I had been down in Philly the week prior to work at Pax Unplugged (It’s a gigantic board gaming convention). I tend to work at these every year. The SCA was also doing a demo. When I wasn’t on duty, I was assisting the SCA with their demo. Everything from playing medieval board games to singing “Do you wanna learn a board game?” (To the infamous Disney, Frozen tune “Do you wanna build a snow man). Yes… Yes I went there. Don’t judge me.
I stayed in town for the week so I could try my hand with the Bhakail fencers and also spend time with my local family.
I had also never been to a Bhakail event so I figured this would be a good time since this is where my Laurel lives and my Laurel Aunty lives. There was not much besides Bar side singing going on until Myself and a few other Bard friends of mine noticed that the feast was desolate of singing. We decided this was not to remain the case. We whipped out our voices and instruments and started to make music happen. No holiday festivity should be without music and so we filled it with music. The coolest part was having her Royale Majesty join us on the Balcony to sing. (Pssst. She’s got an awesome voice, Ya’ll)
Long island! You are a bit of a haul from Maine. 12th night is one of the most exciting social events of the SCA. It’s usually encompassed by the best garb, amazing food and music! Oh no! Music!!! Twist my arm!
I am fairly close with both Royale Bardic champions, so we communicate a lot. I had found that they had an entire track of music for the day. My heart sung with glee. At first, I thought of what I could sing? Would this be holiday related or just my usual run of tracks. Then I had a stunning idea. The adhoc choir would get a chance to finally get their first real performance!
I sent out an email about 3-4 weeks prior to and got a good feeling of head count. There will always be last minute stragglers, people who aren’t on the lists and people who don’t make it. That’s ok! It’s life and it happens. When I figured out there was enough interest, I reached out to the Event Steward and asked if I could kidnap a space for 90 minutes to learn and run 20-25 minutes of music. He agreed!
Next, the music choices came out. During holiday season, we all want to spread cheer no matter what faith we have or don’t have. It’s a great way to bring the community together. I went through and picked out 7 period and traditional pieces. The Boards Head Carol, Ah Robin, Dona Nobis Pacem, Gaudete, Gloucestershire Carol (Traditional, not period), Here we come a wassailing (Traditional) and The Holly and the Ivy (plausibly period). Due to the nature of documented music for vocalists, it can be a challenge to find pieces that were secular in nature and at the skill level of the performers I am working with. I think this diverse set of pieces would give them some challenge as well as some easier pieces to rely on. I even chose to give out a couple Solos to the performers who wanted to try their hand at it.
I didn’t hold auditions for various reasons, but the primary reason is opportunity. When you are a full-time performer, you tend to get more opportunities to perform as a soloist. The more skill you had, the greater the chance. Most of these folks are all volunteers who just liked to sing or sang in chorus in high school and that was their last real opportunity to sing. Some don’t even read music. That is just fine. Everyone gets a chance if they want it with me.
After rehearsing the pieces, couple of soloists asked for additional help. One expressed concern on rhythm/notes and the other with the language itself. I worked with each for an additional 20 minutes and by the end, they both felt very confident and ready to perform.
About 1:00 it was their time to shine. Each of them stood proudly in our vocal horseshoe, ready to do a thing. They sang their hearts out with joy. Not even one of them seemed nervous. After about 25 minutes of performance and several pictures being taken, we were approached by a couple of patrons. The one comment that really stuck with me was this: “You made me feel like I was truly immersed in a 12th night feast. The music, the madrigals… I was there. Thank you” and she handed each one of my performers a token of gratitude. Were the pieces perfect? No. Were they enjoyed by all? Yes. Both singer and bystander. My heart flowed for each and every one.
I had my own set later. I used this time to work some of my Crown Bardic pieces to get them in front of an audience, because they were new. One of the pieces of advice I give to all of my performers I have every worked with both solo and group is to make sure you get to perform a piece in front of as many people as you can before you go for the gold. My middle schoolers would have an assembly in front of their peers before they sang for their parents that night. What this does is prepare people ahead of time and make it old hat instead of new and shiny. This is also done with professional performers as well. They have full runs and open dress rehearsals to get feedback from the audience. So, this is done by all skill levels.
The rest of the night was food and merriment as well as serving my amazing queen. In my free time I have been retaining whenever possible. I helped pack up for the night and home I went. I even got to participate as a mummer in my dear friend’s performance during open bardic performances.
The Boar’s Head Carol was first published in English during the 1520’s in a book entitled Christmase Carolles Newly Emprynted at London in the flete street, which was written by Jan van Wynken de Worde.
“Boar’s Head Carol”. Christmas-Carols.org.uk. Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
William Cornysh (1468-1523)
Cornish. William. Ah Robin, Gentle Robin. Edited by Alberto Gomez Gomez: 2012.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “William Cornysh,” accessed February 10, 2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/138138/William-Cornysh.
“Dona nobis pacem” (Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈdona ˈnobis ˈpatʃem] “Grant us peace”) is a song with Latin text, often sung as a canon or round (where each section starts with a new voice). It is the invocation to the Lamb of God to have mercy and grant peace to the worshipers. It is said to have been introduced into the Mass by Pope Sergius I in 687,
Gaudete ( “rejoice [ye]” in Latin) is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1581. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.
The Holly and the Ivy was first published in a broadside dated 1710 and have have originated somewhere in the Cotswolds.
The Holly & Ivy; Twelve Articles. Birmingham: D. Wrighton. n.d.
This is one of my favorite events in the year. It is closer to home than most of the events I travel and is in the Barony that in my heart is my Barony. This one, however, was much tougher for me emotionally. Not to bring my personal life in to this, but I had gone through a very devastating event about 2 months prior and still had not resolved all my emotions over it. On top of that, the instigator of the event was scheduled to be present. I was lucky, however, to be camping with several of my SCA families, who would keep me safe. I brought a plethora of instruments with me to bring to the instrument petting zoo, including my harp. This was the first time I was going to get to play it in public. There was a harp ensemble present. I learned quickly of the pains harps have in heat/stage lights regarding tuning. This was not something I encountered practicing in the comforts of my mildly lit and frigid apartment. I got to spend an hour playing with other harpists of varying skill level. It was heaven!
From there, I would twiddle on my recorders outside with an impromptu recorder jam. Everything from chaotic melodies, to soothing waltzes. I met new folks, got to try new instruments with no pressure.
That night, at feast, I was once again honored to be part of the feast entertainment. I had been asked by the current baronial bard to perform. I performed my first ever originally composed story about how the children of the east changed Ozurr, storm bringer. It discussed the several events he had been to, inclusive of the crown tournament where the rains fell, the Estrella where it flooded and Pennsic, raining out the Eastern Court. From there, I sang some of my newer repertoire and enjoyed the feast.
Following court would be the Bardic championship. This year, I decided I would try something new. It’s really important to me to show newer performers that I wasn’t born with all skill. I wanted to show them that I was working on new skills. There theme was fortune and misfortune. I had the idea of performing 3 Ravens first and then Twa Corbies with a guitar accompaniment. I was newer at the guitar and this would only be my second time playing it public. I knew Twa Corbies was also not my strongest vocal piece, but I wanted to try something new. I was pleased enough with my performance and called it a night. Where I was not chosen as the new Baronial Bard, I did win populace choice. I’ll take it.
The lyrics to “The Three Ravens” are here transcribed using 1611 orthography.
“The Three Ravens” (Child 26, Roud 5) is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that.
There were three rauens sat on a tree,
downe a downe, hay downe, hay downe,
There were three rauens sat on a tree,
with a downe,
There were three rauens sat on a tree,
They were as blacke as they might be.
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe.
The one of them said to his mate,
Where shall we our breakfast take?
Downe in yonder greene field,
There lies a Knight slain under his shield,
His hounds they lie downe at his feete,
So well they can their Master keepe,
His Hawkes they flie so eagerly,
There’s no fowle dare him come nie
Downe there comes a fallow Doe,
As great with yong as she might goe,
She lift up his bloudy head,
And kist his wounds that were so red,
She got him up upon her backe,
And carried him to earthen lake,
She buried him before the prime
She was dead her self ere euen-song time.
God send euery gentleman,
Such haukes, such hounds, and such a Leman.
Written heavily in the Scots language, “The Twa Corbies” probably dates from the 18th century and was first published in Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy in 1812. Child (I, 253) quotes a letter from Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe to Walter Scott (August 8, 1802): “The song of ‘The Twa Corbies’ was given to me by Miss Erskine of Alva (now Mrs Kerr), who, I think, said that she had written it down from the recitation of an old woman at Alva.”.
Twa Corbies
As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The tane unto the t’other say,
‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’
‘In behint yon auld fail dyke,
I wot there lies a new slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.
‘His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,
His lady’s taen another mate,
So we may mak our dinner sweet.
‘Ye’ll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I’ll pike out his bonny blue een;
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair
We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare.
‘Mony a one for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken where he is gane;
Oer] his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.
Meaning of unusual words:
twa=two
corbies=crows (or ravens)
fail dyke=wall of turf
wot=know
kens=knows
hause-bane=neck bone
een=eye
theek=thatch
Pennsic is a home for many people who may not be as active in the SCA as they’d like to be. For those who are ridden with anxiety, even this town of 12,000 humans who inhabit here for up to two weeks can be a safe haven. For some, it can also be a place where dreams come true and things you would never have done can be realities… so also, dreams coming true.
This was Pennsic #2 for me. Riding solo but still having a group to camp with has been amazing. Mermaid’s song is a group of Bards and Fencers and yes, there is crossover. I arrive and set up my tent hastily. I made a new friend as we had new camp mates. Atilla was kind and welcoming and helped me set up my tent, hastily as, in true Solveig fashion, I have overbooked myself and I don’t really know how to say “no” yet. I’m working on it. With that, I was off to my first Pennsic experience for the year.
Hastily dressed I ran up the hill (Yes, that hill. I live in the bog) to the amphitheater. There was a non-English concert set up to happen. Sadly, there were no spectators, but I think that it made it less of a concert and more of a song sharing session. There were familiar faces and new faces. One face I had seen at this gathering was Heather Dale. For those of you who don’t know Heather, she is an SCA super star and professional touring artist with 20 CD’s available for purchase. It’s like meeting Robert Downey Jr. or any large Hollywood legend. I had met her previously the year before as I was part of Drake Oranwood’s concert which opened for Heather. I didn’t expect her to know or remember me as it was just a glance meeting, but low and behold, like a normal person, she greeted me, said hello and *gasp* remembered my name. I’m terrible with names. Clearly, she was not. I tried to withhold my awestruck words and tried to treat her as a normal person. I -believe- I succeeded. It was eventually my turn and I chose not to sing my best pieces. This was a chance to show languages. I pulled out an old piece I really should memorize.
by Ludwig Senfl (1534, German)
Es Warb Ein Schöner Jüngling
Es warb ein schöner Jüngling
über ein breiten See.
um eines Königes Tochter,
nach leid geschach ihm Weh.
Ach Elselein liebes Elselein mein,
wie gern wär ich bei dir!
So sein zwei tiefe Wasser
wohl zwischen dir und mir.”
“Das bringt mir grossen Schmerzen,
herzallerliebster Gsell.
Redich von ganzem Herzen
Habs für gross Ungefäll.”
Hoff, Zeit werd es wohl enden,
hoff, Glück werd kummen drein
sich in alls Guets verwenden,
herzliebstes Elselein!”
Once there was a handsome young man
from across a wide sea.
Pursuit of a king’s daughter
led him to great sorrow.
“Oh Elselein, my dear Elselein,
how I long to be with you!
But there are two deep waters
between you and me.”
“That brings me great pain, my
dear friend.
I say wholeheartedly this is
great misfortune.”
“Have hope that time will end this.
Have hope that fortune will change.
Have hope that all else will fall into
place, beloved Elselein!”
The rest of the first evening was pretty low key afterwards. Bird the Bard and I spent the rest of the night singing into the hours.
Day 2! Saturday! Low key day as well. Several months prior to I had been asked if I would sing at the East Kingdom/Midrealm invitational Bardic. This was -HUGE-. This is a display of the best/up and coming Bards the kingdoms had to offer. There was no competition involved, just performance. It was certainly quite the show. I had chose to do Amarilli, mia Bella. This piece has a lot of emotional attachment to me as it’s a piece of music I have been doing long before the SCA.
Amarilli, mia bella, Amaryllis, my beloved,
Non credi, o del mio cor, Do you not believe
dolce desio, Sweet desired one,
D’esser tu l’amor mio? That you are my love?
Credilo pur: Believe only this:
e se timor t’assale, And if fear assails you,
Prendi questo mie strale Take one of my arrows
Aprimi il petto. Open my breast
e vedrai scritto in core: And see written in my heart,
Amarilli, Amarilli, Amarilli Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis
è il mio amore. Is my beloved.
Guilio Caccini (1551-1618). Composed in 1602 and the text was by Alessandro Guarini . Written before the development of the pianoforte (which was invented in 1700), “Amarilli, mia bella” was meant to be accompanied by the lute, which lends it a particularly intimate and hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. Even the words evoke an earlier time—the line, “Prendi questo mie strale” (take one of my arrows) evokes images of bows and arrows. Any performer of “Amarilli, mia bella” will want to sing with a hushed sotto voce (soft singing) throughout with exquisite legato phrasing.
Who decided that waking up prior to 12 on a Sunday was a good idea!? Oh wait… it was the best time for people to meet. ***SIIIGHHHH**** It was time for the EKCOP annual Pennsic meeting. Honestly, I think it was a really constructive meeting. I’ve been the deputy Chatelaine for almost a year now and It was really nice to see how our work has been going and what people had to comment on it. At this meeting I was nominated for Chancellor. I, however, was floored seeing the unanimous vote for my nomination. I know I really care about this group and making performance a safe and tangible place for others, but I never thought my work had gone this noticed. The rest of the day was spent celebrating other delightful musicians such as Cedar Barefoot and the Queen’s Bard, Laila (celebrating her birthday).
Monday was spend rehearsing for our concert on Wednesday and Pirate debauchery at night. Bird has spent many years as a Shantyman. I have always enjoyed a good shanty, but have never thought much about singing them. I was a bel canto singer. We sing pretty. Shanties are for the rough and tough pirates and seaman!!! (Get your head out of the gutter). However, I felt like getting out of my comfort zone. Roll the Old Chariot Along was my song of choice and belting was my game. Mind you, belting is -not- my forte, but the belting muses hit me in the face like a sack of flour. WHOA where did that sound come from!!!!??? I was elated that my voice was continuing to mature. For those of you who don’t know, you go through several vocal puberties during your life. The bigger and darker your voice is, the longer it takes to mature. Mine, according to my voice teachers from college, would be done around age 35. Joy! I digress.
Tuesday was more laid back… I think. Around 11 or so, Bird and I climbed up the brewer’s road hill, filing everyone’s favorite past time song, “Baby Shark”, to motivate us in the intense sun. We eventually made it to our family gathering where the Bard Yard could just relax and enjoy each other’s company. My Laurel and all connections to her, have become some of the most supportive and people in my SCA life. I’ve talked about brain weasels before. They continue to persist. Having a family like this as a performer is essential for building that skin up. I wouldn’t change anyone in this group for the world. Later that night, Bird and I had donated a concert to the royal travel fund. We made our way into the camp of the winners. It was a very “dry” setting despite the alcohol freely flowing. Everything from period pieces to ruckus was performed for an hour. I’m not sure how I felt about this, but I was later told that it was enjoyed. Sometimes, it’s nice to just perform and not peacock. Getting to sing/perform your non forte pieces is a relief sometime.
Wednesday! Oh man. This. This is what you’ve all been waiting for! This would be the day when we would strut all our stuff. I say we, because Bird and I were inseparable this whole war. It started with a very prestigious performance. We had been invited to perform at queen’s tea. That is the big time. Only the “right” performers got to do that. It’s a very specific setting where you are background, not the center of attention. To be invited to perform for this meant you knew how to be unobtrusive, appropriate and a good performer. Bird and I also used this as a warmup for our concert…. Which was 2 hours after. The pieces performed will be discussed after. We were presented a few tokens from attending queens and thanked for our service. It was super magical. It really felt like I was a hired performer in ye olde times… despite some of the modern accouterments. From there, off we went to present, for the first time ever “Song Byrds”. Originally this was supposed to include Collete la Trouvere, however, life happened, and it was just Bird and I. We spent a good amount of time trying to break the concert in to 3 sections that would compliment one another. The first was all period pieces, the second was SCA appropriate/Filks and finally original compositions.
Below is the concert in it’s entirety. Enjoy!
This was the best week of my life, filled with so much song. I regret not being able to perform at the Opera dell’est concert as my voice was shot from the war, but I do not regret having all the opportunities to sing. This only fire up my need to perform more, but I made more connections and started digging for more repetoir!
On an unrelated note, I did meet up with a super amazing lutenist and got to jam to some Dowland with her.
I suppose this is a little behind, but on 6/29 I ran yet another demo. This was my first grand scheme demo where I expected more than 15-20 folks to engage. The Portcon demo is a large gathering of geek culture, primarily focused on anime and board gaming. The main demographics are younger than our average scadian so it’s a perfect change to work with our future. I don’t have too much to reflect on this besides I’m excited to do it again next year and I am brimming with new ideas on how to streamline it and make it a better experience over all (besides our actual time of the demo and not going against K and Q rattan). I had support from as far away as Burlington and Essex Vermont (Which is 4 hours). I am in awe of the generosity of time for those coming so far. Also, as always, I need to give a huge shoutout to the fencers who put on a good show!!!
Panteria was my first camping event in 2010 and has always been a special event to me (Even though a bunch of my friends tried to coax me into go to Roses instead). This year would be no different. Well, I mean, it will be because the event has grown and changed over the years.
With this development of the event, I decided to develop myself farther. I had started a similar idea before, but this will be an ongoing contingency group. I started a travel ad hoc choir in which we would learn some music and then after a few events or so, would get the chance to perform it.
The plan for this one would be to introduce everyone, get a gauge of their skill level and then do a thing! My first meeting has 10 vocalists as I gave out all copies of my music. we had 1 bass, 1 tenor, 4 altos and 4 sopranos. What made this group even more interesting was the addition of a youth (sub 18). I handed out pieces in various languages. She seemed very concerned that they would potentially contain a swear word. Even after I reassured her several times there we no swears, I even had a native speaker of the language to also confirm that.
It was a challenge to have a youth there as I haven’t been a youth instructor since 2008. So, a few years. She stuck around for about a half hour. With permission, just after she left, I made a recording of the group performing and a second one as well.
By the end of our 2 hour sessions, a complete piece of music was learned as well the groups excitement level was near explosion. They asked over and over again if they could perform that night at Bardic. I had been planning to wait a few rehearsals, but they people have spoken.
Additionally, I had brought my new rounds book which I created. This would be the second event it is making it’s debut at. I am really proud of what I gathered. Now I have a few finishing touches to add to it. However, people are eager to purchase or have a copy of it in general.
Here are a couple recordings of the rehearsal process:
You can definitely hear the improvement between takes. There is maybe a 20 minute difference between them. By performance that night they were spot on. I am still hunting down that recording.
During rehearsal I did refrain from singing with the group so they could focus on themselves. However, by performance, we had lost a couple folks and needed to shift around and I ended up singing with them.
NB) This was not taken at tempo for rehearsal reasons.
About the piece:
It was included in Dowland’s First Booke of Songes or Ayres, which appeared in 1597. The piece is often performed as a lute song by soloist and lute, but, like other songs in the First Booke, it is printed in a format that can also be performed as a madrigal by a small vocal group (typically SATB).
This lute song is largely famous for the lovely melody and the striking repetition of rising fourths in the penultimate line of each verse. This is especially effective in the first and second verses, where the text and the music are a perfect fit.
In the first verse, the singer urges the beloved to come to him again, so they can enjoy together the pleasures of love, “to see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die, ” in the second he sings of his sorrow, “I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die, ” and in the somewhat less graceful third verse, he claims that nothing can move her heart, “By sighs, and tears, more hot than are thy shafts/ Did tempt, while she for triumph laughs.”
Come again!
Sweet love doth now invite
Thy graces that refrain
To do me due delight,
To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die,
With thee again in sweetest sympathy.
Come again!
That I may cease to mourn
Through thy unkind disdain;
For now left and forlorn
I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die
In deadly pain and endless misery.
All the day
The sun that lends me shine
By frowns do cause me pine
And feeds me with delay;
Her smiles, my springs that makes my joys to grow,
Her frowns the Winters of my woe.
All the night
My sleeps are full of dreams,
My eyes are full of streams.
My heart takes no delight
To see the fruits and joys that some do find
And mark the storms are me assign’d.
Out alas,
My faith is ever true,
Yet will she never rue
Nor yield me any grace;
Her eyes of fire, her heart of flint is made,
Whom tears nor truth may once invade.
Gentle Love,
Draw forth thy wounding dart,
Thou canst not pierce her heart;
For I, that do approve
By sighs and tears more hot than are thy shafts
Did tempt while she for triumph laughs.
Choirs are a lot of fun, but they require more than you. That isn’t a bad thing, but finding other like minded folks with the missing parts you need can be difficult to say the least. Once upon a time (4-5 years ago) I ran a vocal group in Malagentia called, “Voce di Sonata”. I ran this choir for about 2 years. However, with real life comes member depletion. I moved a bunch, people got married and divorced, houses were sold and people have this thing called a job. So, as it were, life doesn’t always work the way it should and I let the group dissolve.
About 2-3 months ago, a conversation struck up with one of my old vocalists from voce. She had expressed wanting to sing and make music. Then, more specifically, she and her husband wanted to work on “O Magnum Mysterium” by Victoria.
If you haven’t heard this piece, take a listen:
NB) More information about this piece below
However, with the 3 of us, we were missing a crucial voice part. The tenor! I was playing the part of Alto, because… why not. (for any of you who know me, I am not an alto, I just play one on TV). We have a local tenor who is also a shoe in and loves to sing, so without fail, he came to the rescue. 2-3 rehearsals in and we have some music going. This is a volunteer group, who meets every 2 weeks, but again, life happens so we’ve maybe met 2-3 times in 3 months, and that’s ok.
This is for fun. (I have to keep telling myself that. I come from a history of professional musicians who come to their first rehearsal with all their music learned if not memorized. Those, who have perfect pitch or at least relative pitch and work without speaking, singing only for 1-2 hours at a time) This is an ongoing learning experience for me. I’m loving every moment of it. It’s absolutely incredible to work with a group of people who’s passion has not been lost. They do this because it’s fun, not work.
O Magnum has been put aside for now so the group can learn some vital things about working together is a very small chamber group. For now, we are working on Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie ( Thoinot Arbeau 1520-1595) , Ah Robin, Gentle Robin (William Cornish 1465-1523) and By the Rose (13th century anonymous poem set by Lady Colette la Trouvere).
With permission from the ensemble, here are the super duper rough recordings done on my terrible cell phone. The one thing I can’t show you is the immense joy and pride on all the vocalists faces when they got to hear their recordings for the first time. The plan is, down the road to make a real recording for them to compare themselves to.
O Magnum Mysterium is a Catholic church chant sung at Christmastime. As part of the Matins (nighttime worship), the text has been around for centuries. While the exact origins are unknown, historians believe the text (and its use in Catholic Mass) has been around since at least the 10th century.
Because the work is so old, there have been many different settings and versions throughout the years. Today I want to share the version composed by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), Spain’s most famous 16th-century composer.
The first half of the chant references the animals present at Jesus’s birth, symbolic of God’s mysterious and lowly life as a mortal. This was a topic of great excitement during the Renaissance; people loved the idea that the animals in the stable recognized the birth of Jesus as an important event. The painting demonstrates this idea.
The second half of the text relates to the words spoken by Elizabeth when she welcomes Mary, the mother of Jesus, into her home:
“And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” – Luke 1: 42-43
Music theory: Victoria’s use of open 5th intervals perpetuates a sense of awe in the music. In 5th intervals, the third of the chord is missing; this crucial note determines if the harmony is major or minor, so open 5ths don’t have any harmonic indication (which leaves the listener in suspense).
The music changes to a lilting triple meter as the choir sings “Allelujah!” This is an unexpected yet exciting conclusion to the piece, and it reminds me of a chorus of angels proclaiming the birth of Jesus.
About Belle qui
Thoinot Arbeau” is the pen name and an anagram of Jehan Tabourot, a Catholic priest and canon of Langres.
“Belle quit tiens ma vie” was first published in Tabourot’s 1588 dance manuscript “Orchesography”, which today is a major source of information about Renaissance dance.
This piece is a pavane: a stately dance in slow duple time, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries and performed in elaborate clothing.
Belle qui tien ma vie:
Belle qui tiens ma vie
Captive dans tes yeux,
Qui m’as l’ame ravie
D’un souris gracieux,
Viens tot me secourir
Ou me faudra mourir.
Beautiful one who holds my life
Captive in your eyes,
Who has ravished my soul
With a gracious smile.
Come to my aid
Or I must die.
Pourquoi fuis tu, mignarde,
Si je suis pres de toi?
Quand tes yeux je regarde
Je me perds dedans moi,
Car tes perfection
Changent mes actions
Why do you flee, dainty one,
If I am near you?
When I behold your eyes
I am lost inside myself
Because your perfection
[so affects my behaviour].
Tes beautes et ta graces
Et tes divins propos
Ont echauffe la glace
Qui me gelait les os,
Et ont rempli mon coeur
D’une amoureuse ardeur.
Your beauty and your grace
And your divine ways
Have melted the ice
Which was freezing my bones
And have filled my heart
With a loving ardour.
Mon ame voulait etre
Libre de passion,
Mais l’amour s’est fait maitre
De mes affections
Et a mis sous sa loi
Et mon coeur et ma foi.
My soul wanted to be
Free of passion,
But love became master
Of my affections
And put under its law
My heart and my faith.
Approche donc ma belle,
Approche toi mon bien,
Ne me sois plus rebelle
Puisque mon coeur est tien,
Pour mon mal appaiser
Donne moi un baiser.
Come near, my lovely one,
Come near, my [dear one],
Do not resist me further
For my heart is yours,
To relieve my ills
Give me a kiss.
Je meurs, mon Angelette,
Je meurs en te baisant
Ta bouche tant doucette
Va mon bien ravissant
A ce coup mes esprits
Sont tous d’amour epris.
I die, my Little Angel,
I die when kissing
Your mouth so sweet.
My very lovely one,
With that touch my spirits
Are completely lifted in love.
Plutot on verra l’onde
Contremont reculer,
Et plutot l’oeil du monde
Cessera de bruler,
Que l’amour qui m’epoint
Decroisse d’un seul point.
Sooner will waves
Flow backwards
And sooner will the moon
Cease to shine
Before the love which conquered me
Wanes a single iota.
About Ah, Robin:
This is a secular madrigal
a part-song for several voices, especially one of the Renaissance period, typically arranged in elaborate counterpoint and without instrumental accompaniment. Originally used of a genre of 14th-century Italian songs, the term now usually refers to English or Italian songs of the late 16th and early 17th c., in a free style strongly influenced by the text.
Musical Analysis:
As each voice enters the harmonies expand. Interesting enough the opening sonority begins on a G, adds a B-flat with the other ground voice, and finally an octave G in the soloist. This causes one of the significant part of the piece, the entrance of the third voice, to have a G minor harmony without the fifth of the chord.
This piece is still modal despite the use of F naturals, however, the d minor harmony begins to act as a resting point for phrases. The use of a picardy third appears numerous times through the work at the end of phrases, but not at the end as each voice begins to drop out, eventually making the music monophonic.
Ah, Robin, Gentle, Robin
Ah, Robin, gentle, Robin,
Tell me how thy leman doth
and thou shalt know of mine. My lady is unkind I wis, Alack why is she so? She lov’th another better than me, and yet she will say no.
Ah, Robin, gentle, Robin,
Tell me how thy leman doth
and thou shalt know of mine. I cannot think such doubleness for I find women true, In faith my lady lov’th me well she will change for no new.
Ah, Robin, gentle, Robin,
Tell me how thy leman doth
and thou shalt know of mine.
G. Edward Bruner, DMA: “Editions and Analysis of Five Missa Beata Virgine Maria by the Spanish Composers: Morales, Guerreo, Victoria, Vivanco, and Esquivel.” DMA diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980.[facsimile: University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI]
Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
Apel, Willi. 1988. The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN0-253-32795-4.
Arbeau, Thoinot. 1967. Orchesography, translated by Mary Stewart Evans, with a new introduction and notes by Julia Sutton and a new Labanotation section by Mireille Backer and Julia Sutton. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN0-486-21745-0.
It’s that time of year again, friends, where music needs to happen!
As you saw in my previous post, I had gotten the bid to make the tokens for Ozurr and Fortune for their coronation. Helium hand strikes again. However, my true passion, if you haven’t guessed it by now, is making music.
4 weeks prior at K and Q Bardic, I was approached by the queen’s bard and asked if I were would be at coronation and if I would sing. It was to be a late period Italian coronation. I have a fair bit of late Italian in my repertoire, so, I agreed.
Shortly after gulf wars was over, I received yet another message from the queen’s bard asking for my musical expertise to assist her with repertoire as well as asking me to conduct the choir and run rehearsals. This is my wheelhouse after all. However, with this only being just over 2 weeks until coronation, I’ll admit I was a bit apprehensive. However, we hunkered down and got to work.
Over the next 2 weeks, I made sure music had gotten to folks, ran some rehearsals out of my home, made sure there was online rehearsals for those who wanted it and diligently reviewed the 3 pieces we had to perform.
Conducting is not just getting up there and waving a stick or your hands. There is a lot of time reviewing the scores, knowing where difficult parts may fall, how to fix them, appropriate changes in tempo, dynamics and knowing where there might be blend issues and vowel issues. In addition, if the piece isn’t in English, getting your performers all on the same page on that.
Day of we only ended up doing two of the pieces. That’s ok. Stuff changes. I also managed to sit outside for the sitting in state.
Here is a clip of ” The World an Illusion” by David Yardley (Lord Geoffrey of Exeter).
This is a direct quote from the composer:
It’s Anon 15th C, English. I adapted the words of the last stanza to make the song. You might find it useful to also look at my whole first album that was professionally recorded and released – the entire thing is about staying true to period while composing and re imagining the medieval.
Madrical- Published in 1555 in Il primo libro de madrigali a 4 voci, no. 8.
Là ver’ l’aurora, che si dolce l’aura
al tempo novo suol movere i fiori,
et li augelletti incominciar lor versi,
si dolcemente i pensier’ dentro a l’alma
mover mi sento a chi li a tutti in forza,
che ritornar convenmi a le mie note
Ageirr and I have been really digging this mold process for making tokens. In no surprise that either of us would keep falling deeper and deeper in love with the process as is our need to craft. We’ve posted up several of our previous molds and processes, but this one, the coronation mold was a whole -giant step- for crafting kind.
I will once again reiterate that this is not a period process and so there is very little on the internet or resources we have readily available to us. However, we’ve been enjoying discovering each part as we go.
Our original process looked like this:
3-d Model the positive
Make the positive
Try to smooth the positive (Modgepodge, wood glue, wood filler, raw sanding)
Mix the silicone and let it cure (24 hours)
Pull out the positive
Cast with pewter
“Attempt to clean” (big air quotes on that) using a Dremmel
We then started to refine our cleaning processes. We tried out different tips with different shapes and different coarseness/grinding surfaces. We got much further and even discovered how, by hand to get these suckers super shiny.
Once finishing up another set of tokens (of course it was the second we were done) we had an epiphany. Wait a second… why don’t we try to clean the mold up itself. So, we took the dremmel with the pink tips (383g) and gently touched the mold. They looked great! We would figure out the rest of the process later, for now we had a bid to complete 500 tokens for the coronation of King Ozurr and Queen Fortune.
Ageirr and I had never done 2 part molds before, however, for the design we had in mind, we would need to do this.
Step 1) 3-d Model the positive.
The concept for these was taken directly from Their Majestie’s Heraldry. However, since Fortune’s heraldry ( an 8 spoke wheel) is very close to the 7 spoke wheel award (The Silver wheel) to avoid confusion, we added roses to the mix.
Step 2) Make the positive. This is how they looked coming hot off the printer.
For size reference, these were 1.5 inches in diameter.
Our original next planned step was to cast it, clean it and re-cast it. In theory this should limit our time cleaning tokens.
Step 3/4) Cast
So, as you can see, no pre-sanding done it doesn’t look so pretty. You can see all the layer striations and the roses look like … well… not roses. In addition, after trimming off the flash, we did a weight check on these (as I mentioned before, we needed to make 500). We were also giving a 200 dollar budget for these. We did the math and if we had left the tokens at the same thickness and size, we would have needed 44 pounds of pewter. Pewter is approximately $19.95 a bar right now, so, you do the math.
Ageirr and I started to panic as we would need to re-scale the model and figure out how to take down the thickness.
We live in a 700 sq ft condo on the second floor so we don’t have crazy tools or materials. So, we make due with what we have. So, this time, we tried using sculpey. Ageirr being more patient with sculpting than I am and happened to have some more flexibility in his schedule, sculpted the damn thing from scratch. We printed out the images on paper and used them as layered guides so we could be as precise as possible.
From there, we created the mold again. Part one was done in the same exact way we had done our 1 part molds in the past. The second half we placed the sculpey model into the impression of the first cured mold. We placed saran wrap over it and smoothed it to the model. Finally we poured the silicone.
This resulted in a much smoother mold. We again dremmeled the edges a bit so we had a super flat mold wall that lined up. The sprue was carved and we started to pour.
We noticed that the roses were not coming out cleanly. With some research, it was suggested to use graphite as a release. With that, we not only got the tokens to release better, we got less pock marks on the pours (None to be precise) and that the mold was filling better and all parts were being cast.
Here are the tokens fresh out of the mold with general flash clipped, no cleaning:
Time to clean. Welcome to our bathroom. Our two man team included sanding edges and clearing out the holes. (We weren’t as careful as we could have been, so the pre-made hole broke off).
We use only the finest of safety equipment (Said sarcastically)
500 tokens cast!!!!
We still weren’t happy. We wanted these suckers to shine. Our buffing tips were getting eaten up pretty quickly, especially since our dremmel which still had it’s speed control was out of commission. Upon chatting with a sca’dian out on Nevada, it was suggested that a rock tumbler with jewelers shot and detergent would help give us the shiny edge we were looking for.
Thank goodness for amazon prime. We had the tumbler Thursday (The tokens were getting shipped out Friday evening). Off we went to pray.
The rock tumbler certainly did the trick. By 5 pm, here is our result:
We aren’t perfect yet in the process, however leaps and bounds have been made.
To raise an army, we do not simply start as skilled fighters as adults. The community of our army starts from when we may raise sword and shield. We go to war and nurture at every stage. Our youth do not learn skills on their own. With the guided aid of Ntisa Farstrider, our future begins their journey. Without a place to sleep or food to put in our bellies, we do not survive the war. Ntisa builds our travel home at times of war when it is most important. We survive and grow because of you. With that in mind, we Konig Wilhelm and Konigen Vienna, do invite you to join our order of the Silver Wheel at Shire Wars VIII, October 20, AS 53.
I suppose this is a little behind, but on 6/29 I ran yet another demo. This was my first grand scheme demo where I expected more than 15-20 folks to engage. The Portcon demo is a large gathering of geek culture, primarily focused on anime and board gaming. The main demographics are younger than our average scadian so it’s a perfect change to work with our future. I don’t have too much to reflect on this besides I’m excited to do it again next year and I am brimming with new ideas on how to streamline it and make it a better experience over all (besides our actual time of the demo and not going against K and Q rattan). I had support from as far away as Burlington and Essex Vermont (Which is 4 hours). I am in awe of the generosity of time for those coming so far. Also, as always, I need to give a huge shoutout to the fencers who put on a good show!!!
Meddlings of the Minnesinger 