ACTIVIDADES

Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste, 26 September 2026

Carlos V Las Canciones del Imperio (Charles V: Songs of the Empire)

Xistras is a Spanish early music ensemble specialising in medieval and Renaissance repertoire. Originally founded as a recorder consort, the group gradually expanded to include voices, percussion, and a variety of historical string instruments, allowing it to broaden and enrich its repertoire. The ensemble has performed primarily at concerts and festivals held in historic venues, paying equal attention to both the musical and the theatrical dimensions of its performances. Xistras’s principal aim has always been to recover and promote historical music through a rigorous approach to interpretation, seeking to recreate the way it may have sounded in its original context as closely as possible.

A concert inspired by the music that may have remained in Emperor Charles V’s memory during his retirement at the Monastery of Yuste, recalling the dances and other Renaissance compositions that had accompanied him throughout his life. It evokes the musical experiences he recalled in those final years. Through works by Spanish composers such as Juan del Enzina, alongside Franco-Flemish masters including Josquin des Prez, the programme invites us to journey back to the age of the emperor.