Ach, weh des Leiden
The Arbor Consort at the 2018 Michigan Renaissance Festival singing “Ach, weh des Leiden” by Hans Hassler (1601) a capella. The German lyrics translate to: “Alas, for sorrow! Must we part? Alas, woe is me, who would not feel pity? Alas for the pain I feel in my heart! If I must give you up, it will cost me my life.” Listen for the beautiful tenor in the A section, and the dramatic buildup in the B section with the echoing soprano lines.
Fata la parte
The Arbor Consort at the 2018 Michigan Renaissance Festival performing Juan del Encina’s “Fata la parte” from Cancionero Musical de Palacio, early 16th century. The old Spanish translates to the following: Fatal news! Come all and hear! Cotal’s wife is dead. 1) He found her with a Spaniard alone in his house, so he killed her. The Spaniard escaped by means of his sword and his cunning. 2) I say so, since I saw him, (yelling) “O help me Christ”, biting his finger, screaming, and weeping: “Spaniard, watch out!” 3) ‘Watch out if I catch you, Mr. Spaniard, over my bed I’ll teach you such a lesson that if it were written, the letters would weep.
Sweet Honey Sucking Bees
The Arbor Consort performs John Wilbye’s Sweet Honey Sucking Bees at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in 2018. It originally appeared in John Wilbye’s Second Set of Madrigals, 1609. The lyrics pose a question to the bees as well as a suggestion. “Sweet honey sucking bees, why do you still surfeit on roses, pinks, and violets, as if the choicest nectar lay in them, wherewith you store your curious cabinets? Ah, make your flight to Melisuavia’s lips. There may you revel in ambrosian cheer, where smiling roses and sweet lilies sit, keeping their springtide graces all the year.”
Sumer is Icumen In
The Arbor Consort performs Sumer is Icumen In at the 2018 Michigan Renaissance Festival. Who knows how old this song really is. The oldest copy of it dates to 1261. It is the oldest known written musical composition featuring 6-part polyphony. In the video below we are singing in 5 parts, in the middle English.
Chi La Gagliarda / Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno / Hark All Ye Lovely Saints
In this performance at the A Cappella City, USA festival in Ann Arbor, MI, three songs are performed. The first song, Chi La Gagliarda by Baldassare Donato, depicts young men trying to convince young ladies that they are excellent dance instructors. Each verse starts out polyphonic (where all the parts come in at different times), but becomes more homophonic (all the parts singing as one) as the couples learn to dance together. Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno by Jacques Arcadelt compares a swan’s death with the “little death”, a metaphor for something far more pleasant. The song was constantly in publication for the first 100 years after its first printing in 1539, and its popularity helped the classic madrigal style to spread beyond Italy. The final song is Hark Ye Lovely Saints Above by Thomas Weelkes. It pokes fun at Renaissance poetry’s obsession with lovesick melancholy and despair, suggesting playfully that perhaps if we did away with love altogether we could be perfectly happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaOtpXk9Gy0
Tourdion
Tourdion is a type of popular 16th century dance. The tune for this tourdion, called La Magdalena, was printed in a book of various dance tunes by publisher Pierre Attaingnant in 1530. In 1589, the tune was reproduced in a 4-part vocal arrangement, called “Quand je bois du vin claret” by an anonymous composer. The men sing about drinking, singing, eating a ham, and waging war on the bottle. The alto joins in with “This good wine makes us merry, and singing helps us forget our pain, so lets eat ham and wage war on the bottle. The soprano joins in with “When I drink this claret wine, everything spins around, so I’ll drink Anjou or Arbois wine. Sing, and drink and wage war on the bottle, drink down my friends.” This was performed at a St. Cecilia at the Tower SCA event in Saline, MI.
Madonna Ma Pieta
Orlando di Lassus was one of the most famous and influential vocal music composers of the 16th century. He wrote over 2,000 songs in Latin, Italian, French, and German. Madonna Ma Pieta is a very passionate song in which the lover begs his partner to end her teasing, saying in Italian “water, my lady, for the fire.” This was performed at the St. Cecilia at the Tower SCA event in Saline, MI.