Programme Notes – Viderunt Omnes

I always imagined if there had been saxophones in the thirteenth century the composer Perotin would have made full advantage of their unique qualities. The title refers to his choral work based on the Gregorian plainchant, and a small part of it can be heard very softly about two thirds of the way through this piece. Mostly the mood is brutal and unrelenting, perhaps reflecting day to day life more than a century before the Black Death struck.