In their everydaylives, they have beenfashion models and art

photographers, novelists and comedywriters, physical therapists, Irish step dancers,and nursery school teachers. Several of them havefronted rock bands. But put them in outlandish costumes fit for fairyprincesses, give them a Middle English lyric or a traditional Scotsballad to sing, and they become creatures of another time, nothing lessthan a bevy of Mediæval Bæbes. Backed by an arsenal of folk andmedieval instruments including hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, cittern, fiddle,and recorder, they play with sounds that live on the borders of earlymusic, European folk, and pop. In October 2006, the Bæbes playedseveral concerts at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, where Bæbesfounder and musical director Katharine Blake and singer/recorderplayer Maple Bee explained the history and music of this most unusualgirl group.

The first thing they did was set the record straight. MediævalBæbes are often accused of being a flash-over-substance act createdby record company executives with an eye toward making lots ofmoney, along the lines of Boyzone or the Bæbes’ original labelmates,

the Spice Girls. ButMediæval Bæbes was a

group born of artistic inspiration,not marketing acumen, and it was

formed by Blake, not by a record companyor management team. Blake was classically trained

at the Purcell School, Britain’s oldest specialist school for gifted youngmusicians, and was a successful rock bandleader and singer beforecreating the Bæbes in 1996. Furthermore, the individual band membersdo a lot of textual and musical work on each song, adapting the lyricsand often writing and arranging the music themselves. Blake points outthat it’s a misconception that they perform mostly medieval music. Infact, the bulk of what they perform is medieval poetry of various sorts,set to entirely original music written by band members.

The seeds of Mediæval Bæbes were sown in two projects Blake hadbeen involved in long before the band’s formation. One was a bandcalled Synfonie, which performed music of Hildegard von Bingen.The other was Miranda Sex Garden, a goth-rock outfit that began as atrio of women singing Elizabethan madrigals. According to rock ’n’ rolllegend, the members of Miranda Sex Garden were out busking in Porto-bello Road, singing madrigals, when they were spotted by Barry

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Adamson of the Bad Seeds. Adamson invitedthem to perform on a soundtrack he wascomposing for the 1991 film Delusion. On thestrength of that performance, they got a recorddeal, and recorded the first Miranda SexGarden album, Madra [Mute Records]. Thiswork strongly foreshadows Mediæval Bæbes,consisting simply of Blake, Kelly McCusker,and Jocelyn West singing Elizabethan art songsin unaccompanied harmony. Some prominentcritics loved it, with the Evening Standardcommenting, “the tabernacle in which we sit istransformed by sheer dint of harmony andpoise into another place, where the sky lieslike a canopy of blue velvet and the brighteststars are Miranda Sex Garden.”

Miranda Sex Garden evolved quicklyaway from Renaissance material, becomingmore or less a goth or darkwave act that flirted,as many such acts do, with medieval imagery.But Blake’s appetite had been whetted forearly music, and it wasn’t long before afriendly conversation sparked a fateful idea. Inspring 1996, Blake met respected medievaland folk musician Dorothy Carter in Berlin.Carter, who at about 60 years of age wassinging and playing hurdy-gurdy, hammereddulcimer, and other unusual stringed instru-ments, told Blake to follow her love ofmedieval songs and form a group, if only forfun. This inspired Blake to put together avocal group with a circle of her friends,inviting Carter along as the band’s principalinstrumentalist and wise woman.

The invitation to join the group was, andstill is, primarily a social one, Blake and Beeexplained. “Katharine generally finds peoplefrom the same areas of life, our social scene ofLondon, and music is sort of central to thatsocializing process,” Bee offered.

“No one’s come out of nowhere,” Blakeagreed. “Everyone’s been a friend, or a friendof a friend. There’s never been an auditionwith strangers.”

Furthermore, being in the band wasinitially about socializing, not performing orrecording. Had it been otherwise, Blake mighthave made some different choices. “No onehad ever sung professionally, apart from me,”she recounted, “and some of them had neversung at all, apart from in the bath! We didn’tthink it was the kind of project that would geta record deal. It was literally just a recreationalthing at the beginning.”

With its recreational focus and a largesocial scene to draw from, the lineup ofMediæval Bæbes quickly got out of hand;before long there were 12 singers in the group.Performing was unwieldy — but they found,oddly enough, that there was a market for it.Their first real gig was in a graveyard, forproper medieval atmosphere, and the audi-ence was mostly friends. But soon the buzzwas growing about the girls in slinky dressessinging medieval songs. “We did that for afew months and then thought, ‘Oh, we aregetting quite good at it, aren’t we?’” saidBlake. “So we thought we would start writingour own material by setting medieval texts tonew music.”

About a year after the band’s formation,they landed a record deal with Virgin (also theSpice Girls’ company). The record theyproduced, Salva Nos, was not a far cry fromMiranda Sex Garden’s debut: just 12 singers,with very spare accompaniment, performing aselection of traditional songs and settings ofmedieval texts. It was somewhat rudimentary,but also basic and primal…downrightmedieval, in fact. To everyone’s surprise, itshot to number two on the U.K.’s classicalmusic chart, and was the only classical albumin 1997 to go silver in Britain. Suddenly, theBaebes were famous.

It wasn’t long before the Spice Girlscomparisons began, with the purist fringe ofthe classical music world wagging fingers. Inthe beginning, Blake only heard about such

comments secondhand; no one chastised herto her face. But by a couple of years later,prominent musicians were ridiculing themopenly. Opera singer Sir Thomas Allen, forexample, suggested that the Bæbes weredumbing down classical music. Alluding to awell-known lingerie designer, he wrote inBritain’s Independent, “there are theseGregorian Babes going round in cheap JanetReger knock-offs. It’s pathetic.” The bandmembers didn’t take Allen’s criticism to heart;they didn’t much care what the classical musicworld thought. “It’s really about the sense offun and the sense of romanticism, it’s notabout scholarly brow-furrowing and chin-scratching,” Blake told NPR’s John Neilsen in2002. “We’re not trying to achieve authen-ticity. We’re taking elements of the past andthrowing them into our crazy pot of mixed-upromantic nonsense and turning it into thisfabulous show. Taking what we want from thepast, and making it new.”

Whatever their virtues as singers, no onecan accuse Medieval Bæbes of being untal-ented. The current lineup of the Bæbes, forexample, includes Blake, a rock singer andmusic promoter who is also a former stripper;Emily Ovenden, who has written a novel(The Ice Room) and is the manager of AbneyPublic Hall in North London; Claire Rabbitt,a medal-winning Irish dancer and law student;Audrey Evans, a qualified child psychologistand a nursery school teacher; CylindraSapphire, a qualified physical therapist; andBee, a successful solo recording artist andpsychology graduate student. Perhaps the mostimpressive is Marie Findley, a model andcomedy writer, whose sketch for the TV show“Smack the Pony” came in at number 22 inChannel 4’s survey of the Fifty Greatest ComedySketches — significantly ahead of any selectionsfrom such classics as “Beyond the Fringe” and“Not the Nine O’Clock News.” Previous lineupsof Bæbes have been equally impressive.

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Why, then, the constant allegations thatthey are bimbos? Part of the reason was,certainly, the rudimentary nature of that firstalbum; from the perspective of a classicalmusician expecting a medieval vocalensemble like Anonymous 4, it would prob-ably be disappointing. Indeed, the MediævalBæbes are not classical musicians, and ifjudged by strict classical standards they donot come off well. But there were other factorsat work, too. Virgin Records had become theworld’s expert at marketing beautiful youngwomen as “sex with a side of music,” and thelabel employed the full force of that expertiseto the Bæbes. As original band member RuthGalloway pointed out to The Montreal Mirrorin 2002, “the record company decided to gopretty full-on for that [sex] angle, so maybethat’s been a bit of a Faustian pact. It got usnoticed initially, but the downside is that youdon’t get taken terribly seriously.” And, let’sface it: Naming the band after a line from Billand Ted’s Excellent Adventure couldn’t havehelped with the literati, either.

The band members may also havecontributed to the purists’reactions themselves,by developing an early and sustained interestin stage costumes. This was, after all, the aspectof their act that Sir Thomas Allen commentedon. Not only do they appear in concert inmatching robes, they have done photo shootsin what could be mistaken for elaboratelingerie, and also in outlandish dresses, hair-styles, and makeup, in some cases morescience fiction than medieval. “Everyone in theband, like most girls when they were little,liked dressing up as fairy princesses, gettingout their curtains and making a little fairy veil,”Blake explained. “Even though we’re in our30s, we’re still dressing up as fairy princesses!”This young-at-heart love of fancy dress wasfueled by the fact that Rachel Van Asch, an

original Mediæval Bæbe, was also a talentedcostume designer, and used the Bæbes as hermodels. Asch had been very taken withmedieval designs in her teens, and hadcompiled a large tome of medieval-inspireddesigns she had never had occasion to use.Finding herself in a medieval band, shesuddenly had the opportunity of a lifetime.Also a designer of stage costumes for otherbands and of regular clothing, Van Ascheventually founded her own designer label.She left the band after having a baby in 2005,but the Bæbes continue to dress up, and theirclothing continues to draw comments fromcritics and fans.

Yes, the Bæbes have critics, but they alsodo have fans. Quite a diverse group of fans,actually. Many of the group’s concerts are incathedrals, castles, and other high-end venues,and they attract a fairly affluent, middle-agedcrowd. But they also have many teens andtwenty-somethings. (No doubt some of thesefans want to sleep with them, and the rest wantto be them.) There are large online communi-ties, such as “Bæbe Nation” and “Maidens ofPris,” that seem to be made up mostly of youngBæbe wannabes. And then there are the goths.“I think some of them are sort of leftoverMiranda Sex Garden fans,” Blake speculated.“But goths are very romantic, so they likemedieval stuff, don’t they?”

“It’s also where we sort of hark from,” Beeadded. “The London music scene that we allcome out of is pretty much based aroundalternative rock.”

After this diverse fan base made Salva Nossuch a commercial succes, Virgin was eager tohave another Mediæval Bæbes album in storesby Christmas — traditionally, the time of yearwhen people buy choral albums. They rushedthe Bæbes into the studio to produce their nextdisc, which turned out to be a good decision.

Recorded in only six days at CTS studios inLondon, Worldes Blysse was released inOctober 1998, and again exceeded expecta-tions. It debuted at number one on the classicalcharts, toppling the mightiest classical act ofthe era, the Three Tenors. Furthermore, itgarnered some good press notices, with theIndependent commenting “it makes...thehairs stand up shiveringly on your neck.”Worldes Blysse was also the group’s Americandebut, and again the press was encouraging.Carlene Bauer of CMJ, for example, called it“seriously bewitching.” At the time, Blakecalled it “a big step forwards in terms ofrhythm,” and explained, “Trevor Sharpe andHans Persson were brought in to add anexciting new drum and percussion sound.”

After the whirlwind recording and promo-tion of Worldes Blysse, the Bæbes cemented

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Maple Bee Audrey EvansMarie Findley

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their working methods for developing songs.The first two albums were quite simple, butwhen preparing for the third, the Bæbes werefinding things more complex, both vocally andinstrumentally. “People had got better,” Blakeexplained, “so you could write more complexstuff to suit everyone’s ever-growing, sophis-ticated talents!” Blake and Bee explained howthey create songs for the Bæbes. Usually,selecting a text comes first. Asked if she visitslibraries to search in old books, Blake laughed.“I just buy them, actually. So I’ll have theluxury of looking through them while drinkinglarge amounts of red wine!” Other Bæbes alsofind poetry, which ranges from medievalEnglish, French, Latin, Spanish, German,Provençal, and Italian, to 18th-century Scots,Cornish, and Manx. The band members thencompose music for the texts that need it.

“The compositions are mainly originalmaterial, but with a medieval flavor,” Blakeclarified. Blake notates it in staff notation, andthe band members arrange and learn it.

“Everyone in the band has different abili-ties in music theory,” Bee said. Although a lotof the singers couldn’t read notation when theyjoined the group, they were all becoming quiteadept by the time of our interview.

All of these skills were put to use on theBæbes’ third CD, Undrentide. This was anunusual album for the Bæbes, largely due to theinvolvement of producer John Cale. Blake wasreluctant to talk about the experience ofUndrentide, or at least seemed to change thesubject. She did point out that they recorded itresidentially (in other words, they lived inthe studio complex while it was recorded),and that “that can be a bit unhealthy. I like abit of real life mixed in when I’m recording.”Blake and the other Bæbes admire Cale a greatdeal, both for his early work with the VelvetUnderground, and for later, more classically

oriented projects. But Cale’s vision for thealbum differed from the Bæbes’; he addedelectric guitars, drum loops, samples, andambient electronics. Before leaving the group,Van Asch spoke frankly about the album withOriflamme: Journal of Neo-Medievalism andPopular Medievalism. “There are elementspresent that we would never have [allowed] ifit had been down to our final say,” she said. “Ithink eclectic combinations can work on analbum, but in this case the production was toosporadic and patchy. Some of his collaborativeideas worked really well, but others just didn’tsit right with the overall feel of the MediævalBæbes. It definitely taught us a few things —what works and what doesn’t — and the nextalbum will be all the better for it.”

Nevertheless, Undrentide was a break-through of sorts. It is a far more varied albumthan either of their previous works, andcontains many beautiful songs, from a maca-ronic drinking song, to settings of Chaucerand Boccaccio, to an English folksong asreinterpreted for the 1970s version of the filmThe Wicker Man. It also contains “Aria,” acollaboration between Mediæval Bæbes andthe group Delerium; the track also appeared onDelerium’s album Poem. And if Cale’s toningdown the vocal reverb and jolting the musicwith electricity didn’t suit the Bæbes’ taste, itmight just have won some new fans whoneeded to be eased into medieval music.

It was while touring to support WorldesBlysse and Undrentide that the Bæbes began torealize some of the advantages of being in aclassical group. “Being on stage with theBæbes is just completely different fromanything else I’ve ever done,” Bee mused.“You get a real opportunity to sing in placesthat most bands would never get the chanceto play, like in Hampton Court Palace, in LeedsCastle, in cathedrals….in all these beautiful,

beautiful settings. There’s a real sense ofhistory in those places, and you get to feel apart of that, which is really special. With myguitar or my electric band, there’s no way.And those opportunities are really precious,I think.”

It hasn’t always been the beautiful settingsthat stick out in band members’ minds; Blakecan also tell horror stories about playing in avenue that had been used as a haunted housein which the backstage area was full of fakecorpses and decomposing latex flesh. Somevenues combine elements of both: One ofBlake’s favorites is Berkeley Castle, where theannual medieval festival called Joust is held.“It’s the oldest inhabited castle in the U.K.,”she enthused. “The Berkeleys still live there.It’s the place where A Midsummer Night’sDream was first staged. It’s where Edward IIgot a red-hot poker shoved up his arse for thecrime of being homosexual, so it’s rich withhistorical color!”

The Mediæval Bæbes have struck a goodbalance between gigging and having their ownlives. They do not tour heavily, preferring toplay about five or six concerts in December,their busiest month, and generally fewer atother times of the year. This leaves them sometime to work on material, to plan recordings,and to work on other projects.

Since Undrentide, there have been twoMediæval Bæbes studio albums, The Rose andMirabilis. These, Blake said, were her favoritesof all the work she’s done. (There are also a liveCD and live DVD, released in late 2006, andavailable at the band’s website.) The Rosecontains “Slay Me Suddenly,” the most aston-ishing and sensual love lyric attributed toChaucer; a passage from Dante’s Inferno; and“Dringo Bell,” an English fabliau about a mantricked into kissing his lover’s behind, knownto medievalists as “Old Hogyn’s Adventure.”

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Blake’s favori te song onThe Rose, she said, is “TheSour Grove,” an extract froma medieval Welsh poemby Gwerful Mechain,extolling the virtues ofthe female genitalia.“ F o r y e a r s i t ’ sbeen banned froman tho log i e s o fWe l s h p o e t r ybecause it’s toosalacious,” shesaid. “But at thesame time it’s veryun-self-conscious,very un-sleazy. It’sa very beautifulpoem, and I reallylove it because thelyrical content isfantastic!” The Rosealso features “L’Amourde Moi,” a medieval Frenchfolksong, arranged, sung andplayed by Dorothy Carter, whooriginally inspired the formation ofthe Mediæval Bæbes, and who had actedsince the beginning as the group’s supportinginstrumentalist. Carter does a wonderful jobwith the song, and it’s lovely that they askedher to lead it, as it turned out to be her swansong. About a year after The Rose wasreleased, Carter passed away of a stroke,which required some reorganization andsome soul-searching from the band. Ontours, Carter had playedstrings and recorders,while other musiciansadded percussion. Torep l ace he r i n t heperforming outfit, theBæbes chose mu l t i -instrumentalist BeckyAustin-Brown. In addi-tion, the Bæbes tour withFrank Moon on citternand guitar and VinceJohnson on drums.

Mirabilis, the lateststudio album from theMediæval Bæbes, uses awhole stable of musiciansto replace Carter. It alsotakes the productionaspects to another level ofsophistication. “It’s indul-gent, slick, rich,” Blakesaid. Mirabilis contains afair number of medievallyrics set to music,including the hear t -breaking and crypticmiddle English lyric “Allfor the Love of One,” on

which the the usual creativep r o c e s s w a s r e v e r s e d :

Bee had written a melody,and visited Blake at

home so they couldcomb through the

many books ofmedieval verse tofind a text that fitit. But Mirabilisalso has thehighest propor-tion of materialin the folk idiomof any of theM e d i æ v a lBæbes albums,including several

ba l l ad s abou tfairies. “Tam Lin…

the words I found inthe back of a book by

Brian Froud,” Blakerecalled. “I love scary

fairy stuff; it’s got that sortof sinister appeal. I love the

dark quality of fairy tales. I love thelast line about turning him to stone.” Thealbum also features a version of that best-known of English fairy ballads, “Scarbor-ough Fayre,” and a Manx fairy ballad called“Lhiannan Shee,” set to music by BæbeCylindra Sapphire, which Blake cites as herfavorite song.

Mirabilis includes two songs from 18th-century Scotland, one by Robert Burns and

one by James Hogg. Thismove away from trulymedieval songs may bepart of a continuing trendfor the band; according toBlake and Bee, there aretwo songs written for thenext album, neither ofwhich is really medieval.One has “sort of an Eliza-bethan feel” and the otheris a hearty pirate song.“We’re not really obsessedwith being authentic,”Blake reiterated. “Nothinghas to be medieval, neces-sarily. And I think moreand more we’ve beendrawn to doing stuff that’sin understandable, quitemodern English. Forexample, if it’s in Scottishdialect, it sounds very oldand romantic.” Shelaughed. “Anything thathas that romantic old feelis good enough for me!”

Discogrraapphy

Mediæval Bæbes Live self-released (2006)

Mediæval Bæbes Live DVDself-released (2006)

MirabilisNettwerk (2005)

Mistletoe & WineNettwerk (2003)

The RoseNettwerk (2002)

UndrentideBMG Classics (2000)

The Best of the Mediæval Bæbes EMI (1999)

Worldes BlysseVirgin (1998)

Salva NosVirgin (1997)