For
many years now I have been fascinated by and have fallen in love with medieval
music. Back in April, songs
reconstructed from a 1000 year old text that had been lost since the middle of
the 19th century was performed at Cambridge. From the University of Cambridge website:
‘Songs of Consolation’,
to be performed at Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge on April 23, is
reconstructed from neumes (symbols representing musical notation in
the Middle Ages) and draws heavily on an 11th century manuscript leaf
that was stolen from Cambridge and presumed lost for 142 years.
Saturday’s performance
features music set to the poetic portions of Roman philosopher Boethius’ magnum
opus The Consolation of Philosophy. One of the most widely-read and important
works of the Middle Ages, it was written during Boethius’ sixth century
imprisonment, before his execution for treason. Such was its importance, it was
translated by many major figures, including King Alfred the Great, Chaucer and
Elizabeth I.
Hundreds of Latin songs
were recorded in neumes from the 9th through to the 13th century.
These included passages from the classics by Horace and Virgil, late antique
authors such as Boethius, and medieval texts from laments to love songs.
Two
short excerpts were let out to the public.
Here’s one, titled, “Heu quam praecipiti.”
AniciusManlius Severinus Boëthius was a fifth to sixth century Roman Senator,
administrator, and philosopher who had reached the highest office under the
current King of Italy, which had fragmented from the western portion of the
Roman Empire. Boëthius
was born in 480, just four years from when the Latin half of the Roman Empire
had collapsed. Suddenly in 523 the King impulsively
and unjustly suspected his underling had become treasonous, imprisoned him, and
executed in in 524. While in prison awaiting
his execution, Boëthius composed his most famous philosophic work, TheConsolation of Philosophy.
The
Consolation of Philosophy deals with life’s uncertainties and that ultimately
one has to rest one’s faith not in fame or things of this world, but upon the
one true good, God. It’s one of those
works that has been on my reading list for a while, but I never seem to squeeze
it into my reading.
The
songs were composed several hundred years after Boëthius’s death but based on
his text. From the Cambridge article:
After piecing together an
estimated 80-90 per cent of what can be known about the melodies for The
Consolation of Philosophy, Barrett enlisted the help of Benjamin Bagby of
Sequentia – a three-piece group of experienced performers who have built up
their own working memory of medieval song.
Bagby, co-founder of
Sequentia, is also a director of the Lost Songs Project which is already
credited with bringing back to life repertoires from Beowulf through to the
Carmina Burana.
Over the last two years,
Bagby and Barrett have experimented by testing scholarly theories against the
practical requirements of hand and voice, exploring the possibilities offered
by accompaniment on period instruments. Working step-by-step, and joined
recently by another member of Sequentia, the harpist-singer Hanna Marti, songs
from The Consolation of Philosophy have now been brought back to life.
Oh
I love Sequentia. I have
a few of their recordings. I do hope
they eventually record the entire composition and put it out for sale. Here is the other excerpt put out for the
public, titled “Carmina qui quondam.”
Just
lovely.
