Ensemble Micrologus

Lauda (lauda spirituale) is a medieval Italian devotional song tradition sung in the vernacular by lay confraternities known as Laudesi. Emerging in the 13th century, early laude are mostly monophonic, strophic pieces with clear, syllabic texts that praise God, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, or exhort moral reform. Musically, early laude sit close to plainchant but favor memorable, refrain-based melodies, limited range, and stepwise motion to encourage communal participation in processions, oratories, and public devotion. From the 15th–16th centuries, laude spirituali also appear in simple polyphonic, largely homophonic settings suitable for congregational singing and devotional gatherings, especially within the orbit of St. Philip Neri’s Oratory in Rome.

Medieval music refers to the diverse sacred and secular musical practices of Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the dawn of the Renaissance. It spans more than eight centuries, from early monophonic chant to the first notated polyphony. Core features include the use of church modes rather than major/minor, extensive reliance on vocal music (Latin sacred chant as well as vernacular song), and the progressive development from unmeasured chant to rhythmic modal notation and, later, mensural notation. Texture evolves from monophony (plainchant, troubadour songs) to organum, conductus, and the motet, culminating in complex isorhythmic works by the late 13th–14th centuries. Secular traditions—troubadours and trouvères in France, Minnesänger in German lands, and the Iberian Cantigas—coexisted with and influenced sacred practice. Instruments such as the vielle, harp, psaltery, recorder, shawm, hurdy-gurdy, and portative organ often doubled or accompanied voices, though much music remained purely vocal.