Dirty Linen

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #134 (February/March 2008).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Michael Popp and Syrah

Estampie and Qntal

Medieval Rock (Not!)

by Steve Winick

Multi-instrumentalist Michael Popp and singer Sigrid Hausen (whose stage name is Syrah) are the driving forces behind two of Germany's foremost medieval bands, Estampie and Qntal. Both bands performed during FaerieCon in Philadelphia in October 2007. As their concerts revealed, Estampie is essentially an acoustic group, while Qntal is electric. But don't call them "medieval rock," or you might get in trouble with Popp. "The difference is obvious on the surface," he explained. "We don't use guitar. Our repertoire is much wider than the medieval rock groups. We do religious and spiritual music, and we've found sounds adapted to that. We have love songs and courtly songs, too. We have Syrah and her pure, heavenly voice!"

No wonder Syrah and Popp were attracted to medieval music at a young age: They come from Regensburg, a city whose medieval town center sports buildings dating from the 10th to the 14th centuries, and whose 12th-century stone bridge across the Danube was used by the soldiers of the second and third crusades. In such an environment, Syrah pointed out, "there is always the influence of that atmosphere." At school, she gave recorder recitals and formed her own madrigal group. Popp, too, became serious about music, and soon both left for the Mozarteum, the famous conservatory in Salzburg. Their studies with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, among others, convinced them to stick with medieval music. They found another multi-instrumentalist, Ernst Schwindl, and formed the group Estampie.

[cover #134]