Cappella Pratensis

The Golden Mass: Guillaume Dufay’s Missa Ecce ancilla Domini

Cappella Pratensis transforms Renaissance polyphony from dusty manuscript to living sound. One of the world’s only ensembles to sing directly from historical notation, their collective voice brings 15th- and 16th-century music to life with an immersive, historically informed approach. Their performances blend scholarship with artistry, incorporating improvisation, liturgical reconstructions, and collaborations with actors, digital animators, and dancers. Acclaimed for their recordings—including a definitive take on Ockeghem’s Requiem—the ensemble has toured globally, from the Utrecht Early Music Festival to Japan. Their latest projects continue to push boundaries, proving that centuries-old music can still surprise, move, and resonate. 

With this program, the Gramophone Award-winning ensemble Cappella Pratensis presents Guillaume Dufay’s sumptuous Missa Ecce ancilla Domini framed within the ritual context of the Missa Aurea, or Golden Mass, as celebrated in the fifteenth century.  

The performance includes a semi-staged liturgical drama in which the roles of Gabriel and Mary are played by members of the ensemble, inspired by some of the more colorful descriptions of the medieval period. 

Evoking the sights and sounds of medieval music, the eight singers of Cappella Pratensis perform huddled around a single choirbook, conjuring an intense and intimate soundworld.