sign in sign up
<<
Home , Diego Pisador, Jacques Arcadelt, Roman school

35th SEASON Imaginario: de un libro de música de

Armonía Concertada María Cristina Kiehr soprano Ariel Abramovich vihuela de mano

Saturday 5 October 2019 Oak Bay United Church 2019-20 Concert Season

Haydn, Beethoven, If Music be the Food of Love von Weber 11 January 2020 Saturday 8pm 26 October 2019 Saturday 8pm Alix Goolden Hall Alix Goolden Hall The Baltimore Consort(USA) Eric Hoeprich classical clarinet London Haydn Quartet (UK) The Four Seasons 22 February 2020 Saturday 8pm Corelli and the Alix Goolden Hall Concerto Köln (GERMANY) 23 November 2019 Saturday 8pm Shunske Sato Alix Goolden Hall Accademia Hermans () Vivaldi in Fabio Ciofini 14 March 2020 Saturday 8pm and direction Alix Goolden Hall Martin Bernstein recorder (USA) Christmas Anna Marsh bassoon in Colonial Latin America Byron Schenkman harpsichord 21 December 2019 Saturday 8pm St. Andrew’s Cathedral (740 View St.) Plaisirs de la Chambre El Mundo (CALIFORNIA) 18 April 2020 Saturday 8pm Richard Savino Alix Goolden Hall and direction Emma Hannan soprano Victoria Baroque (PACIFIC NORTHWEST) Soile Stratkauskas flute and direction Imaginario: de un libro de música de vihuela

O dulce contemplación, a 4 Juan Vasquez (c.1500 – c.1560) Vos me matastes, a 3 Juan Vasquez Por una vez que mis oxos alcé, a 4 (1490 – 1562) "De mon triste des Plaisir” Jean Richafort (c.1480 – c.1547) Fantasia de "Mon triste" Francesco da Milano (1497 – 1543) O dolce vita mia, a 4 Adrian Willaert (1490 – 1562) Qué sentís coraçon mío, a 4 Juan Vasquez Ricercar Julio Segni da Modena (1498 – 1561) Chiare fresche et dolci acque, a 5 c.1504 – 1568)

INTERMISSION

Si de vos bien me aparto, a 5 Anónimo, Cancionero de Uppsala (pub. 1556). Se per colpa del vostro fiero sdegno, a 4 Jacques Arcadelt Se pur ti guardo, a 4 Adrian Willaert Anchor che col partir, a 4, – Anonymous (Ms Castelfranco Veneto) Fantasia sobre el “Anchor che col partire” Anonymous (Ms Castelfranco Veneto) Si no os hubiera mirado, a 4 Juan Vasquez De los álamos vengo, madre, a 4 Juan Vasquez Quien dice que l'ausencia causa olvido, a 3 Juan Vasquez Duélete de mi, señora, a 3 Juan Vasquez

3 Texts and Translations

O dulce contemplación ¡O dulce contemplación! Oh sweet contemplation! ¡O preciosa fantasía, Oh delightful fantasy, Que me muestras cada día You show me each day Una tan clara visión Such a clear vision Qu’es salud del alma mía! That is the health of my soul! Es tan grande la excelencia The excellence of your beautiful preeminence De tu linda preeminencia, Is so profound Que, por tu gracia escogida, That, by your select grace, Bivo yo de nueva vida, I live a new life, Después de muerto en ausencia. After dying in absence. GARCI SÁNCHEZ DE BADAJOZ, CANCIONERO GENERAL (VALENCIA, JORGE COSTILLA, 1514)

Vós me matastes Vós me matastes, You killed me, Niña en cabello. Girl with the long hair. Vós me aveis muerto. You have killed me. Ribera de un río On the river bank Vi moca virgo. I saw the young virgin. Niña en cabello, Girl with the long hair, Vós me aveis muerto. You have killed me. ANONYMOUS (TRADITIONAL)

Por una vez que mis ojos alcé Por una vez que mis ojos alcé For having raised my eyes dicen que yo lo maté. They said that I killed him. Ansí, vaya madre, Like that, come on mother, virgo a la veguilla, virgin of the field, como al caballero that gentleman no le di herida. I did not wound him Por una vez que mi ojos alcé For having raised my eyes dicen que yo lo maté. They said that I killed him. ANONYMOUS

O dolce vita mia O dolce vita mia, che t’haggio fatto, O my sweet life, what have I done to you, che minacci ogn’ hor, con tue parole, to make you constantly threaten me, with your words, et io mi struggo come nev’ al sole. and I languish like snow in the sun. ANONYMOUS

4 Qué sentís, coraçon mío ¿Qué sentís, coraçon mío? What do you feel, my love? ¿No dezís Don’t you say Qué mal es el que sentís? What sickness you feel? ¿Qué sentistes aquel día, What did you feel that day, Quando a mi señora vistes, When you saw me, my lady, Que perdistes alegría You lost happiness Y el descanso perdistes? And you lost rest? Como a mí nunca bolvistes, As you never returned to me, ¿No dezís Don’t you say Qué mal es el que sentís? What sickness you feel? COMENDADOR ESCRIVÁ, CANCIONERO GENERAL, RECOPILADO POR HERNANDO DEL CASTILLO (VALENCIA, 1511)

Chiare, fresche et dolci acque Chiare, fresche et dolci acque, Clear, sweet fresh water ove le belle membra where she, the only one who seemed pose colei che sola a me par donna; woman to me, rested her beautiful limbs: gentil ramo ove piacque gentle branch where it pleased her (con sospir’ mi rimembra) (with sighs, I remember it) a lei di fare al bel fiancho colonna; to make a pillar for her lovely flank: herba et fior’ che la gonna grass and flowers which her dress leggiadra ricoverse lightly covered, co l’angelico seno; as it did the angelic breast: aere sacro, sereno, serene, and sacred air, ove Amor co’ begli occhi il cor m’aperse: where Love pierced my heart with eyes of beauty: date udïenza insieme listen together a le dolenti mie parole extreme. to my last sad words. FRANCESCO PETRARCA, CANZONIERE, 126

5 Si de vos mi bien me aparto ¿Si de vos mi bien me aparto Goodness, if I abandon you, Que hare? what shall I do? Triste vida bivire. Mine will be a sad life. El bien tiene condicion Goodness has the condition De ser de todos querido, Of being loved by everyone. Si alguno lo a perdido Should one lose it, No le faltara passion, He will not be lacking in passion ¿Pues yo con tanta razon Goodness, if I abandon you, Que haré? what shall I do? Triste vida biviré. Mine will be a sad life. ANONYMOUS

Se per colpa del vostro fiero sdegno Se per colpa del vostro fiero sdegno, Should, because of your proud disdain, il dolor che me affligge, the pain that afflicts me drag me, Madonna, mi trasporta al alta Stigge: Milady, down into the dark Styx: non havro dol del mio supplicio indegno, I shall feel no pain for that undeserved torture, né del eterno fuoco: nor for the eternal fire, ma di voi, che verret’ a simil loco. but rather for you, who will come down to such a place. Perché soventi in voi mirando fiso Because I’ve embedded in my memory, per virtù del bel viso by virtue of many stares, your beautiful face, pena non fia la giù che al cor mi tocchi, there won’t be suffering down there that could touch my heart, sol’ un tormento avrò, di chiuder gli occhi. — torment will only come when I close my eyes [and see you]. , RIME (NAPLES AND , 1530)

Se pur ti guardo Se pur ti guardo If I as much as look at you, Dolce anima mia my sweet soul Tu me ne trai You draw del peto il vivo core caro thesoro my living heart from my breast, dear treasure, Viso mio bello beautiful face. Deh non mi dar tanto martello O, do not give me so much a hammering, ch’io son pur tuo servitore for I am your servant. Deh non mi far morir O, do not let me die. O dolce anima mia. O my sweet soul.

Si no os uviera mirado Si no os uviera mirado If I hadn’t looked at you Pluguier’a Dios que n’os viera; It would please God that I hadn’t seen you; Porque mi vida no fuera Because my life wasn’t Cativa de su cuidado. Lacking his care. Mas, pues os é conocido But, as I know you Solamente por quereros, Just by loving you, Quiero más quedar perdido I’d prefer to remain lost Que cobrado por no veros. Than be poorer for not having seeing you.

6 De los álamos vengo, madre, a 4 De los álamos vengo, madre, I come from the poplars, mother, de ver cómo los menea el aire. from seeing the breezes stir them. De los álamos de Sevilla, From the poplars of Seville, de ver a mi linda amiga. from seeing my sweet love, De los álamos vengo, madre, I come from the poplars, mother, de ver cómo los menea el aire. from seeing the breezes stir them.

Quien dice que l’ausencia causa olvido Quien dize quel Ausencia causa Olvido He who says that absence causes forgetfulness Merece ser de todos olvidado. Deserves by all to be forgotten. El Verdadero y firme Namorado The only truly and firmly in love Está quando ‘sta ausente, mas perdido. Is, when absent, more at lost. Abiva la Memoria su Sentido. Memory enlivens his senses, La Soledad levanta su Cuydado. Solitude enhances his grief. Hallarse de su Bien tan apartado Being so distant from his beloved Haze su Dessear mas encendido. Inflames his desire the more. No sanan las Heridas en él dadas, The wounds given him are not healed Aun que cesse el Mirar que las causó, Even though the sight that caused them ceases, Si quedan en el Alma Confirmadas. For in his soul it was confirmed. Que si Uno ‘sta con muchas cuchilladas, For if one has many gashes Por que huya de quién le acuchilló Fleeing from the one who slashed, No por esso serán meior curadas. Not for this will they be better cured. JUAN BOSCÁN (LAS OBRAS DE BOSCÁN Y ALGUNAS DE GARCILASO DE LA VEGA REPARTIDAS EN CUATRO LIBROS, BARCELONA, CARLOS AMORÓS, 1543)

Duélete de mi, señora, a 3 Duélete de mí, señora, Feel for me, my lady, señora, duélete de mí, My lady, feel for me, que si yo penas padezco If I suffer from pain todas son, señora, por ti. It is all for you, my lady. El día que no te veo A day without seeing you mil años son para mí, Is like a thousand years to me. ni descanso, ni reposo, I do not rest or repose, ni tengo vida sin ti. I have no life without you. Los días no los bivo My days are unlived suspirando siempre por ti. As I always sigh over you. ¿Dónd'estás que no te veo, Where are you? I don’t see you alma mía, qué es de ti? My love, where are you?

7 Programme Notes

THE MAKING OF AN IMAGINARY SONGBOOK The project of Ariel Abramovich to create a new imaginary songbook might be described as an incredible Given the many people who performed on the vihuela exercise in credible fantasy. Although many compositions in sixteenth-century , why have so few of these appear in several of the books, the same texts often vary in instruments survived? Why are there only a small number musical setting. of musical sources in existence for an instrument that was This anthology also includes a couple of pieces from so popular? These are the two questions most asked of the recently recovered Castelfranco manuscript, a those who study and play the vihuela today. manuscript from the Veneto region. The cultural link with We know that from thousands existing in the sixteenth Spain is implied by the inclusion in it of pieces by Luis century, maybe only five or six survive. For these, experts Milán from El Maestro (1536). cannot agree on age, provenance, makers, authenticity, or From the surviving vihuela books, we know the whether some are true or should be reclassified as of vocal whose music was most . From more than one hundred and fifty violeros in highly prized among instrumentalists and those who sang Spain at the time, we could expect at least twenty thousand to vihuela accompaniment. Among Spaniards, the secular to have been produced. What would have happened songs of Juan Vásquez were preeminent while Cristóbal to them? Conversion to guitars? Neglect? Wormwood? Morales composed sacred music to create complex and Burned during annual San Juan bonfires? moving polyphony. Five works by Vásquez are included in Only seven books of seven hundred vihuela the imaginary songbook: O dulce contemplación, Por una compositions along with twenty or thirty works found vez que mis ojos alcé, Qué sentís coraçón, Quien dize que la in manuscripts currently exist. Vihuelas were ubiquitous ausencia and Si no os hubiera mirado. in courtly and urban life but there was no strong music Also influential in Spain were the madrigalists Adrian printing industry in Spain. Willaert and Jacques Arcadelt. The transformation of Printing materials, including the purpose-specific type many of their polyphonic into accompanied needed to print vihuela tablature, were scarce. Three of lute songs met with great success in Italy and was mirrored the seven surviving books were published with the same by vihuelists in Spain. Two madrigals by Willaert appear type, passed from one printer to another, probably not in the imaginary songbook: O dolce vita mia and Se pur without the exchange of money. Tight government control ti guardo. Arcadelt’s settings of texts by and of industries such as printing did not have the flexibility Sannazaro, Chiare, fresche e dolci acque and Se per colpa del to permit a music publishing industry to flourish. The vostro fiero sdegno, are their beautiful complement. Spanish publishing system, especially the concession These works, together with the ricercar by Giulio of printing privilege to authors rather than printers and Segni, a well known to Venegas de Henestrosa, publishers, meant that most money earned from book sales and madrigals known from further collections such as went to the author and there was little margin for those in the Cancionero de Uppsala, complete an anthology the middle, especially for printers who may have wanted that is presented in a variety of instrumental and vocal to become publishers in their own right. Moreover, the combinations. It is a body of work that offers an imaginary system meant that authors often had to look after the listening experience, blending the real and the imaginary distribution of their books themselves, and few of them without a discernible line of demarcation. had the necessary experience or trade networks. For these reasons, music books were usually printed only once in a John Griffiths (Specialist: vihuela, lute, guitar) printer’s life. November 2018 (edited)

8 The Artists

Maria Cristina Kiehr Cölln, Ensemble Vocal Européen, Hespèrion XX, Elyma, Argentine soprano, Maria Cristina Kiehr, born to Danish Nederlands Kamerkoor, Concerto Köln, Ensemble 415. descendants, received her early musical training in An all-European artist, Switzerland is her home. Kiehr is Argentina, studying violin as a child in the city of Tandil. married to cellist Orlando Theuler. At the age of 17, she discovered her soft, amazing soprano and her love of . Ariel Abramovich After only a year of voice lessons, she began her studies Ariel Abramovich studied lute and vihuela with Hopkinson in performance at the Schola Cantorum Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and subsequently Basiliensis under René Jacobs. During that time, she took in with Eugène Ferré. In 1998 he formed "El courses in vocal technique with Eva Krasnai. Cortesano" with counter-tenor José Hernández-Pastor to In 1988 Kiehr made her opera début in Innsbruck in explore the Spanish vihuela repertoire, and in 2002 the duo Cavalli’s Giasone under René Jacobs. She has also sung released the first ever album solely devoted to Valladolid in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Orontea, and Dido and vihuela composer Estevan Daça. In 2009 they produced Aeneas (Purcell) under René Jacobs, Dafne (Gagliano), an album on another rarely-heard vihuelista, Salamanca- L’Orfeo (Monteverdi) and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria born . (Monteverdi) under Gabriel Garrido, as well as the title In 2008 Abramovich began work on the 16th & role in Dorillo in Tempe (Antonio Vivaldi) under Gilbert 17th century English lute song repertoire with tenor Bezzina and Il schiavo di sua moglie (Provenzale) under John Potter, and they became the catalyst for the Toni Florio. Her operatic repertoire encompasses works Amores Pasados and Secret History recordings on ECM by Georg Philipp Telemann (Orpheus), Blow (Venus y with Anna Maria Friman and Jacob Heringman. Their Adonis), Glück (Orphée et Euridice), Cesti (L’Orontea), Alternative History project re-imagines Haydn (Orlando Palladino); she has also recorded most polyphony as lute song (as musicians would have of these. done in the 16th and 17th centuries) and has Kiehr is particularly interested in early Baroque music commissioned new music from rock musicians John and is co-founder of the ensembles “La Colombina”, Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Tony Banks (Genesis) and “Daedalus”, and “Concerto Soave”. In the beginning of Sting. With Jacob Heringman, Abramovich also released her career, she was attracted by integration with other Cifras Imagnarias, an album of intabulations for two singers and musicians within the polyphonic texture, but on Arcana. now is turning more to solo performance. In 2013 he formed the duo Armonía Concertada She is incontestably one of today’s leading vocal artists with soprano Maria Cristina Kiehr, dedicated to the 16th in the field of Baroque music and has appeared throughout Century Iberian repertoire for voice and plucked strings, the world in concerts and recordings with celebrated and has recently begun working with soprano Perrine conductors, like René Jacobs, Jordi Savall, Nikolaus Devillers on musical texts from the Italian Cinquecento. Harnoncourt, Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen, Abramovich gives masterclasses at conservatories and Gustav Leonhardt, Konrad Junghänel, and with orchestras educational institutions around the world, including and ensembles specializing in the Baroque music field Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, the US, the Czech including Concerto Vocale Leipzig, La Fenice, Cantus Republic, Slovakia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay.

9 Supporting the Society

Make a Donation help the Fund grow. These operating grants will both assist The Early Music Society of the Islands relies on in presenting artists who would otherwise be unaffordable individual donations, memberships, and grants to and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Society. sustain its operations each year. Your donation will help Tax receipts will be provided. to present concerts featuring internationally-renowned artists and to promote interest and appreciation of Early You can contribute directly to this Fund in three ways: Music in the community. MAIL By sending a cheque to: Ways to Donate Early Music Endowment Fund, Victoria Foundation, ONLINE To make a secure online donation Suite #109–645, Fort Street Victoria, BC V8W 1G2 by Visa, MasterCard or AmEx, visit: www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca ONLINE Donate online by Visa, MasterCard, Amex at the Victoria Foundation’s Web site: MAIL Please send cheque payable to EMSI to: http://www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca/web/give/ways Click EMSI Donations c/o McPherson Box Office, on “give now” to go to CanadaHelps, select “Donate #3 Centennial Square, Victoria BC V8W 1P5 Now” and choose “Early Music Endowment Fund” from the drop-down list. THROUGH UNITED WAY OR EMPLOYEE CAMPAIGNS If your employer participates in BEQUESTS OR GIFTS OF SECURITIES the United Way or other employee campaigns, Bequests or gifts of life insurance or securities may you can support the Early Music Society of the Islands be arranged through the Victoria Foundation. by writing in the gift on your pledge For more information, visit www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca card. Our charitable registration number is or phone the Foundation at (250) 381–5532. 11889-0367-RR0001. Sponsorships To discuss donation options, please contact BUSINESS SPONSORS The Society welcomes business Rondallyn Perras, Fundraising Director sponsorships and will provide appropriate public [email protected] acknowledgement of such support. Tax receipts are issued for all donations of $10 and over. CONCERT SPONSORS James Young, Artistic Director [email protected] would be Donate for the Future pleased to offer guidance and information relating to gifts The Early Music Endowment Fund is owned and to support a specific concert. managed on our behalf by the Victoria Foundation. Each year, part of the investment income is given as Please contact us at: a grant to EMSI and the balance is re-invested to [email protected]

Thank you for your generosity in supporting Early MusicS on southern Vancouver Island www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca PHONE 250-882-5058 For advance notice of EMSI concerts and performers, subscribe to the EMSI newsletter: www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

The programme, notes, and artist biographies are available on the EMSI website prior to each concert

EMSI wishes to thank…

The EMSI Volunteer Guild Caroline Mitic, graphic designer for EMSI David Strand, maintainer of the EMSI website

www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

11