medieval.org
sequentia.org
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (BMG) 05472 77381 2
1999
During the final editing phase of this recording,
Barbara Thornton died on 8 November, 1998, following a long illness.
We mourn our loss.
The
Edda are the sagas of medieval Iceland, as they are usually called, a
series of texts describing various aspects of the society from their
laws to their religious beliefs. Some texts are in prose, while some
are poetic. The latter are the subject here, and are performed
primarily as preserved in the Codex Regius (early thirteenth century).
The
sagas of medieval Iceland are some of the West's most fascinating
literature, arising from one of the West's most fascinating
civilizatons. Iceland was settled by the Norse in the late 9th century,
and has been inhabited since then. It's cultural distinctions include
not only that early exploration and settlement but a democratic
parliament as well. Many of the sagas apparently date to this period,
and possibly even prior to settlement, but were written down only from
around the 13th century.
This poetry and its recitation are
inherently oral traditions. There is no musical notation which
accompanies it, and so Sequentia's reconstructions are particularly
hypothetical. They are based both on their own study of medieval poetry
as it is linked to music elsewhere, the various modal gestures
entailed, as well as some of the earliest written descriptions (18th
century) of Icelandic recitation by European musicians. The amount of
effort put into this production is very impressive, based as it was
over the course of years of study.
Regarding the resulting music
itself, some sections are particularly compelling, and regardless of
provenance (whether medieval Iceland per se or the minds of Sequentia),
make for a fine program. There is an alternation of more lyrical
passages with some more dramatic recitations, as one might generally
say this material was typically performed in the bardic tradition.
Medieval pronunciation is attempted as well.
This is one of the
most ground-breaking productions in the history of "Early Music" per
se, as it uses ideas & techniques learned from the study of
contemporary Western traditions which do include surviving notation in
order to understand a non-notated repertory. Sequentia's intention is
to continue in this direction with other Northern European music,
principally the Beowulf saga. — medieval.org
Liner notes
Summaries of the poems Terry Gunnell
Thanks to the following people and institutions who helped us to
realize this vast project:
1. Leikr elds ok ísa [2:17]
The Song of Fire and Ice
fiddle piece, Elisabeth Gaver
2. Veit ek at ek hekk [5:41]
Hangakvæði Hávamála · Óðinn's Rune-verses
excerpt from “Hávamál”, Sayings of the High One
Benjamin Bagby — voice, lyre
3. Hlióðs bið ek allar [10:12]
“Völuspá 1”, The Prophecy of the Seeress
tutti
4. Vreiðr var þá Ving-Þórr [13:52]
“Þrymskviða”, The Tale of Þrymr
Benjamin Bagby — voice, lyre
5. Nú erum komnar til konungs húsa [12:16]
“Grottasöngr”, The Song of the Mill
Barbara Thornton, Lena Suzanne Norin, Elisabeth Gaver — fiddle
6. Baldrs minni [3:34]
In Memory of Baldr
fiddle piece, Elisabeth Gaver
7. Senn vóru æsir allir á þingi [9:32]
“Baldrs draumar”, Baldr's Dreams
Barbara Thornton, Benajamin Bagby, Elisabeth Gaver — fiddle
8. Þat man hón fólkvíg [6:23]
“Völuspá 2”, The Prophecy of the Seeress
Lena Suzanne Norin, Barbara Thornton
9. Ragnarök [1:28]
The End of the Gods
fiddle piece, Elisabeth Gaver
10. Á fellr austan um eitrdala [6:23]
“Völuspá 3”, The Prophecy of the Seeress
tutti
SEQUENTIA, Ensemble für Musik des Mittelalters
Barbara Thornton & Benjamin Bagby
Barbara Thornton, voice
Lena Susanne Norin, voice
Elizabeth Gaver, fiddles
Benjamin Bagby, voice, lyre
Musical arrangements & musical direction: Sequentia
Reconstructions of the vocal music: Benjamin Bagby
Reconstructions and titles of the fiddle music: Elizabeth Gaver
This project was originally conceived as a theater production entitled
"Edda Eins" and given its premiere in Luxembourg in December 1995.
Heimir Pálsson:
An Introduction to the Poetic Edda
Benjamin Bagby:
The Reconstruction of Eddic Performance
Elizabeth Gaver:
The Reconstruction of Instrumental Music for the Edda
Óðinn's Rune-Song
In this particular section of the "Sayings of the High One", the
one-eyed god of poetry and arcane knowledge, Óðinn, tells
his audience in person how he sacrificed himself to himself by hanging
from a tree with a spear in his side, thus temporarily entering the
realm of death as a means of gathering further forbidden wisdom.
The Prophecy of the Seeress
One of the most famous Old Icelandic poems, Vǫluspá is a
first-person account of a stunning vision seen by a prophetess. The
seeress gives her audience a striking visual description of the
creation of the world, the coming of the gods and dwarves, the fateful
death of Baldr, son of Óðinn, and the eventual fiery
collapse and destruction of the world at Ragnarǫk.
The Tale of Þrymr
The Tale of Þrymr relates the myth of how
Þórr's hammer Mjöllnir was once stolen by the giant
Þrymr. The giant then demands the hand of the goddess Freyja as
ransom for the return of Mjöllnir. Freyja of course refuses to go,
thus forcing the thunder god to demean himself by temporarily taking
her place in the disguise of a bride.
The Song of the Mill
This poem contains the early myth of how Fróði, the king of
Denmark forces two giant maidens, Fenja and Menja, to grind out peace
and then gold on his enormous magical hand-mill, called Grotti. At the
end of the poem, Froði pays the price of enslaving others as the
women turn from grinding out gold to grinding out war, eventually
splitting the stone and bringing about the king's death.
Baldr's Dreams
This poem, written partly in dialogue, involves a conversation between
the god Óðinn and a seeress who has been summoned up from
her grave at the gates of Hel. Óðinn wants to learn the
meaning of the dreams that have troubled his son, Baldr, and is greeted
with a brief, yet painful image of Baldr's coming death and the fateful
approaching end of the world at Ragnarǫk.
Reykjavik, Iceland:
First and foremost, thanks to Heimir Pálsson for philological
consultation, guidance, pronunciation training, and inspiration.
Without his tireless help and "midwifery", the realization of this
project would never have been possible.
The director and staff of the institute Stofnun Árna
Magnús-sonar, especially Gísli Sigurðsson and
Rósa Þorsteinsdóttir for assistence with the tape
archives;
Terry Gunnell, Þorbjörg Jónsdóttir, Camilla
Söderberg and Snorri Örn Snorrason.
Das Goethe-Institut Reykjavik (Leiterin: Coletta Bürling).
Skálholt, Iceland:
the Bishop of Skálholt, Sigurður Sigurðsson;
director and staff of the Skálholtsskóli.
Norway:
Reidar Sevag and Hans-Hinrich Thedens of the Institute for Music and
Theater, University of Oslo.
Bjørn Aksdal of the Norwegian Council for Folk Music and Folk
Dance, Trondheim.
Germany:
The team of "Edda Eins" during the original theatrical production in
1995 in Köln and Luxembourg:
Dr. Ulrich Mehler (dramaturgy and philological assistence);
Franz-Josef Heumannskämper (stage director), Joachim Kühn
(producer) and Steve Karier (actor).
England:
Ursula Dronke (Cambridge), for kindly allowing us access to her
important work on the Edda prior to its publication.
Instruments:
2 lyres by Rainer Thurau (Wiesbaden, 1990)
5-string fiddle by Richard Earle (Basel 1989)
3-string fiddle by Richard Earle (Basel 1995)
5-string fiddle by Rainer Ullreich (Wien, 1990)
Sources/Texts
The principle manuscript source of the Eddic texts is the Codex Regius
(13th century):
Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, Gl.kgl.sml.2365 4to.
(see essay by Heimir Pálsson).
Sources/Quellen: Music
See the essays by Heimir Pálsson, Benjamin Bagby und Elizabeth
Gaver.
Ⓟ & ©1999 BMG Entertainment
A & R direction: Nicola Kremer
Musical producer: Elizabeth Ostrow
Recording engineers: John Newton and Jeff Baust (soundrnirror, Boston,
USA)
Editor: Jeff Baust
Recorded: 5-9 November 1996 in Skálholt, Iceland
Language consultant (before and during recording): Heimir Pálsson
Front cover picture: Antikvarisk-Topografiska Arkivet, Stockholm
(a warrior - or possibly Oðinn? - being greeted by a Valkyrie)
Design:Welcom/Munich
Text editing: Jens Markowsky (with thanks to Ursula Dronke and Heimir
Pálsson)
All rights reserved
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