Pastimes
Do you ever wonder why music sounds the way it does?
On the surface, it's a funny thought experiment. But why, for example, do we have . . . say . . . orchestras? String quartets? Jazz or rock bands? Or the particular instruments that we know? The melodies and harmonies? Scales, keys, rhythms, and meters?
Not unlike the theory of evolution that explains the emergence of our species—from single-cellular to multicellular organisms; to fish; reptiles; mammals; and our current, quirky, idiosyncratic, upright-walking hominid selves—all music can be explained by that which came before. And much like an archaeologist who might point to the "Cambrian Explosion," for example, as an inflection point in the rapid evolution of complex species, a musicologist's parallel is easily the late Medieval and Renaissance periods. "Early music," colloquially in Western culture, refers to a vast period of nearly 1,000 years from plainchant, originating in the church under Pope Gregory I (ostensibly) in the seventh century until the emergence of opera in the beginning of the 17th century. But most of what we would recognize as "early music"—authentically, or through Hollywood imitation—emerged during the Ars Nova ("New Art") period of the 14th century, when rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and text setting diversified and became more complex. In the 15th century emerged the viol family (ancestors of orchestral strings like the violin) and crumhorns (ancestors of double-reeds like the oboe and bassoon). In the 16th, a standardization for counterpoint emerges as a byproduct of the Counter-Reformation. And so on.
But another advent of this dynamic period of music history is the inception of many of our most beloved Christmas carols. "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming," "The Coventry Carol," "In Dulci Jubilo," and "Greensleeves (What Child Is This?)" are all examples. Naturally, it is hard for me to imagine a Christmas season in the absence of early music. What good fortune that MLUC has its own in-house early music duo! Kerstin Potter and Robert Purrehage are "Pastimes," and they have gifted our community with hauntingly beautiful music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods at least since my childhood 30 years ago. As we continue our December search for light in the darkness, Pastimes offers a beacon of joy, introspection, and intrigue through their multi-instrumental exploration of the sounds from which most Western music originates. Performing on string and woodwind instruments, they will play Michael Praetorius's aforementioned "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming," "Thomas Campion's Never Weatherbeaten Sail," and traditional tunes from the 14th and 15th centuries, respectively: "Lully, Lullay (The Coventry Carol)" and "Driving Out the Winter." Together, we will sing hymns #18 "What Wondrous Love” and #226 "People, Look East."
See you Sunday!
David
On the surface, it's a funny thought experiment. But why, for example, do we have . . . say . . . orchestras? String quartets? Jazz or rock bands? Or the particular instruments that we know? The melodies and harmonies? Scales, keys, rhythms, and meters?
Not unlike the theory of evolution that explains the emergence of our species—from single-cellular to multicellular organisms; to fish; reptiles; mammals; and our current, quirky, idiosyncratic, upright-walking hominid selves—all music can be explained by that which came before. And much like an archaeologist who might point to the "Cambrian Explosion," for example, as an inflection point in the rapid evolution of complex species, a musicologist's parallel is easily the late Medieval and Renaissance periods. "Early music," colloquially in Western culture, refers to a vast period of nearly 1,000 years from plainchant, originating in the church under Pope Gregory I (ostensibly) in the seventh century until the emergence of opera in the beginning of the 17th century. But most of what we would recognize as "early music"—authentically, or through Hollywood imitation—emerged during the Ars Nova ("New Art") period of the 14th century, when rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and text setting diversified and became more complex. In the 15th century emerged the viol family (ancestors of orchestral strings like the violin) and crumhorns (ancestors of double-reeds like the oboe and bassoon). In the 16th, a standardization for counterpoint emerges as a byproduct of the Counter-Reformation. And so on.
But another advent of this dynamic period of music history is the inception of many of our most beloved Christmas carols. "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming," "The Coventry Carol," "In Dulci Jubilo," and "Greensleeves (What Child Is This?)" are all examples. Naturally, it is hard for me to imagine a Christmas season in the absence of early music. What good fortune that MLUC has its own in-house early music duo! Kerstin Potter and Robert Purrehage are "Pastimes," and they have gifted our community with hauntingly beautiful music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods at least since my childhood 30 years ago. As we continue our December search for light in the darkness, Pastimes offers a beacon of joy, introspection, and intrigue through their multi-instrumental exploration of the sounds from which most Western music originates. Performing on string and woodwind instruments, they will play Michael Praetorius's aforementioned "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming," "Thomas Campion's Never Weatherbeaten Sail," and traditional tunes from the 14th and 15th centuries, respectively: "Lully, Lullay (The Coventry Carol)" and "Driving Out the Winter." Together, we will sing hymns #18 "What Wondrous Love” and #226 "People, Look East."
See you Sunday!
David
Posted in Music Notes