Between light and shadow.
Between birth and transience.
Between the everyday and eternity.

The theme of this year’s Musica Divina Festival is Media vita (in morte sumus). Ahead of us lie concerts, artists, venues, and stories that—as always—will lead us through music toward the deepest truths.

The theme for this year’s edition is drawn from the plainchant antiphon Media vita in morte sumus—"In the midst of life, we are immersed in death”—and with this thought in mind, the organisers invite us to immerse ourselves in some of Europe’s most beautiful sacred music traditions. We will touch upon themes of transience, human fragility, and the search for hope, discovering within them the radiance of eternity and an affirmation of life. 

3 August (Monday)

The festival opens with an intimate, private concert exclusively for Musica Divina patrons who support the event through regular contributions—as a part of the journey toward becoming Poland’s first community-funded festival, supported entirely by its audience. The Basel-based female ensemble Contre le Temps will bring their programme Intra muros to Kraków. The artists will draw upon the practice of contrapunto alla mente—a challenging form of polyphonic improvisation created in a split second, without a written score, directly from a plainchant book. (You can still join the circle of patrons until the end of July to secure a place at this special concert, where the guide to the world hidden behind convent walls is St. Teresa of Ávila—one of the most outstanding figures of Late Renaissance Christian mysticism.)

4 August (Tuesday)

Official festival opening. The internationally renowned British ensemble Alamire, under the direction of David Skinner, together with legendary Renaissance harp virtuoso Andrew Lawrence-King, will perform a programme commissioned specifically for Musica Divina. The repertoire will include John Sheppard’s Media vita… interspersed with masterful harp improvisations.

5 August (Wednesday)

The Prague-based Tiburtina Ensemble, joined by Marco and Angela Ambrosini (nyckelharpas), will bring 13th-century Franciscan songs from the Laudario di Cortona manuscript to life. This marks a welcome and long-awaited return to the festival for Marco Ambrosini after seven years!

6 August (Thursday)

Within the setting of the Tyniec Abbey, the ensemble Capella Sanctae Crucis, led by Tiago Simas Freire, will reveal a highly unconventional side of their artistry. The artists discovered deep connections between 16th-century court songbooks and Portuguese folk music, creating a fascinating bridge across the centuries.

7 August (Friday)

Friday evening will bring a sense of true serenity. The Gothic cloisters of the Dominican Monastery will host the premiere of Quiet Songs—an intimate project commissioned by the festival, dedicated to songs exploring the human condition, the passage of time, and the mystery of life.

8 August (Saturday)

The grand finale at the Corpus Christi Basilica: the Estonian ensemble Vox Clamantis will present the programme The Suspended Harp of Babel. The artists will blend plainchant with the deeply mystical 20th-century Estonian sacred music of Cyrillus Kreek—a body of work rooted in both Eastern and Western traditions.

DETAILED PROGRAMME

3 August 2026, 8:30pm
Concert for patrons (you can still become one until the end of July with regular contributions)
The venue of the concert will be announced to the patrons of the festival.
Intra muros
Contre le Temps
***
Teresa, Teresaza | canción, Francisco Guerrero (1528–1599)
Meditation
Introitus: Dilexisti iustitiam | greg.
Kyrie | Missa L’homme armé, Francisco Guerrero*
Pastor, quien madre virgen | canción, Francisco Guerrero
The Prayer of Quiet
Gloria | Missa L’homme armé, Francisco Guerrero*
Graduale: Specie tua | greg. with contrapunto alla mente
Vos Virgen soys nuestra Madre | villancico, Cancionero de Upsla, anonymous
Absorption-in-God
Alleluia: Alleluia adducentur | greg. with contrapunto alla mente
O Virgen, cuand’os miro | canción, Francisco Guerrero
Offertorium: Filiae regum | greg.
Sanctus | Missa L’homme armé, Francisco Guerrero*
Si tus penas no pruevo | canción, Francisco Guerrero
Ecstatic consciousness
Agnus Dei | Missa L’homme armé, Francisco Guerrero*
Communio: Quinque prudentes virgines | greg. with contrapunto alla mente
¡Que buen año! | canción, Francisco Guerrero
End reflection
Media vita in morte sumus | Anonymous [Biblioteca de Catalunya, m 1327 f. 50r–51r]

4 August 2026, 8:30pm
Carlemite Basilica
Media vita in morte sumus
Alamire & Andrew Lawrence-King
***
Media vita incipit greg.
Improvisation on the theme of Media vita | Andrew Lawrence-King
Media vita John Sheppard
Circumdederunt me Aires Fernandes
Improvisation | Andrew Lawrence-King
Media vita Nicolas Gombert
Circumdederunt me greg.
Improvisation on the theme of Circumdederunt me | Andrew Lawrence-King
Media vita Jacobus de Kerle
Circumdederunt me Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla
Improvisation | Andrew Lawrence-King
Media vita Orlando di Lasso

5 August 2026, 8:30pm
Jesuit Basilica
Between Heaven and Earth. Laudario di Cortona – a Way to Salvation
Tiburtina Ensemble & Marco i Angela Ambrosini
Lauda XXIII: Ben è crudele e spietos
Antiphon: Media vita | greg.
Lauda I: Venite a laudare
Lauda VII: Dal ciel venne messo novello
Saltarello nr 2 | Anonymous
Lauda XIX: Cristo è nato et humanato
Lauda XXI: Stella nuova’n fra la gente | instrum.
Antiphon: O crux gloriosa | greg.
Lauda XXVI: Onne homo ad alta voce
Lauda XXIV: De la crudel morte de Cristo
Lauda XXXIII: Troppo perde’l tempo | instrum.
Lauda XXII: Plangiamo quel crudel basciar
Antiphon: Salvator mundi salva nos & Psalm 97 | greg.
Lauda XXVII: Iesù Cristo Glorioso
Saltarello nr 4 | Anonymous
Lauda XXIX: Spiritu Sancto, dolçe amore
*Laudas from the Laudario di Cortona manuscript (13th century).

6 August 2026, 7:30pm and 9:15pm (the concert takes place twice)
Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec
Terra donde me criei. Portuguese Hymnals of the 16th and 20th Centuries
Capella Sanctae Crucis
***
Alvorada | Bragança, region Trás-os-Montes
Deus te salve ò Rosa | Aljezur, region Algarve
Já os galos cantam | Penha Garcia, region Beira-Baixa
Ya cantan los gallos | Cancioneiro de Elvas (1560–1570), f. 92v
Ledo rosto me verão | Cancioneiro de Paris (1540–1570), f. 55v
Mira-me Miguel | Miranda do Douro, region Trás-os-montes
A fonte do salgueirinho | Vimioso, region Trás-os-Montes
Na fonte está Lianor | Cancioneiro de Paris, f. 134v–135
Terra donde me criei | Cancioneiro de Lisboa (ok. 1570), f. 33v-34
Misericórdia | São Gens de Calvos, region Minho
Romance de Branca Flor | Penha Garcia, region Beira-Baixa
No llores pastor amigo | Cancioneiro de Paris, f. 76v–77
Que he o que vejo Señora | Cancioneiro de Elvas, f. 70v–71
Maragato son | Paradela, region Trás-os-Montes

7 August 2026, 7:30pm and 9:15pm (the concert takes place twice)
Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec
Songs of Life, Passing of Time and Fate
Quiet Songs
***
Marienlied | Austrian tradition
Stille Zeit | Austrian tradition
Traubenwalzer | Austrian tradition
Da Summa is aussi | Austrian tradition
Es tuat schon herbstelen | Austrian tradition
Anoj pusėj Dunojėlio | Lithuanian tradition
Leliumai | Lithuanian tradition
Žalio vario | Lithuanian tradition
Kur tas šaltinėlis? | Lithuanian tradition
Razlilasʹ | Russian tradition
Po-nad Rusʹju svjatoju | Russian tradition
Äpipa | Tatar tradition
Oh Jeesus, Sinu valu | Estonian folk song from Noarootsi, arr. Anna-Liisa Eller
Kes Jumalat nii laseb teha | Estonian folk song from island Vormsi, arr. Anna-Liisa Eller
Kas on linnukesel muret | Estonian folk song from Noarootsi, arr. Cyrillus Kreek (1889–1962) & Anna-Liisa Eller
Miks mu süda ennast vaevab | Estonian tradition
Salley Gardens | English tradition
The Ash Grove | English tradition
Tarleton’s jig | English tradition
Balowe | English tradition
Edinburough Town | English tradition
Three ravens | English tradition
Almande de symmerman | Dutch tradition
Het soude een fier margrietelij | Dutch tradition
De maeght in de borst getroffen | Dutch tradition

8 August 2026, 8:30pm
Badilica Corpus Christi
The Suspended Harp of Babel
Vox Clamantis & Marco and Angela Ambrosini & Anna-Liisa Eller
***
Jakobi unenägu | Estonian folk hymn from Kanepi
Alguspalved | from the Orthodox Church liturgy
Cyrillus Kreek (1889–1962)
–Alguslaul | Orthodox Church Vespers
–Ma tulen taevast ülevelt | arrangement of Estonian folk hymn from Reigi
–Psalm 104 | Psalms of David
–Mu süda, ảrka üles | arrangement of Estonian folk hymn from Pühalepa
–Psalm 121 | Psalms of David
Media vita in morte sumus | greg.
Cyrillus Kreek
–Kas on linnukesel muret? | arrangement of Estonian folk hymn from z Nissi
–Psalm 141 | Psalms of David
Henry Purcell (1659–1695) In the midst of life we are in death | Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary
Cyrillus Kreek Psalm 137 | Psalms of David
The Last Dance | Marco & Angela Ambrosini
Cyrillus Kreek Oh Jeesus, Sinu valu | arrangement of Estonian folk hymn from Noarootsi
Guillaume de Machaut (1300–1377) Dame, vostre doulz viaire

Accompanying event

6 August 2026, 6:20pm
Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec, Petrus Hall
Terra donde me criei. In Search of Portugal’s Lost Music Identity. Lecture by Tiago Simas Freire
Lecture held in English.
Admission free, no entry cards required.