Margery Kempe, born around 1373, was a visionary and mystic from King’s Lynn (then known as Bishop’s Lynn) in Norfolk. Her book is the first autobiography in English, probably written by a scribe on her behalf. The story she tells of her life is extraordinary, both strange and familiar to us today. She was an enthusiastic pilgrim, visiting Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and the relics of the Holy Blood in Bad Wilsnack in northern Germany as well as pilgrimage places in England like Canterbury, Norwich, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, York, Beverley, Lincoln, London and Ely. She even brushed with Norway by accident when the boat taking her to Germany was swept off course. In my concert project, I will evoke some of her journeys and meetings with music from the places she visited. There will be Gregorian chants from Cyprus and from Jerusalem, pilgrim songs, music from the Old Hall manuscript, medieval English carols in honour of saints alongside sacred music from places Kempe visited in Germany, Spain and Italy.

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