PROGRAMMEFriday 15 February, 7.30pm The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury
THE DUFAY COLLECTIVE
LA JOYOZA MEDIEVAL DANCE AND SONG
Jon Banks - harp, psaltery, gittern, percussion Vivien Ellis - voice William Lyons - flute, shawm, baspipes, recorder, simforty Peter Skuce - harp, percussion
Dance: J'aloie I'autrier [after d'Amiens c1280] – France 13c
C'est la fins / Prendes i garde – Guillaume d’Amiens c1280
Estampies Reales – France 13c
Amors m'art – France 13c
Estampies Reales – France 13c
Tant es gaya – France 13c
Alysoun – England 14c
English Dance – English 13c
Dansa: Eno pouco [After C5M353] – Spain 13c
Bailemos nos ja todas tres – Airas Nunez fl.c. 1285
Lamento di Tristano / La Rotta – Italy 14c
Que muyto meu pago – Airas Nunez
Danca Amoroso – Italy 14c
Salterello – Italy 14cWith many thanks to the Lion Hotel
A L'ESTAMPIDA - MEDIEVAL DANCE AND SONG
Instrumental and vocal music, whether recreational, mystical or ceremonial was a vital element in medieval life. Its function ranged from simply being part of a social gathering to symbolising the 'harmony' of the heavens and the everlasting cycle of life and death.
Medieval literature abounds with references to dancing, and iconographical depictions are numerous. Yet little, if anything, is known of the choreography of these dances, or the tempo at which they were danced. From the writings of Johannes de Grocheio ('De Musica' c.1300) and Jerome of Moravia (Tractatus de Musica' c.1300) we learn that the forms of most documented dances, estampie, salterello, rotta, trotto, ductia and danse royale follow essentially the same formula: between three and seven repeated sections (puncta) with 'open' and 'closed' endings.
In the first half of the concert are pieces from England and France. The opening item for and bagpipes and drums is just the sort of impressive sound that would have been heard at feasts, weddings, religious processions and dances in 13th century Paris.
The estampie was the great courtly dance of the Middle Ages, but little is known about exactly how it would have been danced. Probably it was intended for solo or couples, and the French estampies rentes performed here demonstrate the simple structure of such a form, in various instrumental combinations.
English instrumental music presents many problems for the performer. The so-called “English Dance” is typical in having no title, is written down in a way that gives no real indication as to the order in which the sections are to be played and is in an ambiguous notation. We perform it as though it were a “nota”, with the unique three voice section treated as a coda, and a basis for an improvised “jam”. Exactly what type of instruments would have performed this repertoire is difficult to say. We know that there were two separate types of instrumental groupings; the “hour.” or loud instruments such as shawms, trumpets and bagpipes, and the “has” or soft instruments; flute, vielles, harps. These had their own functions at court, the loud ensemble would play for ceremonial and outdoor dancing, and the soft would play at smaller gatherings or in the private chambers of the nobility.
With one exception, the surviving Italian dances before 1500 are all contained in one trecento manuscript (now in the British Library) and are unique in a variety of ways: firstly, under the general heading “Istanpitta”, there are eight dances with intriguing titles such as "Isabella", "Tre Fontone", and "Ghaetta"; for the first time we find dance pairs with definite related melodic structures such as "Lamento di Tristano / La rotta"; the titled Istanpittas are of a complex form, with irregular lengths of sections and florid melodic lines.
The remaining dances are given their generic titles, with four salterellos, one trotto and one other dance pair. The salterello derives its name from ‘saltare’ (to jump) and would seem to have been of a more flamboyant nature than the estampie. The recently discovered "Donca Amoroso/ Troto" was found on the back of a land transfer document in the Florence State Archives, proving that estate agents do occasionally have their uses!
The fact that so few specifically instrumental pieces survive (less than fifty before 1400) is an indication of the strong aural and improvisatory art common to all medieval musicians, alas now lost. Given that dances like the estampie are of a fixed form, musicians would have been free to improvise much of the music, or at least would perform variations upon existing dances and songs.
To gain an insight into this art, it is perhaps relevant to refer to the unbroken and largely unaltered traditions of the Mediterranean and Arabic countries, whose music is related in form and content to much of the medieval dance repertoire. The relevance of Eastern music to the performance of medieval dance music is further enhanced by the fact that instruments such as the oud (lute), rebec, shawm, and various percussion instruments were introduced into Europe by Moorish occupiers from as early as the 8th century. Common to northern and southern European styles of music making is the art of improvising including the use of preludes, which serve to set the mode or maqam, and postludes as well as heterophony - the unison playing of a melody with differing ornamentation by each player.
Medieval vocal music survives in far greater numbers. Great collections of troubadour and trouvere songs were compiled, and music for use in church is common. ‘C'est la fins’ and ‘Prendes i garde’ are typical of the sort of communal dance songs that would have taken place throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, with the universal theme of the lust for love and new life. Of the songs in the second half, ‘Que muyto’ and ‘Baitemos nos’ take their melodies from the magnificent compilation of over 400 Cantigas de Santa Maria assembled during the reign of Alfonso X "The Learned" of Castile and Leon [1252-1284]. The poems are by Alfonso's court poet, Airas Nunez, about whom little is known. The song ‘Amors m'art’ is in the form of a dansa - a refrain song similar in structure to the Cantigas, but with a secular text, usually extolling the virtues of a distant lover set to a melody that perhaps had dance origins.
By drawing on these living traditions, using combinations of reconstructed medieval instruments and eastern instruments apparently unaltered since the middle ages, the aim is to recreate the essence of medieval music, and the exciting and virtuosic art of the medieval minstrel.
Notes by William Lyons © The Dufay Collective
THE DUFAY COLLECTIVE
The Dufay Collective has been performing and recording its unique brand of early music for over twenty years. During this time the group has performed at major festivals and toured throughout the world, receiving critical acclaim from Cairo to Carlisle. The group has made a series of highly regarded recordings of a diverse repertoire of instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, including the Grammy nominated 'Cancionero': "An early-music must" The Observer; "vibrant, colourful and exciting listening. Ellis sings with clarity and verve, and the Collective plays with its customary panache and precision" BBC Music Magazine; " all beautifully realised on this superb disc" The Independent.
Highlights of recent years have included performances in the monastery of Montserrat, Early Music Network tours in Holland, Norway and the UK, the Tallinn Festival in Estonia, the Festival de Fez in Morocco, and regular conceits in Spain. A return to Australia as part of the Sydney Festival was well received, as was a series of concerts in Singapore. They have taught popular workshops and concerts at Dartington Summer School for the past eleven years. The Dufays featured live on BBC’s ‘Perfect Day’ and have collaborated with The Orlando Consort on several occasions and have performed at Sadlers Wells with the Richard Alston Dance Company. Recent UK concerts include the York Early Music Festival, Leamington Et Warwick, Lichfield, Poole, Ross-on-Wye, Birmingham Early Music and Cambridge Summer Festivals. The group's recent work in Spain includes a number of performances in Burgos and they were the first to perform in the new festival in Rueda.
The group has broadcast on many radio and TV networks around the world and they can also be heard on the soundtracks of several feature films including Hamlet, Harry Potter 3 and Shrek 3! The Dufays have recently recorded their second disc for Harmonia Mundi USA, the remarkable 'Play Of Daniel', which the group first performed at Dartington two years ago.
To mark their twentieth anniversary, the group embarked upon a series of long-term projects, including the 'Alchemy' project with Andalusian ensemble Alquimia.
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Last Updated : 04/03/2008