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The spirit of dance * L'esprit de la danse * O espírito da dança

e-ko — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:59:39 -0000

Le nuove musiche

Horst Jaquet — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:20:54 -0000

Giulio Caccini - Le nuove musiche

Le nuove musiche is a collection of monodies and songs for solo voice and basso continuo by the composer Giulio Caccini (October 8, 1551 – December 10, 1618), published in Florence in July 1602. It is one of the earliest and most significant examples of music written in the early baroque style of the "seconda prattica (Stile moderno)". It contains 12 madrigals and 10 arias.

The volume was dedicated to Lorenzo Salviati and was released in July of 1602.

The introduction to this volume is probably the most clearly written description of the purpose, intent and correct performance of monody from the time. It includes musical examples of ornaments, for example, how a specific passage can be ornamented in several different ways, according to the precise emotion that the singer wishes to convey. Caccini expressed disappointment at inappropriate ornamentation by the singers of his day.

Florence and Venice were the two most progressive musical centers in Europe at the end of the 16th century, and the combination of musical innovations from each place resulted in the development of what came to be known as the Baroque style. Caccini's achievement was to create a type of direct musical expression, as easily understood as speech, which later developed into the operatic recitative, and which influenced numerous other stylistic and textural elements in Baroque music.

Montserrat Figueras - Vocal
Hopkinson Smith - Lute, Baroque Guitar
Robert Clancy - Baroque Guitar, Chitaronne
Jordi Savall - Viola da Gamba
Xenia Schindler - Harp

Giulio Caccini - Le Nuove Musiche

Stabat Mater - Pergolesi - Scarlatti

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:32:58 -0000

Stabat Mater - Pergolesi - Scarlatti

Stabat Mater is a thirteenth century Roman Catholic sequence variously attributed to Innocent III and Jacopone da Todi. Its title is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother was standing"). The hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. Text and Translation here.

It has been set to music by many composers, among them Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.

Alessandro Scarlatti (May 2, 1660 – October 24, 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera.
His Stabat Mater was composed for the Order of "Cavalieri della Virgine dei Dolori" in Naples, who, annually, honored the Virgin by dedicating to her, during the Lenten season, a Stabat Mater. The Order was very poor, what may be the explanation for the small number of artists the score was written for.

20 Years later the same Order commissioned
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (January 4, 1710 – 16 or March 17, 1736) for a new Stabat Mater as a replacement for the rather "old-fashioned" one by Alessandro Scarlatti for identical forces which had been performed each Good Friday in Naples. Whilst classical in scope, the opening section of the setting demonstrates Pergolesi's mastery of the Italian baroque 'durezze e ligature' style, characterized by numerous suspensions over a faster, conjunct bassline. The work remained popular, becoming the most frequently printed work of the 18th century, and being arranged by a number of other composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, who used it as the basis for his psalm "Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083".

Alessandro Scarlatti - Stabat Mater per soprano, alto, archi e continuo

Pergolesi - Stabat Mater per soprano, alto, archi e continuo

Les Grandes Eaux Musicales de Versailles

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:46:04 -0000

Les Grandes Eaux Musicales de Versailles

Royal! The spectacular fountains - the Grandes Eaux - of the gardens at Versailles richly deserve this adjective. The thousands of jets devised by the engineers Le Nôtre and Francine inject life into Louis XIV's stone and plant domain, enhancing all its perspectives, bathing it in shimmering vitality and infusing it with a lifeblood of which every sparkling drop scintillates with music. Fountains, pools, waterfalls and cascading tiers of water provide perpetually shifting décors, or rather, animated characters that are constantly being renewed, set in motion by a gigantic machine concealed underground. Vast, cathedral-like reservoirs, kilometer after kilometer of centuries-old lead piping, embossed here and there with the royal fleur-de-Iys.

The melodic sound of the water irresistibly conjures up the song of instruments and voices. Drawing on the source of 17th and 18th century French musical genius, each year the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles sets to music the spectacle of the Grandes Eaux, using the exceptional venue of the Château to showcase to a broad public the art of Versailles at its finest. This immersion in the artistic history of the French Court also aims to reflect the musical life of Versailles today. In fact, the pieces chosen are extracts from the most outstanding concerts offered during the Centre's autumn season at the Château of Versailles...

Fulfilling his brief to endow the gardens of Versailles with their fun sound dimension, Jordi Savall has selected from his own recordings those extracts which most vividly evoke the richness and splendour of the music performed at the French Court during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV.
-- Vincent Berthier de Lioncourt
translated by Jacqueline Minett (excerpted from album liner notes)

Chefs-d’Oeuvre des règnes de Louis XIII et Louis XIV - Enregistrements de 1998 à 2004 au Château de Cardona (Catalogne), à Saint Lambert des Bois et à Saint Michel-en-Thiérache
Instrumental selections from Jordi Savall's recordings which most vividly evoke the richness and splendour of the music performed at the French Court during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV.

Contents:

I. Jean-Baptiste Lully. Divertissement Royal
Jean-Baptiste Lully
1. Prélude des Trompettes et autres Instruments pour Mars
2. Les Hommes et Femmes armés
3. Bourée du Divertissement de Chambord (1669)
4. Bourrée du Mariage forcé (1664)
5. Chaconne de l'Amour médecin (1665)
6. Menuet pour les Trompettes

II. Les Violes de Mr. de Sainte-Colombe
Mr. de Sainte Colombe
7. Concert à deux violes esgales "Le Retour"

III. Philidor l'Aisne. Les Musiques de Louis XIII
Philidor l'Aisne
8. Pavane pour la petitte guaire.
9. Gaillarde, en suitte
10. Pavane fait au Mariage de Mr. Vandosme en 1609
11. Bourée D'avignonez
12. Ballet a Cheval pour le Grand Carousel, fait a la Place Royale pour le Mariage de Louis XIII, 1615

IV. Les Musiques de la Petitte Bande
Anon.
13. Intrada - Gavotte - Sarabande

Guillaume Dumanoir
14. Marche pour les Hautbois
Marin marais
15. Charivari

Anon.
16. Gavotte
17. Libertas
18. Sarabande & Tambourin

V. Les Pièces de Viole de Marin Marais
19. Rondeau Champêtre II.104
20. Muzette I
Muzette II
21. Passacaille II.105

VI. Jean-Baptiste Lully. L'Orchestre du Roi Soleil
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Alceste
22. Marche des Combattants en Rondeau
23. Menuet

Jean-Baptiste Lully: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
24. Marche pour la Cérémonie turque

Jean-Baptiste Lully: Alceste
25. Echos
26. Rondeau pour la Fête Marine
27. Marche des Assiégeants
VII. Les Concerts Royaux
François Couperin
28. Prélude du 2e Concert
29. Muzette du 3e Concert
30. Forlane du 4e Concert

Marin Marais
31. Chaconne d'Alcione

Les Grandes Eaux Musicales de Versailles

Carmina Burana - Version originale

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:56:51 -0000

CARMINA BURANA

A large, extraordinary collection of medieval poetry came to light in 1803 at the southern Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern, after it was secularized during the French Revolution.

This collection of 320 poems, known as Carmina Burana or "Songs of Benediktbeuern", dates back to about AD 1230, and includes four basic categories of poems. These are:

- satirical or moralizing lyrics (carmina moralia);
- songs celebrating springtime and love (carmina veris et amoris);
- gambling and drinking songs (carmina lusorum et potatorum), including goliardic verse;
- and poems with religious content (carmina divina).

This collection of lyric poetry was first published in 1847 as the Codex Buranus by the librarian Andreas Schmeller. The Codex Buranus manuscript of 112 vellum leaves (25x17cm), with illustrations and colored initials, was presumably intended for an influential court. This may have been the court of the Bishop of Seckau (1231-43), since it was probably written and compiled in the Bavarian-Austrian linguistic region of Steiermark, Tirol, or Kaernten. How the Codex Buranaus later found its way to the southern Bavarian monastery at Benediktbeuern is unknown. Today the original manuscript is in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Individual poems are referred to as CB followed by a number.

The dating of the Carmina Burana is based on two main types of evidence, textual and paleographic (the study of handwriting styles). Textual evidence dates two of the songs by German poets to 1217 and 1225, including one by Neidhart (CB 168) at 1217-19; and one by Walter von der Vogelweide (CB 211), from the early 1220s (Benedikt 1987). These serve as a terminus post quem; in other words, the collection of poems must have been compiled sometime after (post) the writing of these two. Secondly, various aspects of artistic and handwriting styles in the manuscript indicate that it was created prior to 1250 (serving as terminus ante quem). This combination of clues has helped date the Codex Buranus at ca. 1230.

Based on distinctive features of writing style, two anonymous scribes appear to have copied most of the Codex Buranus texts, and to have drawn many of the decorative initials, headlines, and musical notations. One of these scribes may have also painted the eight colored miniatures, which show some stylistic parallels to the initials. In the years following completion, the entries in the codex underwent several corrections. Overall, five different scribes left their imprints on the vellum leaves of the codex. The last, and most extensive editing took place in about 1300; thereafter there are no more manuscript entries.

Much of the lyric poetry in Carmina Burana is frankly pagan and sensual in content. This includes the so-called Goliardic verse (named for Goliath, who served as a medieval symbol for pagan, unruly behavior), typically composed by traveling students or young clerics, who often wandered from city to city to study under different mentors. Some vagabond poets (from Latin vagari) earned their bread by singing songs, typically satirical, and often employing graphic imagery. These goliardic songs were the "Bohemian" or student counterpart of the generally more refined, courtly, and morally idealized minne songs (minne=love) of German poets, and of the troubadour poems celebrating aristocratic ladies at the courts of France.

While most of the songs are written in medieval Latin, the Carmina Burana also includes some examples of medieval German and French texts, plus a few verses in mixed Latin and German. This variety of languages demonstrates the heterogeneous literary climate of the 12th and 13th centuries, reflected in the diverse authorship of the texts in the Codex Buranus.

The poetry is filled with youth and enjoyment, without a care for moral correctness or following the precept of moderation. The euphoria in the work extends to the body and the spirit of the listener. Carmina Burana contains testaments to all the aspects of the 13th century life: social conditions such as religion and politics; individual conflicts in morality and eroticism; and food for the mind in verses of satire cover the concerns of that time.

The funniest of all the verses in Carmina Burana is "Olim Lacus Colueram", also known as The Ballad of the Roasted Swan. It is a macabre setting in which the swan sings about its former life while it turns on the spit. In this verse the performer delivers the swan's lament while interjecting expressions of sympathy for the bird as it cooks.

The verse of "In Taberna" has been called "the greatest drinking song in the world". A verse from poem 36 reads:

Six hundred coins could not remotely
Fill the bill, for there's no quota
To this drink that knows no measure
And though nothing gives more pleasure,
Still are some who pick and carp,
Hoping to make our guilt pangs sharp.
Let those carpers go depraved--
Write their names not with the saved! . . .

The satire of the organization of the Christian religions is subtle and swift, particularly in the performed presentation of the works. The verse begins as a hail to the virgin in "Ave, Formosissima"...

Hail, most beautiful and good,
Jewel held most dear by us;
Hail, honor of maidenhood,
Virgin ever glorious--
Hail, thou light above all lights,
Hail, rose of the world--
Blacheflor
And Helen,
Venus,
Venus,
Venus noble-souled!

and ends as a tribute to the three goddesses of love and sex.

or this one:
Ich was ein chint so wolgethan
(I was a child and fair to see)

Oh, what a lovely girl I was
virgo dum florebam [when I was young and pure]!
Everyone thought the world of me,
omnibus placebam [I charmed them, to be sure].

Refrain: Hoe et oe!
maledicantus tilie
iuxta viam posite!
[Alas and lack-a-day!
Thrice cursèd be the linden tree
that grows along the way!]

The fields I wandered unaware
flores adamare [to pluck me a bouquet];
a wicked stranger met me there,
ibi deflorare [to pluck ME, so to say].

Alas...

He took me by my snow-white hand,
sed non indecenter [not without hesitation]
and led me o'er the meadowland
valde fraudulenter [with some prevarication].

Alas...

He grasped me by my garment white,
valde indecenter [ very indecently
and pulled at me with all his might,
multum violenter [excruciatingly].

Alas...

He spoke then: "We must hurry on,
nemus est remotum" [these woods look good enough].
I wish that I had never gone,
planxi et hoc totum [I cried, and all that stuff].

Alas...

"Thee stands a linden, pretty maid,
non procul a via [not very far from hence],
my harp is lying in its shade,
tympanum cum lyra" [and suchlike instruments].

Alas...

When the tree was overhead,
dixit: "Sedeamus," [he said, "Here's where we'll sit"],
spurred by passion then he said:
"ludum faciamus!" [Let's play around a bit.]

Alas...

He seized me then without ado,
non absque timore [not without nervousness].
"I'll make a woman now of you,
dulcis es cum ore!" [you've got a pretty face!]

Alas...

He pulled my clothing off in haste,
corpore detecta [he bared me pink as ham]
and straight into my castle raced,
cuspide erecta [with a rampant battering-ram].

Alas...

He took his quiver and his bow,
bene venabatur! [how well his hunt did go!]
And this was he who tricked me so,
"Ludus compleatur!" ["Thanks, darling. Cheerio!"]

Trans. David Parlett

The complete text of the Codex Buranus you will find here.

CARMINA BURANA
Version originale

Carmina gulatorum et potarum - Carmina lusorum - Carmina moralia et divina
1. Bacche, bene venies I (CB 200)
2. Virent prata hiemata (CB 151)
3. Nomen a solempnibus (CB 52)
4. Alte clamat Epicurus (CB 211) - Nu lebe ich (CB 211a)
5. Vite perdite II (CB 31)
6. Vacillantis trutine I (CB 108)
7. In taberna quando sumus (CB 196)

Officium lusorum (CB 215/215a):
8. Introitus: Lugeamus omnes in Decio
9. Epistola: Lectio actuum apopholorum
10. Sequentia: Victime novali
11. Evangelium: Sequentia falsi evangelii
12. Oratio: Ornemus!
13. Dic, Christi veritas (CB 131) - Bulla fulminante (CB 131a)
14. Licet eger II (CB 8)
15. Si vocatus ad nupcias (CB 26,3)
16. Nomen a solempnibus II (CB 52)
17. Fas et nefas ambulant (CB 19)
18. Flete flenda (CB 5)
19. Homo qui vigeas (CB 22)
20. Procurans odium II (CB 12)
21. Crucifigat omnes (CB 47)

Carmina Moralia - Carmina Veris et Amoris
1. Deduc, Syon, uberrimas (CB 34)
2. Ecce, torpet probitas (CB 3)
3. In terra sumus rex (CB 11)
4. Tempus transit gelidum (CB 153)
5. Bacche, bene venies II (CB 200)
6. Licet eger (CB 8)
7. In Gedonis ara (CB 37)
8. Exiit diluculo rustica puella (CB 90)
9. Clauso Chronos (CB 73)
10. Olim sudor Herculis (CB 63)
11. Virent prata hiemata (CB 151/151a)
12. Veris dulcis in tempore I (CB 159)
13. Vacillantis trutine II (CB 108)
14. Michi confer, venditor I (CB 16)
15. Veris dulcis in tempore II (CB 159)

Carmina Divina - Ludus de Passione - Carmina amoris infelicis
1. Ave nobilis venerabilis Maria (CB 11)
2. Fulget dies celebris (CB 153)
3. Ave, domina mundi (CB 18)
4. Ave Maria, gratia plena (CB 15)
5. Deus, in nomine tue (CB 15)
6. Ludus de Passione (CB 16)
7. Regali ex progenie Maria (CB 18)
8. Sanctissima et glorissima (CB 18)
9. Iste mundus furibundus (CB 24)
10. Axe Phebus aureo (CB 71)
11. Dulce solum natalis patrie (CB 119)
12. Procurans odium I (CB 12)
13. Vite perdite I (CB 31)
14. Sic mea fata canendo solo (CB 116)
15. Ich was ein chint so wolgetan (CB 185)

Performers: Pilar Figueras (soprano), Zeger Vandersteene (countertenor), Hans Breitschopf (countertenor), Pedro Liendo (baritone), René Zosso (symphony, voice), René Clemencic (recorders), et al.

"Rosary" (or "Mystery") Sonatas for Violin & Continuo

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:20:11 -0000

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (12. August 1644 - 3. Mai 1704)
"Rosary" (or "Mystery") Sonatas for Violin & Continuo

The music of Biber has enjoyed a renaissance, in part, because of The Rosary Sonatas. This remarkable set of 16 sonatas is also known as The Mystery Sonatas (in reference to key events in the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ) and The Copper-Engraving Sonatas (because of the engravings at the head of the sonatas).
Each sonata employs a different tuning of the violin. This use of scordatura* transforms the violin's expressivity from the pleasures of the Five Joyful Mysteries (the Annunciation, etc.) through the trauma of the Five Sorrowful Mysteries (the Crucifixion, etc.) to the ethereal nature of the Six Glorious Mysteries.

* A scordatura (literally Italian for "mistuning") or cross-tuning is an alternate tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument. In the Western classical music tradition it is an extended technique used to allow the playing of otherwise impossible note sequences or note combinations, usually on the violin.

The Glorious Mysteries start with the Resurrection Sonata—where the two middle strings are symbolically crossed over—and end with a passacaglia for solo violin using standard tuning (Sonata No 16), thereby completing the cycle of scordaturas. Remarkably, in Sonata No 15 Biber anticipates the theme of Paganini's Capriccio No 24 almost exactly. We can assume that Paganini took his inspiration from Biber (just as Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninov were later inspired by Paganini's famous Caprice).

Although Biber's Rosary Sonatas were never published during his lifetime, they represent one of the finest German violin collections of the period. The music is very free ranging and fantastical, as well as being technically more demanding than anything that has been written for violin up until that point.

ENSEMBLE SONNERIE
Monica Huggett: violin
Emilia Benjamin: violin, viola da gamba and viola
Joe Crouch: cello and viola da gamba
Matthew Halls: keyboards

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704):
15 Sonatas based on the Mystery of the Rosary (violin, b.c.)

Die Fünf Freudenhaften Mysterien (The Five Joyous Mysteries)
- Sonata I: Die Verkündigung (The Annunciation)
- Sonata II: Mariä Besuch bei Elisabeth (The Visitation)
- Sonata III: Christi Geburt (The Nativity)
- Sonata IV: Christi Darstellung im Tempel (The Presentation)
- Sonata V: Der zwölfjährige Jesus im Tempel (The Finding in the Temple)
Die Fünf Schmerzhaften Mysterien (The Five Sorrowful Mysteries)
- Sonata VI: Christi Leiden am Ölberg (The Agony in the Garden)
- Sonata VII: Die Geibelung (The Scourging of Jesus)
- Sonata VIII: Die Dornenkrönung (The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns)
- Sonata IX: Die Kreuztragung (Jesus carries His Cross)
- Sonata X: Die Kreuzigung (The Crucifixion)
Die Fünf Glorreichen Mysterien (The Five Glorious Mysteries)
- Sonata XI: Die Auferstehung (The Ressurection)
- Sonata XII: Christi Himmelfahrt (The Ascension)
- Sonata XIII: Ausgiebung des Heiligen Geistes (The Descent of the Holy Gost)
- Sonata XIV: Mariä Himellfahrt (The Assumption of our Lady)
- Sonata XV: Die Krönung der Jungfrau Maria (The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Passacaglia in G minor (solo violin)

Felix Femina

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:04:04 -0000

The town of Wolfenbüttel lying on the river Oker in Lower Saxony (Germany), is an attractive town, with many medieval survivals, some fine old churches and an impressive Schloss. It was home, at one time or another, to the composer Michael Praetorius and, much later, to the dramatist Lessing – he wrote "Nathan the Wise" there. It is also home, or more specifically the Herzog-August Bibliothek in the town, is home to one of the most important manuscripts of medieval Scottish music. Visit the library and you will have to ask for Wolfenbüttel Herzog-August-Bibliothek 628 Helmstadiensis – but there are modern facsimiles.

This Wolfenbüttel manuscript is a quite substantial collection. Its first ten fascicles contain music associated with the Parisian school centred on Notre Dame – including work by Perotin. The collection contains fascinating evidence as to the evolution of polyphony in twelfth-century France. In fascicle 11, however, there are some 46 compositions, all of them designed for use in votive Masses addressed to the Virgin. These materials are designated as belonging to the Liber monasterii sancti Andree apostoli in scocia, that is ‘The book of the monastery of St. Andrew the Apostle, in Scotland’. This part of W1 (as the manuscript is usually referred to) at least, and perhaps not only this part, was copied at St. Andrews in Scotland. The music, in the words of the scholar Edward Roesner, “was drawn from diverse sources, some Continental, indeed Parisian, some British, some “local”, but the settings all reveal the same stylistic traits, suggesting the significant input of a local musician in shaping the music, whatever its original sources may have been. From all indications, that local musician and that compiler worked at St. Andrews, certainly no later than the middle of the 13th century and possibly a few decades earlier”.

Canty here give us a selection from the work contained in fascicle 11 of this important manuscript. All the polyphonic writing is in two parts and Canty give a persuasive account of it.
Material has been chosen and arranged so as to present a plausible approximation to the contents of a Lady Mass (which had no fixed form). There is occasional instrumental accompaniment from William Taylor, always discreet. Quite a few of the items here are receiving their first recordings – including the lovely ‘Kyrie; Creator puritatis’.
Glyn Pursglove

During the middle ages the worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary became one of the central features of spiritual life. As an intermediary between mankind and God, her humanity and suffering made her an ideal figure and focus for the aspirations of all, and her intercession and miraculous intervention, even in the most hopeless of cases, were considered absolutely reliable aims, achievable by prayer and sincere devotion. The practice of offering a Mass to the Virgin was extremely popular in the 13th century, and it was common for such a votive Mass to be celebrated each Saturday in the Lady Chapel of large-scale foundations such as St Andrews Cathedral. Building began there c1160 and it was usable as a Priory Church by 1230 - perfect timing for this repertoire to come into regular use.

Felix Femina
A SCOTTISH LADYMASS
13th Century Scottish Polyphony from the St. Andrews Music Book
1. Hymn: Ave man's Stella
2. Introit: Salve sancta parens
3. Kyrie: Creator puritatis
4. Instrumental
5. Gloria: Per precem piissimam
6. Gradual: Benedicta et venerabilis
7. Alleluya: Post partum virgo
8. Sequence: Ave cell imperatrix
9. Instrumental
10. Offertory: Recordare virgo mater
11. Sanctus: Mater mitis vere vitis
12. Instrumental
13. Agnus Dei: Factus homo
14. Communion: Beata viscera
15. Hymn/Prosa: Ave Maria gratia plena viris invia

Canty (Libby Crabtree, Micaela Haslam, Anne Lewis)/Rebecca Taverner
William Taylor (wire-strung clarsach, symphonie)

rec. 14-16 March, 2006, St. Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington, East Lothian,
Scotland

Stabat Mater - Musica napoletana per festa della Vergine dei Sette dolori

e-ko — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:16:31 -0000

Yet another interpretation of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater?

"In the booklet, Dinko Fabris explains, "We wanted to recreate, as closely as possible, the way [Pergolesi's] Stabat Mater would have been heard during a Neapolitan procession, but in the manner a cultivated traveller like [Charles] de Brosses could have relived it, as a rêve de voyage while attending a completely different performance in the Royal Chapel at Versailles". The reason is the score employed, a pre-1750 manuscript from the Bibliothèque du Roi at Versailles. How does one reconcile in one performance the "sun-drenched, noisy, dramatic environment of the streets of Naples" with the rarefied courtly atmosphere of 18th century Versailles? In 18th century Naples, two castrati would have performed the soprano and alto parts, while the practice at Versailles favoured the more refined sound of boys and falsettists. Here, though Fabris does not explain whether the score requires it, the soprano Pages and countertenor Chantres de la Chappelle perform four of the two-voice movements chorally, while different soloists from the choir sing the rest. Apart from this, these singers and musicians perform spiritedly in Italianate style. Tempi are somewhat faster than customary. The delightful ornamentation from the instruments more than compensates for the scarcity of vocal embellishments. By contrast, the other half of this odd recital consists of anonymous monodic settings of the Stabat Mater from early 18th century Neapolitan monastic manuscripts, sung by the three Italian singers in a coarse, nasal style derived from South Italian folk music. In the midst of these, Le Poème Harmonique's polished performance of Durante's elegant string concerto (No.4 in E major)." Christopher Price (Goldberg Magazine)

This recording stands out insofar as it restores the context of the sun-drenched, dramatic processions through the streets of Naples.: the singing and playing of professional musicians mingled with ritual dances and other singing.
Patrizia Bovi, soprano
Pino de Vittorio, ténor
Bernard Arrieta, basse

Les Pages & Les Chantres de la Chapelle

Le Poème Harmonique

Olivier Schneebeli, direction

Enregistré en février 2000 à Paris
Musique napolitaine pour la fête de la Vierge des Sept Douleurs

01. Stabat Mater (intonation) (2'35)

02. Tarentella (Anonyme, Naples) (3'55)

03. Stabat Mater à trois voix, Manuscrit de Monopoli, en alternance avec le Manuscrit de Santoro (Schola di Canto Fermo, Naples 1715) (7'47)

Francesco Durante (1684 - 1755) : Concerto n,4 en mi
04. Adagio (2'36)
05. Ricercar del quarto tono (2'45)
06. Largo (2'28)
07. Presto (2'09)

08. Manuscrit d'Ostuni, plain-chant (1'10)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736) : Stabat Mater (Manuscrit des Menus Plaisirs du Roy)
09. Stabat Mater Dolorosa (3'48)
10. Cujus animam gementem (2'14)
11. O quam tristis et afflicta (1'52)
12. Quae moerebat et dolebat (1'52)
13. Quis est homo (2'24)
14. Vidit suum dulcem Natum (3'22)
15. Eja mater, fons amoris (2'17)
16. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum (1'59)
17. Sancta mater, istud agas (4'15)
18. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem (3'36)
19. Inflammatus et accentus (2'04)
20. Quando corpus morietur (5'15)

Photo and cover: Lamentation on the death of Christ or The Deposition by Luca Giordano (1632/1705)
oil on canvas, 155x182 cm - The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Ordo virtutum

Horst Jaquet — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:24:45 -0000

Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179)

ORDO VIRTUTUM

Performers:
Sequentia, Ensemble für Musik des Mittelalters:
Barbara Thornton (voice: Felix anima / Infelix anima),
Guillemette Laurens (voice: Humilitas),
Jill Feldman (voice: Scientia Dei / Fides / Misericordia),
Lauri Monahan (voice: Castitas / Discretio),
Theresa Lister (voice: Timor Dei / Contemptus Mundi),
Caroline Trevor (voice: Caritas / Disciplina / Innocentia),
Sally Sanford (voice: Obedientia / Verecundia / Victoria),
Candace Smith (voice: Spes / Amor caelestis / Patientia),
Margriet Tindemans (fiddle, psaltery),
Sarah Cunningham (fiddle),
David Hart (flute),
Benjamin Bagby (organetto, harp, hurdy-gurdy).

with participation of:
Carmen-Renate Köper (voice: Hildegard von Bingen),
William Mockridge (voice: Diabolus)
& Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament (Wolgang Kläsener, Stefan Klöckner, Klaus Lohmann, Bernard Schüth, Burkhard Wiggeshoff)

The Ordo Virtutum or Play of the Virtues is an allegorical play written ca. 1150 by Hildegard, possibly for the consecration of the monastery she founded on the Rupertsberg near Bingen. It shows the Human Soul, main protagonist, torn between the Virtues and the Devil, who wins her over for a while until she returns to the Virtues. The music consists in monophonic settings of Latin texts written by Hildegard herself, and destined to be sung by the nuns of her monastery (the spoken part of the Devil is a man's). Extraordinary piece of music, and one of the oldest we have (aside from chant).

Plot
Part I: Prologue in which the Virtues are introduced to the Patriarchs and Prophets who marvel at the Virtues.
Part II: We hear the complaints of souls that are imprisoned in bodies. The (for now) happy Soul enters and her voice contrasts with the unhappy souls. However, the Soul is too eager to skip life and go straight to Heaven. When the Virtues tell her that she has to live first, the Devil seduces her away to worldly things.
Part III: The Virtues take turns identifying and describing themselves while the Devil occasionally interrupts and expresses opposing views and insults.
Part IV: The Soul returns, repentant. Once the Virtues have accepted her back, they turn on the Devil, whom they bind, and then God is praised.
Part V: A procession of all the characters.

Here you can find the text (in latin) and an english translation.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a remarkable woman, a "first" in many fields. At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine", produced major works of theology and visionary writings. When few women were accorded respect, she was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings. She used the curative powers of natural objects for healing, and wrote treatises about natural history and medicinal uses of plants, animals, trees and stones. She is the first composer whose biography is known. She founded a vibrant convent, where her musical plays were performed. Although not yet canonized, Hildegard has been beatified, and is frequently referred to as St. Hildegard. Revival of interest in this extraordinary woman of the middle ages was initiated by musicologists and historians of science and religion.

Primavera

eastman — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:40:51 -0000

“Have ye beheld (with much delight)
A red rose peeping through a white”

A joyful celebration of life, springtime is symbolized by flowers, “Merry Springtime’s harbinger,” announcing a glorious triumph over winter, and by nesting birds traditionally associated with love. The nightingale and the turtiedove or the “red rose peeping through the white” conjure up images of both beauty and innocence or licentious promiscuity...

“Or else a cherry, double grac’d,
Within a lily center plac’d?
Or ever mark’d the pretty beam
A strawberry shows half-drown’d in cream?”

Traditionally, the rituals for the Roman goddess of spring, Flora, were celebrated during the month of May. Until the l6th century, this Floralia festival found rural folk coupling illicitly in the ploughed fields to stimulate the growth of crops. The important role of sexuality in popular springtime lore is evidenced by other celebrations, such as Beltane, a fertility festival of Celtic origin that is still valued by followers of the Pagan religions. The ancient Sumerian Festival of Weeping Women, which was held to mourn the death of the Goddess’ son who would be resurrected in the spring, recounted the notion of death and rebirth echoed in today’s Easter celebrations.

“There is a garden in her face
Where roses white as lilies grow…

In the visual arts, femmine beauty and flowers are common images used to depict springtime. Botticelli’s enchanting Primavera (1478), a prime example illustrating the myth, portrays a lovely maiden with fresh spring flowers falling from her mouth as if to scatter the ground with new life. Botticelli’s maiden is both delicate and decorative but her actions symbolize the strength of femmine procreativity.

“Gather ye rosebuds while you may,
Old Time is still a-flying...”

The myth of springtime is a brilliant metaphor for love, an ever-inspiring subject for poets and musicians. This recording assembles a tapestry of tiny poetic and musical gems from sixteenth- to eighteenth-century Italy, England, and France. Youth, beauty, and love are their inspiration. Some are well-known, some rescued from dusty library volumes, and others remain part of our folk culture and are reborn in this collection in new forms. Perhaps music, as the most temporal of the arts, is the most appropriate medium to express the transience of the subject at hand...

“And that same flow’r that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.”

We hope that this musical offering will inspire the listener to

“Be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry.”

Alessandro Filipepi detto Sandro Botticelli, La Primavera (1478-1485 circa)

Primavera
Musical bouquet by Susie Napper
Susie Napper, Margaret Little, violas da gamba
Suzie LeBlanc, soprano
Daniel Taylor, countertenor
Matthias Maute, Francis Colpron, recoders, transverse flutes
Olivier Brault, Helene Plouffe, violins
Sylvain Bergeron, lute, theorbo
Vincent Dhavernas, percussion
Les Voix Humaines
ATMA Classique

01. Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1607) - O Primavera
02. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - O Primavera
03. Susie Napper - Le Sacre du printemps
04. Marin Marais (1656-1728) - Jeu du volant
05. Marin Marais - Saillie du jardin
06. William Lawes (1602-1645) - Gather you rosebuds
07. Alfonso Ferrabosco II (1578-1628) - Io mio son Giovanetta
08. John Bennet (1575-1614) - The dark is my delight
09. Anonyme – XVI Siecle - As I me walked
10. Gioseppe Caimo (1545-1584) - Mentre il cuculo
11. Susie Napper - Les Oiseaux
12. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) - Rossignols amoureux
13. Traditionnel Quebecois (arr. Susie Napper) - En montant la riviere
14. William Byrd (1539/40-1623) - Sweet and Merry Month
15. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - She loves and she confesses
16. Claudio Monteverdi - Chiome d'oro
17. Etienne Moulinie (1599-1676) - Consert des differents oiseaux

Fiesta Criolla (bolivien baroque)

e-ko — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:52:28 -0000

Fiesta Criola - A festivity celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe in Sucre in 1718 with music by ROQUE JACINTO DE CHAVARRÍA (1688-1719) and songs and dances from the indigeneous Andean inhabitants. This is another in the popular genre of recreations of musical events from the past, this time of a fiesta in Sucre (Bolivia) for the Virgin of Guadalupe. About half of the 78 minutes of music consists of villancicos and Salve services in Castilian by the Spanish/Indian composer Chavarría and the other half works in both "serious" and "popular" styles by known younger contemporaries and anonymous pieces.

Ensemble Elyma, Ars Longa de La Havane, Cor Vivaldi, Els Petits Cantors de Catalunya; Gabriel Garrido.

Festino nella sera del Giovedi grasso avanti Cena

eastman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:44:44 -0000

Adriano Banchieri (1568-1634)
Festino nella sera del Giovedi grasso avanti Cena

The Benedictine monk Adriano Banchieri occupies an important place in early seventeenth century Italian music. As a composer of sacred music, he was a great innovator and experimenter, playing a major role in the development of continuo bass.
Banchieri was also an important theorist and organizer of musical life in his native Bologna, where he settled after residencies in various Italian monasteries. Somewhat surprisingly for a composer at the forefront of the seminal musical developments that took place in Italy around 1600, he never attempted an opera, the most revolutionary new form to emerge during that period.
Instead, Banchieri preferred to remain faithful to the madrigal, now in the last stages of its development at the hands of Monteverdi. Banchieri seems to have had a particular predilection for comic madrigals, frequently combining them into an entertainment known as the madrigal comedy.
The most famous of such works is the Festino nella sera del giovedì grasso avanti cena (Fete for the Evening of Carnival Thursday Before Supper).
Rather like Boccaccio's The Decameron, it takes the form of an entertainment given before the guests and introduced in a prologue by Pleasure, who relates to other members of the party how he met an old man downstairs called Antique Rigour, an allegory for the old, polyphonic music or prima prattica.
The Festino, then, is an entertainment about music, Pleasure being the representative of the modern, or seconda prattica style.
Having bid Antique Rigour to "cast his old papers to a grocer," Pleasure then introduces the entertainment: a series of madrigals in between four and seven parts accompanied by continuo. They vary widely, ranging from an absurd onomatopoeic "improvised animal counterpoint," the calls of a street cryer headed "Foolish nonsense (but great fun)," to the mock-serious "The Lovers Sing a Little Song." Various madrigal styles are caricatured ("a madrigal full of conceits," for example) during the course of the comedy, which is by no means all buffoonery.
For Banchieri, comedy was a serious business, as it was for his immediate forerunner, Orazio Vecchio, who spoke for composers of the madrigal comedies when he claimed that "just as much grace, talent, and naturalness is required to portray a comic part as to endow an old man with prudence and wisdom."

Banchieri's Festino nella sera del giovedi grasso avanti cena was published in Venice in 1608 and is again in five parts rather than the three that he more often favoured.
Appearing as Opus 18, it opens with an address from Diletto Moderno (Modern Pleasure), in which he explains how, as he came in, he had met an old man, Rigore, representing the old-fashioned style of composition.
This reported dialogue suggests that Banchieri was an unqualified champion of the modern style, although the respect he shows elsewhere to Monteverdi's critic Artusi may indicate, at the least, an acknowledgement of the merits of the old style, the so-called prima prattica of Palestrina.
The Festino has thoroughly modern elements, in contrast to its more conventional madrigals, and opens with an invitation to light-hearted amusement.

In the following madrigal, based on commedia dell'arte characters, the gondolier, his godfather and old Pantaloon offer the balletto of old greybeard Giandon.

The Mascherata di villanelle has a spinster admiring her own supposed beauty, words sung by the two upper voices, to an imitated instrumental accompaniment followed by an additional Jew's harp solo.
A madrigal with imitative entries now urges the pursuit of love.
A chromatic madrigal to a sweet nightingale leads to the Mascherata d'amanti (Masque of Lovers) in which the voices imitate instruments, lute and harpsichord.
The lovers now sing a Moresca, to the pattern of the traditional Spagnoletto, with its repeated harmonies, followed by a madrigal, described as artificioso.
They proceed to a canzonetta with some strange notes.
Now Aunt Bernadina tells a story, followed by a three-voice Capricciata.
Banchieri now introduces an animal chorus, a dog, a cuckoo, a cat and an owl, with a bass providing the necessary musical foundation in dog-Latin.
A serious madrigal leads to an Intermedio of spindle-sellers, who then sing a madrigal.
The comic tongue-twister of the Count is succeeded by the revellers, in homophonic mood, and a drinking-song, a toast to each of the singers.
Street vendors lead to the final epilogue of Diletto Moderno.

1. Prologo

2. Il diletto moderno per introduzione
Il Moderno Diletto tutti invita a un'opera di gusto e favorita.
Chi brama avere spasso e piacere,
per un tantino entri al festino.
Giovani amanti tra suoni e canti;
innamorate, con essi entrate!
Di bell’ umori s'udran furori,
in buona vena, avanti cena.
Scherzi, ballate con mascherate;
trattenimenti, sospiri ardenti;
feste, allegrezze e contentezze
s'hanno a sentire.
Torniamo a dire:
chi brama avere spasso e piacere
per un tantino resti al festino!

3. Justiniana di vecchietti chiozzotti
Gondolier, so compare, e Pantalon, fanno il belletto del barba Giandon.
—Daspuò che semo zonti in stò festin, ballemo, saltemo un balletin!
—Scomenzè, mio compar!
—Me se mola 'l cattar!
—Scomenzè, gondolier:
—Me se slarga 'l braghier!
—Scomenzè, Pantalon!
—El me diol un gallon!
—Moia! moia! moia! moia! Che scattar, che braghier, che gallon? Barba Simon e barba Giandon, barba Simon col barba Giandon.

4. Mascherata di villanelle
Canta un'ottava rima molto bella, col biobò a la lira una zitella.
—Biobo' bio o Scaccia pensieri
Bio biri beu ba beu bi bio bi bio biri bio ba beu bi bio!
—Lira
Lì liron liron liron lì lì liron lì liron liron liron lì!
—Zitella cantatrice
Ciascun mi dice che son tanto bella, che sembro la figliuola d'un signore.
—Refrain
—Zitella cantatrice
Chi mi somiglia a la Diana stella, chi mi somiglia al pargoletto Amore.
—Refrain
—Zitella cantatrice
Tutto il contando ornor di me favella, chè di bellezza porto in fronte il fiore.
—Refrain
—Zitella cantatrice
Mi disse ier mattina un giovinetto: perchè non ho tal pulce nel mio letto?
—Refrain

5. Seguita la detta mascherata
Le villanelle, unite in bel soggetto, esortano Cupido aver nel petto.
Chi cerca posseder sommo diletto,
segua Amor giovinetto e servo sia!
Chi di gioir desia,
amar non è dove si trova Amore,
se non è amante il core;
nè prova il mèl,
se non è amante il core!

6. Madrigale a un dolce usignolo
Cantano al lor partir le villanelle un madrigal, tutte vezzose e belle.
Dolcissimo usignolo,
tu sovra i verdi rami
tutta la notte la tua amica chiami,
e con soavi accenti
fai dolci i tuoi lamenti.
Io, tra i più folti, orrori di miei
pensier, sospiro la mia Clori,
da cui lungi mi vivo,
d'ogni piacer,
d'ogni dolcezza privo!

7. Mascherata d'amanti
Entrano sul Festin tutti d'accordo, con un liuto in tuon dell'arpicordo.
Tronc tronc tronc tronc
di run din din din
Troc troc to ron tron ton
di ri den den den

8. Gli amanti morescano
Cessano gli strumenti e con diletto, morescano cantando il Spagnoletto.
Quivi siamo per dar diletto,
morescando lo Spagnoletto.
Tutti giovani innamorati,
sù la gamba, lesti e garbati!
Fatti in su,
fatti in giù;
ben trovati, cu cu ru cù!
Viva Amore con l'arco e strali,
il turcasso la corda e l'ali!
Vival Venere in compagnia,
e chi segue sua monarchia!
Fatti in là,
fatti in qua,
bona sera fa la la la!

9. Gli amanti cantano un madrigale
Finita la moresca, per riposo, cantano un madrigale artificioso.
Ardo sì, ma non t'amo,
perfida e dispietata,
indegnamente amata
da sì fedele amante,
che del mio amor ti vante.
Più non sarà che del mio amor ti vante,
poichè libero ho il core;
e se ardo, di sdegno e non d'amore,

10. Gli amanti cantano una canzonetta
O quanto piacque il madrigale in fine! Cantano alquante note peregrine.
—Bella Olimpia, mi parto,
e il core costantissimo ti resta:
a rivederci, vita di mia vita,
troppo mi sa crudel la mia partita!
—Pur ti parti e mi lasci,
ingrato e crudelissimo Bireno;
ed io qui resto in questo lido sola:
chi mi dà aiuto, ohimè, chi mi consola?

11. La zia Bernadina racconta una novella
Quivi udrassi contar della gazzuola una ridiculosa e industre fola..
—Non avendo per or trattenimento, per fare onore a compagnia sì bella, zia Bernardina, dite una novella.
—Dirolla senza farmi strapregare: però silenzio e stàtemi ascoltare!
—Sì! Sì! Silenzio!
—Tacete! Tacete!
—Olà tacete!
—Dice che fu una volta una fornara che aveva una gazzuola . . .
—E sì! Seguitate!
—Oh che gusto!
—E sì questa gazzuola aveva così ben rotto il filello . . .
—Bon!
—Toh!
—E sì?
—Ben!
—Che ragionava come fa un puttello
—E sì?!
—E ben?
—Che diceva?
—Che parlava?
—Diceva: putta porca! porca putta! fa la torta, fa la zuppa, fa la torta, fa la zuppa, qua qua qua . . .
—Ih! ih! ih!
—Oh! Oh! Oh!
—Ah! Ah! Ah!
—Moh chi non rideria?
—E ben?
—E si?
—Che successe?
—Seguitate!
—Successe che mangiando un dì le zuppe, cadde in terra la gabbia e sì si ruppe!
—Che fu della gazzuola?
—Un stronzo vi sia in gola!
—O buono in vero: ve l'ha cuccata!
—Mo stiamo attenti a questa capricciata.

12. Capricciata a tre voci
Qui s'ode una spassevoi barzelletta di certi cervellini usciti in fretta.
—Nobil spettatori, udrete or ora quattro belli umori: un cane un gatto un cucco un chiù, per spasso, far contrappunto a mente sopra un basso.

13. Contrappunto bestiale alla mente
Un cane, un cucco, un gatto e un chiù per spasso fan contrappunto a mente sopra un basso.
Chiù: —Fa la la la
Cucco: —Fa la la la
Gatto: —Fa la la la
Cane: —Fa la la la
Cucco: —Cucù cucù
Chiù: —Chiù chiù
Gatto: —Miau miau
Cane: —Babau babau
Base:—Nulla fides gobbis; similiter est zoppis. Si squerzus bonus est, super annalia scribe.

14. Gli cervellini cantano un madrigale
O che bestial capriccio naturale! Mò stiamo attenti a un serio madrigale.
Furon sin qui l'aurate e belle chiome,
duri lacci e catene a questo core,
che sotto bianco velo,
in mille nodi avvolte,
stavano in sè raccolte.
Or son quadrella d'oro,
che in quel grande arco erette,
vengon quasi saette
per saettarmi il core;
contal dolcezza ch'io
godo, nel loro ferir, del languir mio.

15. Intermedio di venditori gli fusi
Al partir delle bestie gionse al pari un intermedio lesto di fusari.
—Chi vuol filare? Belle donne, comprate fusi, chè le rocche son bon mercato!
—Chi vuol filare, o donne eccovi il fuso di querza bianca, d'acero e castagno;
—N'avrete quattro al soldo: o grande abuso!
—Donne, comprate fusi, chè le rocche son bon mercato!
—Belle donne, comprate fusi!
—Fusi sodi, bianchi, nè son storti!
—Sappiate, certo, non si fa guadagno; girate dritto, acciò vostri consorti non dichino facciate fusi storti!

16. Li fusari cantano un madrigale
Partono li Fusari, e al lor partire, cantano un madrigal grato a sentire.
Felice chi vi mira,
ma più felice è chi per voi sospira.
Felicissimo poi chi, sospirando,
chi, sospirando, fa sospirar voi.
O bene amica amica stella,
chi, per donna sì bella,
può far contento in un l'occhio e 'l desio,
e sicuro può dir: quel cor è mio!

17. Li Festinanti
Con voce assai brillante ed asinina si sente una bell'aria alla norcina.
O o o to no no no!
O o o to no no no!
Non comprarendo qui più mascherate, sarà ben fatto ritirarsi a cena.
O o o to no no no!
O o o to no no no!
Sento tre già certo sonate, però accostiamci tutti in buona vena.
O o o to no no no!
O o o to no no no!
Laviamoci le man, chè l'insalate già son condite e di vivande piena.
O o o to no no no!
O o o to no no no!
Ecco la mensa; noi, per un tantino, cantiamo: viva viva il bel festino!
O o o to no no no!
O o o to no no no!

18. Gioco del Conte
Propone un bel bisticcio il dolce umore; poi lascia star sonando le tre ore.
—Per seguitar lo spasso in questo loco, belle signore, su, facciamo un gioco.
—Tutte concordemente unite siamo: voi principiate e noi vi sequitiamo.
—Su su facciamne un bello, per chi starà in cervello.
—Che gioco sarà questo? Spediteci su, presto!
—Quattro versi dirò speditamente: voi replicate senza intoppar niente.
—Dite su, che siam leste per rispondervi, e preste.
—"Sopra il ponte a fronte del fonte vi stava un conte: cadde il ponte nel fonte e il conte si ruppe il fronte".
—Siete troppo vivace! Più adagio se vi piace,
—"Sopra il ponte a fronte del fonte vi stava un conte: cadde il ponte nel fonte e il conte si ruppe il fronte".
—"Sopra il ponte a fronte del conte vi stava un ponte . . ."
—Non sete in segno.Ponete un pegno.
—"Sopra il fonte a ponte conte . . ."
—Ponete un pegno.
(Campana) — Don
—E una . . .
(Campana) — Don
—E due . . .
(Campana) — Don
—E tre . . .
—Tre ore sono a fé!

19. Vinata di brindesi e ragioni
Canto, Falsetto, Alto, Tenor e Basso, col cantinier bevendo, hanno un bel spasso.
—Brindesi: al Basso, Canto ed Alto, col Falsetto.
—Che vino è questo, messer Covello?
—Questo da noi vien detto vin chiarello.
—Chiarello, buon chiarello, io to chiarisco mò: faccio ragione. (Quivi egli [il Canto] beve, nè canta più fino all'applauso.)
—Bon prò! bon prò! bon prò!
—Brindesi: al Basso, col Falsetto, ed il Contralto.
—Che vino è questo, o cantiniero?
—Questo da noi vien detto vin versiero.
—Versiero, buon versiero, io to riservo mò: faccio ragione. (Quivi egli [il Falsetto] beve, né canta più fino all'applauso.)
—Bon prò! bon prò! bon prò!
—Brindesi: al Basso, col Contralto, belli umori.
—Che vino è questo,bon compagnone?
—Questo da noi vien detto vin trincone.
—Trincone, buon trincone, ecco, ti trinco mò: faccio ragione. (Quivi il Contraltoo beve, né canta più fino all’applauso.)
—Brindesi: al Basso galamtuom e buon compagno.
—Che vino è questo, messer cotale?
—Questo da noi vien detto vin codriale.
—O dolce codriale, entrami in corpo mò,
—Brindesi! Brindesi a tutta la compagnia! (Quivi egli [il Basso] beve mentre pausa. Applauso).
—Che ne dite di questo vino?
—E' buono a fé, è buono a fé, cantiniero, gran mercè, cantiniero, gran mercè, è buono a fé! è buono a fé! E' buono a fé!

20. Sproposito di Goffi (però di gusto)
O che pazzi babbioni, o che cervelli! Che ora è questa, vender solfanelli?
—Strazz! strazz!
—Strazz e zavatt!
—Solfanei
—Donn' solfanei! Donn' solfanei!
—Solfanei! solfanei! solfanei, donn'!
—Nu fem baratt in le zavatt, in vidri rott, in fond' de bott, cevoll' e ai, pan e formai! E chi voless comprar con i quatrì, ghe ne darem tri mazz per un sesì!
—Nu fem baratt in le zavatt, in vidri rott, in fond' de bott, cevoll 'e ai, pan e formai! E chi voless comprar con i quatrì, ghe ne darem tri mazz per un sesì!
—Strazz! strazz!
—Strazz e zavatt!
—Solfanei
—Donn' solfanei! Donn' solfanei!
—Solfanei! solfanei! solfanei, donn'!

21. Il Diletto moderno licenza, et di novo invita
Il Diletto moderno in bona vena promette spasso mentre, et doppò cena.
Chi brama avere novo piacere,
di nuovo invito al fior gradito!
Giovani amanti lesti e galanti;
innamorate, con lor tornate!
Vi parlo tosco: a cena nosco
non v'invitiamo, chè troppi siamo.
S'udran cantori sfogar ardori,
constil novello, gustoso e bello.
In tanto andate; felice siate!
Voglio finire tornando a dire:
chi brama avere novo piacer,
di nuovo invito al fior gradito!

Lecons de Tenebres

eastman — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:11:46 -0000

Lecons de Tenebres
Music for the Holy Week

Lamentations of Jeremiah, by Elzear Genet dit Carpentras (ca. 1470-1548), early 16th century. From the collection of the Sistine Chapel.

Track listings and product description

1) Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)

Lecons de Tenebres
I. Troisieme Lecon de Tenebres du Mercredi Saint H.135
Herve Niquet
Le Concert Spirituel
Glossa

2) Francois Couperin (1668-1733)

Trois Lecons de Tenebres
Seconde Lecon a une voix
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Jane Rtan, viol
Christopher Hogwood, organ
L'Oiseau-Lyre

3) 4) Joseph Hector Fiocco (1703-1741)

Lamentations du Jeudi Saint
Lamentation Prima : III. Largo "Sederunt in terra"
Lamentation Tertia : III. Jerusalem
Catherine Greuillet, soprano
Jean-Christophe Leclere, organ
Maurizio Buraglia, luth
Dominique Dujardin, cello
Christine Payeux, bass cello
Syrius

5) Carlo Gesualdo (1561-1613)

Tenebre Responsories
V. O vos omnes
Peter Phillips
The Tallis Scholars
Gimell

6) Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)

O crux benedicta
Raul Mallavibarrena
Musica Ficta
Cantus

7) Emilio de Cavalieri (1550-1602)

Lamentations
In Te Domine speravi (Falsobordone)
Vincent Dumestre
Le Poeme Harmonique
Alpha

8) Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726)

Lecon de Tenebres
Lecon du Vendredi
Isabelle Desrochers, soprano
Mauricio Buraglia, theorbe
Nima Ben David, viol
Pierre Trocellier, clavecin
Auvidis

9) Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)

Lesson III for Maundy Thursday
Jeremy Summerly
Oxford Camerata
Naxos

10) Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

In adoratione Crucis
Vere languores
Musica Ficta
Cantus

11) Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

Tenebrae factae sunt
Peter Phillips
The Tallis Scholars
Gimell

12) Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Pianto della Madonna
Maria Cristina Kiehr, soprano
Jean-Marc Aymes
Concerto Soave
harmonia mundi

13) 14) Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789)

Lecons de tenebres
I Lecon du Vendredi saint
II Lecon du Vendredi saint
Isabelle Poulenard, soprano
Pascal Bertin, alto
Daniel Cuiller
Stradivaria
Cypress

15) 16) Esteban Salas (1725-1803)

Dominica in Palmis
III. Ingrediente Domine
Popule meus
Teresa Paz
Camerata Vocale Sine Nomine
Ars Longa De La Havane
K617

17) 18) Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)

Lamentatazioni per la Settimana Santa
De Lamentatione
Manum suam misit hostis
Martin Gester
Le Parlemont de Musique
opus111

19) Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)

Cantata "Su le sponde del Tebro"
Infelici miei lumi
Helen Field, soprano
Simon Wright
Philharmonia Orchestra
Nimbus

20) Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

The Lamentations of Jeremiah (I)
David Hill
Winchester Cathedral Choir
Hyperion

21) 22) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

Matthaus-Passion von 1730
Arie : So ruhe sanft in deiner Kammer
Choral : Nun wir danken dir von Herzen
Rupert Gottfried Frieberger
Barockorchester Munchen auf Originalinstrumenten
Christophorus

The prophet Jeremiah by Rembrandt

Lecons de Tenebres, known in English as "Lessons of darkness" or "Tenebrae ", is a dramatically eloquent ceremony of music and scriptural lessons, written for the liturgies of the Holy Week, during which all the lights in a church are progressively extinguished, as is traditional in a Tenebrae service, to lead the listener on a spiritual journey into the darkness.

Composers use the text of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in the Old Testament, in which the prophet deplores the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonians. In the Catholic tradition, they symbolize the loneliness of Christ, betrayed by Judas and abandoned by his apostles. The text was divided into nine ‘lessons’ sung over three days, with one candle of a special candelabra being extinguished after each lesson, until ‘tenebrae’ or darkness was achieved on Good Friday.

The Lamentations of Jeremiah are found in the Book of Lamentations, immediately following the Book of Jeremiah. While canonically attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, a different, more educated prophet most likely composed them, though this matter remains a matter of academic contention.
The Book of Lamentations are part of the liturgy of the Holy Week, and demonstrate the components of lament, atonement and repentance of the Easter festivities. The text itself is divided into 5 chapters. All but chapter 3 have 22 verses, with chapter 3 having 66 verses. The verses of the chapters are based on an acrostic based on the original Hebrew alphabet, where the first letter of each verse corresponds to the Hebrew alphabet in its usual order. In the case of chapter 3, verses are grouped in sets of three, each verse within a set beginning with the same letter, and the 22 sets ordered alphabetically.
As originally used in the Roman Catholic liturgy, the text comes from the Latin Vulgate as translated from the original by St. Jerome and further elaborated on by other translators. The Vulgate translators kept a trace of the original arrangement of the poetry by retaining the Hebrew letter at the beginning of each verse. The chant setting of the Lamentations respected the Vulgate and the initial letters provided for extended melismas (long groups of notes on the same vowel, something not traditional in Gregorian chant, but by no means rare as many alleluias have melismas). That tradition is probably as old as Gregorian itself, and may have roots in Hebrew liturgy. The majority of early composers employed melismas in their Lamentations settings.
The Lamentations were used in the office of matins of the Holy Week. Liturgically, there are 3 offices, on Holy (Maundy) Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Over time, the office moved from morning to the night before, so that in some cases the lamentations are named for Wednesday, Holy (Maundy) Thursday and Good Friday.

Missa Bruxellencis - Biber

e-ko — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:41:12 -0000

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber

Missa Bruxellensis XXIII vocum
1. Kyrie
2. Gloria
3. Credo
4. Sanctus
5. Agnus Dei

During the Baroque period, musical culture flourished, not only in the secular and social genres of opera, dance and instrumental music, but also in the many forms of sacred music, especially large-scale religious and liturgical music. These, like architecture and the fine arts, aimed to be an emanation of the ecclesia triumphans, of Heaven’s church triumphant which art and theology, particularly at that time, celebrated as a reality here on Earth. Thus, composers and musicians had the dual task of recreating the splendour of celestial music, with all its pomp and magnificence, as a reflection of Heaven itself, while at the same time satisfying the demands of court ceremonial, so that the common people might form a clear idea of the prince’s majesty, power and authority. It is therefore not surprising that the prince-bishops of Salzburg should have valued so highly this effect of music, particularly in holy places, where they glorified God through the liturgy at the same time as bolstering their own prestige.

The 17th-century Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg had quite a taste for pomp and splendor. You can see it today in their enormous, lavishly decorated cathedral; you can hear it in the big and colorful (if not terribly complex) sacred music written for special occasions there--most notably Heinrich Biber's enormous Missa Salisburgensis, written for 53 separate parts. For this disc, Jordi Savall has revived one of Biber's lesser-known extravagances--the Missa Bruxellensis (so named because the score was found in the Belgian royal library), written for two choirs of voices, two choirs of brass, and one of strings. It's a good thing this superb performance was recorded in the soaring spaces of the cathedral for which it was written: Biber stuck mostly to simple block chords (which wouldn't turn to mush in the reverberant acoustic), making his effects by passing themes back and forth between the choirs--effects this recording, by and large, manages to capture. There are a few places in this Mass (such as the "Crucifixus" in the Credo) where the composer writes interesting harmonies for voices alone; in particular, the words "miserere nobis" in the Agnus Dei have some dissonant suspensions that come as something of a shock after the uncomplicated cheerfulness we hear for most of the Mass--cheerfulness that Biber brings back for the final "dona nobis pacem" to show that all is right with the world in the Archdiocese of Salzburg.

LA CAPELLA REIAL DE CATALUNYA
I SOLI: Letizia Scherrer soprano, Pascal Bertin contretenor, Lambert Climent tenor, Antonio Abete basse TUTTI: Ana Huete soprano, David Sagastume contretenor, Lluis Vilamajo tenor, Xavier Sans basse, Michael Behringer orgue
II SOLI: Regula Konrad soprano, Carlos Mena contretenor, Francesc Garrigosa tenor, Daniele Carnovich basse TUTTI: Sandra Roset soprano, Jordi Domenech contretenor, Antoni Aragon tenor, Yves Berge basse, Luca Guglielmi orgue
LE CONCERT DES NATIONS
III Roland Callmar, Guy Ferber Pascal Geay, Andrew Hammersley trompettes, Josep Borras basson, Pedro Estevan timpani, Carlos Garcia Bernalt orgue
IV Jean-Pierre Canihac, Marie Garnier cornets a bouquin, Stefan Legee, Daniel Lasalle, Bernard Fourtet sacqueboutes, Peter Waldner orgue
V Pablo Valetti, Isabel Serrano violons, Angelo Bartoletti alto, Eunice Brandao viole de gambe, Antoine Ladrette violoncelle, Sergi Casademunt violone, Xavier Diaz theorbe

Direction: JORDI SAVALL

eastman post

Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (the first playlist)

e-ko — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:45:02 -0000

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre was considered in her days as the world’s most prominent lady musician. The sheer imagination and poetry of her secular cantatas and harpsichord pieces still astonish us today.
Les Voix Humaines

Isabelle Desrochers, dessus
Alice Piérot, violon
François Nicolet, traverso
Marc Wolf, guitare baroque & théorbe
Freddy Eichelberger, clavecin
Christine Payeux, viole de gambe

Enregistré en novembre 1999 à Paris

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665 - 1729)

01. Prélude pour clavecin en la mineur (1687) (1'38)

Le Sommeil d'Ulisse (c.1715)
02. Simphonie (1'04)
03. Récit (0'33)
04. Gracieusement & un peu louré (1'42)
05. Récit (0'12)
06. Tempête, vivement (2'12)
07. Air (2'23)
08. Récitatif (0'55)
09. Sommeil (7'52)
10. récitaif (0'33)
11. 2e récit (1'17)
12. Air, gracieusemen & louré (4'22)

13. Chaconne pour clavecin en la mineur (1687)