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PHILOSOPHY & REPERTOIRE:
The 16th century may sound obscure and cold when compared to all our modern ways but recent scholarship shows they were capable of having a really good time if they could find the right couple of lute players and a singer or two. From every notebook and print there are hints to possible ensembles, variations to show off to your friends and always another hundred chansons to work on when you found the time.
From the earliest part of the century, books were suddenly responsible for sharing music on a large scale and musicians responded with imagination and character. Consider two short, separate manuscripts, each with a handful of lute solos and duet parts: we do a little homework and find they fit wonderfully. We look over at this book and the same songs are arranged for the little guitar and a voice and there, in another, a possible 2nd part if we play it on the soprano lute. Thus, from one obscure chanson comes a wealth of concert possibilities. And along comes Robin who suggests some earlier material like Josquin or Ockeghem: Well, there is that motet setting in this book and that chanson (in the same mode) in some other German library--which one was that, Andy?
In 1501 there were no specified instruments in the very first printed book of music which, today, will only work in TM's favor. Hundreds of that book were dispersed throughout Europe and light bulbs went on over quite a few heads. And hundreds more editions of music books followed. A commerce of music took root: Dance forms from Italy drifted north and found their way into Flemish counterpoint; German ornaments were hidden inside Parisian chansons. Subtle instrument flavors favored this court or that dance; rumors of this harper or that luter’s tricks made their rounds. Rubrics, ficta, artifice and sprezzatura: Did they really see music so differently? How can we bring this out?
And what does our small group offer of this musical rainforest? Through some serendipity we’ve often found ourselves coming back to the vocal lists. Something in the craftsmanship involved in matching this person’s art for a good vocal line and how the instruments can add their part and still interpret the poetry. Yes, we love the dances and fantasies too and we hope to add them in ways to enhance the vocal gems. With their own internet-like flourishing of books and ideas, the years between 1480 to the early 1600's offer many entertaining possibilities.
-Sean Smith, 2003