Maria Morning Star / The Renaissance Players
Cantigas de Santa Maria II
medieval.org
Walsingham WAL 8008-2
1996
1. Virgen madre groriosa (C. 340)
1. Virgen madre groriosa [10:13]
CSM 340
Mina Kanaridis, soprano | Tobias Coler, counter-tenor
Winsome Evans, bells
2. Virgen Santa Maria guarda-nos [6:49]
CSM 47
Chorus | Geoff Sirmai, reader
Winsome Evans, sinfonye, psaltery | Katie Ward, vielle | Benedict Hames, rebec |
Andrew Tredinnick, ud | Barbara Stackpool, finger cymbals | Andrew Lambkin, daireh
3. O nome da Virgen santa [1:59]
CSM 254
Winsome Evans, whistle | Benedict Hames, whistle |
Katie Ward, vielle | Andrew Lambkin, darabukka
4. Muito devemos, varões [7:39]
CSM 2
Mina Kanaridis, soprano | Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano
Winsome Evans, organetto | Katie Ward, vielle | Benedict Hames, rebec |
Andrew Tredinnick, gittern | Barbara Stackpool, finger cymbals | Andrew Lambkin, daireh
5. Non pod' ome pela Virgen [7:14]
CSM 127
Winsome Evans, harp, psaltery | Andrew Tredinnick, gittern |
Llew Kiek, citole
6. O que pola Virgen leixa [7:48]
CSM 124
Mina Kanaridis, soprano | Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano | Tobias Cole, counter-tenor
Winsome Evans, sinfonye | Andrew Tredinnick, chitarra moresca |
Barbara Stackpool, castanets | Andrew Lambkin, daireh
7. Maldito seja quien non loara [8:23]
CSM 290
Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano | Mara Kiek, alto
Winsome Evans, harp | Ingrid Walker, gemshorn | Katie Ward, vielle
8. A virgen mui groriosa [2:38]
CSM 42
Winsome Evans, whistles (2) | Andrew Lambkin, tabors (2)
9. Maravillosos e piadosos [5:36]
CSM 139
Chorus | Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano
Winsome Evans, organetto | Ingrid Walker, whistle |
Katie Ward, vielle | Andrew Tredinnick, chitarra moresca |
Barbara Stackpool, castanets | Andrew Lambkin, darabukka
10. Aver non poderia [7:44]
CSM 403
Chorus | Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano, tambourine
Winsome Evans, organetto, treble shawms (2) | Ingrid Walker, whistle |
Katie Ward, vielle | Benedict Hames, rebec | Andrew Tredinnick, ud |
Barbara Stackpool, finger cymbals, castanets | Andrew Lambkin, daireh, darabukka | Mara Kiek, tapan
Alfonso X and the Cantigas
Instrumentarium
The Renaissance Players | credits
This is one of nine cantigas which appears twice in manuscript b.1.2, first as 340 and later as 412. The last word of each of the seven stanzas of this cantiga de loor is "alva" (dawn) and the first three words for each of the six complete stanzas are "Tu es alva",
thus identifying this as a sacred dawn song, a sort of summons to
worshipful prayer and devotion. It has several possible conceptual
precedents — for example, the Christian Latin, religious dawn-hymns,
dozens of which survive from at least as early as the 9th and 10th
centuries. Extracts from Ales diei nuntius, a religious hymn by Prudentius (4th century), contain images which relate to cantiga 340:
"...when
dawn has sprinkled the sky with her shining breath she may strengthen
all those who have carried out their work and give them hope of light...
Gold, pleasure, joy, riches, honours, successes, all those evil things
that puff us up — when morning comes, they are all nothing."
According to Hans Spanke, the melody of cantiga 340 is much the same as the one used in the secular alba (dawn song) S'anc fuy bela ni prezada
by the early 13th century troubadour Cadenet. Hendrik van der Werf
makes two further points relating to the structure and the melody.
Firstly, the rhyme scheme and the rhyme sounds in cantiga 340 are the same as in Cadenet's alba
; and secondly, the melodic contours of some (but not all) of the
internal phrases are similar to those found in the well-known alba Reis glorios by the 12th century troubadour Guiraut de Borneil (who finishes each stanza with a single, recurring, refrain line — "Et ades sera l'alba").
In other Alfonsine cantiga texts Mary is called "the morning star" (strela do dia) or "the star of the sea" (strela do mar),
that is, the star which heralds dawn. In cantiga 340 Mary, the morning
star, is the dawn (see stanza 5). Given that in Christian theology God
is light* ("Ego sum lux mundi") and the Virgin Mary accepted the divine light from the angel with humility ("Ecce ancilla Domini"),
the result was the creation of the child (the Christ, God, the light)
through the union of God (heaven, divine spirit) and mankind (earth,
human flesh). Thus "dawn", that is, Mary the morning star, is the
creative bearer of light, the sun, the Christ. "Dawn" (alva) eternally gives mankind a promise of salvation.
In
our performance the melodic sections are shared antiphonally between
two solo singers (with occasional brief interludes on the bells). The
original dorian melody is unusually ornate, so its melismas (and
additional, improvised ones) are sung as ornamental flourishes. It was
found that although the cleverly structured text and the borrowed melody
matched snugly in the opening refrain and the first short stanza, this
situation did not prevail throughout. Because the musical phrases and
their overall structure often simply do not coincide with those of the
text, due to complicated enjambements within and across stanzas,
there are many performance options to be considered. For this
performance the numbers 5 and 3 were used to group the musical phrases
and text into sections.
The masthead illumination to this cantiga
in b.1.2 shows two rustics out in the country, one playing a conch
shell, also known as pilgrim shell (suggesting a completed pilgrimage to
Santiago da Compostela), the other a thin reed (?) pipe. This does not
suggest a possible instrumentation for this piece but acts as a reminder
that it was shepherds who were chosen by the angel to come to worship
at the birth of Christ in the manger, and that the lowliest and the most
humble can offer the richest devotion, for, in the words of Paul the
Deacon (8th century), "to jubilate is to cry out with a rustic voice."
* Psalms 27: 1 and 36: 9 ; John 8: 12 and 3: 19-21
2. Virgen Santa Maria, guarda-nos (C. 47)
This
quaint folk tale is found in many mediaeval sources, including the
collections of Juan Gil de Zamora and Gonzalo de Berceo. To preserve the
"shaggy-dog" fantasy we have opted for a quite different mode of
performance here. The aeolian melody is only heard in its complete form
at the beginning and the end, encircling a somewhat modified version of
the original text which is declaimed against psaltery improvisations. In
these boxing-in sections (the prelude and postlude), the instruments
play the whole of the simple, virelai melody (structured A1 A2 a2 a2 a1 a2 A1 A2), joined in the refrains by the voices singing in organum. As the melody is quite mordant in its avoidance of the tonic until the end of the closed cadence (A2),
it has been realised in a "wilishly devilish" way in a pattern of
additive rhythms which allow the text to flow in seeming serenity.
3. O nome da Virgen Santa (C. 254)
This cantiga and the previous one, Virgen Santa Maria guarda nos (C. 47), are two of five cantigas which deal with the Virgin's power to liberate those taunted by the devil and his minions. In O nome,
set in France, the assault is made against two monks who run off from
their monastery to avoid being beaten. As they spend the day on the
river bank telling bawdy and licentious tales they are confronted by a
little boatful of foreign demons. Terrified, the monks call on Holy Mary
for forgiveness and rescue so they can return home.
The text of this cantiga is not sung, but played instrumentally as the first of three instrumental cantigas
on this CD (a pattern established throughout our series). The structure
of its ionian mode melody is built up economically with a series of
very small musical "bricks" to make a simple virelai — A1 A2 A1 A3 b1 b2 b1 b2 a1 a2 a1 a3 A1 A2 A1 A3,
and is rhythmicised in triple time with regular hemiola crosspatteming.
The darabukka is played to sound in its down-beats a little like the zambomba, a friction drum still used throughout Spain in Christmas festivities.
4. Muito devemos varões (C. 2)
This cantiga
is one of twenty-eight which deal with gifts given by the Virgin Mary
to those who espouse her cause. Set in 7th century Toledo, it refers to
actual people from Spain's Visigothic past, namely : Saint Ildefonso,
the Archbishop of Toledo famous for his opposition to those who doubted
the Virgin Mary's virginity; King Reccesvinth, the 28th king of the
Visigoths (who ruled from 653 - 672); Saint Leocadia, the patron saint
of Toledo (who died in prison in 304 AD) and "Don Siagrio", also known
as Sigiberto or Siseberto, who succeeded Ildefonso as Archbishop. It
also focuses on a particular alb, the clerical vestment symbolic of
purity. This was a white linen robe (its name refers to its white
colour) with close-fitting sleeves which was worn by the officiating
priest. Being a "rare and beautiful gift" (stanza 5), Mary's alb was
probably decorated with embroidery on the hem, neck and wrist-cuffs,
possibly also with the additional four or five rectangular patches of
embroidery called apparels, parures or orphreys.
Variants of this miracle are found in many sources from the 8th century on, including Alfonso X's own Primera Cronica General. One would expect that this, the first cantiga de miragre
in Alfonso's carefully planned collection, would deal with an important
person or event relating to the Virgin Mary. This exptectation is
confirmed and achieved by the establishment of a link over the centuries
between an outstanding religious "Alfonso" (or variously, "Alifonsso", as the cantiga text names Ildefonso) and the living, secular king Alfonso making his own testament to Mary's glory with his Book of cantigas de Santa Maria.
Not only did these great men both defend the Virgin Mary's honour and
(according to King Alfonso's text) share the same name, but there was
also a further strong factor in the king's reasoning, namely, their
mutual connection with Toledo, the capital of the Visigothic kingdom and
the primary see of the Spanish church. Toledo had been under Muslim
rule for three centuries until its reconquest in 1085. Already famed as a
seat of culture and learning during the Muslim Ummayad and Almoravid
dynasties, it was still, in the reign of Alfonso X, a great, flourishing
city ever enriched by his tolerance of the relatively peaceful
cohabitation of substantial groups of Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Apart from the short improvised prelude, the whole of this cantiga
is performed in measured rhythms (patterned in additive groups of 6, 4
and 3). The melody is in the ionian mode and structured as a virelai (ABcca+bAB, where c melodies are actually b melodies but with the A incipit).
The refrain, sung by two voices, occurs at the beginning and the end,
and before the dramatic text of the last stanza. Otherwise the stanzas
run on into one another with interludes of various lengths improvised or
cued between them.
5. Non pod' ome pela Virgen (C. 127)
This is the second of the instrumentally rendered cantigas
on our CD. It is one of twenty-six concerned with punishment and
forgiveness meted out to devotees of Virgin Mary. The text (unsung)
tells of a young man from Puy in Southern France who loses a foot and
has it restored miraculously. As punishment for hitting his mother he is
not allowed into church, even when, as penance, he goes on pilgrimage.
When he comes back, however much he pushes he still cannot get into his
home church. He is advised that possibly he could get in if his foot
were cut off. When his mother sees him after the deed is done, she
appeals to the Virgin. The statue of Mary tells her to take her son's
foot in her hand and put it back on his leg. This miracle is immediately
celebrated in the church by the priests who, after the "amen", order all the bells to ring.
The mixolydian melody (a virelai structured A1 A2 b b a1 a2 A1 A2)
is played by four different plucked string instruments. In the
interludes between stanzas each instrument takes turns at offering
improvisation, sometimes imitating and extending, sometimes presenting
new motives and textures. The refrain melody is occasionally doubled in
organal fifths, likewise the stanzaic a1 a2.
6. O que pola Virgen leixa (C. 124)
The gruesome tale recounted "as I heard tell"
in this cantiga takes place in Andalusia in land still under Muslim
rule near the Strait of Gibraltar ("near both seas"). The precise
location is not stated but the events befall a man who frequently
travelled to Moorish Jerez and Seville and had his beard trimmed off in
Alcala de Guadaira. It is one of twenty-four cantigas in the
"captive and condemned" category. Although the Virgin Mary does not
actually appear or speak in this text, there are three clear signs of
proof that she did hear the Christian man's plea and confession during
his death-torture (by stoning, spearing and throat-cutting). Firstly,
she keeps him alive through all of this and long enough to be allowed to
make priestly confession; secondly, his beard grows again after his
death and thirdly, no animals come to ravish his corpse.
The nine stanzas are sung to a mixolydian melody, a virelai (A B c1 c2 a b A B),
which is set in a fixed pattern of additive rhythms. Against the main
melody, the singers not only add tonic or dominant drones but also add a
third contrapuntal part producing a three-part, conductus-like,
drone-based texture. The refrain is sung only four times, cued in each
time by a pre-learnt instrumental interlude. Apart from the dying
Christian's last words, which are sung in free rhythm, the rest of the
piece is performed in measured rhythm.
7. Maldito seja quen non loara (C. 290)
The six stanzas of this cantiga de loor alternately list benedictions (Beeito seja...) and maledictions (Maldito seja...). In order to reinforce this we have chosen voices and instruments contrasting in timbre and production — the dark, cante jondo
alto against a lighter, brighter mezzo-soprano, and the richly nasal
vielle against the pure, "white"-sounding gemshorn, all linked together
by the harp (King David's "joywood").
Three stanzas are sung in
measured modal rhythms, two are sung in free unmeasured rhythm, and one
(the last) is declaimed against the measured playing of the melody on
the harp. There are three substantial instrumental sections — prelude,
postlude and interlude which, when measured, are prelearnt and, when
unmeasured, are improvised. The mixolydian melody, when measured, is
played in modal rhythm, and is structured as a virelai (A1 B a2 a2 a1 b A1 B).
The textual dichotomy of the alternating refrains may be mirrored in
the tension and release heard in the melodic motifs — for instance, all A / a motifs begin supertonic to mediant, B / b motifs begin subdominant to dominant and A1 cadences from subdominant to mediant.
8. A virgen mui groriosa (C. 42)
The illumination at the masthead of cantiga de loor 370, Loemos muit' a Virgen, suggested the instrumentation for our third instrumental rendition of a cantiga melody : two whistle-and-tabor players.
The unsung text of cantiga 42 is one of thirty-one cantigas
concerned with statues of the Virgin Mary. In this tale set in Germany,
a young man about to be married looks about for somewhere safe to place
his engagement ring to avoid damaging it in a ball game. The green
meadow where the game is being played lies next to a church in the
process of renovation. The beautiful statue of the Virgin temporarily
placed outside during the repairs catches the man's attention, and while
he puts his ring on the statue's finger he makes silly promises of
devotion. After the game, when the ring and the statue shrink, he abuses
the statue. The Virgin appears in his dreams on his wedding night,
chastises him and sends him away. He spends the rest of his life as a
hermit dedicated to Her.
The mixolydian melody (a virelai structured A1 A2 b1 b2 a2 A1 A2)
is performed with a regular pattern of additive rhythms (25 beats per
phrase : long-short, long-long-long-short, long-long-long).
9. Maravillosos e piadosos (C. 139)
There are a number of unusual aspects to this cantiga which survives in various forms in many mediaeval sources and was even the subject of a 20th century film, Marcelino, pan y vino (1952). In Valverde's categorisation of genres it is one of the thirty-one cantigas
concerned with the statue of the Virgin Mary. In this particular
version, set in Flanders, not only does the statue of the Virgin speak
to the Infant Son she cradles (as part of the statue), but also the baby
Christ speaks to the little boy who has offered him his bread.
When
the whole text (including all refrains) is set out in verse form it
makes a series of crosses on the page. Although this cruciform shape
cannot be seen in the surviving manuscripts where the text runs in a
continuous rectangular block, it may have been known to (seen in the
mind of, or on the wax tablets of) the author. Certainly the decorative
game playing involved in composing carmina figurata was known in
the Hellenistic and the Roman worlds. Publilius Porphyrius (4th century)
and Eugenius Vulgarius (10th century), for example, wrote various poems
in the shape of an altar, an organ or a pyramid. One is reminded too of
the "pattern" poems of the 17th century metaphysical English poet
George Herbert in which the lines of text form the shape of the subject —
The Altar, Easter Wings. Conceptually, these are related to but
not quite the same as mediaeval Hebrew micrography (or minute script)
where the letters themselves outline (rather than fill in) shapes (of
animals, humans, and abstract patternings).
The mode of the melody is hypo-dorian. Its virelai structure (A1 A2 b1 b2 b1 b2 a1 a2 A1 A2) is made up, unusually, of a series of sequentially patterned motifs — descending in the A / a sections and ascending in b.
All phrases begin with the same three-note ascent (tonic to mediant).
Stanzas 2 to 4 inclusive are divided in their presentation, that is,
sung in unmeasured rhythm then in measured, additive rhythms. The
refrains (which are not performed after every stanza) are sung with
drones and organal fifths.
10. Aver non poderia (C. "403"; Ms To., Cantiga 50)
The numbering ascribed to this cantiga
derives from Walter Mettman's classification. It is not found in either
of the manuscripts in the library of El Escorial, Madrid (b.1.2 and
T.j.1), nor in the Florence source. It survives only in the manuscript
from Toledo Cathedral which is now held in the Biblioteca Nacional,
Madrid (To.), where it is numbered 50. Though this would seem to
indicate a cantiga de loor, it is in fact a cantiga de dolor.
Of
its eight stanzas only the first is sung here, circling continuously
upon itself, shared between a chorus and a soloist. One of the few
cantigas constructed without a refrain, its text outlines the seven
sorrows Holy Mary suffered because of Her Son. In our spiralling singing
of stanza 1 we wish to refer back, in circular fashion, to the first cantiga de loor
(number 1) — also without a refrain — which describes the seven joys
which Mary had through Her Son. Despite the dreadful dolour evoked by
the events in the text of cantiga "403", we have tried to suggest in the postludal presentation of the melody a textless jubilus,
as a pledge of life and faith, a reminder of Her seven joys. Out of
death and loneliness comes life, and the Assumption, which will reunite
Her with Her Son, still lies ahead. In this jubilus section, the slow-moving melody, loud and solemn, is played by shawms (the triples of the cobla
band) against vigorous and lively percussion patterns on drums,
tambourine and castanets. This too is a reminder of the crowning of the
Virgin and the Feast of the Assumption and is still celebrated today in
Galicia with a joyous communal dance of men and women after the Mass on
the Feast of the Assumption (August 15).
The melody is in the mixolydian mode with tensions built into the phrase incipits and cadences (for example, the motifs start as follows : a — supertonic to subdominant, b — leading note, tonic, supertonic, and c — mediant, dominant, leading note). The overall structure is not that of a virelai, but a simple binary form made up of two sets of related motifs : A B (or, in more detailed format,a b a b c d c b).