ and percussions. She sings and composes.
Mirkò Virginio Volpe
Artistic director of the ensemble. After having lived and studied for six years in Bologna, since 2017 he has completely abandoned any city reality, preferring to lead a life of bohème, and moved to a small village in the Piedmontese Alps where, thanks to contact with wild nature, he can devote himself with greater dedication only to musical practice and historical research for the ensemble.
Alessandra lazzarini
She began studying music following lessons in piano and choral singing for two years at the “Santa Cecilia” music school in Rovigo. She then started to study the transverse flute and graduated from the Conservatory “G.B. Martini” in Bologna. She perfected under the guidance of Maestro Daniele Ruggieri. She teaches transverse flute in Marghera (VE). She plays the flutes for Murmur Mori since 2015.
Matteo Brusa
Folk music and Lombard traditions researcher, he collaborates with the ensemble from 2019 as percussionist and technician for the recording process of the music.
Nicolò Gugliuzza
The first theatrical experiences began at the age of 16. "Tra ciliegi e robot" (2020) is his first collection of poems, published by Edizioni del Faro. He currently lives in Brussels where he is a performer and poet in Italian, French and English. He has collaborated with Murmur Mori since 2022 as a narrator during the live performances of the ensemble.
