advent meditation: sacred music of the renaissance program
DESCRIPTION
Program for Voce Concitato's "Advent Meditation: Sacred Music of the Renaissance" concert. December 6, 2014.TRANSCRIPT
voce CONCITATO presents
ADVENT MEDITATION: Sacred Music of the Renaissance
Saturday, December 6 2014 Saint Thomas the Apostle Church
872 Farmington Ave West Hartford
voce CONCITATO is…
Alice Matteson, soprano Sara O’Bryan, soprano
Meredith Neumann, alto Jordan Strybos, tenor Matthew Cramer, bass
voce CONCITATO is an early music vocal ensemble based in Hartford, CT. The ensemble began taking shape in 2013 when a group of friends who shared a mutual love of early music yearned to explore the genre more thoroughly. Meeting in churches and living rooms, they rehearsed for their own enjoyment but soon realized they had something special to offer the community of Hartford. From this desire to share music, Voce Concitato was born. Combining precise tuning and intimate vocal blend with a commitment to the emotional expression of the text, the group aims to bring awareness and vitality to the music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Through the use of dramatic vocal color, passionate expression, and a keen eye towards historical scholarship, voce CONCITATO hopes to energize a new generation of early music lovers in Hartford and throughout the world. Special thanks to Christian Cashman, Shellie Giroux, Ron Swanson, and the parish of Saint Thomas the Apostle.
Program Prophetiae Sibyllarum Orlando de Lassus (15301594)
Prologue: Carmina Chromatico I. Sibylla Persica: Virgine matre satus pando residebit asello II. Sibylla Lybica: Ecca dies veniet, quo aeterno tempore princeps III. Sibylla Delphica: Non tarde veniet, tacita sed mente tenendum hoc opus IV. Sibylla Cimmeria: In teneris annis facie insignis honore V. Sibylla Samia: Ecce dies, nigras quae tollet laeta tenebras VI. Sibylla Cumana: Jam mea certa manet et vera novissima verba VII. Sibylla Hellaspontica: Dum meditor quondam, vidi decorare puellam
VIII. Sibylla Phrygia: Ipsa Deum vidi summum punire volentem IX. Sibylla Europaea: Virginis aeternum veniet de corpore verbum purum X. Sibylla Tiburtina: Verax ipse Deus dedit haec mihi munia fandi XI. Sibylla Erythraea: Cerno Dei natum, qui se dimisit ab alto XII. Sibylla Agrippa: Summus erit sub carne satus
Intermission
Magnificat Plainchant Alma Redemptoris Mater Peter Philips (15601628) Salve Regina Plainchant Senex Puerum Portabat William Byrd (15401623) O Beatum et Sacrosanctum Diem Peter Philips Nunc Dimittis William Byrd
Program Notes
Orlando de Lassus is known by many names, as he was a very cosmopolitan and prolific composer. With a compositional output of approximately sixty Mass settings, one hundred Magnificats, and an astonishing five hundred motets as well as several hundred secular works, Lassus is by some distance the most prolific composer of the Renaissance. He was also among the most celebrated, known in his time as princeps musicorum and ‘le divin Orlande’.
Lassus' Prophetiae Sibyllarum, composed early in his career between 1555 and 1560, entails nine Sibyls' proclamations about the coming of Christ. There had originally been a single Sibyl: Herophile of Erythrae is thought to have been a genuine historical figure from the eighth century BC, though the earliest mention of any Sibyl in literature is inHeraclitus, from the fifth century BC, who names three, adding the Phrygian and Hellespontine to that of Erythrae. As in Lassus’s version, Sibyls were named after the shrine at which they spoke. Ancient Greece eventually listed nine Sibyls, with the Roman writer Lactantius adding a tenth, the Tiburtine. Sibylline writings were refashioned in Christian terms from the second century AD, and circulated widely as a complement to the Old Testament prophets who had foretold the coming of Christ; St Augustine mentions the Erythraean Sibyl in The City of God, and it is probably to her that the medieval sequence Dies irae refers in the line ‘Teste David cum Sibylla’.
The season of Advent is a time of joyful anticipation of the coming of the savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, an advent meditation wouldn't be complete without an exploration ofMary, the mother of Jesus, and thus the source of Christ's coming into humanity. The second half of our program focuses on Marian antiphons, composed by English composers, in praise of the virgin mother, and to ruminate on the annunciation. The second half opens with the magnificat chant, Mary's obedient reply upon hearing the good news from the angel Gabriel. Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater are praises and pleas directed towardsMary herself, and Senex Puerum Portabat explores the dichotomy of Christ as both a boy and a king. The program concludes withOBeatum et Sacrosanctum, offering praises to the newborn king, with a closing round of noe noe, and a Nunc Dimittis or Canticle of Simeon, a typical pairing with the Magnificat text, expressing that Simeon can die in peace now that he has seen the Lord.
Texts and Translations
Prophetiae Sibyllarum
Prologue
Carmina chromatico Quae audis modulata tenore, Haec sunt ilia quibus nostrae olim arcana salutis bis senae intrepido cecinerunt ore Sibyllae.
The songs which you hear sung with a chromatic tenor, These are they in which our twicesix sibyls once sang with fearless mouth the secrets of salvation.
I. Sibylla Persica
Virgine matre satus pando residebit assello, Iucundus princeps unus qui ferre salutem Rite queat lapsis tamen; illis forte diebus multi multa ferent immensi fata laboris. Solo sed satis est oracula prodere verbo: Ille Deus casta nascetur virgine magnus.
The son of a virgin mother shall sit on a crookbacked ass, the joyful prince, the only one who can rightly bring salvation to the fallen; but it will happen in those days that many shall tell many prophecies of great burden. But a single word is enough for the oracles to bring forth: That great God will be born of a chaste virgin.
II. Sibylla Libyca
Ecce dies venient, quo aeternus tempore princeps, irradians sata laeta, viris sua crimina tollet, Lumine clarescet cuius synagoga recenti. Sordida qui solus reserabit labra reorum. Aequus erit cunctis, gremio rex membra reclinet Reginae mundi; Sanctus per saecula vivus.
Behold the days will come, at which time the immortal prince, with happy crops, shall take away their crimes from men, whose synagogue will shine with new light; he alone shall open the soiled lips of the accused. He shall be just to all; let the king recline his limbs in the lap of the queen of the world; holy, living for all ages.
III. Sibylla Delphica
Non tarde veniet, tacita sed mente tenendum hoc opus, hoc memori semper, qui corde reponet, Huius pertendant cor gaudia magna Prophetae Eximii, qui virginea conceptus ab alvo Prodibit, sine contactu maris. Omnia vincit hoc naturae opera, at fecit, qui cuncta gubernat.
He shall not come slowly, but this work must be held with quiet thought, he who will ever store this memory in his heart, why his prophets may announce great joys of the exalted one, who from a virgin womb conceived shall come forth without taints of man. This conquers all the works of nature: yet he has done this who governs all things.
IV. Sibylla Cimmeria
In teneris annis facie insignis honore, militiae aeternae regem sacra virgo cibabit Lacte suo, per quem gaudebunt pectore summo Omnia, Et Eoo lucebit sydus ab orbe Mirificum. Sua dona magi cum laude ferentes Obiicient puero myrrham, aurum, thura sabaea
In her tender years, distinguished with beauty, in honor, the king of the eternal army the holy virgin will feed with her milk; through whom all things will rejoice with uplifted heart, and from the Eastern world will shine a wondrous star. Magi bringing their gifts with praise shall give to the boy: myrrh, gold, Sabaean frankincense.
V. Sibylla Samia
Ecce dies, nigras quae tollet laeta tenebras, Mox veniet solvens nodosa volumina vatum Gentis Judaeae. Referent, ut carmina plebis. Hunc poterunt clarum virorum tangere regem, Humano quem virgo sinu inviolata fovebit. Annuit hoc coelum, rutilantia sidera monstrant.
Behold, the happy day which shall lift the black darkness will soon come and unravel the knotted volumes of the prophets of the Judaean tribe, as the people’s songs tell. They shall be able to touch this glorious ruler of the living, whom an unviolated virgin will nurse at a human breast. This the heavens promise, this the shining stars show.
VI. Sibylla Cumana
Iam mea certa manent et vera novissima verba. Ultima venturi quod erant oracula regis, Qui toti veniens mundo cum pace placebit, ut voluit, nostra vestitus carne decenter, in cunctis humilis. Castam pro matre puellam deliget. Haec alias forma praecesserit omnes.
Now my most recent words shall remain certain and true, because they were the last oracles of the king to come, who, coming for the whole world with peace, will please, as he intended, to be clothed fitly in our flesh, humble in all things. He shall choose a chaste girl for his mother; she shall surpass all others in form.
VII. Sibylla Hellespontica
Dum meditor quondam, vidi decorare puellam Eximio castam quod se servaret honore; Munera digna suo et divino numine visa, quae sobolem multo pareret splendore micantem: Progenies summi speciosa et vera tonantis Pacifica mundum, qui sub ditione gubernet.
While I meditated once, I saw him adorn a girl with great honor, because she kept chaste; Through his gift and divine authority she seemed worthy to give birth to a twinkling son with much splendor: the beautiful and true child of the highest Thunderer, who would rule the world with peaceful authority.
VIII. Sibylla Phrygia
Ipsa Deum vidi summum punire volentem Mundi homines stupidos et pectora caeca rebellis, Et quia sic nostram complerent crimina pellem. Virginis in corpus voluit demittere coelo ipse Deus prolem, quam nuntiat angelus almae matri quo miseros contracto sorte lavaret.
I myself saw the high God wishing to punish the stupid men of the earth and the blind heart of the rebel. And because crimes shall thus fill our skin, God himself wished to send from heaven into the body of a virgin his son, which the angel shall announce to the kind mother, so he may raise the wretches from the uncleanness they have contracted.
IX. Sibylla Europaea
Virginis aeternum veniet de corpore verbum purum. qui valles et montes transiet altos. Ille volens etiam stellato missus Olympo Edetur mundo pauper, qui cuncta silenti rex erit imperio. Sic credo et memo fatebor: Humano simul et divino semine natus.
From the body of a virgin shall come forth the pure word eternal, who shall cross valleys and high mountains. He, willingly sent even from starry Olympus, will be sent into the world a pauper, who shall rule all things with silent power. Thus I believe and acknowledge in my heart: He is the son of both divine and human seed.
X. Sibylla Tiburtina
Verax ipse Deus dedit haec mihi munia fandi carmine quod sanctam potui monstrare puellam concipiet, quae Nazareis in finibus illum,Quem sub carne Deum Bethlemitica rura videbunt. O nimium felix coelo dignissima mater, Quae tantam sacro lactabit ab ubere prolem.
The truthful God himself gave me these duties of prophecy, that I might show in song the sacred girl who shall conceive, in Nazareth’s bounds, him whom as God under flesh Bethlehem’s land shall. O most happy mother, worthy of Heaven, who shall nurse such a child from her holy breast.
XI. Sibylla Erythaea
Cerno Dei natum, qui se dimisit ab alto, ultima felices referent cum tempora soles. Hebraea, quem virgo fere de stirpe decora, in terris multum teneris passurus ab annis. Magnus erit tamen hic divino carmine vates, Virgine matre satus, prudenti pectore verax.
I see the son of God, who sent himself from high, when the happy suns shall bring the last times. He whom the fair virgin shall bear from Hebrew lineage shall suffer much from his tender years on earth. He shall nevertheless be here a great prophet in divine song, the son of a virgin mother, truthful and of a wise heart.
XII. Sibylla Agrippa
Summus erit sub carne satus clarissimus atque virginis, et verae complevit viscera sanctum Verbum consilio sine noxa spiritus almi; Despectus multis tamen, ille, salutis amore arguet et nostra commissa piacula culpa, Cuius honos constans et gloria certa manebit.
The highest and dearest shall be born in the flesh the son, and the holy word shall fill the stomach of the maiden by intention, without harm, of the kind spirit; Although despised by many, he, for love of our salvation, will judge the sins committed and our guilt. Whose honor shall remain constant and his glory certain.
Intermission
Magnificat
Magnificat anima mea Dominum. Et exultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae: Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: et sanctum nomen eius. Et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. Deposuit potentes de sede: et exaltavit humiles. Esurientes implevit bonis: et divites dimisit inanes. Suscepit Israel puerum suum: recordatus misericordiae suae. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros: Abraham, et semini eius in saecula. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Because He hath regarded the humility of His servant: For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath shewed might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy: As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. Glory be the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forever and ever. Amen.
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti, surgere qui curat, populo: Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore, sumens illud Ave: peccatorum miserere.
O loving Mother of our Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, hasten to aid thy fallen people who strive to rise once more: Thou who brought forth, wonder of nature, thy holy Creator, Yet remainest ever Virgin, taking from Gabriel's lips, that joyful “Hail!": be merciful to us sinners.
Salve Regina
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria
Hail, Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, sweetness and hope. To thee do we cry, banished children of Eve. To thee we sigh, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Therefore, our advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us turn, And Jesus, the blessed fruit of thy womb, after this, our exile, show unto us. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary
Senex Puerum Portabat
Senex puerum portabat, puer autem senem regebat: quem virgo peperit, et post partum virgo permansit, ipsum quem genuit adoravit.
The old man carried the boy, but the young child was the old man’s king; a virgin bore him, and after birth a virgin she remained; and him, whom she had borne, she worshipped.
O Beatum et Sacrosanctum Diem
O beatum et sacrosanctum diem in qua Dominus noster de Virgine Maria pro nobis nasci dignatus est Gaudeat itaque universus orbis, et cantemus illi in sono tubæ, cithara, psalterio et organo. Congratulemur cum multitudine Angelorum exercitus semper suas laudes cantibus: noë, noë (alleluia).
O blessed and sacred day on which our Lord deigned to be born for us of the Virgin Mary. And so let the whole world rejoice and let us to him sing with the sound of the trumpet, lyre, psaltery and organ. Let us rejoice with the multitudes of Angels continually singing his praises: noel, noel (alleluia).
Nunc Dimittis
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace: Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum: Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto: Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared: before the face of all people: To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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Admission: $10 Adults; children under 12 free with a donation for the West Hartford food pantry.
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This program will feature the sacred works of Carlo Gesualdo and Claudio Monteverdi. Experience the haunting chromaticism of Gesualdo’s 1603 Sacrae Cantiones, and discover how Monteverdi applied new text to his “Lamento d’Arianna” to create the equally expressive “Pianto della Madonna” for Lent.
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Admission: Suggested donation $10 adults, $5 students
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