Do you remember this scene?
Danny Johnson
You know the one from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which the peasants are all muddy and working in the field are generally, you know, oppressed? I always think of that scene when we’re preparing a concert from that time period in England. As luck would have it, that’s what we’re doing now, because this weekend we have our first concert with real, actual humans in our vicinity since February 2020. Huzzah, y’all!
This season’s ‘theme’ is gathering again. Because, you know, we are. And for this concert, which is partly in Middle English, it’s gaderen: gathering again. (Jonathan Riemer has some of The Best ideas.! You can download our season brochure here.)
However, we are gathering again safely, following the protocols: We will be encouraging distancing, so that you and your pod of friends can sit with a little distance among other pods. We will also be strongly requesting that you wear your masks during the concert. We will have some special masks for you, as well. Please read our Covid Information below and on our 2021-2022 Season page.
Also, we are releasing a reissue of the CD of the concert that was the inspiration for this concert. Mirie it is! Early Middle English Songs was part of our “3rd Annual Mid-Winter Festival of Music” in 2001 and was based on the research that Judith Overcash Acres conducted during her studies at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a Doctoral degree in Historical Performance Practices in 2001. So, you can take home a companion volume, as it were, to this weekend’s concert. (Seven of the eighteen pieces on our new concert were also in the 2001 concert, so it’s not a direct copy.) You can visit the Mirie it is! CD page to listen to audio samples and purchase the CD now for $21, shipping included! We hope that you will also want to get the Mirie it is 2021 concert recording when we release it as well! 🙂
We hope to see you at the concert on either Saturday, Oct. 2 or Sunday, Oct. 3. We will not be quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail and will reference it only 1 or 2 times at the most.
Gaderen!
–Danny
Mirie it is!
Medieval English Music
Saturday, October 2, 2021, at 7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 3, 2021, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue
Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.
Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!
For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.
For its first in-person concert since February, 2020, TEMP is presenting music from really olde England in the 12th century through around 1450, well into the early Renaissance. There are only a handful of Middle English songs from before 1350 that have remained extant, and TEMP is performing eight of them. The music and texts in the Medieval repertoire of the concert deal with daily life, faith, the turning of the seasons—especially the joyful arrival of Spring and Summer and the specter of the advancing dreariness of Winter.
The Renaissance portion of the concert includes works by two of England’s most important composers, Leonel Power and John Dunstable, as well as anonymous motets in honor of famous individuals like St. Augustine of Canterbury and the martyr priest, Thomas à Becket. Most early Renaissance polyphony is for three parts, and it was just awesome enough to be all the rage on the Continent as well, and it even had its own name: the contenance angloise, or the English manner.
Our “return” concert has the single lines of the Medieval repertoire, the rich harmonies of the contenance angloise, and a couple of delightful Medieval English dances, performed by vielles, harps, recorder, and psalteries.
Our special guests are tenor Christopher LeCluyse, who is one of TEMP’s founding members, and frequent guests Ryland Angel (tenor and countertenor) and Mary Springfels (vielle and citole). They are joined by ten singers (including soloists Cayla Cardiff, Gitanjali Mathur, and Shari Alise Wilson) and four instrumentalists.
Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722
COVID Protocols
TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.
Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!
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