 | Undergraduates in Richard Lalli's "The Performance of Early Music" seminar learned how to decipher the notation of medieval French chansonniers. One example from the period is the famous romance "Roman de la Rose," which contained dance songs. |
Yale scholarship and musical expertise are combined in the first concert of the Yale Collegium Musicum series on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St.
Titled "Inventing the Past: Music of the Trouvères," the concert will be presented at 5:15 p.m. It is free and open to the public on a first-come basis; seating is limited.
The trouvères who flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries sang of courtly love and unrequited devotion, as well as such earthier subjects as unfaithful husbands or the simple joys of love in the countryside. Their songs are still preserved in chansonniers, illuminated anthologies in which rich patrons collected their favorite poems and melodies, while more popular dance songs turn up in some of the romances of the time, like "Roman de la Rose," an example of which is in the Beinecke Library.
The Collegium Musicum concert is the culmination of several weeks of research and exploration on the part of undergraduates in "The Performance of Early Music" seminar led by Richard Lalli, associate professor (adjunct) of music, as they learned how to decipher the notation of French chansonniers around 1300 to reveal the musical riches they contain.
"The challenge and delight of this early repertoire is that no instructions come with it," says Robert Mealy, director of Yale Collegium Musicum. "You have a few notes on a page, several verses of wonderful poetry, and that's it. Based on the few contemporary theorists writing about this music, and judging by iconography from the time, we know that instruments were often involved in performances; based on the many sermons that complained about it, we also know that the dance-songs provoked some distressingly frivolous behavior. Our task -- and hence the title of this concert -- is to rediscover what this music might have been, using the techniques of the period."
Medieval specialist Shira Kammen will join the group, performing on vielle and harp and as a vocalist. She and Mealy will deliver a pre-concert lecture at 4:30 p.m. on the Beinecke Library mezzanine. During the lecture, they will introduce the instruments that will be played and speak about the process of discovery and invention that goes into bringing these medieval melodies back to life.
This concert is part of a month of medieval music at Yale; for information on other events, contact Robert Mealy at remealy@post.harvard.edu.
The Yale Collegium Musicum is dedicated to the historically informed performance of music. The group was founded in the 1940s by Paul Hindemith as one of the first ensembles in the United States devoted to early music. Sponsored by the Department of Music and supported by the Friends of Music at Yale, the Collegium is open to all members of the Yale community. The Collegium is directed by Mealy, an internationally acclaimed early musician and a newly appointed lecturer at Yale College; Lalli is the group's vocal director. This year the Collegium welcomes the participation of the Yale Schola Cantorum from the Institute of Sacred Music. Two other Collegium concerts will take place this year: "Early Music America: Billings and the American Colonies" on Dec. 5 and "Newe Teutsche Lieder" on April 24. More information is available at www.library.yale.edu/beinecke or (203) 432-2977.
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Student research on early French songs culminates in medieval music concert
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