The exercise was to listen early music preferably on a live concert. Due to the present situation this was not possible. I visited the website of The National Centre for Early Music where I found several recordings from previous events. I listened a few performances and I choose a group called Rumorum. Their concert was broadcasted from NCEM on 30th March 2019 as part of the REMA Conference.

Based on Collins dictionary early music is a broad musical ear in the history of Western art music. It includes the Middle Ages, Renaissance and sometimes the Baroque and early Classical periods. For early music, the approach to musical performance is emphasizing the use of period instrument, historically researched scores and playing techniques. (Early music definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary, 2020)

Rumorum is a musical group which formed in 2015 by medieval performance students at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. The highly trained musicians bring medieval music to the modern concert stage with informed compositions and stylistic improvisations into their performances. Their repertoire is a mixture of instruments and voices. (About, n.d.)

The concert title called Medieval music for voice and instruments. The music was chosen from a variety of pieces written to instruments, solo voices, and instruments with vocals. The concert opened with Principio di Virtú by Anonymous. This is a 14^th century Italian dance music from the Trecento period. There is not too much information about this work. Based on F. Alberto Gallo`s research – who was professor of medieval and renaissance music at the University of Bologna – the piece probably composed for the celebrations of the marriage of Isabella, daughter of King John II of France and Giangaleazzo Visconti of Pavia in 1360. By this marriage he became prince of Vertus in Champagne and was known as the “Conte di Virtú”. (Duffin, 2000)

After the opening song, the group continued the medieval journey with various pieces such as Tandernaken, O Rosa Bella, Ballade, and compositions by Machaut.

Tandernaken was a popular Middle Dutch song between 1430-1510. The story is about two girls who are having a conversation about love affairs at the Rhine bank in Andernach, Germany. While they are talking with each other, one of the girls’ lover listening them from a distance.

O Rosa Bella is the title of two popular 15^th century chansons composed by Johannes Ciconia and then originally attributed to John Dunstable, but now to John Bedyngham. The text is based on a poem written by Leonardo Giustiniani (1300-1446). The story is about a man who is in love and dies of love again and again for the same woman. He begs this beautiful rose of a woman to have mercy and not allow him to die. (Dickey, 2020)

Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) was a medieval French poet and composer. He was one of the leading French composers of the Ars Nova musical style of the 14^th century. He was also the last French poet who think of the lyric and its musical setting as a single entity. (Guillaume de Machaut | French poet and musician, 2020)

Rumorum also used period instruments to their performance such as Harp which is an ancient instrument dating back to the Sumerian civilization, Lute which introduced into Europe by the Moors when they invaded Spain in the 8^th century, Rebec which originated around the 10^th century, Flute which dates back to ancient Rome, Viola d`arco and Clavisimbalum which is an early keyboard instrument and ancestor of the harpsichord.

The concert took place in a beautiful small church which was perfect for this type of music. The repertoire with the period instruments well represented the medieval era. I really enjoyed the performance as the lovely setting with the varied program and the beautiful sound brought the listeners to an excellent journey in the Medieval times.

Reference

Collinsdictionary.com. 2020. Early Music Definition And Meaning | Collins English Dictionary. [online] Available at: <https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/early-music&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]

RUMORUM. n.d. About. [online] Available at: <http://www.rumorum.com/about.html&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]

Duffin, R., 2000. A Performer’s Guide To Medieval Music. Bloomington, Ind. [u.a.]: Indiana Univ. Press, pp.220-221

Dickey, T., 2020. O Rosa Bella, Ballata | Details | Allmusic. [online] AllMusic. Available at: <https://www.allmusic.com/composition/o-rosa-bella-ballata-mc0002400494&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]

Encyclopedia Britannica. 2020. Guillaume De Machaut | French Poet And Musician. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-de-Machaut&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]

Ncem.co.uk. 2020. NCEM – The National Centre For Early Music – Early Music Online. [online] Available at: <http://www.ncem.co.uk/?idno=1673&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]

Caslabs.case.edu. 2020. Early Music Instrument Database – Ross Duffin | CWRU. [online] Available at: <https://caslabs.case.edu/medren/&gt; [Accessed 27 May 2020]