On March 15, Trefoil, a medieval harp trio, lit up the Guilford stage in Dana Auditorium, striking centuries-old chords that pierced the hearts of their modern-day audience. “I really loved the performance,” said sophomore and music major Susan Robare. “The vocals were really good and especially the encore was something you could tell they (the band) were really into.”

Trefoil played a variety of different tunes, chanting Latin hymns in to accompany their stringed instruments. Their show specifically focused on tunes from the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th and14th centuries. Each song has its own distinct personality: some were fashioned after Gregorian chants, while others had Middle Eastern influences, stemming from Berber and Arab occupations over the course of the 8th to the 15th centuries.

“I just really felt that it was incredible to see a group like that perform music of so long ago, especially the more Arabic-sounding song that featured more improvisation,” said Michael Luciano, sophomore and music major.

The opening piece was a low, soft medley from the 13th century entitled “Longing for my Beloved,” and its sweet lull combined jangling harp strings with the low humming of Latin lyrics. A later piece titled “Pilgrim Songs from the Road to Compostela” was much louder and more vibrant, with the voices rising in resolute pitch to the glory of God.

Between movements, the band’s tenor, Mark Rimple, gave small explanations of the music to provide historical and musical context and flavor to what the trio were about to play.

Trefoil have been together for 10 years, and have been called “a hearty trio of medieval music specialists,” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“What first really got me interested in this sort of medieval music was the book ‘A Distant Mirror,’ by Barbara W. Tuchman,” said Rimple, when asked what sparked his interests in the field. The book, subtitled “The Calamitous 14th Century” and written by a Pulitzer Prize winner, focuses on the many disasters, natural and otherwise, that marked the era and informed the composition of, among other things, music.

Some students felt that the music was difficult to connect to, and Robare acknowledged that she had spotted several students nodding off during the beginning. She herself even stated, “I really enjoyed it. I just think it’s that I use very similar music to put myself to sleep.”

However, by the end of the performance, the entire room was on the edge of their seats as the concert closed with “Music for the Chamber of the Harpers,” a rich and energetic combination of vocals and harp strings. The ballad included the names of Biblical and classical heroes, and ended each verse with a battle cry – “Febus avant!”

And with that, Trefoil sailed on to conquer another modern audience.