Songs And Dances Of The Middle Ages - Sonus

Ensemble: Sonus Album: Song And Dances Of The Middle Ages Video: Christ Church MS 92, XIV secolo   / musicamedievale   • Sonus is an American ensemble founded in 1988, consisting of James Carrier, Hazel Ketchum, and John Holenko. Their album is a truly delightful listen, offering interpretations of classic pieces from the medieval repertoire, alongside improvisations and original compositions inspired by the style of the Middle Ages. Released in 1993 on the Dorian Discovery label, this work is extremely hard to find, and its price is quite high for a CD. Below, I share some information taken from the liner notes, written by James Carrier. Presented here is a variety of secular music from the the middle ages. There are songs of love and chivalry, worship and pilgrimage, and there is music for dancing. Dance music of the period has come down to us in just a few precious manuscripts. Presuming that we do not possess all of the dance music of the 13th and 14th centuries, we have fashioned dances and purely instrumental interpretations of some originally tested material. The dances contained in the Italian source (listed as A.. 29987 in the British Library) are justly famous and it has been suggested that they are perhaps a form of chamber music for listening as well as dancing. The first piece, “Danca” is not to be found in any historical source but was improvised by the ensemble. The Galician-Portuguese Cantigas de Santa Maria were assembled at the court of Alfonso X of Castile and Leon. The 400 songs recount the miracles of the Virgin Mary. Of the four cantigas presented here, two are sung and two performed instrumentally. Seven songs by the 13th century composer Martin Codas have been preserved. One of them, “Ay Ondas”, has a note pattern so suggesting the dance that we have treated it as such. From the German repertoire we have the romantic nature song “Loibere risen” and “Sic mea Fata” (Carmina Burana 116). “Der kunic Rudolf” a tongue-in-cheek homage to this patron and we use it as a fanfare-prelude to this set. The “Palastinalied” of Walther von der Vogelweide is such a famous song that we decided to present it as pure instrumental melody, while attempting to preserve the character of the text. A special collection is the Catalonian “Llibre Vermell” from the monastery of Montserrat. It contains a pilgrims' book of sacred songs and mons in praise or the Virgin. Three of the monophonic songs, “Los set Gotex”, “Cuncti sinus” and “Polorum Regina”, are given here along with the two-part “Stella splendens” and “Inperatriz” and the tightly-composed three-part “Mariam matrem”. The Hocket was both a musical technique and a genre, and great fun at perform. The word “hocket” is based on the French equivalent of “hiccup”, and designates a vocal or instrumental piece in which the phrases of each musical line are broken up by rests, and the resulting gaps are filled in by one of the other lines. This example is constructed over the “In seculum” tenor. The influence of the troubadour movement was felt in other monophonic song of the time and the music of the troubadours and trouveres is richly varied in melodic style and forms. If Guillaume de Machaut is the last in this great tradition, the monophonic “Comment q’ua moy” is a late great example, shile “Dame ne regardez pas” gives us Machaut as a brilliant polyphonist. I wish you happy listening, Mirko Virginio Volpe MUSICA MEDIEVALE • 1 Danca / Lamento Di Tristano / Istanpitta Gaetta - Italy 14th Century 2 A Virgen Que De Deus Madre - Alfonso X El Sabio 3 Quen A Omagenta - Alfonso X El Sabio 4 Se Ome Fezer - Alfonso X El Sabio 5 A Virgen Mut Groriosa - Alfonso X El Sabio 6 Ay Ondas - Martin Codax 7 Der Kuninc Rudolf 8 Loibere Risen - Wizlav Von Rügen 9 Sic Mea Fata (Carmina Burana 116) 10 Palastinalied - Walther Von Der Vogelweide 11 Chanconeta Tedesca - Italy 14th Century 12 Stella Splendens - Llibre Vermell De Montserrat 13 Mariam Matrem - Llibre Vermell De Montserrat 14 Imperantz - Llibre Vermell De Montserrat 15 Los Set Gotex - Cuncti Simus - Llibre Vermell De Montserrat 16 Polorum Regina - Llibre Vermell De Montserrat 17 Hocket In Seculum - French 13th Century 18 Can Vei La Lanzeta Mover - Bernard De Ventadorn 19 Quant Je Voi Yver - Colin Muset 20 Comment Qua Moy - Guillaume De Machaut 21 Dame Ne Regardez Pas - Guillaume De Machaut 22 Reis Glorios - Guiraut de Bornelh 23 Estampie Real - French 13th Century • Buy: https://cutt.ly/WyRab2jS • 🌻 The monetization of this channel is disabled to offer the highest possible listening quality. Please support the channel with a free donation: http://paypal.me/volpemirko or   / musicamedievale   • ➳ Don't forget to also add yourself to the Medieval Music Whatsapp group, so you don't miss a single update about medieval music: no silly chats and your phone number will not be viewable by me or by any other community participant. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaI7...