A Rose of Swych Virtu: reverence from the renaissance and middle agesMúsica Antigua de AlbuquerqueDennis Davies-Wilson, Allison Edwards, Sheldon Kalberg, Art Sheinberg, Colleen Sheinberg
From the Liner Notes:In 431 A.D., The ecumenical Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary to be the Mother of God, officially establishing her position in the dogma of the Church. Her prominence grew dramatically in the years which followed, and by the 13th century, the cult of the Virgin had reached its height. This was the age of the building of the great cathedrals and many were the churches, great and small, which her dedicated to her. The adoration of the secular lady, or donna, of the troubador tradition gradually became the worship of “Our Lady,” Notre Dame, Madonna. Religious orders were established in her name, and cloistered monks poured out a multitude of hymns, poems and prose works extolling her. With the exception of Christ himself, she was depicted by artists more often than any other religious subject. The Virgin Mary became the most honored and beloved of all the saints, the essence of purity, the celestial image of perfect womanhood. Foremost among the many beautiful images associated with Mary was the rose. She is the “rose without thorns,” free from original sin, a reminder that she is the “new Eve,” for according to legend the rose grew in the Garden of Eden without thornsuntil man’s fall from grace. Mary is the Mystical Rose, the “ rosa caeli,” the Rose of Heaven. She wears a crown of roses, represented by her Rosary, upon which the red, white and yellow beads or roses symbolize the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of her life. The five petals of the wild rose represent the five letters in her name Maria. The Christmas rose, a white flower which blooms at Christmas time, symbolizes the Nativity, and the Rose of Jericho, or Rose of the Virgin, was believed to have sprung up wherever the Holy Family stopped during the Flight into Egypt. As the Madonna of the Rose Garden, the Virgin appears in a bower filled with roses. And she herself is also often called an enclosed garden, a reference from the Song of Solomon which reads, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” As devotion to the Virgin grew during the Middle Ages, the details of her life became more formalized. There now appear to be references to the Seven Joys of Mary, which included the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, the Finding in the Temple, the Assumption and the Coronation. In music, the most popular of these subjects by far were those dealing with the Birth of Christ. Throughout the medieval and Renaissance eras, these themes provided composers with the inspiration for many of their most joyous melodies and their most fervent expressions of faith. Composers from all of Europe contributed to a vast repertory of music in honor of these wondrous events. From Spain we find songs of praise by Alfonso the Wise, “trobador” of Holy Mary, songs sung by humble pilgrims in the Middle Ages, and charming villancicos from the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. In France, music from religious dramas were first heard reverberating beneath the souring arches of Gothic cathedrals. Chorale settings from Reformation Germany, carols from England, motets by Italian masters, songs intended for school and church from Sweden and Poland—all form part of an incredible wealth of music which today is largely unknown. To explore this treasury is to discover not just the history of music, but also the depth of religious feeling that produced it and the variety of sounds and styles that existed across the Continent. During the Early Christian, Byzantine and Romanesque periods, artists often depicted the Virgin in stiff formal poses, with conventionalized features. By the Gothic era, however, we encounter a much warmer treatment with images of a tender and gentle madonna who smiles and bends gracefully. So too do the musical settings which follow seem to echo this trend. Compare the austerity and symbolism of Gedeonis area or Castitatis thalamum with the simplicity and warmth of a mother’s love in Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein. The chattering of busy midwives in ¡Qué bonito niño chiquito! and the childish wonder of the baby Jesus in Tau garçó, la durundena go hand in hand with a humanistic viewpoint. We present here a reverence from the past, from the awe and mysticism of the Middle Ages to the exuberant joy of the Renaissance. Track List:01) Iudicii signum, Anonymous, Spain (10th century) [1:35] 02) Gedeonis area, Anonymous, France (13th century) [1:10] 03) Cuncti simus concanentes, Llibre Vermell, Spain (14th century) [2:27] 04) Marvel not, Joseph, Anonymous, England (15th century) [4:15] 05) Edi be thu, heven-queene, Anonymous, England (13th century) [1:58] 06) Ther is no rose of swych virtu, Anonymous, England (15th century) [3:02] 07) Castitatis thalamum, Las Huelgas Codex, Spain (14th century) [1:28] 08) ¡Qué bonito niño chiquito!, Anonymous, Spain (15th century) [2:08] 09) Vom Himmel kommt, Michael Praetorius (c. 1571—1621) [2:03] 10) Dies est leticie, Anonymous, Poland (c. 1500) [0:53] 11) Puer natus est, Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500-1553) [2:18] 12) Omnis mundus jucundetur, Piae Cantiones, Sweden (1582) [1:45] 13) In dulci jubilo, Michael Praetorius [1:27] 14) Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein, Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) [1:22] 15) Stantipes, Anonymous, England (13th century) [1:42] 16) As I out rode, Anonymous, England (16th century) [1:06] 17) Ángeles del zielo, Anonymous, Spain (17th century) [1:15] 18) Verbum Patris hodie, Anonymous, Rouen (13th century) [2:47] 19) Tau garçó, la durundena, Càrceres (fl. 16th century) [1:57] 20) O staris in presepio, Anonymous, Poland (15th century) [1:08] 21) Heu, teneri partus, Fleury Playbook, France (12th century) [5:12] 22) Hodie Christus natus est, Giovanni Maria Nanino (c. 1545-1607) [2:42] 23) Personent hodie, Piae Cantiones, Sweden (1582) [1:49] 24) Nobre don e muý preçado, Las Cantigas de Santa María, Spain (13th century) [4:29] 25) Nowell sing we, Anonymous, England (15th century) [1:46] 26) Verbum patris hodie, Las Huelgas Codex, Spain (14th century) [1:49] Total Program Length: 56:56 Recording Information:Recording Engineer & Editor: Eric Larson Catalog No. DIS-80104 Música Antigua de Albuquerque can also be heard on the Dorian label release, The Sport of Love (DOR-93175) and on Música Antigua's self-released CD, Music to the Max.
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| Last updated on Thursday, November 8, 2007 9:13 PM |
