Replay, Reuse, Recycle

The class on "Medieval Music You Already Know" inspired me to do a class on contrafacta in period. I'd done classes in "filk" - which is a more lighthearted word for the same thing. But this was about filk in period - from fourth century Arian adaptations of popular music, through troubadours borrowing church music for their love songs, to composers using folk tunes as the basis for polyphonic masses.

We looked at borrowings as many as four deep, as a twelfth-century "Ave Regina" chant may have been used for a twelfth century troubadour's love song, which was borrowed for a thirteenth-century pilgrim song, and a thirteenth century song in praise of gluttony.

Anyone who thinks of the middle ages as insular or restrictive might be surprised at the international trade in music. A tune that's still popular today can be found in Italian, Bohemian, Gallican, and German manuscripts of the tenth to fifteenth centuries.

Those who prize originality might be surprised to learn that troubadour instruction manuals prefer that older tunes be used for some types of song.

This was a study that was too much for an hour's class. It could easily fill a dissertation (actually, several of them). I recommend the Musical Borrowing Bibliography as a resource. Though many of its 1800+ citations cover modern music, there's plenty on medieval/renaissance works as well.

Shakespeare made fun of the contrafacting of Greensleeves by Mistress Ford's comment about Falstaff:, whose words, "do no more adhere and keep place together than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of Green Sleeves." (Merry Wives of Windsor II.i.62) She may not approve, but contrafact was a way of life for musicians in period.

Medieval Music You Already Know

In preparation for Rokeclif hosting Bardic Madness, I led a class on period music. Many of the songs we sang during the wintertime celebrations have their roots in the middle ages. A few examples:

The tune used for "Good King Wenceslas" was published in a sixteenth-century collection with the words, "Tempus adest Floridum", a carol for spring. These words appear in Carmina Burana, a thirteenth-century collection.

The tune of Greensleeves was used in 1642 as a New Year's carol before it became "What Child is This?"

"Good Christian Folk Rejoice" was sung by a circle of dancing angels in the fourteenth century with the words, "In dulci Jubilo"

The "March of the Three Kings" that Bizet used in L'Arlesienne was a mid-thirteenth century crusaders' hymn.

"Of Parental Love Begotten" may have the oldest pedigree. Its tune is a plainsong melody found in manuscripts as early as the tenth century. The words, "Corde Natus ex Parentis", are from a poem by Prudentius, written in the fourth century.

Catching up

It is time to catch up. It was almost a year between the time the challenge was issued and the time I learned of it and decided to join. In that time, I accomplished the following:

June – an article for Mead, Meat & More on the virtues of the dandelion.

August – an article on sage for Mead, Meat & More. This is the Kingdom of Northshield’s quarterly journal for cooks and brewers.

September – a book on the voyages of St Brendan. For Her coronation, Queen Eilis requested classes and A&S displays appropriate to early Irish culture, a time and place far removed from modern times (AD 1278). Wracking my brain, I could come up with only one thing old-fashioned enough to meet the Royal request. I wrote a version of the story of St Brendan’s voyage to the edge of Paradise, bound it into a book, read the story to interested persons at the event, and then presented the book to Her Majesty. It was delightful to study history rather than the present for a change.

December – a presentation called “Medieval Songs You Already Know”. Many times I have wished to call the Period Police to arrest people who bring modern music to bardic circles. There is an abundance of period music sung during the month of December, so I worked to document those pieces which had become familiar through seasonal repetition so that more people could knowingly enjoy songs from our time.

February – taught two related classes at the Hromnice Day celebration in Shattered Oak. The first was a celebration of contrafacta, both in period and in SCA. I (Karyn) celebrated our roots in the world of fandom and fantasy, as well as our roots in the historical middle ages. The second was a hands-on how-to class in doing contrafacta. And yes, I unabashedly called it “Filk”.

Also February – an article on the properties of thyme for Mead, Meat & More.

March 29 – a class called “So you want to buy a psalter?” Kudrun explained some of the features one might wish to include if one commissions a psalter, and some of the pitfalls of purchasing one ready-made. Copious illustrations accompanied the lecture.

April 26 – Karyn and Kudrun had to collaborate on this one – a comparison of the use of numbers in each of our worlds. This was for Bardic Madness XVIII, Northshield’s performance arts event, which had the theme “numbers”. Since I’ve always been reluctant to do mathematics without mechanical aids, this was quite a challenge. I had a wonderful learning experience, though I still can’t multiply well. I must do more with this material!

Also April 26 – Since I had called a meeting of the Northshield Choir, and its director was bogged down in college studies, I taught the choir a song (Quem Pastores Laudavere from a 1410 manuscript), and we performed it in Wechselgesänge style. This is the first time I’d ever led a choir, so it was tremendously exciting and scary. The Cambridge Singers are NOT threatened in any way.

May 3 – I dusted off “An Alphabeticall Bestiary”, in which Kudrun sets out to describe one animal for each of the 24 letters of the alphabet. That I mention 55 animals and a tree is further proof that numbers and I don’t get along well. This was not brand new material, so I only give myself partial credit for it.

May 25 – The Shires of Silfren Mere and Heraldshill collaborated on an event called “Ages of War”, which took as its theme the Great Italian Wars of 1494-1559. Using the science of humors, Kudrun speculated that these dreadful wars were probably caused be great excesses of choleric humors in the Sforza household. The whole bloody mess could probably have been prevented if Ludovico Sforza’s cook had fed him lampreys and lettuce instead of barbecue. How Kudrun (living in 1279) might have heard of these future wars was unanswered, but Karyn would never have made such wild speculations. Maybe.