Category Archives: Song

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.

Beowulf: Beowulf fights Grendel

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About the scene and clip:
In this scene, Beowulf fights the monster Grendel and after a terrible struggle, finally succeeds in mortally wounding him.

The solo performer uses all facets of the voice—including singing, speaking, heightened speech and even unusual sounds—and combines these with the use of a six-stringed harp (an instrument with strings of equal length, sometimes known today as a lyre) which is tuned in the “mode” of the epic, a reconstruction based on our knowledge of medieval musical practice and theory. The resulting six tones do not yield “melodies” as such, but rather a large collection of modal gestures which provide the vocalist with his primary musical material. The performer accompanies himself at times, and at other times uses the instrument to create certain modal effects, denote the passage of time, the introduction of a new character, a change of scene, etc. The performance is in Old English, with modern English subtitles.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

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 yiming yao coke tin disposable 6000 puffs west lake longjing 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:
Bagby based his performance on Beowulf, ed. Friedrich Klaeber, 3rd ed., Lexington, MA, Heath, 1950, lines 99ff. There are many English translations of this famous work.

About the performer/ensemble:
The American vocalist and medievalist Benjamin Bagby directs Sequentia, the ensemble for medieval music which he founded together with the late Barbara Thornton in 1977. In addition to his work with Sequentia, Bagby is widely known for his solo performances of the Beowulf epic. He lives in Paris. See www.sequentia.org and www.BagbyBeowulf.com.

About the production:
This clip is taken from a professional DVD of Beowulf that was recorded live at a public performance at Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg, Sweden, in 2006; producers, Jon Aaron and Charlie Morrow; director, Stellan Olsson; director of photography, Mats Harryson. This DVD can be purchased at www.BagbyBeowulf.com. We are grateful to Bagby, who is on the advisory board of the website, as well as to Jon Aaron, for permission to use this clip on the website.

Samson and Delilah

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About the scene and clip:
Three performers sing an abridged version of the whole song about Samson and Delilah. One student (Hyeji) plays the melody on the violin, while the two other students sing the song in Latin, taking the various parts. Though reading the words and melody, they also act out the scene to the degree possible, using a scarf and a classroom chair as props.

About the work:
This famous Latin song, preserved in several medieval manuscripts, tells the Bible story of Samson and Delilah (Judges chapter 16 of the Old Testament). The song begins with the chorus’s lament over the humiliation and imprisonment of the great warrior Samson by the Philistines, and the paradox of the conquered conqueror. Samson then tells the story of his love for Delilah: how he had loved the beautiful Philistine maiden, and how she betrayed his love, getting him to tell her the secret of his great strength, which was his long hair. Delilah speaks twice: first we hear her persuade him to tell her his secret; later she mockingly calls the Philistines to cut off his hair and capture him. Samson then tells how—when his hair was again grown long and he had recovered his strength—he was able to avenge himself on his enemies by pulling the great building down on top of them all. The song ends with the chorus’s praise of Samson: “Samson sit in gloria” (“may Samson be glorified”).

About the genre:
The Medieval Latin song “Samson dux fortissime” can be understood and classified in several ways. It is a lament, or “planctus,” in honor of Samson. It is also a “lai” (but of a type different from the narrative lais by Marie de France); a musical “lai” is a lengthy song in which each pair of stanzas has a distinctive poetic structure, different from the other pairs: thus, such features as melodic shape, line lengths and rhyme patterns, and the number of lines in the stanza typically differ from pair to pair. “Samson dux fortissime” can also be seen as a sort of biblical “ballad”: a song that tells a story.

About the edition/translation:
This famous medieval Latin song has often been edited; one edition is The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse, ed. F.J.E. Raby, Oxford, Clarendon, 1959, “The Lament of Samson,” pp. 428-433. An edition of the Latin song with an English translation by Peter Dronke is also available in the booklet that accompanies the CD “Visions from the Book” by Sequentia; this CD provides a beautiful recording of the entire song.

About the performer/ensemble:
Kim Kass is a Drama student in the CAP21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2007). Hyeji Lim has studied violin for many years, and is beginning a Music major in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2007). Nick Spangler is a Drama student in the CAP21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2007).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Medieval Song,” an undergraduate course taught by Profs. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz and Edward Roesner at New York University in spring 2007. The performance took place in the classroom. Chris Looram did the videography.

Roland: Ballad of Roland and Oliver

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About the scene and clip:
“The Ballad of Roland and Oliver,” written by the performer, is a free adaptation of a passage in the The Song of Roland that emphasizes the terrible odds the French face as they go into battle against the Infidels. “The Ballad” evokes the traits that characterize Roland and Oliver—the one is bold, the other wise. The performer sings to music he composed, accompanying himself on the guitar. The audience increasingly joins in on the refrain.

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, laisses 81-87, pp. 91-94. French: La Chanson de Roland, ed. Ian Short, Paris, Lettres gothiques, 1990.

About the performer/ensemble:
Greg Powell is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

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 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in March 1, 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Nibelungenlied: Opening lines; group dance

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About the scene and clip:
The performer sings the opening lines of The Nibelungenlied, which introduce the themes of the work and the central female character of Kriemhild; he sings and reads the text, accompanying himself on an Irish harp and using appropriate music from the medieval period. The clip then briefly shows a group dancing a medieval round-dance step in a garden, while the performer plays the melody of the epic on the hurdy-gurdy. The Nibelungenlied is sung here to a melody called the “Hildebrandston,” known to be very close to the original melody of the epic. It is not certain if the Nibelungenlied was ever used for dancing, but on the Faroe Islands (between Scotland and Iceland), in a practice dating back many centuries, Nibelungen ballads are still today both sung and danced; those dances inspired this performance.

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 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 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, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor/ trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003. The most accessible English edition is the prose translation by A.T. Hatto, The Nibelungenlied, Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth/Middlesex, 1969. Poetic translations of this work also exist; the attractive poetic translation by George Henry Needler is currently (October 2004) available on-line: http://gutenberg.teleglobe.net/etext05/niebn10h.htm

About the performer/ensemble:
Eberhard Kummer, a professional musician and a retired lawyer from Vienna, has been performing works of the German Middle Ages for many years, accompanying himself on the harp, hurdy-gurdy and other instruments. The dancers are Prof. Ulrich Müller of the University of Salzburg, who arranged for Kummer’s performance in New York, and members of the audience.

About the production:
This clip comes from a performance of Middle High German works by Eberhard Kummer at New York University in May 2004. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV at the New York University Deutsches Haus and in its garden. This production was made in cooperation with the “Interdisciplinary Center for Medieval Studies” at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Titurel: Hurdy-gurdy; an episode

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About the scene and clip:
The performer demonstrates the hurdy-gurdy; he then sings, from Wolfram von Eschenbach’s fragmentary work Titurel, the episode where the hero Schionatulander tries to catch his beloved Sigune’s hunting dog, which has run away in the forest, with its jeweled collar and leash. The performer uses a melody originally transmitted with one of the manuscripts of the work.

About the work:
In Titurel, a work that exists only in two fragments, Wolfram tells episodes of the story of Sigune, the great grand-daughter of Titurel, the elderly Lord of the Grail, and her love for Schionatulander. (Wolfram had developed this story and many of the characters in more detail in his Parzival. A later poet called Albrecht completed the work at great length in his Jüngerer Titurel). Titurel is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets, with long lines of variable length and stress. A melody is transmitted with one manuscript of this work, which is quite unusual.

About the genre:
This work partakes of both epic and romance, often being termed a “courtly epic,” but drawing heavily on traditions of Arthurian romance.

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 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 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:
Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel and the Songs, ed./trans. Marion E. Gibbs and Sidney M. Johnson, New York, Garland, 1988, pp. 38-41.

About the performer/ensemble:
Eberhard Kummer, a professional musician and a retired lawyer from Vienna, has been performing works of the German Middle Ages for many years, accompanying himself on the harp, hurdy-gurdy and other instruments.

About the production:
This clip comes from a performance of Middle High German works by Eberhard Kummer at New York University in May 2004. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV at the New York University Deutsches Haus and in its garden. This production was made in cooperation with the “Interdisciplinary Center for Medieval Studies” at the University of Salzburg, Austria.

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.

Hilali epic: Awadallah sings of Abu Zayd

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About the scene and clip:
This video shows performances drawn from the Egyptian epic devoted to the hero of the Hilali tribe,Abu Zayd, sung by a traditional Hilali performer and recorded by the ethnographer Susan Slyomovics. The performer sings the epic, accompanying himself on a drum and interacting frequently with the audience. He performs as storyteller, with great emphasis on wordplay and punning; there is relatively little attempt to impersonate the characters. In the video, we first see Awadallah in the town square, surrounded by his audience of men. Then, he begins to speak to his listeners, telling them that he is a “merchant of art.” The singer continues the performance in his home, singing about Abu Zayd, frequently holding his drum against his ear. Medieval epics like Old French The Song of Roland were probably performed in quite an analogous manner: sung by solo professional performers to instrumental accompaniment, with only modest levels of character impersonation, and with substantial interaction with (at least originally) a largely male audience.

About the work:
A vast epic tells the history of the Bani Hilal tribe of Bedouin Arabs of Egypt. The earliest parts of their story go back to the 8th and 9th centuries when they moved northward out of the Arabian peninsula, eventually settling in Egypt. The original stories were developed and augmented over hundreds of years, transmitted through performance and in written form; they are still performed in Egypt today by professional singers in cafés and marketplaces. In this part of the epic, the Hilali hero Abu Zayd rescues the royal family of Iraq from their oppressors.

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 video, The Merchant of Art, accompanies a book by Susan Slyomovics, The Merchant of Art: An Egyptian Hilali Oral Epic Poet in Performance, University of California Press, 1987.

About the performer/ensemble:
The performer, Awadallah Abd aj-Jalil Ali, is a professional singer of Hilali epics in Aswan, Egypt (1983).

About the production:
The video The Merchant of Art was filmed in 1983 in Aswan, Egypt, by Prof. Susan Slyomovics, a member of the faculty of the Anthropology Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004). A copy of this video is available at the Avery Fisher Center at Bobst Library at New York university. This video is also available on line at http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21a/21a.453/merchantofart.mov