MonteverdiMantuan Masterpieces
The CaThedral of ST John The evangeliSThelen d. SChuberT ConCerTS
Cleveland ohio
The Cathedral of St John the EvangelistMost Reverend Richard G. Lennon, Bishop of Cleveland
Reverend Sean Ralph, AdministratorMr Gregory Heislman, Director of Music
Friday, 30 September 2016
Please hold your applause until the end of each half.
Spernit deus cor durum Claudio Monteverdi (1567—1643) Musica tolto da i madrigli di Claudio Monteverdi (1607) lyrics by Aquilino Coppini (d.1629)
In illo tempore Nicolas Gombert (ca.1495—1560) Motetti del frutti a sei voci (1539)
Missa in illo tempore: Kyrie eleison Monteverdi Sanctissimæ Virgini Missa senis vocibus (1610)
Felle amaro (1607) Monteverdi/Coppini
Stabat virgo (1607) Monteverdi/Coppini
Missa in illo tempore: Gloria Monteverdi
— intermission — Please remain seated while the ushers receive the offering.
Your gift of at least $10 (if check, payable to: Cathedral of St John) enables the continued success of this concert series.If you would like to be on our mailing list, please fill out the yellow form and deposit in the Free-will offering basket.
O Jesu, mea vita Monteverdi/Coppini Il terzo libro della musica di Claudio Monteverde … fatta spirituale da Aquilino Coppini (1609)
Missa in illo tempore: Credo Monteverdi
Sancta Maria (1607) Monteverdi/Coppini
Missa in illo tempore: Sanctus Monteverdi
Maria, quid ploras (1607) Monteverdi/Coppini
Missa in illo tempore: Agnus dei Monteverdi
Quire Cleveland dedicates this concert to the memory of our
beloved audio engineer, Thomas Knab.
Quire ClevelandRoss W. Duffin, Artistic Director
Monteverdi: Mantuan Masterpieces
About Quire ClevelandQuire Cleveland is a professional chamber choir established in 2008 to explore the vast and timeless repertoire of choral music over the last 9 centuries. Quire’s programs introduce our audiences to music not heard in the modern era — including modern premieres of works newly discovered or reconstructed — breathing life into the music of our shared heritage.With highly-trained professional musicians — who collectively represent 500 years of choral singing — the ensemble has earned both popular and critical acclaim. Quire contributes to the artistic life of our community in unique ways, including collaborations with such organizations as the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Composers Guild, Music & Art at Trinity, CityMusic Cleveland, Summit Choral Society, and The Cleveland Foundation.Now in its ninth season, Quire Cleveland has presented more than 60 concerts and produced five CDs of music from the 12th to the 21st centuries. Artistic Director Ross W. Duffin, a prize-winning musicologist, creates unique editions for Quire, and plans programs that are appealing and accessible, showcasing the beauty of the music and the glorious sound of voices raised in harmony.In addition to live and recorded broadcasts on classical radio, Quire has also recorded music for Oxford University Press. An education program, initiated in 2014, offers free workshops and lectures.With concert videos posted on YouTube, Quire Cleveland’s reach has indeed been world-wide, attracting over half a million views from 207 countries.
PersonnelSopranoS: Margaret Carpenter Haigh, Donna Fagerhaug, Angela Mitchell, Elena Mullins,
Lisa Rainsong, Gail WestaltoS: John McElliott, Joseph Schlesinger, Beverly Simmons, Jay WhitetenorS: Evan Bescan, Nathan Dougherty, Corey Shotwell, Tyler Skidmore, Brian WentzelBaSSeS: Ian Crane, Daniel Fridley, Nathan Longnecker, Brian MacGilvray, Michael McKay,
Daniel Singer
Ross W. Duffin, artistic directorRoss W. Duffin was born in London, Canada, and attended the University of Western Ontario there. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University, where he specialized in the Performance Practice of Early Music. Since 1978, he has directed the nationally recognized Historical Performance Program at Case Western Reserve University. He has earned renown as a scholar in a wide range of repertoires. His Shakespeare’s Songbook (W.W. Norton, 2004) is a study of all the songs from Shakespeare’s plays, and his current project is a book on the songs from plays by the other Renaissance playwrights. Ross’s expertise in historical tuning systems is shown in the popularity of his book, How Equal Temperament Ruined Temperament (and Why You Should Care) (W.W. Norton, 2007), and the invitation to guest conduct St Johns College Choir at Cambridge University. His love of vocal ensemble singing has a familial background, since his grandfather, William Nelson, was a professional countertenor in London, England, and was soloist for Harold Darke and later Herbert Murrill, and his mother conducted her church choir, making him a third-generation choral conductor. Ross has sung with Apollo’s Fire since its inception in 1992. He also directs the Collegium Musicum at Case.
SPERNIT DEUS COR DURUM, quod nulla pietate moveatur, quod in duritie sua lætetur. Visne frui pio eius amore gloriosasque sedes possidere? Frange duritiem pectoris tui pietatemque cole. Quod si persistere vis in peccato, fiet rigida tibi maiestas illa et condemnabit animam tuam inquinatam, tuque subibis miser ignem æternum.
IN ILLO TEMPORE, loquente Jesu ad turbas, extollens vocem quaedam mulier de turba dixit: Beatus venter, qui te portavit, et ubera quae suxisti. At ille dixit: Quinimo beati qui audiunt verbum dei et custodiunt illud.
— Luke 11: 27—8
KYRIE ELEISON. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
FELLE AMARO me potavit populus et aceto. Non illi dedi amaras aquas in deserto, sed latices suaves. Viri, aspide surda surdiores, et saeviores, quid a me vultis adhuc? Iam moriar pro vobis.
STABAT VIRGO Maria maestissimo dolore languens ad crucem et flebat amare. Et edidit ex ore tales voces: Quis te confixit in hoc diro ligno? Quis mihi rapit vitam? Fili mi Jesu Christe, en liquefacta languet, et solvitur in lacrimas amoris anima mea dolens: en langueo, en morior dolore.
GLORIA in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratiam agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. To solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe. Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
O JESU, MEA VITA, in quo est vera salus,O lumen gloriae amate Jesu, O cara pulchritudoTribue mihi tuam, dulcedinem mellifluam gustandam.O vita mea, O gloria coelorum, Ah restringe me tibi in aeternum. O Jesu, lux mea, spes mea, cor meum, do me tibi, O Jesu mea vita.
God spurns the hard heart which is moved by no devotion, which rejoices in its hardness. Do you not want to enjoy his devout love and possess his glorious thrones? Break the hardness of your heart and cultivate piety: for if you wish to persist in sin, that majesty will be rigid toward you and will condemn your polluted soul, and you, wretch, will enter eternal fire.
— Tr. Kerry McCarthy
It came to pass, as he spoke these things to the multitude, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed the womb that bore you, and the breasts which you have sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Lord, have mercy upon us; Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us;
The people gave me bitter gall and vinegar to drink. I did not give them bitter water in the desert, but sweet milk. O men, more hard-hearted and more brutal than a heartless snake, what do you still want from me? Now I shall die for you. — Tr. Roy Batters
The Virgin Mary stood fainting with most sorrowful grief at the foot of the Cross, weeping bitterly, and uttered these words: “Who has nailed you to this dreadful Cross? Who is taking my life away from me? My son Jesus Christ, lo, my grieving soul is faint and weary, and dissolves in tears of love: I languish, I die of grief.” — Tr. Roy Batters
Glory be to God on high, and in earth peace, good will towards men. We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, son of the father, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. You that take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. You that take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You that sit at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For you only art holy; you only are the Lord; you only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, are most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
O Jesus, my life, in whom there is true salvation, O glorious light, beloved Jesus, O dear beauty, grant me your honeyed sweetness to savor. O my life, O glory of the heavens, Ah! clasp me to you forever. O Jesus, my light, my hope, my heart, I give myself to you, O Jesus, my life.
— Tr. Roy Batters
Texts & Translations
CREDO in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: Et Homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis; sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in coelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
SANCTA MARIA, quæ Christum peperisti virginei sine labe pudoris, volve serenos, volve oculos illos tuos misericordiæ et pietatis in homines, qui tibi sunt devoti, dulcis virgo Maria. Tu maris tu midi refulgens stella, tu decus paravita, tu rosa vernans pudicissima virgo et lilium suave, bonum est te amare quæ non sinis perire. O virgo benedicta, duc nos ad gloriam regni cœlestis.
SANCTUS, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
MARIA, QUID PLORAS ad monumentum? Quænam fuere tibi causæ doloris? Crucifixerunt amorem meum, et occiderunt eum, qui mihi dedit vitam. Absterge cadentes lachrymas, invitis perfidas iniquis, ille vivit, etvivet in æternum, et possidebis eum.
AGNUS DEI, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Holy Mary, who brought forth Christ as a virgin without the stain of shame, turn those serene ones, turn those eyes of mercy and pity on the people who are devoted to you, O sweet virgin, Mary. You are the shining star of the sea, you alone give glory to life, you are the blooming rose and the sweet lily, most chaste virgin. It is good to love you lest we should perish. O blessed virgin, lead us to the glory of the heavenly kingdom.
— Tr. Ross W. Duffin
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory; Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Mary, why do you weep at the tomb? What then were the causes of your sorrow? They have crucified my love, and slain the one who gave me life. Wipe away your falling tears: in spite of the unjust faithless, he lives, and will live eternally, and you shall possess him.
— Tr. Kerry McCarthy
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. You that take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. You that take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Enjoy Quire Cleveland’s Upcoming ConcertsCarols for Quire from the Old & New Worlds (8th annual) • December 2, 3 & 4, 2016
The St. Matthew Passion by Richard Davy, featuring guest soloists Jeffrey Strauss & Owen McIntosh • April 8 & 9, 2017
More information at quirecleveland.org
The year 1610 is justly famous for the publication of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers — the Vespro della B. Vergine da concerto, as it is modestly titled at the top of an interior page in the continuo partbook. It’s a landmark work, with brilliant choruses, virtuosic vocal solos, and dazzling instrumental obbligato parts. Cleveland’s Apollo’s Fire has performed and toured with it several times, and recorded it, too. But what has gone virtually unremarked through the excitement over the Vespers, is that it took second billing in the 1610 print in which it appears. On the title page of that Venetian print (opposite), the top billing (and the MUCH larger type), is given to the first work in that publication: the Sanctissimæ Virgini Missa senis vocibus (Mass of the Most Blessed Virgin for six voices), also known as the Missa In illo tempore, as explained below. By contrast, the words “Ac Vespere pluribus decantanda” are barely legible at this reduction from the original size. On today’s program, we will be performing that nigh-forgotten work in its entirety. Obviously, if Monteverdi gave the mass such prominence, he was proud of it and considered it an important work. However, because it wasn’t as revolutionary in its musical style as the Vespers, it has sometimes been viewed in modern day as an afterthought.
As a matter of fact, the mass turns out to be a showcase of brilliant and innovative polyphonic textures, and a cradle for the use of sequence as an expressive compositional device. Monteverdi was concurrently experimenting with melodic sequence in the madrigals he was writing, which would later be included in his Sixth Book of Madrigals, in 1614. This mass is the work of a master composer at the height of his powers, not merely showing how he could compose successfully in an old-fashioned style, but showing how he could take that venerable style and turn it into something fresh and exciting.
Monteverdi bases his mass on the motet, In illo tempore, by the Franco-Flemish composer Nicolas Gombert; he makes this explicit by printing the melodic motives (below) that he used from the motet as a basis for the counterpoint in the mass. You will hear each one at various times throughout the mass, as well as in the original motet, which we are also singing on this program. The mass is thus sometimes described as a “parody mass,” a term well-known from Palestrina — 53 of whose 104 masses are based on pre-existent motets. But Monteverdi avoids the typical parody procedure of quoting and expanding the imitative entries of the model; instead, he takes the basic raw material — the individual motives — and spins his own contrapuntal web, which is less dependent on Gombert’s treatment.
It is remarkable, in a way, that Monteverdi would reach back to the work of a Franco-Flemish composer who died half a century earlier, but it is a testament to the motivic invention Monteverdi found in the older master’s work. Gombert’s motet, as sung here, is actually one of five different Gombert motets that begin with the text “In illo tempore” — it being a typical introduction for a biblical reading, even when it’s not part of the scripture being quoted. You will hear these motives throughout the motet, in the form in which they inspired Monteverdi, woven together in elegant, seamless, and almost constant imitation, and spiced by occasional cross-relations — where a C clashes against a C#, or an F against an F#.
Program Notes
No one can take anything away from Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 as a landmark sacred composition (though recent research has cast doubt on whether Monteverdi conceived it as a unified work). But the companion piece is innovative in its own way, as well as being tremendously exciting and absolutely beautiful. It’s also worth noting that, when Monteverdi was auditioning in 1613 to become maestro di cappella at San Marco in Venice — the position that would define his career for posterity — he chose not his spectacular Vespers of 1610, but another work from that vintage year: his six-voice Mass for the Most Blessed Virgin on In illo tempore. Tonight, we share that splendid work with you.
Interspersed among the movements of the mass are pieces that all began life in Monteverdi’s Fourth and Fifth Books of five-voice madrigals, published in 1603 and 1605, respectively; also composed while he was at the ducal court of Mantua. A few years later, Monteverdi’s friend and professor of rhetoric at the University of Pavia, Aquilino Coppini, published many of them again with newly-written, sacred texts in Latin. Coppini was so good at matching the declamation of his Latin lyrics to the original Italian, and also at capturing the spirit of the originals, that they became vividly dramatic, emotionally charged, and extremely successful “sacred madrigals” — undeservedly neglected today! Highlights include Felle amaro, based on Monteverdi’s landmark madrigal Crud’ Amarilli, whose unprepared dissonances were called “offensive” and “barbaric” by the Renaissance theorist Giovanni Artusi, and O Jesu mea vita, whose pungent harmonies sound remarkably daring, even today. These pieces give us the opportunity to integrate two different, but equally magnificent, facets of Monteverdi’s work during his time at Mantua.
— Ross W. Duffin
