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Gabriel’s Greeting
Medieval English Christmas Music
SINFONYE
Includes full texts in English, Medieval English and Latin. |
HYPERION Records CDA 66685
[63:08] full-price
by Chia Han-Leon
Without the elevator-esque tinge of shopping mall Christmas music, the songs and instrumental pieces on "Gabriel's Greeting" are a delightful mix of intimate lyricism, feet-tapping rhythms and poignant tranquility. Ranging from the early 13th century to the end of the 15th, "Gabriel's Greeting" begins with the evocatively unaccompanied 3-part song Gabriel fram evene king (looks familiar? - it's Medieval English). For those unfamiliar with Early Music, it is a much "simpler" affair in the sense that vocal parts, for example, are sung "raw", without quite the attempt to 'perfect' the voice for a heavy-toned, clean-cut concert-style environment.
Medieval Europe was a cosmopolitan place where musicians travelled widely and frequently exchanged instruments and ideas. Some of the music on this record derives some of its evocativeness by way of its "exotic" harmonies which we moderns, even a Chinese like myself, might typically think Middle Eastern - as in pieces like Miri it is (track 3: "Merry it is while summer lasts") with its instrumental estampie (a troubadour tune for dancing) played on the medieval fiddle* and the quick, rhythmic booming of the hand drums, or nakers.
Embellished with the distinctive and merry jingling of tambourines and drums, this leads seamlessly into Ecce mundi gaudium (7: "Lo, the joy of the world"). The sequence is concluded with Ut iam cesset calamitas (8: "So that the calamity of the world now end") proclaiming the joy of Christ's nativity. All these short (1-2 minutes) pieces thus contribute to a whole narrative of meaning, driven by simple yet effective, tuneful music.
As we are used to, Hyperion's presentation of the entire record is a work of art - the investor rests in the knowledge that he or she is paying for good music, the intelligently penned notes and of course, another appropriately designed cover ("you can't judge a book by its cover," ok... but it's been proven you can judge a Hyperion CD by its cover!). The notes, written by Wishart herself (left) are succinct and informative, even offering points of interest to those involved in carolling; and I know of students of the English language who listen to the Medieval English lyrics with much fascination!
The three singers reach a truly high plane of beatitude in Vidi miser et iucida (11: "See, wretched man"), a beautiful song which gradually swells in strength as it proceeds, chastising man for his sins. It begins, so appropriate to our world:
As if in agreement, the astringent and raw, almost harshly beautiful sound of the medieval fiddle, in the hands of Stevie Wishart, springs into song in the following track (12), a rhythmic and eyebrow-knitting estampie based on the same song, accompanied by the rapping admonishment of percussion.
Ellis's pleasantly relaxed rendition of the famous Ther is no rose of swych vertu (12: "There is no rose of such virtue" - the rose a popular symbol of the Virgin) is answered with a tranquil realization (arrangement) for lute. You might find the music's style familiar as it is an ancestor of English carols as we know it today. In the dusky quiescence of this sensitively laid-back piece, comes Lolay, lolay: Als y lay on Yoleis night, without doubt the heart of this record.
The lyrics consist of a narration by the poet as she eavesdrops on a conversation between a maiden and a child. Asking his mother of his future and of her to sing him to sleep, the maiden complies by telling him of the only thing she knows of him: Gabriel's Greeting. Listening and following the lyrics, the listener soon realizes, as the poet does, that this is Mary lulling the boy Christ to sleep.
I think we all know that one mark of a great piece of music is its timelessness. This song, much to Vivien Ellis's credit, is an amazing 11-minute creation, and yet not for a moment did I feel its length. As the song changes perspectives through the poet, the maiden and her child, the unity of the two voices blend and intertwine hypnotically and effectively, as stars endlessly revolve in the sphere of heaven. The final work on the disc is a striding and stirringly-paced account of Nowell, nowell, nowell! This is the salutacyon of the angell Gabryell. Written and sung in Medieval English, it is a majestic and powerful account of the Annunciation, and forms a fitting farewell from the disc as much as it is a greeting from heaven.
It's Never Too
Having said all that, Chia Han-Leon will probably still end up attending a noisy Christmas party.
Noisy parties that have nothing to do with Christmas, malls and streets blinded by 750,000 watts of electricity, or paying tons of money for gifts you know the recepient will never use - if these and other appliances of modern Christmas do nothing but make you yearn for another kind of Christmas, then perhaps what you need is to partake of a tiny dose of old - really old - Christmas.
This famous song on the sorrows of encroaching winter (a symbol of man's sinfulness) is placed in musical contrast to the more serene pieces, such as the following Salve, Virgo Virginum (4 and 5: "Hail, Virgin of virgins"). Likewise, these 3-part songs are cleverly tracked to form an introduction to the next track Procedenti puero (6: "To the boy proceeding"), a moderately-paced song of joy in praise of the newborn Christ.
The Early Music group Sinfonye is named after the instrument of the same name - otherwise known as a hurdy-gurdy (on Wishart's lap, above), a string-based instrument with a voice like a combination of an accordion and a violin. Perhaps strange to newcomers, once this quaint little thing grows on you, it can become endlessly evocative of the Middle Ages, especially of some jolly scene of rustic peasant celebration. Just like the way we associate the harpsichord with the Baroque. When accompanied by the wordless musings of Viven Ellis in an untexted version of Gabriel from evene king, the effect is mesmerizing.
of the world which savagely draw you back to ruin;
why continually consider all things,
vain joys and earthly transitions,
that are of material benefit to you?
This heavenly lullaby is suddenly transformed by the stunning revelation of the poetry. Full of the simple and pure love of motherhood, Ellis and Wishart match the narrative with singing of genuine grace, patience and heartfelt beauty. At every refrain, Ellis is joined in hymn-like harmony by Wishart, sometimes singing together, sometimes as an accompanying current in the background.
* In an email, Miss Wishart tells us that she presently uses a bow, for her medieval fiddle, which was made in Singapore by a Chinese er-hu (traditional two-string fiddle) player! She explains that the bow is made of a bamboo "which is a material clearly documented in medieval manuscripts." Its authenticity is thus very high and "far better than any historical reconstruction to be found in Europe." Miss Wishart further added that "the basis of [her] research is to combine historical evidence with surviving folk musical traditions." Small world, huh!
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