Medieval music sounds at the Summer Feast of Saint Martin

Sint-Maarten op een kerktoren in Utrecht © Herre Wynia

To mark the 900th anniversary of the city of Utrecht, the summer feast of city patron Saint Martin will be celebrated on 3 and 4 July 2022. The festival is a birthday gift from Utrecht University to the city, initiated by Saint Martin expert Els Rose

As part of the festival programme, music composed by Radboud, bishop of Utrecht between 900 and 917 and a great promoter of Saint Martin, will be performed. He wrote this music especially for the summer feast that was celebrated widely in the Middle Ages.

Een fragment uit een handschrift met muzieknoten, geschreven door bisschap Radboud in de 12e eeuw.

The manuscript

That music is noted down in a 12th-century manuscript that is part of the collection of Special Collections of Utrecht University Library. During the festival the manuscript is on display in Utrecht Central Museum.

Film

On the regional television channel RTV Utrecht you can watch a documentary about the festivities in which the focus lies on the valuable manuscript and the performance of Radboud's music during the summer feast.