PROGRAM NOTES FOR HARMONIA CAELESTIS: 16th century Spanish Motets for Voice & Lute

This recording highlights the intense devotional imagery found in the motets of 16th century Spanish composers including Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Tomás Luis de Victoria and Esteban López Morago. In returning to the sacred polyphony that brought us together, we have arranged the program as an extended meditation, following the example of our forebears in selecting and adapting the best examples of polyphonic sacred music for private devotions.

While we love, respect and, whenever possible, indulge in the a cappella tradition of sacred polyphony, our format of solo voice and lute represents nothing less than a continuation of the 16th century practice known as intabulation, or arranging vocal music to be played on the lute. Most recordings of lute today are focused on the wonderful repertory of fantasias and dances, yet the bulk of the surviving music for lute consists of intabulations of vocal music, predominantly sacred polyphony.

The fast-decaying strings of the lute are incapable of sustaining long polyphonic lines in the three or four parts it plays, yet several factors emerge through this rendering that demonstrate why intabulation was such a dominant historical medium. First and foremost, the text is absolutely clear in the absence of competing vocalization of the lower parts, demonstrating the composer's intent with a happy marriage of melody and meaning. Transparency and clarity of line are enhanced to a point seldom heard in the thicker texture of an all-vocal performance, resulting in a more expressive reading of the text. Articulation of rhythmic nuance, often sublimated in ensemble, is enhanced, enabling performers to exploit rhetorical devices inherent in the text. All of these factors lead to the main point: a successful performance of intimate devotional music.

Spanish sacred polyphony, with its depth of passion, sensitively wrought polyphony and abundance of appealing rhythmic gesture, is a logical choice for our reconstructions of private devotional music. We have a particular fondness for the music of Francisco Guerrero and have included six very different examples of his versatile style. Guerrero's Ave virgo sanctissima stands out as particularly "Spanish", composed to support the hotly-debated doctrine of Immaculate Conception held by the Spanish Immaculatist movement. Banned in the 16th century by papal bull, the Immaculists eventually prevailed when the Feast of the Conception was designated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1858. Doctrine aside, the popularity of this beautiful motet is evident in that it was the basis for no fewer than six Masses by Spanish and Portuguese composers. In this recording, the lute plays the lower three parts and we are joined by an anonymous harpist playing in canon with the cantus line.

Victoria's O magnum mysterium, beloved and virtually ubiquitous in its four-voice setting, is a perfect model for intabulation with subtle divisions on the lute substituted for sustained vocal lines. Less well known, Dominus meus et Deus meus by Cristóbal de Morales is a Lenten text from John 11:27, quoting Martha's response to Jesus during the story of the raising of Lazarus. Morales' multi-sectional Salve Regina is a model of transparency, and the ugency and drama of the text likewise adapts perfectly to our format. Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, our only motet by Esteban López Morago, is a setting of the text of Psalm 24 and the arrangement for solo voice and lute allows us to sensitively exploit Morago's restless dissonant treatment of the lower parts. Our final motet is Guerrero's Ave Regina Caelorum, a Marian antiphon sung at the close of Compline. Gregorian chants are interspersed throughout the program and we close with the heartfelt hymn, Ubi caritas et amor.

The lute interludes consist mainly of duos from mass movements, originally by Josquin, arranged by Miguel de Fuenllana in Orphénica Lyra (1554), and Enríquez de Valderrábano in Silva de Sirenas (1557). These 16th century printed sources are among seven Spanish publications of music for the vihuela, a flat-backed instrument strung, tuned and played like the lute. Diana Poulton and others have demonstrated that the two instruments were used interchangably in Spain although the vihuela virtually disappeared by end of the century. The vocal texture of the original models translates very well to the lute and offers the instrumentalist an opportunity to indulge in clear and transparent polyphony. Fuenllana's duo settings include Fecit potentiam and Benedictus from Josquin's Missa Pange lingua, and Pleni sunt coeli from Missa Hercule. Valderrábano's Fantasia sobre un Benedictus is derived from Josquin's Missa Ave maris stella, and distinctly quotes the chant.

Two lute solos are from distinctly non-Spanish sources, Isaac's Benedictus, intabulated by Hans Neusidler and Josquin's motet Inviolata integra by Hans Gerle, are included to illustrate the extent to which Franco-Flemish music was integral to the repertory of Spanish cathedrals. Heinrich Isaac, a contemporary of Josquin, never traveled to Spain but his music was known to Spanish intabulators, and Adam Gilbert has made a case for Isaac's familiarity with Spanish music, including his mass on the Spagna tune. Josquin's motet, Inviolata integra, appears in Spanish cathedral choirbooks and was aso set as a duet for plucked strings by Valderrábano.

We met in a tiny schola, singing Gregorian chant and polyphony for a weekly Latin Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Since this is the way the average professional musician would have begun a career in 16th century, there could have been no better or more appropriate training ground for the music we do. So this project has been particularly meaningful for us, and a joy to prepare. We respectfully dedicate this album to the celebrants and the schola at Immaculate Conception - to all the singers whose decades of service have kept this music truly alive, in the functional tradition and context that inspired its creation. May this project serve as an extension of that tradition.