THE UNM EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE

The UNM Early Music Ensemble is a chamber ensemble in which students perform music from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras in music history. Both vocal and instrumental styles are covered in the class repertoire, and students learn to play replicas of historic instruments from these time periods.

The department has available for student use a number of period instruments, including recorders, crumhorns and shawms in various sizes, a set of violas da gamba, a medieval (Memling) harp, a Celtic harp, vielle, psaltery, Baroque flute, lute, two rebecs, a portative organ and more. The department also maintains several harpsichords for students who wish to study, including a Hubbard French double manual, a Zuckermann single manual and a Zuckermann Italian virginal. The class performs each semester in Keller Hall, which was named for Dr. Walter Keller, the faculty member who formed the ensemble (then called the UNM Collegium Musicum) in 1965.

The Early Music Ensemble is open to all students, both majors and non-majors, as well as to members of the community. Both instrumentalists and vocalists are welcome. Previous acquaintance with medieval, Renaissance or Baroque music is not required. For more information or to schedule an informal audition, please contact the director, Colleen Sheinberg, at (505) 277-8401, or via e-mail at colleens@unm.edu.

UPCOMING EVENTs: "Spanish Roots." Guest performance on the Institute for Medieval Studies Spring Lecture Series. Thursday, April 4, 5:15 p.m., Woodward Hall, UNM Campus. Admission free. Semester Class Concert. Music from Spain and the Spanish New World, from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Also featuring several songs from the Sephardic Jewish tradition. Sunday, May 4, 3:00 p.m., Keller Hall, UNM Center for the Arts. Admission free.

Audio Links

The links below are recorded from live performances by the Early Music Ensemble.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD:

• Worldes blis ne last no throwe (Anonymous, 13th century English) [4:08]
• Laudemus  virginem (Anonymous, from Llibre Vermell, 14th century Spanish) [2:00]
• A virgen mui groriosa (Anonymous, from Las Cantigas de Santa María, 13th century Spanish) [1:27]
• Sancta mater gracie–Dou way, Robin (Anonymous, 14th century English) [2:47]
• In taberna (from Carmina burana, late 14th century) [1:14]

RENAISSANCE PERIOD:

• Ben venga maggio (anonymous, late 15th century Italian) [1:23]
• Come again, sweet love doth now invite (John Dowland, 1562-1626) [2:31]
• Pavan (Anonymous, early 17th century English) [2:58]
• Dolce amoroso focho (Anonymous, late 15th century) [1:24]
• Pavana Marquese (Anonymous, from The Lumley Books, 16th century) [1:38]
• Gathering Peascods (from John Playford's The Dancing Master, 1651) [1:43]

BAROQUE PERIOD:

• Aria (Robert Bateman, d. 1618) [1:24]
• Damigella tutta bella (Claudio Monteverdi, 1567-1643) [1:47]