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THE MYSTERY of DO-RE-MI

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THE MYSTERY of DO-RE-MI CHRISTOPHER GABBITAS (baritone) studied and trained at St. John’s College, Cambridge and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. He joined the King’s Singers as second baritone in early 2004, before which he sang with many of London’s professional choral ensembles, including the King’s Consort, Polyphony and the English Concert, as well as being a Gentleman of the Temple Church. From 2001 to 2003 he was a practising solicitor at a top city law firm. He lives in London with his THE MYSTERY American wife, Stephanie. DAVID MILLER (lutenist) is a long established soloist and well known as an of accompanist and continuo player on lute, theorbo and early guitars, flourishing in the various realms of the early music world, as well as making his mark in the modern musical scene. DO-RE-MI He performs and records with all the principal English period instrument orchestras and with many of the finest ensembles. He is a professor of lute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at Trinity College of Music. David is also a tutor for the European Union Baroque Orchestra. STUART LYONS (creator/producer) is author of 'Horace’s Odes and the Mystery of Do-Re-Mi' which is published in conjunction with this recording and establishes the remarkable link between Horatian music, Guido d’Arezzo and the invention of do-re-mi. Christopher Gabbitas Stuart was senior Classics scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. He is an honorary DLitt of Keele University and was awarded a CBE in 1993. baritone Edinburgh-born, IAIN KERR (musical arranger) enjoys international acclaim as a pianist, organist, conductor, arranger and recording artist with considerable experience in choral David Miller work in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Iain is a Fellow of both Trinity College of lute Music, London, and the Royal College of Organists, as well as a Bachelor of Music. Published in conjunction with 'HORACE’S ODES AND THE MYSTERY OF DO-RE-MI' by Stuart Lyons, Aris & Phillips www.oxbowbooks.com www.signumrecords.com SIGCD098 THE MYSTERY OF DO-RE-MI 1 Q. Horatius Flaccus Carmen IV. xi: ‘Ad Phyllidem’ (c.15 BC) HORACE: Ode to Phyllis (Latin) Est mihi nonum Est mihi nonum superantis annum Telephum quem tu petis occupavit plenus Albani cadus; est in horto, non tuae sortis iuvenem puella HORACE: Ode to Phyllis (English) I’ve a full flask Phylli, nectendis apium coronis, dives et lasciva tenetque grata PAUL the DEACON and GUIDO d’AREZZO Ut queant laxis est hederae vis compede vinctum. multa, qua crines religata fulges; terret ambustus Phaethon avaras Christopher Gabbitas (baritone) ridet argento domus; ara castis spes et exemplum grave praebet ales vincta verbenis avet immolato David Miller (lute) Pegasus terrenum equitem gravatus spargier agno; Bellerophontem, cuncta festinat manus, huc et illuc semper ut te digna sequare et ultra Published in conjunction with cursitant mixtae pueris puellae, quam licet sperare nefas putando HORACE’S ODES AND THE MYSTERY OF DO-RE-MI sordidum flammae trepidant rotantes disparem vites. age iam, meorum by Stuart Lyons vertice fumum. finis amorum – Aris & Phillips www.oxbowbooks.com ut tamen noris quibus advoceris non enim posthac alia calebo gaudiis, Idus tibi sunt agendae femina – condisce modos, amanda Recorded at the Royal College of Music, London, 18 December 2006. qui dies mensem Veneris marinae voce quos reddas: minuentur atrae Musical arrangements: © Stuart Lyons and Iain Kerr 2006. All rights reserved. findit Aprilem, carmine curae. Mastered by Raphael Mouterde, Floating Earth Ltd Cover image: Andy Warhol - Details of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, iure solemnis mihi sanctiorque 1482) 1984, red and blue-green with yellow and white on salmon pink ground (detail). paene natali proprio, quod ex hac Photograph of Christopher Gabbitas: Marco Borggreve luce Maecenas meus adfluentes ordinat annos. Design: Andrew Giles 2 3 2 Horace 3 Paul the Deacon Odes IV.11: ‘Ode to Phyllis’ Verses in Praise of St John the Baptist (c.790 AD) (tr. Stuart Lyons 2006 AD) Musical setting by Guido d’Arezzo (c.1030 AD) I’ve a full flask of Alban wine, Telephus, whom you like to chase, Ut queant laxis resonare fibris (O free our sinful lips from stain Phyllis, that’s nine years old and more; Is not a lad that you can gain; mira gestorum famuli tuorum, That we your servants may rejoice My garden has parsley you can twine He’s owned by a rich, playful lass, solve polluti labii reatum, At your great miracles again, For garlands, and a mighty store Who keeps him on a pleasant chain. sancte Iohannes! Holy St John, with open voice!) Of ivy to bind your shining hair. Phaethon’s scorching by Jove’s fire The silver smiles within my home; Scares off high hopes; the winged flight Chaste vervain covers my old altar Of Pegasus sets an example dire, That craves the sacrifice of a lamb. For he threw off his earthly knight, THE MYSTERY OF DO-RE-MI Hither and thither servants hurry; Bellerophon. Keep to what is fit! artly thanks to The Sound of Music, the first syllables of the six opening The slave boys run, the busy girls; Do not unequal loves approve! even the least musical among us half-lines of Paul the Deacon’s eighth- And rolling flames flicker and carry Don’t hope beyond the right limit! Phas heard of do-re-mi, the memory century verses in praise of St John the Black smoke that up the chimney curls. Come to me now, my own last love, – device or mnemonic which describes Baptist. These were the words that the relationships of the musical scale. Guido used for his musical setting. Please understand this joyful date! No other girl will keep me warm, – However, the origins of the tune have But, although Guido found the original You’re called to keep the Ides with me, Learn, learn the music! Come along, been surrounded in mystery. do-re-mi music and used it, he did not Which April’s mid-point celebrate, And with your lovely voice perform! It is known that Guido d’Arezzo, a compose it. The music was in fact an The month of Venus of the Sea. Dark cares will become less with song. brilliant eleventh-century Benedictine arrangement for Horace’s Ode to Phyllis choirmaster, invented the stave and (Odes IV.11) which still survives in a This truly is a solemn day, the do-re-mi solmization system as tenth-century Carolingian manuscript Almost more sacred, it appears, aids for his choristers. Do-re-mi was in the medical library at Montpellier Than my own birthday; from today originally ut-re-mi, and it is known, too, University in France. Horace (65 - 8 BC) Maecenas counts his flowing years! that these names were taken from was the Latin poet and songwriter who 4 5 had entertained the elite of Augustan Montpellier codex, and combining them administrator. Herein lies part of the not to get above herself, but when that Rome, but by the turn of the first with the known metrical rhythms of beauty and power of the song. What fails, his tone softens: you’re the last of millennium his works were banned in Sapphics, the arrangers have produced begins and ends with a lyric seduction of my loves; your voice is magical; let’s sing many of the monasteries of Europe. as nearly authentic a score as seems Horace’s mistress Phyllis, is centred on our cares away together. The mystery of do-re-mi arose because possible a thousand years later. the festivities for Maecenas’s birthday The Latin song is followed by the Guido never revealed his musical The album begins with the musical party on 13th April at Horace’s country Ode to Phyllis in an English verse source. It is unravelled in Horace’s Odes arrangement and performance in Latin house in the Sabine Hills. It is the Ides translation. This is firmly based on the and the Mystery of Do-Re-Mi, a new of Horace’s Ode to Phyllis (Est mihi of April, the mid-point, as the Romans musical score of the Montpellier codex, book published in conjunction with this nonum). Whether the melody survived conceived it, of the month of marine but the fourth line of each stanza is album. The book includes a facsimile of from the Augustan period or, as is Venus. The song is as deeply emotional lengthened from two bars to four, and the Montpellier manuscript, detailed more likely, it was composed later, this in its heartfelt feeling for his male friend the musical and vocal lines include analysis of its musical notation, and is the most complete early setting for as for his female lover. some embellishments and syncopation an interpretation and modern score, any Horatian ode and provides firm Architecturally, the ode shows to add interest and reflect the natural as well as chapters on Horace and evidence that Horace’s songs continued Horace as a master of his craft. It is rhythms of the English language. The Guido, and a complete English verse to be sung through the Dark Ages. In nine stanzas long and seems at first to lute is strummed rather than plucked, translation of Horace’s Odes and Paul this performance, an attempt has been be an invitation to Phyllis to a party to reflect an early medieval style. the Deacon’s hymn to St John. made to replicate the ambience of the in her own honour. But in the middle This arrangement is intended to be For Guido, the importance of the sunken dining hall of Horace’s sponsor two stanzas the truth comes out.
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