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June 1, 2024 * St. Augustine Cathedral, Kalamazoo
Program Notes
Program and Translations
Performers
Supporters
Board of Directors
2024–2025 Season
Program Notes
This program was dedicated to Dr. Clifford Davidson, an enthusiastic supporter and long-time friend of EMM, who passed away on June 4, 2024.
The Middle Ages witnessed the rise of pilgrimage: the practice of traveling, sometimes great distances, to worship at particularly holy sites. Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land is attested as early as the fourth century, and in later centuries, Iberia became the focus for a great deal of pilgrimage activity. Most notably, the Camino de Santiago—the Way of St. James—attracted a continuous flow of pilgrims to the resting place of St. James in Compostela, from the ninth century until today.
Unusually, a significant body of work survives from the High Middle Ages that attests to the musical world that greeted pilgrims in medieval Iberia. The Guiding Star features music from four of these manuscripts that bear witness to the pilgrims’ sonic landscape.
Our performance begins with Porque Trobar, the prologue to the Cantigas de Santa Maria. The cantigas are a collection of over four hundred songs in praise of the Virgin Mary associated with the court of Alfonso X, King of Castile. They survive in four individual manuscripts, a testament to the songs’ tremendous popularity. One of those manuscripts, now held at the Escorial (Madrid), is especially important because it includes dozens of illustrations of musicians performing on a wide variety of instruments that were played in thirteenth-century Spain. Some of these illustrations can be seen in the projections featured in our concert today. Our special guest artist Dr. Allison Monroe brings these illustrations to life in her performance of “Porque Trobar,” singing and accompanying herself on the vielle, the medieval ancestor of the modern violin.
From here, we turn from the cantigas to another collection of medieval songs, the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat. This little red book is associated with the shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat, a major site of pilgrimage during the fourteenth century. Stella Splendens praises the Virgin of Montserrat as a “stella splendens in monte…miraculis serrato” (“star on the jagged mountain… shining with miracles”) and describes the pilgrims rushing to climb the mountain to her shrine.
The earliest piece on the program, Congaudeant Catholici, is preserved in the twelfth-century Codex Calixtinus. This manuscript served as an encyclopedia for pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela, combining sermons, reports of miracles, and liturgical texts with descriptions of the towns, geography, and peoples one would experience on the pilgrim trail. “Congaudeant Catholici” is particularly notable as the earliest extant example of three voice polyphony.
“Congaudeant Catholici” concludes with a call to “solvamus laudis gratias” (“let us render thanks of praise”). We respond with a return to the Cantigas de Santa Maria, and the insistent refrain of Sen Calar that “Sen calar nen tardar / deve todavía / hóm’ honrrar e loar / a Santa María” (“without being silent or delaying, one must honor and praise St. Mary every day”). In this performance, you will hear recorders, bagpipes, harp, oud, and vielle—all instruments represented in the images from the Escorial manuscript of the cantigas.
From the exuberance of “Sen Calar,” we shift gears to highlight two examples of mesmerizing polyphony from the Codex Las Huelgas, a music manuscript with its origins in the Cistercian convent of Santa Maria la Real de Las Huelgas in northern Spain. The motet Iam Nubes/Iam Novum displays distinctive stylistic influences from Notre Dame polyphony, the musical style characteristic of twelfth-century Paris. As we sing this piece, we are almost irresistibly drawn to imagine pilgrims from Paris—perhaps university students—bringing this music with them on their journeys to Spain, where it was added to the repertoire of local churches.
Belial Necatur, also drawn from the Codex Las Huelgas, is an unusual piece structured around the phrase “benedicamus Domino” (“let us bless the Lord”). This ubiquitous text is sung at the end of all the daily offices, as well as at the end of Mass during some liturgical seasons, and it became a frequent site for early polyphonic embellishment. The motet “Belial Necatur” is structured as a double acrostic wherein the first two letters of each word of the first two lines spell out “benedicamus Domino.” In the following lines, the first letter of each word spells out “benedicamus Domino” a second time before the three parts come together to sing the words “benedicamus Domino” a third time.
The program concludes with three more pieces from the Llibre Vermell. O Virgo Splendens echoes the language of “Stella Splendens,” calling on the “virgo / splendens hic in monte celso” (“virgin shining on this high jagged mountain”) to have pity on the pilgrims coming to her shrine. We sing through it twice, first as a mellifluous monophonic song reminiscent of chant, and then again in canon. This proceeds into Imperayritz de la Ciudad Ioyosa, a jaunty polyphonic song that praises Mary as the Empress of Paradise, the “estel de mar qui los perillans guia” (“star of the sea who guides those in peril”).
Our performance closes with Cuncti Simus Concanentes. The compiler of the Llibre Vermell observed that “peregrini quando vigilant… volunt cantare et trepudiare” (“while the pilgrims keep watch, they wish to sing and dance”), and he explains that the songs in his collection were written so that the pilgrims would have suitably “honestas ac devotas cantilenas” (“reputable and pious songs”) to replace their worldly repertoire. “Cuncti Simus Concanentes” is compellingly danceable, a catchy song that enjoins pilgrims, “cuncti simus concanentes ave Maria” (“let us join together singing ‘Hail Mary’”).
Each of us—performers and audience members alike—are on our own individual pilgrimages through the world. Let us now travel together, singing joyously along with two thousand years of history and belief.
– Dr. Luke Conklin, Artistic Director
Program & Translations
Porque Trobar
Galician-Portuguese, Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th c.
Featuring Allison Monroe, vocal solo and vielle
Porque trobar é cousa en que jaz
entendimento, porên queno faz
á-o d’ aver e de razôn assaz
per que entenda e sábia dizer
o que entend’ e de dizer lle praz
ca ben trobar assí s’ á de fazer.
E o que quéro é dizer loor
da Virgen, adre de nóstro Sennor,
Santa María, que ést’ a mellor
cousa que el fez. e por aquest’ éu
quéro seer oi mais séu trobador
e rógo-lle que me queira por séu
trobador e que queira méu trobar
receber, ca per el quér’ éu mostrar
dos miragres que ela fez. e ar
querrei-me leixar de trobar des i
por outra dona, e cuid’ a cobrar
per esta quant’ enas outras perdí.
Ca o amor desta sennor é tal,
que queno á sempre per i mais val;
e poi-lo gaannad’ á, non lle fal,
senôn se é per sa grand’ ocajôn
querendo leixar ben e fazer mal.
Ca per esto o pérd’ e per al non.
Onde lle rógo, se ela quisér,
que lle praza do que dela dissér
en méus cantares e, se ll’ aprouguér,
que me dé gualardôn com’ ela dá
aos que ama. E queno soubér,
por ela mais de grado trobará.
Because composing songs requires great
understanding, therefore, he who undertakes it
must have this quality and good judgment
so that he may understand and be able to say
that which he understands and wishes to express
for thus are good songs made.
And that which I seek is to praise
the Virgin, Mother of our Lord,
Saint Mary, the most wondrous
of his creations. I wish from this day forth
to be her troubadour
and I pray that she will have me
as her troubadour and accept my songs,
for through them I seek to reveal
the miracles she performed. Hence
from now on I choose to sing
for no other lady, and thereby I hope to recover
all that I have wasted on the others.
For the love of this lady is such
that he who has it is forever worthier for it
and once he has earned it, it never fails him,
unless to his misfortune
he departs from good and does wrong.
Thus and in no other way does he lose it.
Therefore I pray, if it be her will,
that what I shall say of her
in my songs shall please her, and if she approves,
that she gives me the reward which she gives
to those she loves. He who has this assurance
will gladly sing for her.
Stella Splendens
Latin, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, 14th c.
Recorders, vielle, oud, percussion (zills)
Refrain:
Stella splendens in monte
ut solis radium
miraculis serrato
exaudi populum
Concurrunt universi
gaudentes populi
divites et egeni
grandes et parvuli
ipsum ingrediuntur
ut cernunt oculi
et inde revertuntur
gratiis repleti
Refrain
Principes et magnates
ex stirpe regia
saeculi potestates
obtenta venia
peccaminum proclamant
tundentes pectora
poplite flexo clamant
hic ave Maria
Refrain
Reginae, comitissae,
illustres dominae,
potentes et ancillae,
juvenes parvulae,
virgines et antiquae,
pariter viduae,
conscendunt et hunc montem
et religiosae
Refrain
Cuncti ergo precantes
sexus utriusque
mentes nostras mundantes
oremus devote
virginem gloriosam
matrem clementiae
in coelis gratiosam
sentiamus vere.
Refrain
Refrain:
Star on the jagged mountain
like a sunbeam
shining with miracles
hear the people
They rush together
all the people rejoicing
rich and poor
great and small
they climb it
so that their eyes may see
and return from there
filled with grace
Refrain
Princes and magnates
of royal lineage
the powerful of the world
having received pardon
proclaim their sins
beating their breasts
and cry out on bended knee
hail Mary
Refrain
Queens, countesses,
distinguished ladies,
powerful women and handmaids,
little girls,
virgins, old women,
and likewise widows
also climb this mountain
as well as nuns
Refrain
Everyone entreating together
no matter our sex
cleansing our minds
let us devoutly pray
that we may truly understand
that the glorious virgin
the mother of mercy
in the heavens is gracious
Refrain
Congaudeant Catholici
Latin, Codex Calixtinus, 12th c.
Featuring Ginny Shilliday (vocal solo), recorder, vielle, oud
Congaudeant catholici
letentur cives celici
die ista
Clerus pulcris carminibus
studeat atque cantibus
die ista
Hec est dies laudabilis
divina luce nobilis
die ista
Vincens Herodis gladium
accepit vite bravium
die ista
Qua Iacobus palatia
ascendit ad celestia
die ista
Ergo carenti termino
benedicamus Domino
die ista
Magno patri familias
solvamus laudis gratias
die ista
Let everyone rejoice together
let the citizens of heaven be joyful
on this day
Let the clergy busy themselves
with beautiful songs and hymns
on this day
This is a praiseworthy day
noble with divine light
on that day
Conquering the sword of Herod
he grasped the prize of life
on that day
James ascended
to the heavenly palace
on that day
Therefore without end
let us bless the Lord
on this day
To the great father
let us render thanks of praise
on this day
Sen Calar
Galician-Portuguese, Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th c.
Recorder, medieval bagpipes, vielle, oud, percussion (riq)
Refrain:
Sen calar nen tardar
deve todavía
hóm’ honrrar e loar
a Santa María
Ca ela non tardou
quando nos acorreu
e da prijôn sacou
du Éva nos meteu
u pesar e cuidar
sempre nos crecía
mais guïar e levar
foi u Déus siía
Refrain
E amar outrossí
devemos mais d’al ren
e, com’ éu vej’ e vi
sempre quér nósso ben
ca britar e deitar
foi da sennoría
quen mezcrar e buscar
mal con Déus quería
Refrain
A nós que somos séus
quitamente sen al
dela, porque de Déus
é madre que nos val
quand’ errar e pecar
per nóssa folía
imos, ar perdõar
nos faz cada día
Refrain
Refrain:
Without being silent or delaying
one must every day
honor and praise
Saint Mary
Because she did not delay
when she aided us
and released us from the prison
where Eve locked us
where sorrow and grief
grew ever stronger
but she guided us and raised us
to where God was
Refrain
And we must also love her
more than any other
as I see and have seen
she always wants our good
for she broke and cast down
from their power
those who would cause trouble and seek
to do us harm before God
Refrain
For we who are hers
entirely hers
because she is God’s
mother who helps us
when we err and sin
because of our folly
she causes him to pardon
us every day
Refrain
Iam Nubes/Iam Novum
Latin, Codex Las Huelgas, 14th c.
Medieval harp, oud, rebec
Top voices:
Iam nubes dissolvitur
Iam patet galaxia
Iam flos ex spina rumpitur
Iam oritur Maria
Iam verum lumen cernitur
Iam demonstratur via
Iam pro nobis pia
exoret Maria
ut fruamur gloria
Middle voices:
Iam novum sidus oritur
Iam patet galaxia
Iam ex Iudea nascitur
Iam oritur Maria
Iam nobis celum panditur
Iam det nobis gaudia
in celi curia
Christus cuius filia
et mater es Maria
Bottom voices:
Solem
Repeat
Top voices:
Now the clouds dissolve
Now the galaxy lies open
Now the flower is torn from the thorn
Now he is born of Mary
Now the true light is visible
Now the way is shown
Now let pious Mary
plead on our behalf
so that we may enjoy glory
Middle voices:
Now a new star is born
Now the galaxy lies open
Now he springs forth from Judea
Now he is born of Mary
Now heaven stretches forth to us
Now let him give us joy
in the court of heaven
Christ, whose daughter
and mother you are, Mary
Bottom voices:
Sun
Repeat
Belial Necatur
Latin, Codex Las Huelgas, 14th c.
Recorders, oud, vielle
Belial necatur diffusa caliditas
Muse dominatur militantis novitas
benedictus exitus nesciens errorem
decorus introitus conferens amorem
mensus ulnis Simeonis dominatur omnium
miratur infusionis natura officium
O benedicamus Domino
Repeat
Belial, widespread cunning, is put to death
the reformation of the Muse, waging war, rules
blessed is the going forth that knows no fault
beautiful is the coming in that bestows love
he who was judged by the arms of Simeon rules over all
nature marvels at the gift of imparting
O let us bless the Lord
Repeat
Virgo Splendens
Latin, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, 14th c.
Sung once, in unison
O virgo
splendens hic in monte celso
miraculis serrato fulgentibus ubique
quem fideles conscendunt universi
eya pietatis oculo placato
cerne ligatos fune peccatorum
ne infernorum ictibus graventur
sed cum beatis tua prece vocentur
Repeat, in canon
Sung once, in unison
O virgin
shining on this high jagged mountain
with splendid miracles everywhere
which all the believers ascend
ah, with your gentle eye of pity
behold those caught in the bond of sin
let them not be burdened by the blows of hell
but be called among the blessed through your prayer
Repeat, in canon
Imperayritz de la Ciudad Ioyosa
Catalan, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, 14th c.
Recorder, vielle, oud
Imperayritz de la ciudad ioyosa,
de paradís ab tot gaug eternal,
neta de crims, de virtuts habundosa,
mayres de Dieu per obra divinal.
Verges plasén ab fas angelical,
axí com sotz a Dieu molt graciosa,
plàcaus estar als fizels piadosa,
preyan per lor al rey celestial.
Vexell de patz, corona d’esperança,
port de salut, bé segur de tot ven
vos merexets de tenir la balança
on és pesat bé dreytureramén.
E pesa mays vostre fill excellén
mort en la crotz per nostra deliurança
que’ls peccats d’om en fayt nen cobegança
al bé fizel confès e penidén.
Estel de mar qui los perillans guia
e’ls fay venir a bona salvetat,
si Jesuchrist obeir no volia
ço que per vos li serà supplicat
mostratz-li’ls pitz d’on l’avetz alletat
et totz los santz ab la gran ierarchia
de paradís qui·us faran companya
tot quan volretz vos er ben autreyat.
Empress of the joyful city
of paradise, eternally happy,
clean from sin, abundant in virtue,
mother of God by divine act.
Sweet virgin with angelic face,
because you are so pleasing to God
be merciful to the pious faithful
praying for them to the king of heaven.
Vessel of peace, crown of hope,
harbor of health, secure shelter from wind,
you deserve to hold the balance
where virtue is equitably weighed.
But your noble son weighs more,
who died on the cross for our deliverance,
than the sins committed by those
who confess and do penance.
Star of the sea who guides those in peril
and brings them to safety,
if Jesus Christ does not wish to obey
whatever is asked through you
show him your breasts that fed him
and all the saints from the great hierarchy
of paradise will keep you company
and everything you wish will be granted.
Cuncti Simus Concanentes
Latin, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, 14th c.
Recorder, vielle, oud, medieval harp, percussion (riq)
Refrain:
Cuncti simus concanentes ave Maria
Cuncti simus concanentes ave Maria
Virgo sola existente en affuit angelus
Gabriel est appellatus atque missus celitus
clara facieque dixit, ave Maria
clara facieque dixit, ave Maria
Refrain
Clara facieque dixit—audite carissimi—
clara facieque dixit—audite carissimi—
en concipies Maria, ave Maria
en concipies Maria, ave Maria
Refrain
En concipies Maria—audite carissimi—
en concipies Maria—audite carissimi—
pariesque filium, ave Maria
pariesque filium, ave Maria
Refrain
Pariesque filium—audite carissimi—
pariesque filium—audite carissimi—
vocabis eum Iesum, ave Maria
vocabis eum Iesum, ave Maria
Refrain
Refrain:
Let us join together singing hail Mary
Let us join together singing hail Mary
When the virgin was alone, lo, an angel appeared
Gabriel was the name of this heavenly messenger
with a shining face he said, hail Mary
with a shining face he said, hail Mary
Refrain
With a shining face he said—listen, beloved—
with a shining face he said—listen, beloved—
Mary, you will conceive, hail Mary
Mary, you will conceive, hail Mary
Refrain
Mary, you will conceive—listen, beloved—
Mary, you will conceive—listen, beloved—
you will bear a son, hail Mary
you will bear a son, hail Mary
Refrain
You will bear a son—listen, beloved—
you will bear a son—listen, beloved—
you will call him Jesus, hail Mary
you will call him Jesus, hail Mary
Refrain
Performers
Are you interested in performing with EMM? We welcome new singers and instrumentalists! Learn how to get involved with EMM.
Early Music Michigan
Luke Conklin, Artistic Director
Becky Straple-Sovers, Administrative Director
Singers
Christine Hains
Becca Harrington
Marjorie Harrington
Janet Hill
Philip Johnson
Marilyn Ossentjuk
William Sanderson
Barclay Shilliday
Ginny Shilliday
Jan Solberg
Becky Straple-Sovers
Jan Tucker
Instrumentalists
Guest Artist: Allison Monroe, voice, vielle, rebec
Luke Conklin, medieval bagpipe, medieval harp, recorder
Nathan Durham, oud
Ginny Shilliday, percussion
Jan Solberg, recorder
Supporters
EMM thanks the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and our individual and institutional donors for their generous support:
Clifford Davidson
Robert Davis
Marjorie Harrington
Catherine & John Niessink
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Ginny & Barclay Shilliday
Jan Solberg & John Townsend
Becky Straple-Sovers
St. Augustine Cathedral
Your support of Early Music Michigan through concert attendance and donations helps to ensure that our unique form of music will continue to be available in Kalamazoo at a reasonable price. A tax-deductible donation can be made by writing a check and mailing it to us or by clicking on the PayPal donation button located below. Donation envelopes are also available on the table at the entry to the concert and can either be mailed to us or left with us after the concert.
Learn about how else you can support EMM, including through qualified charitable distributions, by volunteering at our concerts, or serving on our Board of Directors!
Board of Directors
Becky Straple-Sovers, Interim President
Marjorie Harrington, Treasurer
Jan Solberg, Secretary
Luke Conklin, Artistic Director
Christopher Brodersen
Ilse Schweitzer Van Donkelaar
We are actively recruiting new directors! Contact us if you are interested in serving on EMM’s Board.
2024–2025 Season
Here’s what to look forward to in our 2024–2025 season! In December, enjoy the “Messe de Minuit” of Marc Antoine Charpentier, a special mass based on ten beloved French Noëls. Then join us in the spring for poetry by proto-feminist Christine de Pizan in dialogue with motets and chansons by the most important composer of the French Ars Nova, Guillaume de Machaut.
But that’s not all! We are also excited to announce that we are developing the “Early Music Michigan Chamber Series,” an all-new series of instrumental chamber performances to accompany our choral offerings. This fall, we will present a program of eighteenth-century music celebrating autumn featuring music by Antonio Vivaldi, Andreas Oswald, and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Early next spring, we bring to you symphonies and oratorios by Haydn and Mozart as well as Joseph de Boulogne, the Chevalier de St. George, who was perhaps the first black composer of western art music. These arrangements will be performed on period instruments including strings, winds, and fortepiano.
Join our email newsletter to stay in touch and receive updates when we announce dates for these concerts!
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