Concordian Dawn – Order in Fours (1/12/23)

David Dickey ~ countertenor & recorder; Clifton Massey ~ countertenor; Thomas McCargar ~ baritone & percussion; Niccolo Seligmann ~ vielle; Nathaniel Adams ~ tenor; Christopher Preston Thompson ~ director, tenor & medieval harp

In virtute nominum / Decens carmen edere / Clamor meus – Philippe de Vitry (1291–1361)

Phebi claro nondum orto iubare (Alba of Fleury-sur-Loire) – I-Vb Vat. Lat. 1462, fol. 50v (11th c.)
Tunc me discussa (Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, 1 m. 3) – CA Gg. V. 35, fol. 442r (11th c.)
La Septieme Estampie Real – F-Pn fr. 844, 104v (13th c.)
Tribum que / Quoniam secta / Merito hec patimur – Philippe de Vitry (Le Roman de Fauvel)

La Messe de Nostre Dame (Kyrie ~ Gloria) – Guillaume de Machaut (1300−1377)

Viderunt omnes – Pérotin (1160−1230)

Salterello – GB-Lbl MS Add. 29987, 63v-64r (14th c.)
Dame, de qui toute ma joye vient (Le Remede de Fortune) – Guillaume de Machaut (1300−1377)

If all of the gobbledygook above makes no sense to you, you’re not alone. A lot of it (especially the many short pieces in the second section) was very difficult for me to sort out, as to beginnings and endings. So I’ll just give a few nods to what I heard, with a few explanations along the way.

This was a very loose take on Order in Fours. Sometimes that meant three vocal lines with one instrumental line; sometimes three vocal lines with a fourth vocalist as a drone. Once, there were even five vocalists—go figure. Now, on to the instruments. The recorder is a type of vertical flute, usually made of wood, and fingered like that plastic flute you played (badly) in third grade. This one sounded a lot better, especially in the hands of this artist in the ensemble. The medieval harp is a hand-held instrument (no pedals or colored strings). Think of the White Rock gal, except this was a guy and the harp was a little larger. When I did a quick search on vielle, it pointed me toward something similar to a violin. The one I saw/heard was more like an early version of a cello.

OK, here’s a brief intro to medieval music. It sometimes sounds crude, as in unfinished. Lots of open chords (not filled in as happened in later years). But here’s the other thing—there are often interesting little dissonances thrown in here and there. And composers were toying with phrasing. In one of the works I heard, as a phrase came to an end, one voice continued through it and then the other voices joined in anew, so the phrase never really ended. This sounded so new to me, though obviously it wasn’t new. Check the dates of the composers listed above.

Is early music an acquired taste? Yes. Have I acquired it? Yes. I’ve even performed in in my long-ago past. Did I enjoy this concert? Yes.

ConcertMeister