Author: efarrell

Singers, players of Viola da Gamba, Recorder, and Lute — Registration is now open for Parthenia’s workshop on February 3, 2018. Members of the consort – Beverly Au, Lawrence Lipnik, Rosamond Morley and Lisa Terry – will lead a variety of classes exploring the treasures of English consort music.  For details and registration for the workshop see here.  For more on the members of Parthenia, see here.

Parthenia’s concert in February, “Music with Her Silver Sound: Viol Consorts in the Age of Shakespeare,” brings us gems from the rich repertoire of music for viola da gamba from Elizabethan and Jacobean England.  Consorts consisting of treble, tenor and bass viols became well established in England after 1540 when Henry VIII brought viol players to his court from Italy.  By the early 17^th century, viol consorts were popular not only at court but also among amateur musicians at universities and in private homes.  Adherents’ enthusiasm generated a demand for music that gave rise to a golden age of works for viol from English masters.  Read more about Parthenia and its concert here.

Two seasons ago, the medieval ensemble Alkemie captivated CEM’s audience with a program of French and Italian ars nova and trecento music. They return on October 20 for a performance of Spanish Marian music.  As in many European cultures, the Virgin Mary was at the center of not only religious, but also political and cultural life in medieval Spain. So too among musicians, an entire tradition of various forms of song celebrating Mary developed.

For king and commoner alike, Mary was the primary source of hope and protection, whether the inspiration for royal ventures – Spanish kings reconquered the Iberian peninsula under Mary’s banner – or a miracle worker for peasants – the Cantiga “A Madre do que a bestia” recounts Mary’s intercession to make a sheep speak so that a peasant woman can reclaim her stolen wool.  The breadth of Marian devotion among the populace is described Stella splendens, a pilgrim song found in the 14th century Llibre Vermell at the shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat: among those assembled at the shrine are “rulers,” “prelates and barons, famous counts, all kinds of monks and priests, soldiers, merchants,” “sailors, burgers and fishermen,” “ploughmen,” “scribes, advocates, stone-masons, carpenters,” “Queens, countesses,” “teenagers and girls,” “nuns.”

The variety of song included in the Marian tradition is as broad as its adherents. The Llibre Vermell contains liturgical pieces and, in addition, songs and dances for the pilgrims in the style of traditional folk tunes.  The Cantigas de Santa Maria composed at the 13^th century court of Alfonso X is a collection of some 400 strophic songs.  Most describe Marian miracles in dramatic form; every 10^th song is a hymn of praise to the Virgin. The texts employ every poetic form and meter used in the late 13^th century and the songs’ musical influences include the troubadour and Arabic traditions. Villancicos, derived from medieval dance forms, developed by the 16^th century into sophisticated polyphonic compositions of which devotional pieces (including Marian devotion) were a characteristic group.

In a time of plagues, warfare, and political strife, Mary was honored for both her purity and her humanity–her intervention was the only sure means of healing and protection. So it is no surprise that musicians and composers sought her solace and protection through song. Medieval musicians imagined Mary as a light in the sky, illuminating the path of a pilgrimage; they extolled her as the most beautiful of roses; and they spun tales of Mary as a creator of miracles and slayer of dragons.  Alkemie’s program gives a wonderful taste of this varied repertoire.

We are excited to bring you a rich season of early music.  Join us at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Arlington.

• October 20, 2017  Rosa das Rosas performed by the popular Medieval ensemble Alkemie.  Members of the ensemble play and sing beautiful melodies, intricate polyphony, and boisterous dances drawn from the rich tapestry of Marian music of medieval Europe.
• February 2, 2018  Music with Her Silver Sound: Viol Consorts in the Age of Shakespeare. The viol consort Parthenia explores the musical life of the courtier and merchant in Shakespeare’s world, where the viola da gamba lent its silver sound to mirth, meditation and mourning.
• April 20, 2018   J. S. Bach’s Art of the Fugue  A special project from the Artist Recital Series of Tempesta di Mare, the Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra: Four Tempesta recorder players who share a deep affinity for J. S. Bach and a like-minded approach to their instrument perform Bach’s iconic last word on his signature musical form.
• On the day following each concert, the musicians share their love and knowledge of the repertoire in workshops for instrumentalists and singers – A unique opportunity to learn from leading musicians in the field.

This year we are offering a season subscription to all three concerts at a discounted rate of $75. Or we invite you to support CEM with a special CEM Patron subscription for $150, your opportunity to help sustain CEM with a $75 tax deductible contribution. Subscribe here.

Sales for individual concerts at $30 (general admission) and $10 (students), go on sale later in the season.  Workshop registration opens 9 weeks before each workshop.

For details, see our Concerts and Workshops pages.

We hope you enjoyed Capitol Early Music’s events this year as much as we as we enjoyed bringing them to you.  Our 2017-2018 season – with more concerts and workshops – is in the planning stages.  Check back here to see what emerges.

We have been overwhelmed with the enthusiasm for our Baroque Dance Workshop for Dancers and Instrumentalists.  All spaces have now been filled.

There are still plenty of seats to see Baroque Dancer Paige Whitley-Bauguess in performance on Friday evening.  Purchase tickets here for an evening of visual and aural beauty!

Our final event of the season features Baroque dancer Paige Whitley-Bauguess in performance on March 31 and in a workshop on April 1.  Lovers of Baroque music are familiar with the instrumental Baroque dance suite made up of allemandes, courantes, sarabandes, gigues, gavottes, minuets, and other dances.  Friday evening’s performance is a unique opportunity to see several of these dances exquisitely performed.  Instrumentalists Heloise Degrugillier, recorder, Mary Findley, violin, Douglas Poplin, cello. and Patrick Merrill, harpsichord, provide the music for Ms. Whitley-Bauguess’ performance and will themselves perform instrumental dance suites.

Saturday’s workshop provides two tracks for exploring Baroque dance: Ms. Whitley Bauguess will give a  general introduction to Baroque Dance and participants can then choose to spend the rest of the day learning dance from her.  Or instrumentalists may choose to work with Ms. Degrugillier and Mr. Merrill on understanding the characteristics of specific dances and incorporating them into their playing.  Purchase tickets to the concert here.  Read about the workshop and register here.

When the cold winter looms after the holidays, you can look forward to an exciting concert and an informative workshop by baroque ensemble Kleine Kammermusik.
Read about the ensemble and its concert here.

Our first concert of the season features The Rose Ensemble, a choir of some twelve voices, based in St. Paul, Minnesota.  It will perform A Rose in Winter: The Miracle of New Life in the Dark of Night, a program of Medieval and Renaissance music for the Christmas Season.

Not surprisingly, given the group’s name and its program title, Jordan Sramek, the group’s founder and artistic director, has an interesting take on the image of the rose.  He chose it as the name for the group because he sought an organic image that was symbolic in both the sacred and secular worlds of the past and the present.  He considered various herbs or plants but settled on the image of the rose.  It is an important religious symbol, especially in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  And, it is equally significant in secular imagery of the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, appearing in the courtly love poems of the Troubadours, as a symbol of the Tudor family and, in the Baroque period, as an allegorical symbol of human love, beauty and sweetness.  He notes the paradoxical symbolism of the rose: “It is at once a symbol of heavenly perfection and earthly passion; virginity and fertility; death and life  –  the flower of Venus but also the blood of Adonis and Christ.”

The Rose in Winter concert is inspired by ancient Christmas legends that describe a midnight blooming of all manner of plants, trees, and flowers.  The ensemble explores this miracle of new life amid the cold of winter with choral works by Byrd and Mouton, English ballads, Spanish cantigas and, of course, the German carol, “Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen” (“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”).

Unfortunately, the renovations at St. George’s will not be completed in time for us to present The Rose Ensemble concert there on December 4.  Instead, the concert will be held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 4900 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC.

Many thanks to St. Paul’s for providing an alternate venue. We look forward to returning to the wonderful space at St. George’s for our remaining concerts.