A Medieval Reliquary
Songs for Saints

A collection of mystical songs that tell the stories of saints revered in Europe in the Middle Ages. Interspersed with the music are readings from the 13th-century Legenda Sanctorum (Legends of the Saints) by Jacobus de Voragine which bring the stories alive and pull the listener deeper into the music. Music from 14th- and 15th- century England, France, and Italy by Walter Frye, Guillaume de Machaut, Johannes Ciconia, Guillaume Du Fay, and others.

REVIEW OF OUR PERFORMANCE OF THIS PROGRAM:
“Soprano Melanie Germond and mezzo-soprano Carolann Buff articulated the poetic, winding melodies flawlessly—beautiful and animated over the slow-moving tones held fast by tenor, William Hudson. These tones stood like columns in the room, which supported the melodies in a wonderful way into the ears and hearts of the audience. . . . The music has a nearly virginal quality.  The notes move in a small tone range. They branch out, soar, celebrate the beauty of the thoughts and images and return to unanimity. Then they fall silent. The echo continues in the mind a long time." — Die Rheinpfalz (Germany)

PROGRAM (subject to change):

I. Apostles
Apostolo glorioso / Cum tua doctrina (Guillaume Du Fay)
Tu Capud Ecclesie/Tu es petrus/[Veritatem] (Anon.)
O Petre, Christi discipule (Johannes Ciconia)
Rite majorem Jacobum canamus / Artibus summis (Du Fay)
Pie pater Dominice / O Petre martir / O Thoma lux (A. de Civitate)

II. Martyrs
St. Thomas honour we (Anon.)
Martyrum gemma latria / Diligenter inquiramus (Guillaume de Machaut)
Celi solem sequitur (Anon.)
Laurea Martirii/Conlaudanda est corporis (M. da Perugia)
O beate Sebastiane (Du Fay)

III. Virgin Martyrs
Virgo Sancta Katerina (Anon.)
Virgo Regalis (Anon.)
Gaudeamus omnes (Don Paolo)
Katerina costi regis filia (Anon.)
En Katerine solennia / Virginalis concio (Byttering)

IV. Confessors
Sospitati dedit egros (Walter Frye)
Civitas nusquam (Anon.)
O flos in divo/Sacris pignoribus (Richard Loqueville)
O virum omnimoda (Ciconia)

PROGRAM NOTES:

Saints are heroes, invincible even in their deaths; villains, particularly the Devil, are conquered by the virtues of their victims. The stories of the fortitude and sufferings endured by the saints are to show their endurance as examples of indomitable faith; the wonders they performed are designed to encourage the faithful. These stories and texts are the life and soul of medieval imagery.

Hagiographies or books of the stories of the lives of the saints were immensely popular in the middle ages and were also responsible for the dissemination of the stories associated with various saints. One of the most influential hagiographies is the Legenda Sanctorum, the legends of the Saints, by Jacobus de Voragine (1228/30-1298). In the first century of printing over 150 editions and translations appeared and more than five hundred manuscripts of this work still exist. It is to the Legenda that one first turns when faced with a strange carving on a capital or a portal, or an obscure incident in a manuscript or the text of a song.

Another reason for the spread of popularity of various saints is the dissemination of a saint’s holy relics—bones, bits of uncorrupted flesh, pieces of clothing, instruments of torture and martyrdom—to churches and cathedrals throughout Europe. Early Christians regarded the remains of martyrs as “more precious than jewels,” and a church could gain a certain amount of power and prestige due to the possession of relics of various saints. The more powerful the popularity of a saint, the more prestige placed upon the relics. The more prestige the relic holds, the more money and other donations a church could expect in honor of that saint.

Immense popularity, widespread dissemination of stories, power, prestige and money all contributed to the frequent appearance of saints in art, visual or aural. This concert brings together songs from many countries throughout Europe that span the entire period of the middle ages.

© Carolann Buff