Canzone a Otto Voci per suonar à 4 Liuti (1599) Giovanni Antonio Terzi (fl. 1580–1600)

Canzone a Tre Liuti (1623) Alessandro Piccinini (1566–ca. 1638)

Canzon XIII à 8 Giovanni Gabrieliarranged by Patrick O’Brien (ca. 1554–1612)

Suite for Four Lutes (1616) Nicolas ValletBallet (ca. 1583–ca. 1642)BalletEst-ce Mars Courante de Mars Un jour de la semaineAllon aux nocesGalliarde

Passamezzo di Zorzi — Padoana — Saltarello (1564) Giovanni Pacoloni

Als ick u vinde (1584) Hubert Waelrant arranged by Emanuel Adriaenssen (ca. 1554–1604) (ca. 1517–1595)Madonna mia pietà Orlando di Lasso arranged by Adriaenssen (1532–1594)O Villanella Waelrantarranged by Adriaenssen

Three Masque Dances “for the twenty Lutes” Robert Johnsonarranged by Tim Crawford and Patrick O’Brien (ca. 1583–1633)

The Songe called Trumpets Robert Parsons reconstructed by Lyle Nordstrom (ca. 1535–1571/2)

3252015 BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL CONCERTN E W E N G L A N D CO N S E RVATO RY ’S J O R DA N H A L L | T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 1 | 5 P M

3252015 BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Three, Four & Twenty LutesPaul O’Dette, director

BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL extends heartfelt thanks

This afternoon’s performance of Three, Four & Twenty Lutes is sponsored by the New York Continuo Collective,

in loving memory of Pat O’Brien, whose genius inspires us all

Suite from Terpsichore (1612) Michael Praetorius arranged by Patrick O’Brien and Grant Herreid (1571–1621)

Ballet CCLVIIICourante LVCourant CL M.M. WüstrowBransle de la Torche XVReprinse secundam inferiorem CCCXCourante CLXXXIII

Dalle più alte sfere Antonio Archilei(ca. 1541–1612)

O che nuovo miracolo Emilio de’ CavalieriEllen Hargis, Nell Snaidas & Danielle Reutter-Harrah, voice & guitar (ca. 1550–1602)

BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL extends heartfelt thanks to:

Daniel and Ruth Shoskesfor their leadership support of Paul O’Dette, director,

in this afternoon’s performance of Three, Four & Twenty Lutes

326

FESTIVAL CONCERT

INVENTION & DISCOVERY

LutenistsPaul O’Dette, director, treble, alto & tenor lutes

Grant Herreid, tenor & bass lutes, citternCharles Weaver, mandora, treble, alto & tenor lutes

Stephen Stubbs, bass lute & theorbo Ryaan Ahmed, theorboKenneth Bé, alto luteDeborah Fox, theorbo

Douglas Freundlich, bass luteGail Gillispie, alto lute Lucas Harris, theorbo

Dieter Hennings, Baroque guitarCatherine Liddell, alto & tenor lutes

Christopher Morrongiello, alto & tenor lutesLyle Nordstrom, bandora & tenor lute

Kevin Payne, tenor lutePhillip Rukavina, tenor luteAndy Rutherford, bass lute

Paul Shipper, citternDaniel Shoskes, tenor lute

Daniel Swenberg, bass lute & theorbo

SingersEllen Hargis & Nell Snaidas, soprano

Danielle Reutter-Harrah, mezzo-soprano

BEMF Young Artists Training ProgramSarah Mitchell & Hannah Rose Stubbs, soprano

Brittany Fowler, mezzo-sopranoMichael Manning, altoBradley J. King, tenorZachary Lenox, bass

FESTIVAL CONCERT

3272015 BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Three, Four & Twenty Lutes

The lute is usually thought of as solo instrument parexcellence. Its delicacy of tone and dynamic flexibility,combined with its capability of rendering all the parts of apolyphonic composition made it ideal for the solitaryamateur as well as the perfect medium for virtuoso display.But lutes, especially in the hands of professionals, werefrequently brought together into ensembles, mostcommonly duet teams in which a skilled performerimprovised virtuoso runs and counterpoints to a simpleraccompaniment played by his assistant on the second lute.Sometimes, however, the groups were larger: trios andquartets frequently played for dancing, and for specialoccasions such as ballets de cour, masques, or the elaborateFlorentine Intermedii, while very large groups of pluckedinstruments—even as many as 40—were combined toravishing effect. This afternoon’s program gives some ideaof the range of possibilities suggested by the scatteredsources of lute ensemble music of the Renaissance andearly Baroque periods.

One of the greatest of the Italian lute virtuosi of the latesixteenth century was Giovanni Antonio Terzi, also highlyesteemed as a singer, whose two books of lute music (1593and 1599) present some of the finest and most idiomaticcompositions and arrangements for the solo instrument.While these are rather neglected today owing to their greattechnical difficulty, Terzi is well known to lutenists for hisduets and for the canzone for four lutes. In this cleverlycontrived piece, two pairs of lutes are pitted against oneanother in the manner of contemporaneous double-choircanzonas by Guami and Gabrieli. These, and othercanzonas set for multiple lutes, inspired Pat O’Brien toarrange the present Gabrieli canzona for lute ensemble.

Aleassandro Piccinini was a distinguished and innovativemusician whose fine works for the lute and for thechitarrone provided a parallel to the keyboard music of hiscontemporary Frescobaldi. His canzona for three lutes(1623), one of the masterpieces of the lute ensemblerepertoire, begins in a rather conservative, solidlycontrapuntal style, but ends thrillingly with the two upperinstruments exchanging virtuoso passages over the soberaccompaniment of the bass lute, rather as Pacoloni haddone over fifty years before.

A controversial area of scholarly debate is the performanceof sixteenth-century dance music. On what instrumentswas it played? Do the plain ensemble versions of thepopular dances that have come down to us represent whatwas actually heard in the ballrooms of the time? The dancemusic for a group of three lutes in Giovanni Pacoloni’s

Longe Elegantissima…Carmina (printed in 1564, probablyafter an earlier edition), presenting versions of manypopular dances carefully scored for the ensemble, gives usa uniquely clear idea of one type of dance accompaniment.A steady harmonic support is given by the bass lute, whoseonly elaborations consist of an appealing use of “walkingbass” figures, while the two other lutes are provided withelaborate divisions whose improvisatory character isunderlined by Pacoloni’s apparent lack of concern overharmonic clashes between the parts. An extra cittern partby Frederico Viaera, tailored to fit these trios, waspublished in the same year. This splendidly lively music ismostly arranged into “suites” in which the same thematicmaterial is heard gradually accelerating in three dances:passamezo, padoana, and saltarello.

Until recently it was thought that the single part markedReplete for three lutes in an English lute manuscript nowat the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth was anisolated fragment, impossible to reconstruct. But PaulO’Dette noticed that it is an arrangement of the lower fourvoices of a popular six-part consort piece by RobertParsons called variously The Songe called Trumpets, MrParsons his Songe, Cante Cantate, and Lusti Gallant. Themissing upper lute parts have been reconstructed by LyleNordstrom, thus providing a worthy addition to the verysparse English lute ensemble repertoire.

In the English masque, the equivalent of the Italian ballo orthe French ballet de cour, London’s artistic elite wasmobilized to provide court entertainment on the mostlavish scale. Great talents like Ben Jonson and Inigo Jonesproduced scripts and designs of lasting fame, generallypraising the monarchy and encouraging extremepatriotism. One of the musicians who regularly providedmusic for masques was the lutenist Robert Johnson, whosefather John was one of the leading royal lutenists of QueenElizabeth’s reign. For one of the most lavish masques, BenJonson’s Oberon (1611), Robert Johnson was hired toproduce dance music to be arranged for the court violinband. He is also known to have engaged “XX lutes…forthe Princes Dance” in the same masque; the large numberof lutes taking part is further confirmed by an anonymouseyewitness account: “Before passing into the hall, tenmusicians appeared each with a lute and two boys whosang very well some sonnets in praise of the prince [Henry]and his father [James I].” The dances by Johnsonperformed in this conjectural reconstruction by TimCrawford, later revised by Pat O’Brien, probably comefrom a slightly later masque in honor of the marriage ofPrincess Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine in 1613; theysurvive in excellent five-part settings for strings by theviolinist William Brade, as well as in versions for solo lute.

Notes on the Program

328

FESTIVAL CONCERT

INVENTION & DISCOVERY

The “twenty lutes” in these entertainments also includedother plucked-string instruments such as cittern, bandora,theorbo, and guitar, as was also apparently the custom forthe Entrées de luth in the French ballets de cour. In theEntrées de cour, the players, twelve or more in number andattired in fantastic costumes, advanced slowly onto thestage and there played a sort of concert. The theorbo wasintroduced into England by Inigo Jones in 1607, but at firstit was confiscated by an overzealous customs officer atDover who feared it might be “an engine of war sent bysome Popish country to destroy our King.” It is remarkablehow little things have changed for lute players over the past400 years!

The dances collected by Praetorius for his popularTerpsichore are among the finest examples of music fromballets de cour to have survived. These charming works,often used today to demonstrate the wide variety ofRenaissance instruments depicted by Praetorius in his DeOrganographica, were originally intended for a consort ofviolins, the primary ensemble to provide music for ballet.Praetorius goes on to explain that many of the dances werewritten by lutenists, mostly as solo pieces, but on occasionperformed by the large plucked ensembles described above.The present arrangements, made by Patrick O’Brien andGrant Herreid, are an attempt at recreating the kind ofsound heard on those occasions. For the Johnson dances,divisions for the treble lute have been added to the repeatedstrains, while those in the Praetorius works were supplied“by a French dancing master.”

One of the most important French lutenists of the earlyseventeenth century was Nicolas Vallet, who seems to havespent almost his entire working career in the Netherlandsas a Huguenot exile. He established strong links withEngland: a relative, Adam Vallet, worked as a musician tothe English court, and Nicolas dedicated his Regia Pietas(1620), settings of all 150 psalms for solo lute, to James I.In 1626 he formed a permanent quartet in Amsterdamwith three English lutenists, and a surviving contractbetween them tells us that the group played for dancing,and at banquets and weddings. We can safely assume thatthey would have played music similar to this “suite” ofseven pieces for four lutes that Vallet published in 1616.Here there is another link with the ballet de cour, for thereis a fair probability that the first four items were originallyperformed in Parisian ballets, though we cannot be sure oftheir original scoring.

Another lutenist of an earlier generation working in theLow Countries was Emanuel Adriaenssen, whose PratumMusicum was first published in 1584. As well as containingfantasias and dances for solo lute and the usual soloarrangements of vocal items, it includes an interestingseries of madrigal and chanson arrangements in which onlytwo out of the original four-or-more voice parts areprovided, together with a lute part. Lassus’s Madonna miapietà, however, is provided with three lute parts, while thetwo songs by Hubert Waelrant are accompanied by aconsort of four lutes doubling the individual voice partsand supplying some distinctively ornamented cadences.The chanson Als ick u vinde is a rare example of a chansonin Dutch, but Waelrant also published a version of the songwith Italian words with a rather different sentiment. Bothtexts are performed here separated by a version with lutesonly.

The elaborate musical interludes, or intermedii, performedat Florentine weddings in the sixteenth century, alsoutilized large numbers of plucked instruments. The mostextravagant of these, performed at the 1589 wedding ofFerdinand de’ Medici, was a musical event of suchsignificance that it brought together more than fifty of thefinest musicians in Italy working for nearly a year toproduce something truly memorable. The opening song,Dalle più alte sfere, was sung by the most celebratedsoprano of the time, Vittoria Archilei, to theaccompaniment of a consort of lutes and theorbos. Thefinal ballo, O che nuovo miracolo, alternates villanelle forthree sopranos accompanying themselves on guitars of twodifferent sizes, with choruses that included the entirecompany. The music of this ballo was an instant hit, and itbecame known as the Ballo del Gran Duca or the Aria diFiorenza, one of the most popular pieces upon whichinstrumentalists in the seventeenth century composed orimprovised sets of variations.

This program was originally designed for and performed atthe 1989 Boston Early Music Festival by Paul O’Dette andPat O’Brien. Pat, who was the lute teacher and mentor tonearly all of the world’s leading lutenists, passed awaysuddenly last July, leaving an enormous hole in all of ourlives. Today’s performers were all students of Pat’s. For thedecades of patient and devoted guidance he provided to somany, we felt there could be no better tribute than toreprise this program of the music he loved the most. ◆

—Paul O’Dette and Tim Crawford

FESTIVAL CONCERT

3292015 BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Als ick u vinde

Als ick u vinde met u spil’ en spinrockMet u schoon handen ende roode wanghen, Dan vind ick dat ick ben van u ghevanghen.

Vorria morire per uscir di guaiMa mi par mala cos’ amaro me ne:Per che s’io mor’ oimè, non veggia te ne.

Madonna mia, pietà

Madonna mia, pietàChiam’ et aitaCh’io moro e stento a torto pur volete:Io grido, e nol sentete

Acqua, madonna, al focoCh’io si sento morire a poco a poco.

Di chiedervi merce son quasi roco, Sol della pena mia prendete gioco;Pur grido in ogni loco:

Acqua, madonna, al foco.

O Villanella

O Villanella quand’ al’acqua vaiDimmi se fresca torn’ E poi che fai?Non posso, no! Dimmelo mo.O Villanella bellaE quando ti basciaròO dolce villanella?

O villanella, se dici che tu m’ami,Quando vai all’acqua,Perchè non mi chiami?Non posso, no!Dimmelo mo.O Villanella bellaE quando ti basciaròO dolce villanella?

O villanella, se mi porti amore, Quando vai all’acqua Fammi ’no favore!Non posso, no!Fammelo mo,O villanella bella,E quando ti basciarò,O dolce villanella?

O villanella, non mi far morire,Quando vai all’acqua,

When I see you with your spindle and distaff, With your fair hands and rosy cheeks,Then I find that I am truly captured by you.

I wish to die to be rid of my woes:But this seems to me a wicked and bitter thingSince if I die, alas, I shall not see you any more.

My lady, have mercy on meI beg you, and help meFor I am dying, wrongly killed, and yet you wish it; I cry out and you don’t hear me:

Water, lady, to quench my fire!For, little by little, I feel myself dying.

I have begged for your pity so often that I am nearly hoarse,But you only mock my sufferings. Still everywhere I go I cry out:

Water, lady, to quench my fire.

O peasant girl, when you go to the spring, Tell me if you return refreshed, And then what do you do?I cannot, no! Please tell me!O beautiful peasant girl,What if I kiss you, O sweet maiden?

O peasant girl, if you say you love me,When you go to the spring,Why do you not call me?I cannot, no! Please tell me!O beautiful peasant girl,What if I kiss you, O sweet maiden?

O peasant girl, if you offer me love,When you go to the spring,Please do me a favor!I cannot, no! Please do it for me!O beautiful peasant girl,What if I kiss you, O sweet maiden?

O peasant girl, do not make me die,When you go to the spring,

Texts & Translations

330

FESTIVAL CONCERT

INVENTION & DISCOVERY

Famici venire,Non posso, no!Vengoci mo, O villanella bellaE quando ti basciaròO dolce villanella?

Bring me with you. I cannot, no! Please let me come!O beautiful peasant girl,What if I kiss you, O sweet maiden?

Dalle più alte sfere

Dalle più alte sfereDi celesti Sirene amica scortaSon l’Armonia, ch’a voi vengo, o mortali;Poscia che fino al ciel battendo l’aliL’alta fama n’apporta,Che mai si nobil coppia’l sol non viddeQual voi nuova Minerva, e fort’ Alcide.

O che nuovo miracolo

TuttiO che nuovo miracoloEcco ch’in terra scendonoCeleste alto spettacoloGli Dei ch’il mondo accendonoEcco Himeneo e Venere,Co’l pie la terra hor premere.

Tre DonneDel grande Heroe, che con benigna leggeHetruria frena e reggeUdito ha Giove in CieloIl purissimo zeloE dal suo seggio santoManda il ballo, et il canto.

TuttiChe porti, ò drappel nobileCh’orni la terra in mobile.

Tre DonnePortiamo il bello e’l buon ch’in Ciel si serraPer far al Paradiso ugual la Terra.

TuttiTornera d’auro il secolo?

Tre DonneTornera il secol d’oroE di real costume,Ogni più chiaro lume.

TuttiQuando verra che fugghinoI mali e si distrugghino?

From the highest spheres,As friendly escort to the celestial sirens,I, Harmony, come down to you, O mortals;For, flying all the way to HeavenExalted Fame has brought [the news]That never has the sun seen such a noble coupleAs you, a new Minerva and a strong Hercules.

AllO what new miracle!Here descending to the earthIn noble, celestial display,The gods who bring light to the world.Here Hymen and VenusNow set foot upon the earth.

Three LadiesJove in Heaven has heardOf the purity and devotionOf the great heroWhose benign rule governs Etruria,And from his sacred throneSends dance and song.

AllWhat do you bring, o noble crowd,To adorn the immovable earth?

Three LadiesWe bring beauty and goodness that are stored in HeavenSo that the Earth may be like Paradise.

AllWill the golden Age return?

Three LadiesThe Golden Age will return,And royal customs,Each more clearly illuminated.

AllWhen will all things evilBe banished and destroyed?

FESTIVAL CONCERT

3312015 BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Tre DonneDi questo nuovo soleNel subito apparireI gigli e le viole,Si verdranno fiorire.

TuttiO felice stagion beata Flora!

Tre DonneArno ben sarai tu beato a pienoPer le nozze felici di Loreno.

TuttiO novella d’Amor fiamma lucente:

Tre DonneQuesta e la fiamma ardenteCh’infiammerà d’AmoreAncor l’anime spente.

TuttiEcco ch’amor e FloraIl Cielo arde e innamora.

Tre DonneA la sposa realeCorona trionfaleTessin Ninfe e PastoriDei più leggiadri fiori.

TuttiFerdinando hor va felice altero;

Tre DonneLa vergine gentil di santo focoArd’e si accinge a l’amoroso gioco.

TuttiVoi Dei scoprite a noi la regia prole.

Tre DonneNasceran semideiChe renderan feliceDel mondo ogni pendice.

TuttiSerbin le glorie i cign’in queste riveDi Medici e Loreno eterne e vive.

Tre DonneLe meraviglie nuoveNoi narreremo a Giove.Hor te coppia reale,Il Ciel rend’immortale.

Three LadiesAs soon as this new sunAppears;Lilies and violetsWill then bloom.

AllO happy season, O blessed Flora!

Three LadiesArno, you will be fully blessedBy the happy marriage with Lorraine.

AllO shining new flame of love!

Three LadiesThis is the burning flameThat will inflame with loveEven lifeless souls.

AllBehold how Amor and FloraInflame the heavens with love.

Three LadiesFor the royal brideLet nymphs and shepherdsWeave a triumphal crownOf the loveliest flowers.

AllFerdinand is now happy and proud.

Three LadiesThe noble virgin burns with holy ardorAnd prepares herself for amorous sport.

AllO Gods, reveal to us the royal progeny.

Three LadiesDemigods shall be bornThat will render the world Happy in every place.

AllMay the swans on these banks preserve the gloryOf Medici and Lorraine for ever.

Three LadiesThe new wondersWe shall relate to Jove.Now, to you, royal couple,The heavens give immortality.

332

FESTIVAL CONCERT

INVENTION & DISCOVERY

TuttiLe quercie hor mel distillinoE latte i fiumi corrinoD’amor l’alme sfavillinoE gl’empi vitii aborrinoE Clio tessa l’historie,Di cosi eterne glorieGuidin vezzosi balliFrà queste amene valliPortin Ninfe e Pastori,Del’arno al Ciel gl’honoriGiove benigno aspiriA i nostril alti desiriCantiam lieti lodandoCristiana, e Ferdinando. ◆

AllLet oak trees drip with honeyAnd rivers run with milk.Let souls sparkle with loveAnd abhor wicked vicesAnd Cleo weave the storyOf these eternal glories.Let graceful dances lead usAmong these pleasant valleys,Let nymphs and shepherds bringArno’s honors to the skyLet Jove benignly grantOur noble wishes.We sing happily honoringChristine and Ferdinand. ◆