In this programme, EXAUDI create an aula specularum – a Hall of Mirrors – reflecting ancient and modern speculations back on each other until medieval and contemporary seem to merge. From the Ars subtilior repertoire, Ciconia’s puzzle-canon Le ray au soleyl is ‘solved’ in a multitude of ways; Senleches’ famous La harpe de mellodie is performed both with and without its canonic triplum; and Rodericus’ notoriously hermetic Angelorum psalat is presented in competing notations and turned into a musical uroboros, eating its own tail. Machaut’s lilting lovesongs are interleaved with Evan Johnson’s delicate treatment of Petrarch, and then filtered through a work by John Cage in James Weeks’ Four Virelais.

At the heart of the programme is the world premiere of composer Mark Dyer’s project Scribe. Working with RNCM PRiSM, Dyer trained a computer to ‘learn’ the notation of the English Old Hall manuscript, dating from c.1415, using machine learning, and to produce new facsimiles, which Dyer transcribed. The resulting compositions are attributed to a fictional 14th-century musician and presented alongside original Old Hall works in a fascinating extension (and obfuscation) of ‘speculation’ – this time by an incognito, non-human composer.