A Medieval English Christmas & a Burgundian New Year & a few days on the island of Cyprus A Medieval English Christmas & a Burgundian New Year & a few days on the island of Cyprus

program I. Veni, veni, Emanuel Thirteenth century? / AC & men Conditor alme siderum Verses 1, 3, 5, Verses 2, 4, 6, (c. 1397–1474) / MN JM MS O rex virtutum / Quis possit dignexprimere Anonymous, Cypriot MS (Turin, Biblioteca nazionale, J.II.9), c. 1413–22

II. Annunciation Monophonic song, 13th-century French? (Arundel MS) / DT Two-voice setting, 14th-century English (Cotton Fragments, 1349) / LK SS Hayl, Mary, ful of grace Trinity Roll (early 15th century) Nesciens mater Bytteryng (Old Hall MS, c. 1415) / PD AC GB Ther is no rose of swych vertu Trinity Roll / DT MS PG

III. Christmas Christe redemptor omnium Verses 1, 3, 5, 7, chant Verses 2, 4, 6, Du Fay / MN JM AC Nowel syng we now al and sum Trinity Roll Nova vobis gaudia refero Nicolas Grenon (c. 1380–1456)

intermission IV. Songs for the New Year Ce jour de l’an qui mant doist estrenier Baude Cordier (d. ?1397/8) / LK JM MS La merchi, ma dame at Amours! Gilles de Bins, called Binchois (c. 1400–1460) / DT SS SM Je donne a tous les amoureux Du Fay / dt jm ms

La plus belle et doulce figure Grenon / LK MS SM Je requier a tous amoureux Du Fay / pd ss ac

V. Christmas A solis ortus cardine Sarum chant Letabundus Du Fay Hodie puer nascitur / Homo mortali Anonymous, Cypriot MS, c. 1413–22

Saturday, December 22, 2007, at 8 p.m. the shortest day of the year — sunrise in Boston: 7:10 a.m.; sunset: 4:15 p.m. First Church in Cambridge, Congregational

Blue Heron

Pamela Dellal Allen Combs Glenn Billingsley Lydia Heather Knutson Jason McStoots Paul Guttry Martin Near Steven Soph Darrick Yee Daniela Tošić Mark Sprinkle Scott Metcalfe, director, &

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir · 45 Ash Street · Auburndale, MA 02466 (617) 960-7956 · [email protected] · www.blueheronchoir.org This organization is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. notes Today we gather on the shortest day of the year to enjoy on the concert we sample some of the rich repertoire music first heard during the season of Advent, Christ- of medieval carols, a uniquely English phenomenon in mas, and New Year’s in the early decades of the fifteenth the fifteenth century. The deceptively simple form and century. The great and wonderful paradox of the De- melodies of these graceful strophic songs with a refrain cember solstice is that it marks at once the beginning are captivating at first hearing. of winter and the moment at which the sun begins to climb in the sky again. There may be months of snow Europeans have long celebrated the season around and cold ahead, but we have arrived at the darkest day the winter solstice with the ritual exchange of gifts of the year, and from now on the lengthening days and wishes for good luck and a prosperous new year. assure us that spring will return, and with it warmth The custom in its present form coalesced around the and green leaves. Christian feast of Christmas only in the late nineteenth century, but its roots in western culture can be traced It’s a season that inspires feelings of yearning and as far back as the ancient Near East. Romans of the expectation, and prophetic moods. In Christendom, imperial era marked the Kalends of January with a the weeks leading up to Christmas are given over to festival several days in length, during which the people remembering the words of the Hebrew prophets and offered tributary gifts called strenae to the emperor the hope they offered to the people of Israel: “A shoot in exchange for presents of money. Medieval Europe shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch absorbed the Roman New Year’s festivities into its own shall grow out of his roots,” said Isaiah; “The people calendar, modifying them somewhat according to the who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those evolving sensibilities of the Christian church, and the who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light tradition of giving presents at New Year’s persisted has shined”; “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you despite the efforts of the church to suppress what it a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, regarded as pagan beliefs in good luck omens and the and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 11:1, 9:2, and efficacy of ceremonial gift exchange. In , the 7:14). Isaiah’s words, interpreted as heralding the savior Latin strena passed into the vulgar tongue as estraine Christians recognize in Jesus, underly a series of anti- (estreine, étrenne, etc.), retaining its meaning of “omen phons sung one each day on the seven days before the of good fortune” as well as “New Year’s gift.” eve of Christmas, December 17-23. Written no later than the eighth century, the so-called O address New Year’s was celebrated with peculiar intensity at the the Messiah to come in various attributes: O Sapientia courts of the nobles of Valois who ruled both France (wisdom), O Adonai (Lord), O Radix Jesse (root of and Burgundy in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth Jesse), O Clavis Davidica (key of David), O Oriens (the century, and members of the courts exchanged precious morning star), O Rex (king), O Emanuel (“God with gifts in enormous quantity. Philip the Bold, duke of us”). The initial letters of each text, after the O, spell Burgundy from 1364 to 1404, disbursed an average of out the promise in a reverse acrostic, SARCORE: “ero 6.5 percent of his annual budget on estraines, while his cras,” “Tomorrow I shall be there.” Veni, veni, Emanuel nephew and political enemy Louis d’Orléans spent no is a metrical version of five of the seven , less than 19,000 livres at New Year‘s in 1404. (At the and O rex virtutum a highly troped and elaborated time a good horse or a finely ornamented harp might meditation on the for today, December 22, be had for around 50 livres, a house for a hundred or O Rex gentium et desideratus earum. so.) Illuminated books, jewel-encrusted saltcellars, enamelled serving vesselss, golden cups, reliquaries, The Annunciation is logically commemorated nine pendants, brooches, rings, horses, dogs, hunting fal- months before Christmas, of course, but the miracle cons: all changed hands in an ostentatious public ritual is remembered and celebrated at the Christmas season which honored the chivalric virtue of largesse (liberality, with retellings of the archangel Gabriel’s appearance generosity), cemented social ties, established position to Mary, their conversation—brief, yet charged with within the courtly heirarchy, and allowed the rich and import—and the divine conception. In the second set powerful to flaunt their wealth.

4 Just as it does today, all this flamboyant materialism compiled on Cyprus in the years 1413-22, or perhaps a also benefitted those further down the social ladder, decade or so later in Savoy, by musicians with a connec- the artisans and craftspeople who were employed to tion to Cyprus. In any case the repertory contained in fashion the sumptuous objets d’art so prized by their it is clearly Cypriot in origin, for (among other clues) noble commissioners. The makers of New Year’s gifts it opens with a newly-composed plainchant Office and included poets and musicians, and it is a small irony Mass in honor of the island’s Saint Hylarion. The entire that while one single, superb little golden and bejeweled repertory, including chant, polyphonic settings of the tabernacle is the only known étrenne aside from manu- sections of Mass Ordinary, 41 , and 167 secular scripts to have survived—much of the rest having been songs, is anonymous, and not one work is known to melted down and sold off to finance the endless wars exist in any other manuscript. pursued by a bellicose and perpetually cash-strapped nobility—27 songs remain to us that commemorate the Among the unusual treasures of this unique source is occasion; 10 of these are by Guillaume Du Fay. While a cycle of nine isorhythmic motets. The first seven set we don’t know the exact circumstances in which New texts inspired by the seven O antiphons, the eighth Year’s songs were written, we can imagine that a courtier tropes an additional “O” text addressed to the Virgin would provide a with verses to set to music, and traditionally sung on (“O virgo vir- and the song would then be presented to the courtier’s ginum”), and the final , for Christmas Day (Hodie lady love en bonne estraine, or perhaps performed at a puer nascitur, with which we conclude our concert), public celebration. In exchange for his strena a courtier celebrates the birth of the Son. In these motets, the up- might hope to win the lady’s amorous favor, while the per voices sing two texts simultaneously, making it all musicians could expect a gift of money or household but impossible to understand the complicated thread of necessaries. argument spun out by the philosphical and meditative verse. Significant words do nevertheless emerge from In keeping with the conventions of chivalric love, these the texture of cross-rhythm, melisma, and hocket (a fifteenth-century New Year’s songs are not boisterous, term, related to the English hiccup, describing a rapidfire champagne-inspired toasts; most are marked with a back-and-forth exchange of single notes), notably the graceful sort of melancholy, for the point of courtly love imploring “Veni,” “come.” Several lines from Hodie puer is that it can never be consummated, but only yearned nascitur offer an apt analogy for the mystical mood of and suffered for. Elegantly crafted and finely wrought, these motets, their complicated mathematical structure, the songs’ merit as gifts can be measured in part by their and the way they contain a surfeit of meanings, more ingenuity, their “conceptual dexterity, [their] ability than one can apprehend just by listening, by reading, to flatter the recipient’s wit” (in the words of Brigitte by studying, or by singing: Buettner), qualities conveyed by the contemporary value of estrangeté. Thus two things created with a double nature produce one unique thing, The island of Cyprus may seem worlds away from the with the multiple grace halls of England and the courts of northern France, but of the distinct parts; in the early fifteenth century it was ruled by a noble but the third and uncreated thing French family. Richard Coeur de Lion conquered the has made a [work] island in 1191 on his way to the Crusade; he sold it to such as heaven’s grace the Knights Templars, who in turn gave it to Guy de had not yet made. Lusignan, recently deposed as king of Jerusalem. The Lusignan dominion on Cyprus lasted from 1192 until the The double natures of an isorhythmic motet include Venetians took it in 1489; it was subsequently captured its bitextuality, its marriage of pitch and rhythm, its by the Ottomans in 1571. One single manuscript bears combination of several melodic lines into polyphony, witness to a thriving musical and literary culture on or its subtle union of words and music. (For more on Cyprus around the turn of the century. It may have been the technique of , go to our website and read

5 the notes for concerts in March and November 2006, vobis gaudia and Letabundus. As for the Middle English or consult the notes accompanying our CD.) of the carols, we sing it as if it were modern English, our own mother tongue. We lose thereby the savor of Finally, a word on words. Our human nature, too, is the original pronunciation (insofar as we can know double, containing both good and evil, and it is a bitter what that was), but gain immediacy in understanding truth that some of the most joyous Christmas texts are and in communication between singer and listener. marred by venomous barbs aimed at Jews and others Again, no solution is perfect; for those who wish to regarded by Christianity as unbelievers; some of these enjoy the original texts, we have included them among were set to beautiful music. There is no single solution the printed texts. to this problem. Our choice is to emend the texts so that we can sing them wholeheartedly, and Richard Tarrant The happiest of holidays to one and all! and Larry Rosenwald devised good solutions for Nova —Scott Metcalfe

6 Texts & Translations Veni, veni, Emanuel! Come, O come, Emmanuel! Captivum solve Israel, Redeem captive Israel, qui gemit in exilio, who laments in exile, privatus Dei filio. deprived of the son of God. Gaude! gaude! Emanuel Rejoice! rejoice! Emanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. shall be born to you, O Israel. Veni, O Jesse Virgula! Come, O Rod of Jesse! Ex hostis tuos ungula, Lead your people from the enemy’s claws, de specu tuos tartari, from the pit of hell, educ, et antro barathri. and from the maw of the abyss. Veni, veni, O Oriens! Come, come, O Morning Star! Solare nos adveniens, Console us with your advent, noctis depelle nebulas, dispel the gloom of night, dirasque noctis tenebras. and pierce the nocturnal shadows. Veni, Clavis Davidica! Come, Key of David! Regna reclude celica, Open wide the heavenly kingdom, fac iter tutum superum, make safe the road above, et claude vias inferum. and bar the ways to hell. Veni, veni, Adonaï, Come, come, Adonai, qui populo in Sinaï who on the mount of Sinai legem dedisti vertice gave your people the Law in maiestate glorie. in glorious majesty. Thirteenth century?

Conditor alme siderum, O bountiful creator of the stars, eterna lux credentium, everlasting light of believers, Christe, redemptor omnium, O Christ, redeemer of us all, exaudi preces supplicum. hear our humble prayers. Qui condolens interitu Suffering with us a worldly death, mortis perire seculum, enduring death and earthly destruction, salvasti mundum languidum, you saved the suffering world, donans reis remedium. bringing us healing for our sins. Vergente mundi vespere, As the world turned to evening, uti sponsus de thalamo, like a bridegroom from his chamber egressus honestissima you came forth from the most pure virginis matris clausula. cloister of a virgin mother. Cujus forti potentie Before your mighty power genu curvantur omnia all creatures kneel down, celestia, terrestria in heaven and on earth, nutu fatentur subdita. all accept your command. Te deprecamur agie, So we pray you, venture judex seculi, O judge of the world to come, conserva nos in tempore preserve us when we face hostis a telo perfidi. the enemy with treacherous arms. Laus, honor, virtus, gloria Praise, honor, might, and glory Deo patri et filio, to God the Father, the Son, sancto simul paraclito, and the Holy Spirit, in seculorum secula. Amen. for ever and ever. Amen. Advent hymn, seventh century

7 triplum triplum O Rex virtutum, gloria, O king of all excellences, O glory, desideratus gentium, desired of nations, lapis ductus in angula, cornerstone, incognitus amentium, unknown to the unknowing, aule celestis incola, dweller in the heavenly court, spes et dilectus fortium, hope and delight of the bold: veni, fostinus, immola come quickly, offer corpus nobis dominicum. your lordly body for us. Qui utraque unum facis Of the two excellences of your ordering tui ordinis virtute, you make one, qui creatum orbem alis, you nurture the created world eternali probitate, with your eternal righteousness, expectantes diu colis with your fatherly love paternali caritate, you cherish those who have long awaited you, nos esurientes velis you are willing to feed to satiety pascere sacietate. all of us who hunger. Quem de limo tu formasti, Come, save the human beings veni et salva hominem you formed from dust, quem de nichilo creasti, created from nothing, redempturus per virginem; come to redeem them through the virgin; dele crimen prothoplausti do away with the crime of the first-made, a quo eximi neminem, from which you in strict justice recto iure, voluisti, ordained that none be exempt, nisi puram et immunem except that pure and perfect woman per quam carnem liberasti. through whom you freed all flesh. duplum duplum Quis possit dignexprimere Who could fittingly express sacre rei misterium? the mystery of this sacred matter? Qua via comprehendere By what means could anyone quis possit puerperium? comprehend this childbearing, Ut se possit inserere how the one without stain of sin in almam matris alveum, could place himself sine reatus scelere, in the mother’s kindly womb, quo nobis datur vinculum? that womb by which the chain of sin is placed upon us? Sine peccato originis, Come then, to be born without original sin nasciturus ex virgine, from the virgin, veni, benignus premiis, come, O kind bestower of gifts, libera nos voragine, free us from the abyss, tui terrore fulminis from the terror of your thunderbolt; infice, quos in flumine let those you find Flegetontis inveneris, in the river Phlegethon desistat diro turbine. be spared its dreadful turbulence. Quos tu creasti, redime, Redeem us, whom you have created, qui sedemus in tenebris, who sit in darkness; et nos sperantes suscipe, lift us up in our hope, purgemur a miseriis. let us be freed of our misery. Trope of O Rex gentium Translated by Larry Rosenwald. (O antiphon for December 22)

8 Angelus ad Virginem sub intrans in conclave, The angel, coming secretly to the Virgin, Virginis formidinem demulcens, inquit: —Ave! calming the Virgin’s fear, said: —Hail! Ave Regina Virginum! hail, Queen of Virgins! Celi terreque Dominum You shall conceive the Lord concipies, et paries intacta of Heaven and Earth and give birth, remaining a virgin, salutem hominum; to the salvation of mankind; tu porta celi facta, you, made the gateway of heaven, medela criminum. the cure for sin. —Quomodo conciperem que virum non cognovi? —How shall I conceive, since I know not a man? Qualiter infringerem quod firma mente vovi? How shall I break what I have resolutely vowed? —Spiritus sancti gracia —The grace of the Holy Spirit perficiet hec omnia. shall perform all this. Ne timeas, sed gaudeas secura, Fear not, but rejoice, confident quod castimonia that chastity manebit in te pura will remain pure in you Dei potencia! by the power of God. Ad hec Virgo nobilis respondens inquit ei: At this, the noble Virgin, replying, said to him: —Ancilla sum humilis omnipotentis Dei. —I am the humble servant of almighty God. Tibi, celesti nuncio To you, heavenly messenger, tanti secreti conscio, who know so great a secret, consenciens et cupiens videre I give my assent and desire to see done factum quod audio, what I hear parata sum parere and am ready to obey Dei consilio. God’s will. Angelus disparuit et statim puellaris The angel disappeared, and at once the girl’s uterus intumuit vi partis salutaris. womb swelled up by the power of the birth of salvation. Qui, circumdatus utero He, having been contained in the womb novem mensium numero, for nine months, hinc exiit et iniit conflictum came out from it and entered the conflict, affigens humero taking on his shoulder crucem, qua dedit ictum the cross, by which he gave a blow hosti mortifero. to the mortal enemy. Eya, Mater Domini, que pacem reddidisti O Mother of the Lord, who restored peace angelis et homini cum Christum genuisti, to angels and men when you gave birth to Christ, tuum exora filium beg of your son ut se nobis propicium that he may show himself favorable to us exhibeat et deleat peccata, and wipe away our sins, prestans auxilium offering help vita frui beata to enjoy the blessed life post hoc exilium. after this exile. ? (d. 1236) Translation from The New Oxford Book of Carols.

9 Hayl, Mary, ful of grace, moder in virgynyte. The Holi Goste is to the sent from the Fader omnipotent; now is God withyn the went Whan the angel seide “Ave.” Whan the angel “Ave” byganne, flesh and blode togedre ranne; Mary bare bothe God and manne throw vertu and throw dyngnyte. So seith the Gospel of Syn Johan: God and man is made but one in flesch and blode, body and bone, O God in personys thre. Moche joye to us was graunt and in erthe pees yplaunte whan that born was this faunte in the londe of Galile. Mary, graunte us the blys ther thy Sonys wonynge ys; of that we han ydone amys pray for us pur charite.

Nesciens mater virgo virum, peperit sine dolore The virgin mother, not knowing a man, gave birth salvatorem seculorum. without pain to the savior of the world. Ipsum regem angelorum sola virgo lactabat, To that very king of the angels the virgin alone gave ubera de celo plena. suck, her breasts filled by heaven.

Ther is no rose of swych vertu as is the rose that bare Jhesu. Alleluya. For in this rose conteynyd was Heven and erthe in lytyl space, res miranda. a wonderful thing Be that rose we may weel see that he is God in personys thre, pari forma. of the same form The aungelys sungyn the shepherdes to: “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” Glory to God in the Highest! Gaudeamus. Let us rejoice.

Christe redemptor omnium, Christ, redeemer of all, ex patre, patris unice, only begotten son of the Father, solus ante principium before all things, from the Father natus ineffabiliter. you were ineffably born. Tu lumen, tu splendor patris, O you light and splendor of the Father, tu spes perennis omnium, you endless hope of all,

10 intende quas fundunt preces accept the prayers poured out tui per orbem famuli. to you by your worldly servants. Memento, salutis auctor, Remember, O author of salvation, quod nostri quondam corporis, how you once assumed our human form ex illibata virgine being born nascendo formam sumpseris. of an undefiled virgin. Hic presens testatur dies, Thus testifies the present day, currens per anni circulum, cycling through the years: quod solus a sede Patris that you, sole salvation of the world, mundi salus adveneris; proceed from the Father’s throne. Hunc celum, terra, hunc mare, Whence heaven, earth, sea, hunc omne quod in eis est, and all that are in them auctorem adventus tui, laud the Author of your Advent laudat exultans cantico. with exultant song. Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo And we, who by your holy redempti sanguine sumus, blood are redeemed, ob diem natalis tui on this day of your birth hymnum novum concinimus. sing a new hymn. Gloria tibi Domine, Glory be to you, Lord, qui natus es de Virgine, who is born of a virgin, cum patre et sancto spiritu, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in sempiterna secula. Amen. for ever and ever. Amen. Christmas hymn

Nowel syng we now al and sum, for Rex Pacificus is cum. the King of Peace In Bedleem, in that fayr cete, a child was born of a maydn fre that xal a lord and prynce be, a solis ortus cardine. from lands that see the sun arise Childryn were slayn ful greth plente, Jhesu, for the love of the; qwerfore here sowlys savyd be, hostis Herodes impie. Herod, ungodly enemy As sunne schynth thorw the glas, So Jhesu in his modyr was: the to serve now graunth us gras, O lux beata Trinitas. O light, blessed Trinity Now God is comyn to wurchepyn us; now of Marye is born Jhesus; make we mery amongys us, exultet celum laudibus. let the heavens exult with praises

11 Nova vobis gaudia refero: I bring you news of great joy: natus est rex virginis utero; a king is born of a virgin’s womb; dum prospero cursum considero, while I reflect upon this fortunate course, omnes de cetero talia dicite: let all in conclusion sing thus: Noel, Noel! Noel, Noel! Natus est rex, salvator seculi, A king is born, the savior of the world, reparator labentis populi restorer of the fallen people, quem tres reges laudant et parvuli whom three kings praise, a child necnon et emuli; O omnes, credite: and yet a rival; Let everyone believe! Noel, Noel! Noel, Noel! Arthe Satham Eva seducitur, Through Satan’s wiles is Eve seduced; deducendo virum inducitur, by leading, she pulls her husband down; ars fallitur, illabens labitur, her arts deceive; falling, she causes him to fall, dum partus sequitur Virginis inclite: yet birth to a glorious virgin follows: Noel, Noel! Noel, Noel! Lux oritur, moritur vicium, A light rises in the east, putting sin to death, pax oritur, tollitur odium; peace arises, destroying hatred; rex omnium per carnis pellium, O king of all, clothed in flesh, confer remedium salutis perdite: grant the remedy of salvation to the lost: Noel, Noel! Amen. Noel, Noel! Amen. Strophe 2 emended by Larry Rosenwald.

Ce jour de l’an qui mant doit estrenier This New Year’s day, when each must give a gift joieusement sa belle et doulche amie, joyfully to his fair and sweet love, quant est de moy, je veul de ma partie as for me, I wish for my part mon cuer, mon corps entirement donner. to give my heart and body entirely. A ma dame, qui tant fait a loer, To my lady, who is so worthy of praise, tout quant que j’ay plainnement li ottrie all that I have I bestow upon her ce jour de l’an qui mant doit estrenier this New Year’s day, when each must give a gift joieusement sa belle et doulche amie. joyfully to his fair and sweet love. Mon cuer me fait loialament amer My heart compels me to love faithfully a ce jour cy, et pour toute ma vye; on this day, and for all of my life; soulas et ris, joie, chiere lye mirth and laughter, joy and cheerfulness, je puis trop bien si faire et donner. are the gifts I may fittingly give to her. Ce jour de l’an… This New Year’s day…

La merchi, ma dame et Amours! Mercy, my lady and Love! Mon coeur est ung peu de dolour My heart is somewhat relieved Ostez, et de triste pensée. from grief and sad thoughts. A ce premier jour de l’année On this first day of the year Viengiés suis davains de leurs tours. I am defended against their stratagems. Riviere de plaintes et plours A river of laments and tears J’estoient, mes si tous les jours was I, but nowadays Ilz font maintenant grand risée. they always offer me a big smile. La merchi, ma dame et Amours! Mercy, my lady and Love! Mon coeur est ung peu de dolour My heart is somewhat relieved Ostez, et de triste pensée. from grief and sad thoughts. Se ces deus eussent esté sours, If those two had remained unassailable, En verité j’eusse tous jours in truth, I would forever Mené vie desesperée, have led a desperate life, Mais Belacueil la grand meslée but Fair Welcome entered the great fray

12 Desfist et y vient au secours. and comes to my rescue. La merchi, ma dame et Amours… Mercy, my lady and Love…

Je donne a tous les amoureux I give to all those in love, pour estrines une soussye for their New Year’s gift, a marigold, qui c’est an aiment sans partie for it is by loving forever a garir leurs cuers dolereux. that their suffering hearts can be healed. Pis ont qu’a plure laboureux They have it worse than laborers when it rains, ne charatier qui se desvye: or a driver who goes off the road: Je donne a tous les amoureux I give to all those in love, pour estrines une soussye. for their New Year’s gift, a marigold. Des liens de Dangier plantereux, From the abundant snares of Danger, de tristresse et de jalousye from grief and jealousy seront gari, je ne doubt mye: they will be saved, I do not doubt: c’est bien rayson, ainsy m’aist Dieux. it’s only right, so help me God. Je donne a tous les amoureux… I give to all those in love…

La plus belle et doulce figure, The most beautiful and sweet figure, la plus noble, gente faiture, the noblest, most gracious form, c’est ma chiere dame et mestresse: is that of my dear lady and mistress: bon an, bon jour, joye et liesse a good year, a good day, joy and happiness li doinst dieux, et bone aventure. may God grant her, and good success. C’est tout mon bien, c’est ma déesse, She is all my good, she is my goddess, celle par qui ma dolour cesse, she through whom my grief ceases, en qui je preing ma noreture, from whom I take sustenance, qui servir vueil sans nul destresse whom I wish to serve without the least distress de cuer tant que voglie me lesse, of heart, as much as she will permit me, n’en ce monde d’autre en ay cure. nor in this world do I have any other desire. Former la sut dieux de nature, God formed her naturally blans, blond, belle, tout par mesure, pale, blond, lovely, all in just measure playsanment y jouta josnesse, and pleasingly, and he added youth, largesse, honour, toute noblesse generosity, honor, and every nobility en fais, en dis et en parleure. of deed, word, and speech. La plus belle… The most beautiful…

Je requier a tous amoureux I call upon all lovers qui jugent par leur courtoisie: to judge by their courtesy: ceux qui n’osent pas dire “amye” those who dare not say “My love” sont en amours si bien heureux. are most fortunate in love. A ce jour de l’an gracieux On this gracious New Year’s day me treuve de celle partye. I find myself one of that party. Je requier a tous amoureux I call upon all lovers qui jugent par leur courtoisie. to judge by their courtesy. Mais vray Espoir, qui est songneux But True Hope, who is anxious de moy garir ma maladie, to cure me of my malady, me dist que je ne me soussye, bids me not to worry, que l’an a venir avray mieux. for in the year to come I will fare better. Je requier a tous amoureux… I call upon all lovers… Translated by Christopher Page. 13 A solis ortus cardine From lands where the sun arises et usque terrae limitem unto the ends of the earth, Christum canamus Principem, let us sing of Christ the Prince, natum Maria virgine. born of the Virgin Mary. Beatus auctor seculi The blessed creator of the world servile corpus induit put on a servant’s body, ut, carne carnem liberans, so that, liberating the flesh through becoming flesh, ne perderet quos condidit. he would not lose what he had made. Caste parentis viscera The chaste mother’s belly celestis intrat gratia: is filled with heavenly grace: venter puelle baiulat the girl’s womb bears secreta, que non noverat. secrets which she has not known. Domus pudici pectoris The modest dwelling of her body templum repente fit Dei becomes God’s new temple; intacta nesciens virum, untouched, not knowing a man, verbo concepit filium. through a word she conceived the Son. Enixa est puerpera By her birth pangs she bore quem Gabriel predixerat, the one whom Gabriel announced, quem matris alvo gestiens whom John, hidden within his mother’s womb, clausus Johannes senserat. acknowledged by leaping joyfully. Gloria tibi, Domine, Glory be to you, Lord, qui natus es de virgine, who is born of a virgin, cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in sempiterna secula. Amen. for ever and ever. Amen. Christmas hymn, Sarum rite / Coelius Sedelius (fl. c. 450)

Letabundus Full of joy, exsultet fidelis chorus: let the chorus of the faithful exult: Alleluia. Alleluia. Regem regum The King of Kings intacte profudit thorus: is brought forth from an intact womb, res miranda. a thing of wonder. Angelus consilii The Angel of Counsel natus est de virgine, is born of a virgin, sol de stella, the sun from a star: Sol occasum nesciens, A sun that knows no setting, stella semper rutilans, a star ever shining, semper clara. always bright. Sicut sidus radium, As a star its ray, profert Virgo Filium, the Virgin produces her Son, pari forma. alike in form. Neque sidus radio, Neither the star by its ray, neque mater filio, nor the mother by her son, fit corrupta. is corrupted. Cedrus alta Libani The tall cedar of Lebanon conformatur hyssopo is formed by the low hyssop valle nostra; in our valley:

14 Verbum, mens altissimi, the Word, the mind of the Highest, corporari passum est, descended into a human body, carne sumpta. having assumed flesh. Isaias cecinit, Isaiah sang of it, Synagoga meminit; The Synagogue recalls it; Hec Scriptura definit Scripture reveals that it Esse facta. Has been fulfilled. Sic et nostris vatibus Thus has this been foretold Nec non et gentilibus By our own prophets Sibyllinis versibus And those of the gentiles, Hec predicta. In the Sibylline oracles. Nunc age propera Come now, make haste Et Christum venera, And worship the Christ, Crede et nova et vetera. Believe both the new and the old [revelations]; Quem docet litera Whom the scripture proclaimed, Natum considera, Look upon at his birth: Ipsum genuit puerpera. His mother has brought him forth. Christmas sequence (strophes 5-6 revised & translated by Richard Tarrant) triplum Hodie puer nascitur, A boy is born today, ante secula genitus, a boy begotten before all time; agnus tener depromitur, a tender lamb is brought forth, carne mortali conditus, concealed in mortal flesh. matre intacta ducitur, He is drawn from a virgin mother, luce quam fecit candidus, from the light which his brightness made, qui previdetur, colitur, he who is foreseen and worshipped, quo non videtur splendidus. he who is more radiant than any thing. Splendor in nubem funditur, His light is diffused into a cloud nec a sole divellitur, and yet is not severed from the sun, splendor in nube conditur, the radiance is established within the cloud, nec a nube minuitur, and the cloud does not diminish it. nubes eodem alitur, By him the clouds are given food, nec alimentum sumitur, yet no food is taken from them. nubes interdum palitur, For the moment he endures the cloud, nec ille splendor pungitur. nor is his radiance troubled. In carne verbum seritur The Word is woven in the flesh unione fortissima, by the strongest of all unions; qua caro verbum creditur flesh is believed to be Word ratione firmissima, by the strongest of all reasons. et verbum non deseritur And the Word is not abandoned a carne solidissima, by the solid flesh, nec unquam caro linquitur nor is the flesh ever abandoned a luce potentissima, by the light of power; inest qui splendor texitur the indwelling radiance is woven alma cum semper anima. within the ever-kindly soul.

15 duplum Homo mortalis, firmiter Man is mortal because the soul carni cum heret anima, is firmly linked to the flesh, humana passibiliter and human traits undergo coniuncta sunt hec infima, union with lower nature. duo creata duplici Thus two things created with a double natura reddunt unicum, nature produce one unique thing, cum gratia multiplici with the multiple grace seperandarum partium, of the distinct parts; sed increata tercia but the third and uncreated thing talem confecit hominem, has made a man qualem superna gratia such as heaven’s grace ubi vis fecit neminem. had not yet made. Nam splendor carni additus For splendor added to the flesh et anime, mirabilem, and to the soul has raised up perpetuum divinitus, a miraculous man, sibi assumpsit hominem. everlastingly divine. Ergo, si caro linquitur So then: if the flesh is abandoned ab anima passibili, by the passionate soul, mortuus homo creditur then man is thought dead tantum natura duplici. only by his double nature. Translated by Larry Rosenwald.

Translations © 2007 by Scott Metcalfe where not specified otherwise.

16 Biographies The vocal ensemble Blue Heron combines a commit- embraces music from the Renaissance to the twentieth ment to vivid live performance with the study of original century and includes the major song cycles of Schubert source materials and historical performance practice. and Britten. Mr. Combs has given world premieres at Blue Heron’s principal repertoire interests are fifteenth- the Lowell New Music Festival and with century English and Franco-Flemish polyphony, rang- in Red Sneakers. He performs frequently at Phillips ing from Dunstable and Du Fay through Ockeghem Academy, Andover, where he is a member of the voice to Josquin; Spanish music between about 1500 and faculty. Currently a soloist and cantor at the Church of 1575; and neglected early sixteenth-century English the Advent, Mr. Combs has served as music director music, especially the rich and unexplored repertory of the Andover Choral Society since 1990. He is also of the Peterhouse partbooks (c. 1540). The ensemble the vocal director for the Composers’ Conference and has also reached outside these areas to perform very Chamber Music Center at Wellesley College and music (organa by the twelfth-century French director for the New England Dance Ensemble. composer Perotinus), very recent music (new works by the Australian composer Elliott Gyger), and more, Pamela Dellal, mezzo-soprano, is a much sought-after including the complete Eighth Book of by oratorio soloist who has performed with renowned Luca Marenzio at the international Marenzio confer- ensembles in Boston and throughout the world. She ence at Harvard University in April 2006. Founded in has been featured in leading roles in operas of Purcell, 1999, Blue Heron presents its own series of concerts in Mozart, Britten, and others. As a member of Sequen- Cambridge, performs regularly at Monadnock Music tia’s women’s ensemble, Vox Feminae, Ms. Dellal has in New Hampshire, and has appeared at other venues recorded the music of Hildegard von Bingen and toured throughout the Northeast, including the 2005 Boston the US, Europe, and Australia. She appears frequently Early Music Festival and the 92nd Street Y in New York with Musicians of the Old Post Road and Ensemble City. Its first CD, featuring music by Guillaume Du Fay, Chaconne and is a regular soloist with Emmanuel Music. was released in March of 2007. Her broad repertoire ranges from early chamber music to contemporary pieces. Baritone Glenn Billingsley made his debut with the New York City Opera National Company, and has sung Bass-baritone Paul Guttry enjoys a varied career includ- with the Santa Fe, Chautauqua, and Lake George Opera ing opera, oratorio, and chamber music. He recently companies. He has appeared in the Spoleto and Madeira played the Mother in Weill’s 7 Deadly Sins with Inter- Bach Festivals, toured the United States, South America, mezzo and Balthasar in Schumann’s Genoveva with and Europe with the Waverly Consort, and done sig- Emmanuel Music. Paul has sung with the medieval nificant solo work with New York’s Ensemble for Early music ensemble Sequentia and is a former member Music, the Bach Aria Group, New York’s Musica Sacra, of Chanticleer. In Boston he has performed with Em- Johannes Somary’s Amor Artis Chorale, and numerous manuel Music, Handel & Haydn, the Boston Cecilia, other choral organizations in New York and Boston. Boston Revels, Prism Opera, and Collage New Music. A longtime member of the Choir of the Church of the Paul can be heard on BMG recordings of medieval Advent, he is a founding member of Blue Heron. Glenn’s music with Sequentia, Erato recordings of the Boston wife, soprano Monique Phinney, is on the voice faculty of Camerata, and Koch International recordings of Bach The Boston Conservatory, their son Ken is the drummer with Emmanuel Music. for the band Exhale, and their daughter Lisa is majoring in music theater at The Boston Conservatory. Mezzo-soprano Lydia Heather Knutson has performed around the world, appearing on radio and at leading Tenor Allen Combs is a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, international music festivals in the US, Canada, Europe, and received his education at the University of Idaho Latin America, and Australia. She is a founding member and the University of Lowell. In addition to his work of the medieval ensemble Fortune’s Wheel, sang for with Blue Heron, Mr. Combs has performed with Schola many years with the women’s ensemble of Sequentia, Cantorum and Cappella Alamire. His recital repertoire Cologne, and has sung with Blue Heron since 2003.

17 Locally, she has performed with the Boston Camerata, with the Fromm Players at Harvard, Seraphim Singers, Boston Cecilia, La Donna Musicale, and Emmanuel Boston Choral Ensemble, Exultemus, the Harvard- Music, among others. She has recorded for Dorian, Radcliffe Chorus, Andover Choral Society, and No- Erato, and BMG Classics/Deutche Harmonia Mundi. taRiotous. Trained in composition at the New England In addition to singing, Dr. Knutson is a chiropractor Conservatory, Mr. Near was composer and music direc- and the director of the Lydian Center for Integrative tor of the one act opera Six Characters in Search of an Medicine in Cambridge. Opera for Project ARIA (AIDS Response by Independent Artists), which received five performances in Boston, Jason McStoots, tenor, has been celebrated as one of supported by a grant from the American Composers the “new generation of New England singers” and de- Forum Boston. An advocate of new music, Mr. Near has scribed by critics as “particularly outstanding,” with “a been a soloist in numerous world premieres, including perfect light-opera voice,” “sweet, appealing tone and Temptation in the Desert by Elliott Gyger, written for real acting ability.” He has sung with groups around Mr. Near and Seraphim Singers, On Prayer and Praying the US including Boston Lyric Opera, Handel Choir of by Rodney Lister, written for Mr. Near and organist Baltimore, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Ross Wood, and You Are There by Johanna Malone, a Music, Granite State Opera and OperaProvidence; and microtonal piece in 72-note equal temperament. has performed recitals with Tanglewood Music Center, MIT Recital Series, and Boston French Library. His most Tenor Steven Soph, a native of Denton, Texas, attended recent appearance with the Florestan Recital Project the University of North Texas, where he sang with Lyle was hailed by the Boston Globe as “at least as polished Nordstrom’s Collegium Musicum. In 2006 he recorded as it is promising.” the roles of Historicus in Carissimi’s Jonas and Jephte with New Trinity Baroque in Atlanta, and in April of Scott Metcalfe is a specialist in music between 1400 2007 returned to Atlanta to record a Monteverdi pro- and 1750 whose career as a violinist and conductor has gram. In Boston he has performed repertoire rang- taken him all over North America and Europe. Besides ing from the Renaissance to jazz, singing with Schola directing Blue Heron, he serves as concertmaster of the Cantorum of Boston, Cambridge Early Music Project, Trinity Consort in Portland, Oregon, under the direc- Philovox, Cut Circle, the Choir of the Church of the tion of Eric Milnes, enjoys a varied freelance career as Advent, and the Boston Secession. a player, teacher, conductor, and writer, and is presently becoming an active member of Montreal’s burgeoning Tenor Mark Sprinkle has appeared as a soloist with early music scene, working with Montreal Baroque, Concerto Palatino, the Handel & Haydn Society, the Arion, Les Boréades, and other groups. Metcalfe di- Boston Early Music Festival, Emmanuel Music and rected the Renaissance choir Convivium Musicum from Blue Heron, among many others. An active Bach Pas- 1996 through 2007 and was a founding member of La sion Evangelist, he appeared in 2007 with Chorus Pro Luna and The King’s Noyse. He appears on record- Musica as Evangelist in the St. John Passion in Boston ings on harmonia mundi, ATMA, Dorian, Wildboar, and in 2008 will perform the same role with the Boulder and elsewhere. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1985 Bach Festival in Boulder Colorado. He was a founding from Brown University, where he majored in biology, member of the Cambridge Bach Ensemble. He has per- and in 2005 completed a master’s degree in historical formed at music festivals in Bergen Norway, Vancouver, performance practice at Harvard. Edinburgh, and Aldeburgh, UK and has recorded with Dorian, Koch, Harmonia Mundi, Decca, Arabesque, and Countertenor Martin Near began his professional sing- Telarc. He is a member of the voice faculty at Boston ing career at age ten, advancing to Head Chorister at College. In addition to singing and teaching, he is an Saint Thomas’s Fifth Avenue in New York City. Mr. Near American Canoeing Association Open Water Sea Kayak- currently sings with Blue Heron, Vox Triniti, Boston ing Instructor and a Registered Maine Guide. Secession, Amiable Consort, and with the choir of the Church of the Advent. He has appeared as guest soloist

18 Mezzo-soprano Daniela Tošić, a native of Belgrade, Darrick Yee has performed regularly with a wide Yugoslavia, toured with the Belgrade-based ensemble array of Boston-area vocal ensembles over the past Renaissance throughout the former Yugoslavia. In the fifteen years, from the close-harmony groups Down- Boston area she has worked with Ensemble P.A.N., town Crossing and the Harvard Krokodiloes to the Revels, Balmus, Foundling, and La Donna Musicale, early music ensembles Exsultemus and Blue Heron. He and has premiered several new works. She is a found- has performed on local and national stages, including ing member of Tapestry, the acclaimed vocal ensemble Boston’s Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, Carn- that records with Telarc International and MDG and egie Hall, and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and tours widely throughout the US and abroad. She is in nationally televised performances on ABC, A&E, also a founding member of the medieval-world fusion and PBS. His diverse interests have afforded him the ensemble HourGlass. opportunity to perform with such luminaries as Bryn Terfel, Simon Carrington, Barry Manilow, and Sarah Jessica Parker, in programs ranging from vocal jazz and pop to sacred early music. Darrick appears on recent recordings of Philovox Ensemble, Boston Secession, and Blue Heron.

 images: Board Of Directors cover: illumination of St. Anne, from Turin, Cynthia Schlaikjer, president Biblioteca nazionale, J.II.9, folio 14 Marilyn Boenau, treasurer p.6: ibid, folio 85v (O Rex virtuum) Richard Schmeidler, clerk p. 16: ibid, folio 88v (Hodie puer nascitur) Philip H. Davis Benjamin Krepp Fonts: Missale Lunea, AStype (titles); Cheryl Ryder body copy is set in Minion Pro from Adobe. John Yannis program design: Evan Ingersoll, empict multimedia

19 Acknowledgments Many thanks to Larry Rosenwald and Richard Tarrant for emending and translating texts. Thanks to the Cam- bridge Society for Early Music for a grant supporting this season’s pre-concert talks. We plan to make these talks available as podcasts: check our website details and to download a podcast of last November’s talk by Myke Cuthbert about Dunstable.

Evan Ingersoll (empict multimedia) designs our programs and our website. Chris Clark (Cave Dog Studio) designs our publicity materials and program covers. We are fortunate to work with two so talented, reliable, and patient graphic artists. We are equally blessed to have Doc Davis record so many of our concerts, both efficiently and beautifully.

We are honored and grateful to have so many generous donors. Blue Heron could not exist without you. Many, many thanks.

Donations from December 15, 2006 through December 14, 2007

Angel Supporter Friend Philip H. Davis Anonymous Julie Rohwein & Jonathan Aibel Pauline Stillman Carol & Leonard Berkowitz Debra K.S. & Brian Anderson The Reverend Dr. & Mrs. Marcia Anderson Benefactor Andrew C. Blume Charles Ash William & Elizabeth Metcalfe Louise N. Botero Joan Boorstein Cynthia C. Schlaikjer Maureen Conroy Shannon Canavin Sheila & Charles Donahue Bruce & Martha Davidson Guarantor John F. Dooley May & Carl Daw John Paul & Diane Britton Eastern Bank Charles F. Dunn John & Harriet Carey Kathleen Fay Alison & Jim Fowle Massachusetts Cultural Council Connie & Don Goldstein Ivan J. Hansen Cheryl K. Ryder David P. Halstead Katharine E. Howard Richard L. Schmeidler Robert Kowalik Jane W. Hyman Julianne Lindsay Waltrud Lampe Patron Carol Lorber Catherine Liddell Benjamin Krepp & Virginia Webb James Martin Andreas Liu & Rachel Wilson Scott Metcalfe Anne H. Matthews Sudie Marcuse Eiji Miki & Jane Hever Dick O’Connor Amy Meltzer & Philip McArthur Therry Neilsen-Steinhardt Richard R. Rivard Elana M. Messer Joan Margot Smith Katy Roth Anne & Dennis Moore Andrew Sigel Virginia Newes Sponsor Craig A. Smith Saint-Gobain Corporation Thomas N. Bisson Tom & Valerie Stone Polly Stevens Marilyn Boenau Annlinnea & Michael Terranova Michal Truelsen & Jody Wormhoudt Elizabeth Davidson William J. Vaughan Samuel Engel & Anne Freeh Engel Lee Warren Ellen T. Harris Crispin B. Weinberg & Tom Kelly Deborah A. Levey Michael P. McDonald John Yannis Cindy & Peter Nebolsine Ellen Powers & Klaus Bibl

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