medieval.org
Universalia in Re (no number)
2009
1. Eno nome de Maria [5:41]
CSM 70
Maria Batova, citole
2. Interludio [2:00]
citole, psaltery, viella
3. Pois que dos reys nostro Sennor [7:05]
CSM 424
Maria Batova, Yulia Ryabchikova, Ekaterina Bonfeld, guitarra morisca, rebec
4. Interludio [2:20]
guitarra morisca, rebec, tambourin
5. Alegria, alegria [5:40]
CSM 425
Maria Batova, Yulia Ryabchikova, Ekaterina Bonfeld, citole, psaltery, Danil Ryabchikov
6. Interludio [2:16]
CSM 24
double flute
7. Pera toller gran perfia [18:01]
CSM 85
Maria Batova, Yulia Ryabchikova, citole, psaltery, viella
8. Subiu ao ceo o Fillo de Deus [4:02]
CSM 426
rebec, Danil Ryabchikov
UNIVERSALIA IN RE
Maria Batova, chant,
Yulia Ryabchikova, chant, psaltery, tambourin
Ekaterina Bonfeld, chant, double flute
Maria Golubeva, viella, rebec
Danil Ryabchikov, citole, guitarra morisca, recitation
Recorded June'08 at Magdalenenkapelle (Rheinau, Switzerland)
Sound engineer: H.Yrrtiaho
Instruments:
psaltery: A. Teplov, 2006 —
double flute: E. Illarionov, 2007 —
viella: S. Tikhonenko, 2004
rebec: A. Teplov, 2006 —
citole: U. Casalonga, 2006
Sources:
[1] E. f. 89r —
[3] To. ff. 145r-145v —
[5] To. ff. 145v-146v —
[6] E. ff. 154r-154v transc. by Roberto Pla
[7] E. ff. 99v-100r —
[8] To. ff. 146v-147r
E: San Lorenzo del Escorial: Escorial, 132 B.I.2
To: Toledo Ms, Madrid: B.N. 10069
© 2008 Universalia in Re
© & ℗ 2012 Sketis Music
The Cantigas de Santa Maria (“Songs to the Virgin Mary”)
were composed at the court of Alfonso X the Wise, King of Castile and
León who ruled between 1252 and 1284. This is probably the most
famous of all medieval songbooks, and a most extensive one. It includes
429 pieces in total, together with two general prologues (one of which
is also notated). Three manuscripts of the Cantigas survived, two of
which contain both texts and music: the bipartite Codex E (kept in El
Escorial) and the Codex To (from Toledo). The latter, most likely the
earliest extant copy, also contains a small cycle of five pieces called
Cantigas de Jesu-Cristo (“Songs to Jesus Christ”). Three of
them are recorded at this disk.
The authors of the cantigas are unknown. It has been argued that the
authorship of at least some of them can be attributed to King Alfonso
himself, who was a renowned patron of arts and knowledge. Every tenth
cantiga in the compilation is a praise hymn to the Virgin Mary, while
the rest tell stories of her miracles. Some of these narratives simply
paraphrase popular legends, which can be found in many medieval
sources, but a number of the stories are quite unique.
The cantigas are written in Galician – the language of song and
poetry at the court of Alfonso X. During the reign of this king
Castilian became the language of official charters, books and maps
everywhere in Castile and León, replacing Latin as a mother
tongue of learning. Only in cantigas King Alfonso followed the
different tradition.
Musically the cantigas are a remarkable amalgam of diverse cultural and
stylistic influences. Musicians from around the world found warm
welcome at the court of King Alfonso X. The rhythmical and melodic
structures of many cantigas reveal strong Andalusian or Oriental roots.
One of the pieces on this disk – СSM 424 – was originally
composed in a particular Andalusian rhythmic mode. The same southern
influence can probably be found in CSM 425, also included in the
present collection. The stylistics of other cantigas performed by the
ensemble echo the songs of Troubadours and Trouveres and conducts of
the Notre Dame school.
While the cantigas are very diverse in terms of metrics and rhythm,
musically most of them follow the structure of virelais. This musical
form, very probably of Arabian origin, is first attested in Western
Europe in the works of the Troubadours. By the 14th century it became
one of the most popular European musical forms. In the cantigas it
appears as AAbbaaAA, where upper-case letters stand for chorus.
All the instruments used for this recording – psaltery, citole,
vielle, rebec, guitarra morisca, double pipe – can be found on
the illuminations of the cantigas books. Musicians are depicted there
playing or tuning their instruments, most often in ensembles of two,
but sometimes as single soloists. In general, it is very rare for the
descriptions or images of musical performances in the 13th century to
show larger groups of players. It is therefore very likely that it was
a customary musical practice of that period to involve only one or two
players at a time – the principle which we chose to follow at
this record.
We also decided not to shorten the cantigas and perform each of them in
full, despite the common practice to approach cantigas’ texts
selectively, singing only a few verses of many. There are two reasons
for this. First, as many medieval music pieces, each cantiga is a
text-music entity, and omitting a part of the text breaks up its
original layout, which potentially damages its idea. Then, these
whole-length versions offer contemporary listener (as well as
performer) the unique experience of a very different from ours concept
of time in the Middle Ages.
The title of the disk, Grandes Visiones (‘great visions’),
is taken from the CSM 85, where the Virgin Mary shows the visions of
heaven and hell to a man, who then changes his ways and becomes a
Christian. This is just one of the legends so typical for the
cantigas’ narratives. Other ‘great visions’, most
important for all the Christians, are also present in the cantigas: the
star leading the Magi to Christ’s manger (CSM 424), the
angel’s annunciation of Christ’s Resurrection to the
myrrh-bearering women (CSM 425), and the Saviour himself blessing the
Apostles while ascending to heaven (CSM 426).