Ratas del viejo Mundo
The rodents of the old world — Ratas del viejo Mundo — travel the length and breadth of Europe to form their very own rat pack, coming together around songs, polyphony and instrumental music composed before 1650. The ensemble was formed in 2017 under the enthusiastic leadership of lutenist Floris De Rycker. Ratas del viejo Mundo finds freedom within an exceptionally sensual musical idiom, comparing period instrumental arrangements with partbooks for the same music.

The instrumentalists’ choices of tonalities and chord inversions contribute to that freedom, as do other options: whether to repeat some passages and omit others, to let a flurry of diminutions flash through slow and stately movements, to vary the rhythm, add and even omit parts… Different printed versions of the same arrangement sometimes contradict each other, whilst the tradition of musica ficta is branded deeply into lute tablature. The initial outstanding quality of the composition, however, is always preserved. In addition to consulting early repertoire transmitted in print or manuscript, Ratas del Viejo Mundo also draws on a wealth of popular, folk, ethnic, or oral traditions in its performances and recordings.

Concerts have takent Ratas del viejo Mundo to prestigious podia in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Norway and the United States. The ensemble has been artist in residence at Festival of Flanders, Alba Nova and Næstved Early Music Festival.

A high profile collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Hans Op de Beeck entitled Vlaemsch is currently in preparation; an international tour will follow. Ratas del Viejo Mundo’s recordings have received worldwide airplay and acclaim: ´The realisation of ultimate beauty requires the most powerful artistic and technical impulse imaginable. It's definitely in good hands with Ratas del viejo Mundo. [OpusKlassiek].