Ensemble Plus Ultra

When the emperor Charles V—the first of the Spanish Habsburgs—chose Plus Ultra as his motto, he signalled the dawn of an age of discovery that would re-interpret the legendary Pillars of Hercules as a gateway to expanded horizons rather than, as his predecessors had thought, the limiting borders of the Mediterranean. By discarding Non from the motto Non Plus Ultra, Charles V leant his imperial blessing to voyages of geographical and cultural discovery that continue to this day; with the stroke of a pen ‘thus far, no further’ became ‘thus far, and further’. It was this spirit of discovery, of unveiling musical treasures from the past, of exploring unchartered polyphonic waters, that led Michael Noone to found, in 2001, the Ensemble Plus Ultra.