13th Century Spanish Songs in Praise of the Virgin Mary
|
Beyeita
es Maria,
CSM 420 |
CHANDOS
New Direction CHAN 9513
[71:34] full-price
by Chia Han-Leon
The King
was but a simple ruler, the sovereign of Castile and Léon from 1252-1284.
But he loved music and the arts, and above all the King worshipped the
Virgin Mary. He led his court to create a collection of music devoted
to describing her deeds - and thus was born the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
Left:
King Alfonso X, "el Sabio"
These songs
sing of the greatness, the kindness and the redeeming power of the Virgin.
In Como pod'a groriosa, a crippled girl whose feet faced the wrong
way is taken by her father to a shrine to the Virgin, where they pray.
Awakening in pain from her sleep that night, the girl realises that miraculously,
her feet has been twisted into their proper shape, and she can finally
walk.
The King
has a pet hunting ferret which he keeps in a cage on his horse when he
goes out hunting. One day, on a hunt, the ferret falls out of the cage
into the path of the horses. Immediately, the King calls out to the Virgin
to save his companion. Miraculously, the little animal survives the accident
unscathed. Thus it is sung in Eno pouco e no muito.
A Moorish
woman's son dies of illness, describes Quen quer que na Virgen fia.
Full of grief, she prays all night at a shrine to the Virgin, holding
the image of her son in her hands. By morning, the Virgin has returned
life to the boy.
Thus it
is demonstrated the mercy and compassion of the Virgin Mary, the miracles
of whom are available to animal and human alike.
This is
my first encounter with the Dufay Collective, formed in 1987. I did not
expect very much that would be new to me, but their musicality, skill
and commitment to the performances is truly splendid. Their colourful
instrumentation, mostly speculative since no one is sure how these pieces
were performed in its time, can be quite surprising. I had no idea that
six musicians could produce such a glorious racket as in the Procession,
CSM 207, a crescendo-ing "march-past" of braying brass, singing woodwind
and clanging percussion.
But the
glory of the disc must lie with the delectable voice of Vivien Ellis.
Bear in mind, once again, that the singing style for Early Music is essentially
informal (where operatic, mainstream classical singing = formal). The
language of the songs are in the "courtly lyric dialect of Galician-Portuguese";
but to the modern ear, the effect is more, to put it crudely, "folk-like".
Significantly, it is an unforced musical style - natural.
Ellis sings
with exactly this - naturalness, plus musical grace and conviction in
the words. In Quen quer que na Virgen fia, accompanied by the voices
of the Collective in choruses and the merry instruments, the effect is
joyous yet understated, extremely elegant in its "rustic" informality.
Another gem is the beautifully "reprimanding" O Nome da Virgen Santa,
which describes the Virgin saving two errant monks from the devils.
Once you
get used to the vocal style (if you need to), this disc provides a fascinating
journey into the 13th century world of the Iberian Peninsula. At the very
least, here is a king, who despite his ineptness at rulership, did something
more royal than most kings put together. The Cantigas de Santa Maria
number more than 400, a feat matched only by Bach's Cantatas.
Once upon a
time, long long ago, there lived a King. His name was Alfonso X (the Tenth)
and he lived from 1221-1284. Posterity also came to call him by the title,
"el Sabio", which means "the Wise" or "the Learned".
Maybe it's my imagination, but I felt a faint trace of humour in the music,
which is actually very jubilant and soothing at the same time. Again,
Ellis' easy, story-telling mode of singing is a delight. You get the sensation
of sitting before a fire in the open, in the tranquil evening, listening
to a troubadour singing some magical tale. The tale is made all the more
enchanting by the very accessible tone and playing of the Collective's
instrumental musicians, who besides performing several instrumental pieces
in this collection, also join in as a chorus.
|
Music From Old Time
It's Never Too
|
A
full catalogue of Chandos is now available in Singapore at HMV (The Heeren).
Chia
Han-Leon watches Ally McBeal mainly for Vonda Shepard - that gorgeous
blonde with that fabulous voice singing all those really great songs.
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184: 29.5.98. up.19.1.1999 ©Chia Han-Leon
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