Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th-century Benedictine abbess and polymath who was primarily known as a poet and visionary for most of history, but her contributions to the musical canon have become much better understood in the last 30 years, largely as a result of the feminist movement. Hildegard probably never would have considered herself a composer and in fact, might have even denounced the feminist movement which contributed to her fame. She was very conservative, even in her own time, and thought that men and women had fixed, separate roles in society. Nevertheless, she was instrumental to the development of music. She felt that music was the highest form of human activity and that singing was a sacred act. She created the earliest known “morality play” (Ordo Virtutum) and a collection of 77 sacred chants referred to as the “Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations.” O Virtus Sapientiae is an antiphon dedicated to Wisdom, “whose encompassing orbit revolves around all things”. We have introduced different drone notes and vocal techniques to this beautiful chant line.

O virtus Sapientie,
que circuiens circuisti
comprehendendo omnia
in una via que habet vitam
tres alas habens,
quarum una in altum volat
et altera de terra sudat
et tercia undique volat.
Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet,
O Sapientia.

O gravity of wisdom,
Whose encompassing orbit
Revolves around all things
On a single circuit that bounds life around.
You have three wings:
one soars above into the heights,
one from the earth exudes,
and all about now flies the third.
Praise be to you, as you deserve.
O wisdom.

Karen L. U. Kahan ( b. 1963), arr. Burrell

This anthem of feminine strength and empowerment sounds like it could have been written centuries ago by Vikings, but was actually introduced to the modern folk song collection in 1990 by Karen L. U. Kahan, who uses the stage name Wyndreth Berginsdottir. Kahan is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international community pursuing research and re-creation of pre-17th-century skills, arts, combat, and culture. The composer encourages free use of her work saying, “If you find strength and power and your own voice in it, this is your song . . . We are half of the world and we have been taught to speak softly and behave mildly because we are easier to control that way . . . Whoever you are, you have a voice that cannot be silenced. Together, our voices cannot be unheard.”

I am my mother's savage daughter,
the one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones.
I am my mother's savage daughter,
I will not cut my hair, I will not lower my voice.

My mother's child is a savage,
She looks for her omens in the colors of stones,
In the faces of cats, in the fall of feathers,
In the dancing of fire and the curve of old bones.

My mother's child dances in darkness,
And sings heathen songs by the light of the moon,
And watches the stars and renames the planets,
And dreams she can reach them with a song and a broom.

Now we all are brought forth out of darkness and water,
Brought into this world through blood and through pain,
And deep in our bones, the old songs are wakening,
So sing them with voices of thunder and rain.

We are our mother's savage daughters,
The ones who run barefoot cursing sharp stones.
We are our mother's savage daughters,
We will not cut our hair, We will not lower our voice.

J.S. Bach (1685-1750), arr. Pedrotti Bingamon
Text from Luke 1:54-1:55f

We can’t perform at a Bach Festival without including some Bach! But as you have probably guessed, Bach didn’t write much for 5 treble voices a cappella, so we endeavored to make our own. VAMP member Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon took a couple of her favorites and arranged them for VAMP, introducing vocal lines in place of instruments and occasionally altering octaves and exchanging parts to achieve fluid voice leading and cater to our ranges. The result is a new and beautiful vocal texture that we hope honors the great master’s original work.

We start with Suscepit Israel from Bach’s Magnificat which didn't take too much maneuvering.  It was originally scored as a duet for two sopranos and an alto, along with unison strings and a wind instrument (first a trumpet in 1723 and then rewritten for two oboes 10 years later).  We pass the vocal and instrumental lines back and forth and you’ll hear a sustained line in the upper voices–the “tonus peregrinus” chant line that Bach used as an instrumental cantus firmus.  The trio is in Latin, as was popular in Leipzig at the time, but the cantus firmus includes a nod to the traditional Lutheran German translation.  You might recognize the “tonus peregrinus” (“wandering tone”) chant from the Introit of Mozart’s Requiem and the Miserere Mei by Allegri, among other works. 

Suscepit Israel puerum suum, 
recordatus misericordiae suae.

He has taken up his child/servant Israel, 
mindful of his mercy.

trans. Michael Marissen and Daniel R. Melamed

Jesu, meine Freude is Bach’s longest and most musically complex motet, with 11 movements and up to five voice parts, a rarity for Bach. It was named after a Lutheran hymn by Johann Crüger and features the hymn tune in all the odd-numbered movements including this one, the ninth movement, where the altos present the cantus firmus intermittently with text from the fifth stanza of the hymn. It was normal during Bach’s time for Lutheran funerals to present death as being a sort of welcome comfort, so “Gute Nacht” serves to renounce all things earthly in favor of the divine. We have once again arranged this movement specifically for VAMP, taking turns with each of the four vocal lines.  Bach excluded basses from the movement, perhaps symbolizing the lack of a firm foundation, and wrote the tenor line (now being sung by us all) so that it dodges every which way, frequently averting our desire for a strong cadence and making the listener feel even more unstable. For this performance, we’re saying goodnight to our mistakes and forgiving ourselves for being human.

Gute Nacht, o Wesen,
Das die Welt erlesen,
Mir gefällst du nicht.
Gute Nacht, ihr Sünden,
Bleibet weit dahinten,
Kommt nicht mehr ans Licht!
Gute Nacht, du Stolz und Pracht,
Dir sei ganz, du Lasterleben,
Gute Nacht gegeben!

Good night, oh [corrupted] essence
That the world has chosen;
You do not please me.
Good night, you sins;
Remain far behind;
Come no more into the light
Good night, you pride and splendor;
To you, you life of vice, be altogether
Bid good night.

trans. Michael Marissen and Daniel R. Melamed

Worcester Fragments, Anon. 13th-14th c. English

Lux polis refulgens comes from a collection of manuscripts found in the Worcester Cathedral Library in England and believed to be from the late 13th- and early 14th-centuries. Like other English medieval polyphonic works of the time, this piece showcases the "English discant" style, using intervals of thirds and sixths in parallel motion. All three lines (Triplum, Duplum, and Motetus) sing different texts simultaneously.

Triplum

Lux polis refulgens aurea
fit inmensis ex qua luce gloria
mater summi regis Maria
in cuius vita perpetua
gratulantur omnia
nobis subveni prece pia
atque tuis famulis eleyson.

O mundi decor et laus egregia
que candoris specie precellis lilia
pulchre florentia
nos mundi domina
celestis regina mundaque crimina
dele per dulcia nato precamina
mire flagrancia
quia natus vulnera
passus est crudelia
nobis eleyson.

Medicina vite libera egrotorum funera
pelle spes vera
ne diabolica fallacia
eos opprimat aliqua versutia
sibi redde vite spacia
Maria
que regentem portasti cunta
pro famulis ingiter iuvamina
infunde et nobis eleyson.

Duplum

Lux et gloria
regis celici Maria
mundi domina
plena gracia
cuius ad obsequia
gaudent omnia
te laudantia
que nobis post huius mundi stadia
potes subvenire Maria
eleyson.

O mundi preclara domina 
imperatrix celorum et regina 
summi dulcis femina
per mortis vilia prolis flagicia

sis pia Maria
mundo propicia

famulos protegens a pena varia 
que es mater patris propria 
in qua castitas floret Maria eleyson.

Triplum
A shining golden light is made in the mighty heavens,
and from this light comes glory;
mother of the highest king, Mary,
in whose eternal life 
all rejoice,
assist us with Thy pious prayer
and have mercy on Thy servants.

O Thou marvelous adornment and glory of the world,
surpassing the beauty of the flowering lilies
in brilliance of whiteness,
ruler of the world and queen of heaven,
cancel our crimes by praying sweetly
and with wondrous passion to Thy son,
because Thy son has suffered cruel wounds; have mercy on us.

Life’s limitless remedy, turn back the ruination of the sick,
Thou true hope, lest the devil’s cunning overwhelm them with some trickery;
give to them the fields of life, Mary,
Thou, who, untouched, hast borne the ruler,
hasten to dispense Thy aid to Thy servants
and have mercy on us.

Duplum

Light and glory of the heavenly king, Mary,
ruler of the world, full of grace,
in whose allegiance all that praise
Thee rejoice, Thou who canst assist us
after the disputes of this world, Mary, have mercy.

O noble  ruler of the world,
empress and queen of the heavens,
sweet wife of the Highest:
because of the vile disgrace of Thy son’s death,
Mary, show kindness to the world
and protect Thy servants from manifold torment;
Thou, Mary, who art the true mother of the Father
and a haven of chastity, have mercy.

Dolce Cantavi

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Poem by Francesca Turini Bufalini (1553-1641)

Composer Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her piece Partita for 8 Voices (Roomful of Teeth), and she works often in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. She composed “Dolce Cantavi” for TENET Vocal Artists and used as her inspiration a poem written by 16th century Italian poet Francesca Turini Bufalini.

Bufalini was the first Italian woman to write autobiographically, detailing her life experiences, emotions, and even the places she lived in her poems. After being driven out of her home in Umbria by her sons, she sought refuge at the Colonna Palace in Rome with Duchess Lucrezia Tomacelli. She was very happy there for eight years until the Duchess’s sudden death, forcing Bufalini to return to Umbria. This poem speaks of the lovely little bird who has gone away and we imagine Bufalini speaking directly to the Duchess, longing for her impossible return.  

Vago augellin, che per quei rami ombrosi 
dolce cantavi a minüir mie pene, 
di sentirti al mio cor gran desir viene
per fare in tutto i giorni miei giocosi. 

Deh vieni, e teco mena i più famosi
cantor che quella selva in sen ritiene, 
ché goderete in queste rive amene, 
ed a l'estivo dì starete ascosi.

Il boschetto vi attende, e 'l bel giardino
là dove in fra le fronde e l'onda e l'ora
gareggian mormorando a me vicino. 

A cantar sorgeremo in sul mattino:
io con le Muse invocarò l'aurora, 
e voi col vostro gorgheggiar divini.

Lovely little bird, who, among those shady branches, 
used to sing so sweetly to mitigate my sorrows, 
a great desire comes to my heart to hear you again, 
to make my days complete in their joy. 

Come, and bring with you the most famous singers
that the forest nurtures in its breast, 
for you will have the pleasure of these fair waters
and be hidden away from the heat of the summer day.

The little wood awaits you, and the lovely garden where, 
among the leaves, the ripples and the breeze
compete in their murmuring beside me. 

We will rise together before sunrise:
I will herald the dawn with the Muses,
And you with your warbling divine.

Solage, Chantilly Codex
Text by Eustache Deschamps (c. 1346-c. 1406)

This extravagantly chromatic rondeaux for three voices by the mysterious composer “Solage” was written about a Parisian literary society called the “Fumeurs” or “smokers”, a group of ostentatious bohemians who may or may not have gotten a little generous with their use of hashish and/or opium.  The piece was preserved in the Chantilly Codex, a book of songs and motets that served as one of the two major sources illustrating the “ars subtilior” (“more subtle art”) musical style that was sweeping Paris at the end of the 14th century.  Ars subtilior emphasized subtle texts paired with purposefully complex rhythms and notation (which you’ll hear in Fumeaux), setting it apart from the previous “ars nova” style championed by Solage’s predecessor Guillaume de Machaut.  In addition to the piece’s bold chromaticism and jarring tonal shifts, its tessitura was exceptional, especially for the time–originally written for three basses.  We fell in love with the recording made by the Huelgas Ensemble on their “Art of the Cigar” album, giving the piece to upper voices rather than lower, so you can hear the context a little more easily.  While musicologists today generally argue that the Fumeurs were probably more concerned with metaphorical smoking rather than actual smoking, we still like to envision a smoky room full of bookish types, pondering the existence of the world…

Fumeux fume par fumée,
Fumeuse speculacion.
Qu’antre fummet sa pensée,
Fumeux fume par fumée.
Quar fumer molt li agrée’
Tant qu’il ait son entencion’.
Fumeux fume par fumée,
Fumeuse speculacion.

The smoker smokes through smoke,
A smoky speculation.
While others smoke in thought,
The smoker smokes through smoke,
Because smoke pleases him greatly
As he meditates.
The smoker smokes through smoke,
A smoky speculation.

from A Point on a Slow Curve

Text and music by Dana Lyn (b. 1974)

Dana Lyn  is a Brooklyn-based composer, violinist/fiddler, pianist, visual artist, and enthusiastic bass player, and her favorite thing to do is to make albums. She has collaborated with Tony Award-winning songwriters Stew and Heidi Rodewald, actor-directors Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio, 2017 MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac, and Irish poet Louis de Paor, among many others. Her own musical projects include Mother Octopus, a sextet; Slim Bone Head Volt, a spoken-word and music collaboration with Vincent D’Onofrio; and a violin and guitar duo with guitarist Kyle Sanna. She currently plays in the band of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, Hadestown. 

Lyn recently released A Point on a Slow Curve, a suite of music for septet and four voices, inspired by visual artist Jay DeFeo’s monumental painting, The Rose (1958-1966), which stands 11 feet tall and weighs almost a ton. “Daytime Atheist” is the fifth movement of this work, the premiere of which took place in Austin in January 2019 and featured Page and Adrienne as singers.

sirens of doubt and unease
drowning the memory of sleep achieved
of evenings perched
a distance away from our dreams

what I believe falls to nothing
when thoughts like these uninvited
are cited, ten thousand nights
we lurch towards a state of reprieve

calm were the nights before these
when we accepted what we couldn’t see
halfway believing we’re part of the rainfall
we become part of the chord

what I believe in the daylight
makes me forget how at nighttime
I resign but still cannot find
a way in or out of extremes

Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
Text from Song of Solomon

“Most of all, this piece and its text is about beauty. About a ‘terrible’, powerful beauty, although the music is quite serene on the surface.  Looking out from an attic window one Christmas close to Oslo, over a wintry lake under the stars, I was thinking about how this ‘terrible’ beauty is so profoundly reflected in the northern lights, or aurora borealis, which, having grown up in the southern part of the country, I have only seen once or twice in my life. It is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena I’ve ever witnessed, and has such a powerful, electric quality that must have been both mesmerizing and terrifying to people in the past, when no one knew what it was and when much superstition was attached to these experiences.” –Ola Gjeilo

Pulchra es amica mea,
suavis et decora filia Jerusalem,
Pulchra es amica mea,
suavis et decora sicut Jerusalem,
terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.
Averte oculos tuos a me
quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt.

Thou art beautiful, O my love,
sweet and beautiful daughter of Jerusalem,
Thou art beautiful, O my love,
sweet and comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army set in array.
Turn away thy eyes from me,
for they have made me flee away.