Pèlerinage CD is now available to download at the Fossil Dungeon.
The pilgrimage to Santiago (Saint James) color: white;" da Compostella, together with those to Rome or Jerusalemcolor: white;", was considered an obligation for Christians in the Middle Ages. color: white;There existed a number of different routes in Western Europe by land and sea which led to this holy city in Galicia, Spain. color: white;" This CD is a compilation of religious and secular music which illustrates those times. Recorded live during a concert “Eglises enchantées” by the English/French ensemble of singers and instrumentalists DeuxPlus et Compagnie at the Romanesque church of Notre-DameCourcôme, Charente, France (a pilgrim’s rest stop); Sunday 3rd September 2006.
L’ensemble DeuxPlus et Compagnie
Direction : Kathy Smith
Kathy Smith : soprano, violoncello and recorders; Chris Pell : tenor, percussion ; Geoffrey Edwards : baritone, racket, recorders, harpsichord ; Isabelle Nadaud : mezzo-soprano ; Katharine Senior : soprano, rebec, violin, medieval fiddle ; Caroline Bradley : alto, percussion ; Valéry Sauvage : lute and renaissance guitar ; William Summers : recorders, crumhorns, bass.
« Livre Vermeil de Montserrat» : songs dedicated to the Catalonian “black Virgin” from manuscripts in the library of the Monastery at Montserrat, near Barcelona, contained in the « llibre vermell » or red book, so named from the colour of its cover. It is one of the most curious documents compiled at the end of the Middle Ages, (about 1399). It includes ten pilgrims’ songs written in the “Ars Nova” style and mostly in Latin; just two in the Catalan dialect. These "honest songs" were intended as a diversion for the pilgrims who would sing and dance between their devotions of prayer and meditation.
1. O Virgo Splendens « O Virgin shining brightly on this high mountain, intercede for us »
2. Splendens ceptigera: « Radiant, sceptred ruler, intercede for us »
Alphonse X, the Wise (1221-1284). During the 12th century there was a fervent cult of devotion to the Virgin Mary. There are numerous examples of miraculous events resulting from her intercession, many recounted in the writings of the renowned Spanish King Alphonsus X . These songs or Cantigas were written in an ancient language Galician/Portuguese.
3. Virgen Santa Maria Cantiga 47 “ Virgin Mary keep us in your peace, you who know the splendour of the heavens “
4. Quen a omagen Cantiga 353 « who honours the Virgin and her son »
Codex Calixtinus « Contemplate those choirs of pilgrims in a perpetual state of vigil at the foot of the altar of the venerated Saint James, finding such joy and wonder… some playing the citole, others the lyre, the tympanum, the flute, the chalumeau, the trumpet, the harp, the hurdy-gurdy, the rote (fiddle), and others on the psaltery or singing, accompanied by these varied instruments…. »
5. Mater Dei - Mater Virgo - Eius Mother of God, mother Virgin, come now » (Montpellier Codex n°.66)
Frottolas by Giovanni Domenico da Nola (v.1515 - 1592)
6. Fuggit 'Amore : « flee love, you who like women »
7. Chi la gagliarda : « he who would learn the galliard »
Césare Negri (v.1536-après 1604
8. Bizzaria d’amore, furioso (published 1602)
From « Livre Vermeil de Montserrat»
9. Polorum Regina: « Queen of all the heavens, star of the morning, redeem our sins»
10. Cuncti simus concanentes: tells of the visitation to the Virgin Mary by the angel Gabriel
11. Laudemus Virginem: « Let us praise the Virgin Mary who is mother and her son, Jesus »
Adrian Willaert (v. 1490 – 1562)
12. Ricercar in D: for a consort of recorders
13. Madonna mia fa: « My lady, make me a good offer for I bring you as a present this little cock-hen»
Filippo Azzaiolo, 1569, Bologna, Italie:
14. Chi passa per sta strada: « Blessed is he who passes by on the king’s highway and doesn’t sigh »
15. Girometta senza te: « Girometta, I cannot live without you» ( The earliest known arrangement of this popular love song)
Alessandro Stradella (1642-1682)
16. Trio: for violin, cello and harpsichord.
Stefano Landi (v. 1586-1639)
17. Homo fugit velut umbra: The text is from the Bible, Job 14 : vs. 1-3 The Brevity of Life; « Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and full of trouble. He comes up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. Do you open your eye on such a one? And do you bring me before you for judgment»?
