This song of seduction from the poetry of Pierre Ronsard is found only as a single melody line in its original setting (Jehan Chardavoine, Recueil de chansons en forme de voix de ville, 1576). In reconstructing a plausible rendition, we discovered that the tune works perfectly with minor adjustments to Adrian Le Roy's Passemeze harmonization. Since LeRoy set several other poems by Ronsard in a similar manner, we feel our setting is historically justifiable and we trust it is eminently listenable.
Mignarda in a live performance at the First Congregational Church of Ithaca, New York, March 22nd, 2009.
Our program, "The Tudors", is excerpted from a four-part lecture/recital series exploring the musical, social, religious, and political developments of the turbulent 118-year Tudor reign.
Myn hertis lust is a rhythmically nuanced musical setting by John Bedyngham of a rhyme royal text. Arriving at a convincing performance edition of this piece was a challenge, since the text of the original found in the Mellon Chansonnier (c. 1476, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library) was quite corrupt. The piece was apparently copied into the manuscript by a scribe with a poor understanding of the English text, creating an interesting problem in text underlay.
I saw my lady weepe by John Dowland
Mignarda in a live performance at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus, in Cleveland, Ohio, December 13th, 2008.
Our concert was in honor of St. Lucy's feast day, and the first half featured sacred chants and motets proper for the day. The second half of the program was taken from John Dowland’s second published book of songs (1600), dedicated to Lucy, Countess of Bedford, a wealthy, charming, and influential patroness of the arts. The Countess' circle included such ‘luminaries’ as John Donne, Edmund Spenser, and Dowland, all of whom indulged Lucy’s fascination with the fashionable cult of melancholy, with its themes of darkness and light.
I saw my lady weepe is the first of the opening set of four songs. Upon closer inspection, this set - representing the first published song cycle in the English lanuage - reveals a sequential dialogue giving life to allegorical figures such as Fortune, Hope, Pity, and Despair.
Peggy, I must love thee, a scots tune published in Apollo's Banquet, 1687.
Mignarda in a live performance at the First Unitarian Society, Ithaca New York, September 23rd, 2007.
From In a Garden so Green, our popular program of 17th century ballads and tunes from the British Isles.
