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St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
February 16, 2019
The Ancient Music Society of Victoria sees its primary mission as educational, and it sponsors workshops and similar events for amateur and professional musicians. Each year, however, it presents a major event that provides an opportunity for local performers of early, early music, that is, music before the baroque period, to show their wares. This year the concert was headlined by one of the world's leading authorities on the performance of medieval music, Benjamin Bagby.
The programme began with a short set featuring the Banquo Folk Ensemble. (The word 'folk' in the ensemble's name is important because at least one of the instruments employed, namely the hurdy-gurdy, was not even close to being a medieval instrument.) A piece from the Libre Vermell de Monserrat and two from the Cantigas de Santa Maria were essayed. The performances were remarkably polished given the fact some of the originally scheduled performers were unavailable and lutenist Doug Hensley had to step in to fill in the sonorities. A certain amount of speculation is always in involved when performing such early repertoire but I found the interpretations convincing. Noteworthy was the performances by Bill Jamieson who performed on recorder, shawm, and vielle in the course of the set.
Incidentally, last September I happened to be in Spain for the Fiesta Moros y Cristianos of Murcia and I was delighted to see that the local musicians still play shawms during the festivities, albeit somewhat modernized ones.
Next up was an ensemble specially formed for this concert, Ensemble Semel, performing some of the earliest polyphony: works by two shadowy figures associated with the Church of Notre Dame in Paris, Léonin and Pérotin. For a new ensemble, I thought that the performances were creditable. Two quibbles: for some reason, the lyrics of one piece were not projected, unlike the lyrics of other pieces throughout the evening. And we were told, in remarks prior to the performance of these pieces, that they involved hocketing. I didn't hear any genuine hocketing, which is found in somewhat later music. Hocketing is the sharing of a single melody between two or more voices. In this early polyphony, there is a basic melodic line, the tenor line, which is ornamented by other lines.
Then came the main event. Anyone who has heard Bagby perform a long stretch of Beowulf will tell you that it is an extraordinary experience. Every great reformer in the history of opera — Monteverdi, Gluck, Wagner — is, in a sense, simply trying to do what Bagby does with his voice and a six-stringed harp. Jan Zwicky — no mean judge — once told me that the performance she saw Bagby give of 80 or so minutes of Beowulf was one of the greatest performances, in any genre, that she had ever seen.
Of course, this evening we just received two small snippets, but they were still remarkable. I was gripped from the instant that he shouted 'Hwaet' (listen!) while the audience was still applauding him. Bagby beautifully represents each aspect of the text with word, gesture (e.g., miming the pouring of beer) and music. Unfortunately, as I say, we just received two small pieces of the poem on this occasion. If you ever have the opportunity to hear the whole thing run, don't walk, to order tickets. A DVD is available and worth viewing, but there is nothing like hearing a live performance.
The selections from Beowulf were followed up by another Anglo-Saxon poem, the 11th century "Advertite, omnes populi ridiculum". This was given a fine performance, but the text is nothing compared to Beowulf and so I thought that it paled by comparison. Still, one fellow, beside me in the line at the interval for the toilets told me, as one does, that he thought it the highlight of the first half. I have to admit that it had some lovely moments, as when Bagby stutters, as if with cold.
The second half began with a performance by the Dârya Persian Ensemble of a modern piece in an old style. I found the percussion a little repetitive but Doug Hensley had the opportunity to display his proficiency on yet another instrument, the hammered dulcimer. Duo Corvi gave performances of an early thirteenth-century piece by Walther von der Vogelweide and a late fifteenth-century French piece. The performances were charming and provided a rare opportunity to hear a clavicymbalum, the ancestor of the harpsichord. It is worth noting that while some of the musicians on the stage this evening are amateurs, both members of the Duo Corvi are highly accomplished professionals. My only complaint is that they performed the von der Vogelweide piece the last time I heard them perform. Some fresher repertoire would have been nice.
Bagby returned to the stage to perform a fifteenth-century poem by Oswald von Wolkenstein. This was delivered without accompaniment. It was beautifully done but, at the end of the day, it was a fairly mundane poem in a language no one in the room but Bagby understood. Even with translations of the poem projected as surtitles, I was not really gripped. This was followed by a ninth century poem that was accompanied by harp and, to my mind, more attractive for that reason.
The evening concluded with everyone on stage to perform "Luto carens et latere" attributed to Philippe le Chancelier (c. 1160-1236). This was a wonderful opportunity for local musicians to perform with Benjamin Bagby. I am certain that they will remember for a long time the opportunity to sing and play with one of the giants of medieval music performance.
Each set was preceded by quite well-informed remarks that enhanced experience of the works on offer. Unfortunately, the result was the concert extended to two and a quarter hours. My attention was flagging by the end. I would recommend putting the remarks in a pre-concert lecture next time so that the concert has a shorter running time.
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