Nova B by Martha Blackman

St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Menlo Park, California, June 2 and 25, 1988
(DVD1, Concert 2b)

Spoken:
I want to welcome you all to the concert devoted to the fourteenth century. Most of these pieces were conceived as poetry AND music fused.

Around 1200 a Troubadour wrote: “Words without music are like a mill without water.” The music, arguably perhaps, is able to stand on its own. Is this water without the mill??? However it may be, that is how it will be presented—instrumentally. Believing that you would enjoy it more with the poetry and its meaning available, we have taken great time and care to provide you with a script containing each poem and a translation.

And you might notice how familiar and human the topics and concerns are across the centuries.

To come face to face with each of these exquisite masterpieces as best we can is just as intellectual and emotional and creative a challenge as deciding how to interpret a contemporary composition whose composer we know today,

The poetics of music, the language of the heart, the Human Song, belong to all of us, even if we play it on the saxophone.

Jean de Grouchy (Grocheo) around 1300 wrote:
Among all the stringed instruments seen by us,
the viol (probably vielle) is deserving of first place.
The viol virtually includes within itself all other instruments.
A good artist plays on the viol every role of music.

Just a few words about the century: This fourteenth century of music is a wondrous and special time
and its music is very different from the preceding century and the following century.

And we offer some examples of these, these which came after
(.?? Can’t hear this one) It is in the narration disc transcribed disc 2b

This is Chaucer's century and his English gives us a approximation of how the French and Italian compared to their modern forms.

William Tell’s date was 1307, and Marco Polo and his brother returned from Cathay in 1299 with their gunpowder and spaghetti. 

The Black Plague struck and devastated Europe in the middle of the century.

The music of this time and style shows very sophisticated rhythmic complexity
which suggests that it was written for an aristocratic and highly educated public.
k= = = cannot hear it ? probably “who had the background” in understanding and appreciating them.
Audio check. Spoken: I saved this for the last: Jean de Gruchy (Grocheio) in 1300 wrote: “Among all the stringed instruments seen by us, the viol (actually ‘viella’ in the original Ars musice) appears deserving of first place.” “As the soul has understanding and includes within itself all other forms of ability, so does the viol (actually ‘viella’ in the original Ars musice) include within itself all other instruments.” “A good artist plays on the viol (actually ‘viella’ in the original Ars musice) every musical form in general.”

See https://vimeo.com/84506614 for all the music and audio remarks included This was the only concert that ever was videotaped.

The Thistledown Music Series presents thirty-five live concerts recorded from 1958-1988.
The music dates back principally to the period ranging from the twelfth century to the mid-eighteenth century with a few notable exceptions occurring at a later period. The archive features all aspects of the viola da gamba life in its evolution through history.