L.L. Ave Maris Stella by Giullaume Dufay

This piece, "Ave Maris Stella," is Latin for "Hail the star of the Ocean." The music opens with a soloist chanting the nuematic cantus firmus, then the choir enters with an extremely rich and melismatic verse. The harmonies the piece utilizes are absolutely amazing, and there is one tiny section where a sound was created that I never had actually conceptualized to be possible. At this stage in a musician's life, this is obviously rare, but I was surprised by Dufay.

Upon a little research, I wasn't able to get a translation completely from Latin to English, but I believe the term, "Star of the Ocean," is a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The piece was performed by an ensemble called Pomerium, and directed by Alexander Blachly. Pomerium, which is Latin for "Orchard," was a 14 voiced group founded in New York to perform the music of the Renaissance, and they are particularly acclaimed for their interpretations of Dufay, Gesualdo, and Monteverdi. Blachly is the founder, and is still an extremely active figure in early performance to this day.

L.L. Jacob Obrecht - Salve Regina

Obrecht was born in 1458 and died in 1505. His music is characterized by very flowing melodies and stable harmonic structures; however he is criticized for over repetition and rigid rhythm, exemplifying the overly strict contrapuntal style of the day. His treatment of the cantus firmus is usually verbatim, and differs greatly from that of Ockeghem or Josquin, who tend to treat the cantus firmus very freely.

I found the piece to be a bit hard to listen to all the way through. It lacked much of the majesty and sensitivity that I have come to expect from this style. My particular niche seems to rest with Ockeghem. The music seems to be either for those who seek a purely intellectual representation of the musical ideas.

L.L. Handel - Water Music "Air"

A quick description of the piece makes for another great High Baroque studying tool. Four part strings, with harpsichord continuo, trading the main theme back and forth between the winds and the strings. Simple and easy to follow functional tonality. Cadences feature a trill on the upper neighbor for a V-I, perfect authentic cadence. Unchanging rhythm, with dotted patterns in the Baroque idiom which is so easy to recognize, and lends the music much of its stately charm. The few motives are used and developed throughout the piece, and the main theme is so easily discernible from start to finish.

Water music has always been, when I come back to it, an upbeat and life-affirming masterpiece for me. I always forget just how fantastic it is, and years at a time have gone by without my thinking of it at all. Nevertheless, a mistake easily rectified. I do wonder though what it is about the piece that makes it not quite so paramount to my casual listening agenda. I may attribute it to the fact that it can be seen as salon music, rather than a High Baroque masterpiece. Or maybe it can lack the "Gravitas," of some other works of the period by Handel and other composers.

Listening Lab Response- 20/10/09 Perotin

The film we watched in the lab intrigued me with its odd presentation of astounding information. Its progress kept my attention as the scholars unveiled the ancient mysteries of the Parisian cathedral setup. For example, the architectural allegory of defense against evil from the West by the Cathedral, and from the East by the palace. The musical and religious times come to life as a result of the years of work these scholars dedicated to the unravelling thereof.

The musical performances were fantastic, and it created a new perspective to see the singers at work, since their posture, vocal practices, and approach to performing is so different from what we're used to in our day. It is difficult to maintain a human connection with music so old and foreign to our ears without the occasional reassurance that people had written it and still perform it, and that its more than just a museum piece.

I also liked the light shows that accompanied some of the chant. Such a presentation gave the music something between a psychedelic and an ethereal atmosphere,the lights being the last thing I expected at the time, and had never even considered the possibility. Although I'm sure most purists could find this to be a bit overboard with good reason, it was effective for me.

The Medieval justification of Mary's perpetual virginity by head birth was a stretch for me. However, Athena was said to have been born out of Zeus' skull, and the similarities between those two different cultures is fascinating. Although the context of these two births is very distinct, and the two characters fulfill different roles in their lives, we may choose to see a deeper symbolism that lived in the ancient world concerning head birth, as absurd as that sounds. I don't know what that says about the sanctity of traditional birthing of children. Aeschylus, in his play cycle, "Orestiae," describes Athena's birth from the skull of her father as more pure than a traditional birth, and betrays what the ancients had to say about women's biological role.

L.L. Philippe de Vitry-Gratissima Virginis Species

Philippe de Vitry was an accomplished French composer, poet, and music theorist. Aside from all of his other innovations, he is accredited with being the author of the Ars Nova treatise.

The song is about a man seeking to find the perfect woman, who is pure, caring, beautiful and strong. There is a subtle tone of reference to the virgin Mary, but the text is not religious until the very last stanza, when the singer begs for god to grant unto him the status of the immortals through a kiss.

This piece is extremely rhythmic with dotted patterns throughout. A sense of joy and fulfilled longing and relief works well with the text. The piece is performed by the British early music group called, "Gothic Voices," which was founded in 1981 by Christopher Page.

Von Bingen's Ordo Virtutem- Reaction

The piece for me was an astounding experience, to be forthright. Although it was the most supreme religious overload of the semester for me, it was able to take me out of my present state of mind at the time of hearing, and take me to a consciousness of purity. A great meditation, and a look into the early Christian views upon self-fulfillment vs. religious duty, as well as good vs. evil, in their polar manifestations. Catholic mythology, for lack of a better word, has always been the most intriguing aspect of the religion to me. All the saints, and all the sinners, and all the stories and allegories behind them is enough to keep one occupied to an extended degree. As Oscar Wilde so put it, "Catholicism is such a Romantic religion, with its saints and sinners. The protestants only have decent people."

On another level, the depiction of the devil in the ordeal was fantastic. He reminded me of Milton's Lucifer, rather than the popular bloodthirsty image of lore. Satan asked questions of the virtues that were not totally unfathomable to the average person. This is especially so when he asked humility, "Why would anyone choose to follow you? No one even knows your name." Especially in our time, self-realization and confidence are almost the established creed. From Nietzsche and Ayn Rand, some of the most read writers and philosophers of the last two hundred years, one encounters what to the medieval mind comes from Satan, which is fascinating in its own right.

On the whole, I don't know if I could watch it again for a little while. It is a bit grueling musically and also in its religiousness and denial of what to us is everyday. However, I will be thinking about it for some time.

L.L. Heinrich Schutz - O Jesu, Nomen Dolce

The piece is from the Kleine Geistliche Konzert Vol. II. It is a very easy to grasp example of Early Baroque style. The accompaniment functions as a stable ostinato drawing from a figured bass, making it a clear example of monody. The performer, Andreas Scholl, decorates the melodic line with ornamentations only when necessary. The phrases serve to bring out the lyrics, in each little nuance, rather than gigantic sweeping motions characteristic of the High Renaissance style before it. One can excuse the occasional melismatic passages as far as stylistic purity is concerned. The rhythm is generally very metrical and easy to follow, until the last sections, when melodic embellishments prepare for the end of the piece.

On first hearing, it is easy to see how this took steps forward and ushered in the Baroque period. Phrases are easily decipherable, rather than the Palestrina-esque sense of endless continuity. Most importantly, it easy when looking at a score, to see that tonality is essential to the emotional construction. The tonality is particularly apparent at the last phrase of the piece, which progresses I-V-vi-V. Six chords always get me. The final cadence however leaves me a bit perplexed, since it resolves on g, but feels like a I in b-flat...

Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672)

L.L. Heinrich Isaac - Innsbruck, Ich Muss dich Lassen

Heinrich Isaac lived from 1450-1517, and his life and body of work spread across the Early and High Renaissance. A very important German composer, and the teacher of Ludwig Senfl.

This piece, if I had to take my guess, is from the stylistically Early Renaissance output of Isaac. It is unaccompanied. Very little trace of counterpoint exist, and it still maintains a clearly modal sense of harmony. The line is very consistent and flowing, with rests indicating the breath in between the music and text. Each cadence hosts either an upper neighbor or an escape tone to indicate its approach. Very little dissonance is heard.

Program Notes- Leonin's Propter Veritatem

Propter Veritatem -Leonin (1150-1210)

"Propter Veritatem," meaning "Because of Your Rectitude," was composed by Leonin and is included in the major work accredited to him, the "Magnus Liber." This chant served as the centerpiece for the Mass of the Assumption in the Middle Ages, which celebrates the ascension of Mary into Heaven

Considered one of the most interesting and enigmatic chants of the period, the piece demonstrates astounding traits of dexterity and harmonic expansiveness. Propter Veritatem's melodic arch is downright impressive. Among the many melismas, he contains one melisma that stretches out to 27 notes from one syllable.

The text of the chant is in two parts. The opening session speaks to Mary of all the virtues that she possesses, and then it starts a responsory verset. The verset is usually taken from the Book of Psalms, but for Mary's highest feast the text is taken from the Song of Songs.

Leonin is the first known composer of polyphonic organum, which is chant with several parts. It is assumed that he was French, and was employed at the cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris.

All the information we have of Leonin comes from a theorist known as Anonymous 4, who was probably a college student writing on the current musical situation of the time, giving us insight into what it like to be a musician in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

James LaVelle

The Atmosphere and Experience of Chant

The true glory and pride of chant music is for me most realized in the context of its conception, that is, in a cathedral. When listening to the music, it takes on a whole new quality of majesty and serenity if the space of a cathedral is reproduced on the recording. The sound is able to grew, augment, fill, and finally slowly die away in a peaceful echo.

A personal experience convinced me of the power of chant music in houses of worship. Over the summer I visited Europe for 2 and a half months. While there I visited over 10 of the major cathedrals of Europe. Each was astounding in its own right, but the serenity of the experience was complicated by talking, camera shots, tour guides, and so forth, except in one. In the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris, there was hardly in whisper in the entire structure. I attribute this to the chant music that is perpetually performed in the building. A sense of reverence and quiet was tangible throughout.

Something that chant has been able to isolate for me as a musical quality is the appreciation of space as it relates to sound. Especially considering the stone surfaces of the interiors, the sound was able to fill up a gigantic space with little effort, and great expressive abilities became available.