Category Archives: Aerophones

Silence: Minstrels arrive

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About the scene and clip:
Minstrels arrive at the court. The solo storyteller is accompanied at points by instrumentalists from the ensemble PanHarmonium.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged and adapted from A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed./trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992.

About the performer/ensemble:
Dolores Hydock is an actress and story performer whose work has been featured at concerts, festivals, conferences, and special events throughout the United States. Details about her work can be found at www.storypower.org.

PanHarmonium is a trio made up of David Cantrell, Susan Marchant, and Gilbert Ritchie. The group plays reproductions of early instruments, and their repertoire includes music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. For more information about PanHarmonium, e-mail DWCantrell@sigmaxi.net.

About the production:
This performance of Silence was held at the Virginia Samford Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama in November, 2007. Dolores Hydock and PanHarmonium have also performed Silence at numerous other events.

Nibelungenlied: Comic, abridged, group

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About the scene and clip:
Five students rapidly summarize, act out and (occasionally) sing to kazoo accompaniment the story of the Nibelungs, in a comic handling of the epic material; they provide a useful body count for this frequently gory epic.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her copy richard mille rm 030 sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown vape Tank to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006. Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Julie Benko, Mary Lane Haskell, Hannah McGinley, and Samantha Morrice are Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Zachary Maher is a student in Political Science in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2010).

About the production:
This scene was created for the final public performance of the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in April 2010 at New York University. It was filmed by Nitzan Rotschild.

Gawain: Hunting and wooing scenes

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About the scene and clip:
Eight performers take turns telling and performing the (abridged) hunting and wooing scenes, using costumes and adding some comic elements; among them: the hunting horn is a harmonica; students in animal costume act out the terrified animals; the cutting up of the deer becomes a surgical operation.

About the work:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best loved works of medieval literature, is an anonymous Middle English romance of the 14th century. The style is “alliterative”: each poetic line is dominated by a certain letter sound that is repeated.

The story: At Christmas, a strange, huge, all-green knight arrives at King Arthur’s court. He challenges all present to an exchange of blows with his great axe. Gawain accepts, and cuts off the knight’s head—but the green man does not die! Rather, he picks up his head and, before riding away, reminds Gawain that in a year it will be his turn to receive his blow. Gawain, in his dutiful quest for the Green Knight, encounters many adventures—in particular, at a castle where he has an exchange of gifts with the lord, and where the lady attempts repeatedly to seduce the virtuous and honorable Gawain. He finally finds the Green Knight—in a surprising conclusion to the romance.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, tr. Brian Stone, Penguin, 2nd ed., London, 1974, pp. 62ff. One edition of this frequently-edited work is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon, 2nd ed. revised by Norman Davis, Oxford, Clarendon, 1968.

About the performer/ensemble:
Danielle Benzaken is a student in Psychology and English in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Jessica Carei is a student in Journalism and Medieval and Renaissance Studies in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Ruby Joy is a Drama student in the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Kat Keating is a student in English, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Music in the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Nick Kocher is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Andrew Long is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a student in Spanish literature and culture at the College of Arts and Science. Marielle Mosthof is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Steven Northrup is a Drama student in the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2008. It took place at the Maison Française at an event called “Making It Real 2008” in April 2008; it was videoed by Gina Guadagnino.

Judith: Judith prepares to kill Holophernes

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About the scene and clip:
The singer performs part of the story of Judith and Holophernes, taking on all the voices: Judith comes alone to the camp of Holophernes, Nebuchadnezzar’s general. Holophernes plans to seduce her. At a great feast, he and his men become intoxicated. After prayer and agonized inner debate, Judith resolves to kill him in order to free her people.

The instruments in this clip are the vielle and flute (elsewhere in the full performance of the work, the lirica—a Croatian traditional stringed instrument tuned in a particular archaic manner—and other medieval flutes are played). The instrumentation provides at times a highly dramatic musical presence.

About the work:
Judith was written by Marko Marulic (1450-1524), a great Croatian Humanist poet, and a major figure in the transition between medieval and Renaissance Croatian literature. Judith is a literary epic, composed in verse, and drawn primarily from the book of Judith in the Old Testament: the beautiful Jewish widow cuts off the head of a great enemy of her people, Holophernes, in order to free them. Superimposed on the biblical story is the theme of opposition to Ottoman invaders of Marulic’s day. Into the text of Judith, Dialogos has inserted a debate between the body and the soul, based on Visio Philiberti (Philibert’s Vision), to which Marulic had contributed. Katarina Livljanic’s reconstruction of the music draws on Gregorian, Beneventan and Glagolitic sources from medieval Dalmatia.

About the genre:
This work combines literary epic, with the story drawn from the Bible; allegory (the body/soul debate), and hagiography (Judith will be forever glorified for her courage and service to God).

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

Stories about the saintly wisdom, heroism, or miracles of remarkable men and women exist in many religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Such stories are termed “hagiography.” In medieval Europe, the saint’s life or legend was an extremely popular type of work. A great many stories (and plays) about male and female Christian saints exist in Latin and in all the vernacular languages. These works may focus on the saint’s dramatic death by martyrdom, or recount the remarkable miracles performed by the saint, or may relate the entire life of the holy man or woman. Among the most important collections of saints’ lives and legends is The Golden Legend by Jacobus of Voragine. Chaucer’s “Prioress’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales is a tale of martyrdom. Miracle and pious tales about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, constitute a special, and highly important, category of saintly legends.

About the edition/translation:
The work performed has been abridged and adapted by Katarina Livljanic and Benjamin Bagby from Marko Marulic, Judita, ed. and trans. Henry R. Cooper, Jr., New York, East European Monographs/Columbia University Press, 1991.

About the performer/ensemble:
Dialogos (see www.ensemble-dialogos.org) is a music ensemble directed by Katarina Livljanic, and based in Paris. Performers here are Livljanic (voice), Albrecht Maurer (fiddle) and Norbert Rodenkirchen (flute).

About the production:
This video was made at a public performance of Judita at St. Donat’s in Zadar, Croatia, in July 2006. The videography is by Studio Dim, Zagreb, Croatia. Dialogos has broadcast rights to the video.

Roncisvalle: Maggio performance

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About the scene and clip:
On a large field, a group of performers act out and sing the battle at Roncevaux (Roncisvalle in Italian) where the heroic Roland and the French rear-guard die—a story originally told in the Old French Song of Roland. Roland’s betrothed, Alda, comes and weeps over his lifeless body; this scene is absent from the original Roland, but similar scenes are present in various other versions of the story.

This performance is from an Italian “Maggio” version of the famous French story of Roland’s death at Roncevaux. This sort of performance is termed Maggio from celebrations associated with May Day; traditional in the Apennine region of northern Italy, Maggio is a form of popular opera dating back to the 18th century. The actors use a variety of props, such as steel swords, and wear costumes characteristic of the Italian Maggio performance tradition, including heavily-embroidered black velvet jackets, tall black boots, and plumed helmets; Christian knights wear black capes; Saracens wear red ones. The director whispers lines to the actors, who do not need to know all their lines by heart. The performers sing their parts, accompanied by musicians playing the guitar, violin and accordion.

See also on this site the “Tristano e Isotta” clip, another Maggio performance.

About the work:
Roncisvalle is an Italian “Maggio”—dramatized and sung—reworking of the medieval story of the battle of Roncevaux in The Song of Roland. (Also see above under “About the scene and the clip”.)

About the genre:
The Maggio performance tradition draws strongly on romance and epic traditions—as well as on opera, which did not yet exist in the Middle Ages.

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
The Italian script is not available.

About the performer/ensemble:
The performers are the inhabitants of Villa Minozzo, a town in the Apennine Mountains, province of Reggio Emilia. The company has its own website: www.Costabona.it.

About the production:
This performance took place in Rossena, Italy, in July 2002. It was videoed by Prof. JoAnn Cavallo of the Italian Department at Columbia University. Copies of the documentary DVD “Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, riflessioni, brani,” of which this is a clip, are available through Prof. Cavallo.

Tristano: Maggio performance

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About the scene and clip:
This performance is from a “Maggio” version of the medieval stories of Tristan and Isolde [Tristano e Isotta]. Tales about these famous lovers were originally told in French medieval works dating from the 12th and 13th centuries; such stories spread throughout Europe and still survive. This sort of performance is termed Maggio from celebrations associated with May Day. Maggio performance, traditional in the Apennine region of northern Italy, is a form of popular opera dating back to the 18th century. The entire performance of the tale includes the following scenes: the page’s introduction; Tristan goes mad from unfounded jealousy; Tristan and Isolde are reunited; King Mark exiles Tristan; Isolde laments over Tristan’s departure; King Arthur welcomes Isolde; a battle between King Mark and King Arthur and his knights; Tristan’s death; Lancelot’s lament.

In this clip, King Arthur, Lancelot and other knights attack King Mark for having brought about the death of the lovers, who lie dead on the ground. In the middle of a large field, the performers sing and act out their parts. The director whispers lines to the performers, who do not need to know all their lines by heart. The singing is punctuated by accordion flourishes. Unlike other Maggio companies in Emilia, these performers do not adopt the traditional costumes (embroidered black velvet with a strongly symbolic use of color), but instead vary their costumes to fit the story being performed.

See also on this site the “Roncisvalle” clip, another Maggio performance.

About the work:
Tristano e Isotta is an Italian “Maggio”—dramatized and sung—reworking of the medieval story of Tristan and Iseut. (See also see under “About the scene and clip”).

About the genre:
The Maggio performance tradition draws strongly on romance and epic traditions—as well as on opera, which did not yet exist in the Middle Ages.

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Tristano e Isotta: script published in the journal Il Cantastorie, n. 3, 1981 (Terza serie), Reggio Emilia, Italy.

About the performer/ensemble:
The company is located in Frassinoro, a town in the Apennine Mountains (province of Modena) of Italy.

About the production:
This performance took place in Frassinoro (Modena), Italy, in July 2002; it was videoed by Prof. JoAnn Cavallo of the Italian Department at Columbia University. Copies of the documentary DVD “Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, riflessioni, brani,” of which this is a clip, are available through Prof. Cavallo.

Rose or Dole: Scenes

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About the scene and clip:
This clip shows five scenes from the “Teaching Medieval Romance through Video Performance” video of The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole. The first scene shows rejoicing, dancing and singing in the court of the Emperor Conrad. In the second scene, Conrad has just fallen madly in love with Lienor after hearing her beauty and virtue praised by Jouglet, and he sings about his love while Jouglet plays the vielle. The third scene shows Lienor singing a “chanson de toile” (a weaving song) for her family and guests. These three scenes emphasize the ways in which songs sung by the characters in the romance, along with instrumental music and dancing, have been inserted by the poet into the narrative. This video takes special interest in the musical sv rolex day date m118348 0149 mens 36mm automatic dimension of The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole. In the fifth scene, the narrator (Jouglet) reads the text aloud while manuscript illuminations illustrate the romance account of a great tournament at St. Trond and instrumental music creates the appropriate ambiance of sound.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole is a verse romance in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, composed by Jean Renart in northern France early in the 13th century. This is apparently the first romance into which songs were inserted. These songs, representing some thirty-five lyric genres, are represented as sung by the minstrel Jouglet and by various characters. The romance itself recounts the love from afar of the Emperor Conrad for Lienor and his desire to marry her; it also tells of his friendship for her brother, Guillaume. False accusations by the evil seneschal (a high court official) threaten Lienor’s marriage to the Emperor, but she cleverly foils the seneschal, regains her honor, and contrives her wedding and a happy ending.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and https://www.vape-o-rama.com/ ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Text translated and abridged by Switten. Original: Le roman de la Rose ou de Guillaume de Dole, ed. Félix Lecoy, Paris, Champion, 1966. See also the dual-language (Old French/English) edition, Le roman de la rose ou de Guillaume de Dole/The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole, ed./trans. Regina Psaki, New York, Garland, 1995.

About the performer/ensemble:
The Folger Consort, based in Washington DC and associated with the Folger Library, is a chamber music ensemble which plays music from the 12th to the 18th century; the instrumentalists are often joined by guest singers. The performers were (1993) and remain (2004) professional actors and singers who perform widely, often with ensembles such as the Folger Consort and Hesperus. Their updated bios are available online.

About the production:
This multi-scene clip is drawn from “Teaching Medieval Romance through Video Performance,” a project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Mount Holyoke College. Project directors were Margaret Switten and Robert Eisenstein; stage direction was by Michael Tolaydo. Production: Sheffield Audio-Video Productions, 1993; Robert Bender, video producer. A copy of this video is available at the Avery Fisher Center in Bobst Library at New York University.

Roland: Roland blows his saxophone

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About the scene and clip:
Roland blows his horn to call Charlemagne. The performer plays his saxophone; he composed the music, based on a medieval-style melody composed by Edward Green, a doctoral candidate in Music at New York University and a professional composer.

About the work:
La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) is one of the great masterpieces of French medieval literature. The earliest surviving version of this anonymous epic dates apparently from the late 11th century and is preserved in a famous manuscript now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This classic version—there were numerous others—is composed in laisses (or stanzas) of variable length with ten-syllable lines in assonance (the final vowel is the same within each laisse). Epics like the Roland were originally sung by jongleurs, often with vielle accompaniment. The Roland tells of the Emperor Charlemagne’s great struggle to conquer Spain from the Muslim Infidels. It recounts the betrayal of the French by the traitor, Ganelon, resulting in a great battle at Roncevaux. There, the French rearguard, led by Roland, defeats the Moors, but all the great French knights—the twelve peers—die. Charlemagne avenges the peers in two great battles, and Ganelon is punished. At the end, Charlemagne is called by the angel Gabriel to a new mission.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
The Song of Roland, translated from the Old French by Dorothy L. Sayers, Penguin, 1957, laisse 134, pp.119ff. French: La Chanson de Roland, ed. Ian Short, Paris, Lettres gothiques, 1990.

About the performer/ensemble:
Joe Esposito is a student in Dramatic Literature in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2006)—and a musician.

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2006. It was filmed at New York University’s Maison Française in spring 2007.