Ensemble Desiderium: A multi-faceted collaboration between artists from different countries (UK/PL) and backgrounds, involving music, storytelling and visual arts, inspired by Slavic, Celtic and Scandinavian folklore, myths and legends, all things medieval, as well as (mostly) doom metal and heavy rock.
“Desiderium” is a Latin word (also used in English) meaning “longing”, “desire” or “feeling of grief, usually for something lost”. One could say that in our case it is the desire to create art together, although there is more to it than just that: this name also expresses a longing for beauty, for all things good, for something elusive and timeless.
“Ensemble” is a French word meaning simply a group of artists performing together. This term is frequently employed in the world of early music in relation to groups performing medieval or renaissance pieces. Since our project draws quite heavily on medieval and renaissance legacy, we wanted our inspirations to be reflected in the name under which we operate. For the sake of clarity, however, it should be noted that we do not perform early music or even traditional tunes – our music consists of original compositions only inspired by those genres, often infused with a healthy dose of rock and (mostly doom) metal. This is our take on “folk metal” or “folk rock”: one in which the “folk” elements are just as important as the rock parts. That is why we use a wide range of instruments comprising historic, folk and modern instruments, while deliberately avoiding any sonic compromise, i.e. samples, sequencers, synthesizers or keyboards “pretending” to be folk instruments.
Ensemble Desiderium is not only a music project – it is a multifaceted collaboration between artists from different countries and backgrounds including music, storytelling and painting. We are inspired by myths, fairy tales and legends, traditional music (especially Celtic, Slavic and Scandinavian), as well as all things medieval. Just like our music, the story we would like to invite you to draws from various fairy tales and legends of Northern/Central/Eastern Europe; however, it is not merely an adaptation of an existing source, but rather our own original tale.
We’d like to encourage you to like our profile on Facebook and on Bandcamp. We will regularly reveal secrets about our project and inform you about our progress.
