Nobilis humilis – Early Music Muse

Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Ian Pittaway bird on a briar, bryd one brere, church modes, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, gymel, historically informed performance, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, medieval scales, modes, Nobilis humilis, organum, polyphony 12th March 201926th September 2023 7 Comments

bryd one brere – bird on a briar – is the earliest surviving English secular love song with a complete lyric, dated c. 1290–1320. The music was written on the back of a papal bull with a poor pen, so interpreting the notation is problematic in parts. A previous article (available here) addressed interpretation of the music and the poetic meaning of the words.

This article addresses a second problem of interpretation: the song was clearly intended for two voices, but the primary voice is missing, leaving us only with the second voice, the polyphonic accompaniment. Using the principles of medieval English polyphony, author Ian Pittaway has constructed three possible versions of the lead voice, based on the gymel, contrary motion, and the mixolydian mode. While we cannot know if any one of these constructions was the intention of the composer, the exercise serves as an illustration of the principles of English polyphony at the turn of the 14^th century and an attempt to sing the song in the originally intended manner.

All three two-voice versions of bird on a briar are sung in a multi-tracked illustrative video by Ian Pittaway. In October 2019, all three versions were used in a concert performance by the early music ensemble Les Reverdies de Montréal, a video of which ends this article.

Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, Berkeley manuscript, bourdon, Cantigas de Santa María, contrary motion, devil’s interval, drones, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, fiddle tunings, fifthing, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, ground bass, Guido of Arezzo, gymel, heterophony, historically informed performance, hurdy gurdy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, kithara, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, motet, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Nobilis humilis, Notre Dame school, organistrum, organum, parallel harmonies, parallel polyphony, pes, polyphony, rota, Sancte Bonifati martyr, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, Sumer is icumen in, Summa musice, Tractatus de Musica, tritone, vielle tunings 9th August 201826th September 2023 26 Comments

Harp, vielle and citole in the
*Peterborough* *Psalter*, England, 1300-50.

The most fundamental question of all in playing early music today is: how can the music be played to reflect historical practice? This is the second of three articles looking at historically-informed ways of performing medieval music, aiming to be a practical guide, with plenty of musical examples and illustrations, and a bibliography for those who wish to delve further.

The first article focussed on historical instrument combinations, using the illustrations of two 13^th century manuscripts as representative examples. This second article distinguishes the difference between modern harmony and medieval polyphony, and the main body of the article looks at styles of medieval accompaniment by referencing historical models. For simplicity and clarity, the same passage of music is used as the basis for exploring a variety of accompaniments. Arrangements of the first section of Cantiga de Santa Maria 10 illustrate heterophony, parallel movement, fifthing, the gymel, the importance of medieval modes, drones and drone-like accompaniments, the type of organum derided by a cleric as “minstrelish little notes”, the rota and ground bass, and the motet.

For each method, there is a sound clip of a short musical performance, composed in historically informed style by Ian Pittaway, performed by Kathryn Wheeler on recorder and vielle, and by Ian Pittaway on harp, gittern and oud. There are links to 15 illustrative videos, putting the techniques in this article into practice. Finally, the question of what to do if there isn’t a tune is addressed.

The key message of this article is: once informed, be creative.

Edi beo þu heuene quene: a love song by any name

Ian Pittaway Cantigas de Santa María, church modes, Corpus Christi carol, Down In Yon Forest, Dunstaple John, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, gymel, Hill Richard, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, Monachus Guilielmus, Nobilis humilis, Virgin Mary 26th January 20189th November 2022 2 Comments

Edi beo þu heuene quene is a 13^th century English song in praise of the Virgin Mary, written in Middle English. It expresses familiarity in relationship with Mary and even romantic attachment; and the two part harmony sounds remarkably sweet and modern. This article explores why this is so, placing this beautiful song in its three contexts – lyrical, musical and historical – with a video of the song sung by The Night Watch, accompanied by gittern and citole.