A Medieval Christmas

Program: #14-53   Air Date: Dec 29, 2014

Keeping the tradition of the Twelve Day celebration, we’ll range from Florence to England to an exclusive service for St. Thomas a Beckett (whose Feast Day is Dec. 29).

I. Aquilonis (Trio Mediaeval).

ECM CD246.

Trio Mediaeval — three Scandinavian women whose singing produces "a sound of extraordinary and consoling beauty," says the Boston Globe — offer a collection of polyphony from the medieval to the modern titled after the North Wind, 'Aquilonis'.

On this recording one can sense a reference in the title to the Nordic roots of the singers, as well as the bracing purity of their voices; moreover, the album's repertoire travels from Iceland to Italy, from north to south like the Aquilonis wind. In creatively realising the music of one Saint Thorlak — who died in Iceland just before Christmas 1193 — Trio Mediaeval accompany their vocals with discreetly textural instrumentation. The group has also arranged 12th-century Italian chant and sings 15th-century English carols, with timeless Scandinavian folk melodies in the air, too.

From our contemporary age come pieces by the Swede Anders Jormin (best known as a leading jazz bassist), American William Brooks and Englishman Andrew Smith. Former Hilliard Ensemble tenor John Potter, in his liner notes for 'Aquilonis', aptly describes Trio Mediaeval's ability to "create a synthesis of sound and atmosphere...history and geography blending seamlessly".

The album was recorded, like four of Trio Mediaeval's previous five, at the monastery of St Gerold in the Austrian Alps — in June 2014. It's the first of the trio's discs to feature Berit Opheim, alongside Anna Maria Friman and Linn Andrea Fuglseth.

II. Thomas Becket: Martyr and Athlete (Schola Antiqua of Chicago/Michael Alan Anderson).

Live recording.

For more information: www.schola-antiqua.org

Schola Antiqua presents a program of music on the subject of England's legendary martyr, the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. Upon his death and canonization, Thomas was honored in gestures of cultural expression, including music. Songs for the liturgy were matched by pieces of music for the saint to be used outside the church's walls. Spanning an array of genres, this program of music from the thirteenth century through the fifteenth century recounts the stories and perceptions of Thomas, notably as a martyr and "athlete" (a champion of Jesus), as one song calls him.

III. Cristo è nato (The Peabody Renaissance Ensemble/Mark Cudek).

For more information: http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/earlymusic/

IV. A Medieval Christmas (Folger Consort).

For more information: http://shop.folger.edu/store/055023!055/Medieval+Christmas

A re-release of Folger Consort's 1991 recording, A Medieval Christmas includes four additional selections from a popular 1985 release, Sing Heigh, Ho! Unto the Green Holly! A program of seasonal selections with music courtly and sophisticated, simple and charming, ranging from eleventh-century southern France to fifteenth-century England. Bonus tracks recorded in concert in the Great Hall of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Robert Eisenstein, viol; Christopher Kendall, lute; Scott Reiss, recorders; with guest artists Johana Arnold, soprano; Tina Chancey, viol and violin.

Composer Info

Anders Jormin, William Brooks, Andrew Smith, Heinrich Isaac, Tomás Luis da Victoria, Luca Marenzio, Antony Holborne, George Kirbye, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, Thoinot Arbeau, Guillaume Costeley, Francesco da Milano, Tarquinio Merula, Giovanni Gabrieli

CD Info

ECM CD246.