Aines - The Mystery of St. Agnes

Aines
Mistero Provenzale Medioevale
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua - Stefano Albarello, dir.
Symphonia SY 99 165

Content:

    Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  1. Ymnus: Festa Celebria
  2. rithmus instrumentalis

  3. Anon. (t/m)
  4. Planctus: Amors m'ard com fuoc

  5. Guiraut Riquier (t/m)
  6. Planctus: Ihesu Christi filh de Dieu

  7. Anon. (t) / Guiraut de Bornelh (m?), Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  8. Planctus: Rei Glorios

  9. Anon. (t) / Anon., Chansonnier Saint Germain des Prés (m?); Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  10. Planctus: Rei poderos

  11. Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  12. Planctus: Tal dolor
  13. Michael vai visitar / Aines la tiens maritz
  14. Planctus: Aves ausit

  15. Anon. (t) / Guilhem de Peiteus (m?), Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  16. Planctus: Bel senher

  17. Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  18. Planctus: Gabriel vai / Bel senher

  19. Anon. (t) / Philippe le Chancellier (m?) Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  20. Planctus: Seinher mil gratias

  21. Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  22. Planctus: Ai verge Sant'Aines

  23. Guiraut Riquier (t/m)
  24. Planctus: Christians vei perilhar

  25. Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  26. Planctus: Malvaisa mort
  27. Planctus: A que farò / Ai marida / Ai puta
  28. Planctus: Ja non ti quier / Raphael vai recitar
  29. Planctus: Diable guaras
  30. Planctus: Solamientz Deus

  31. Guiraut Riquier (t/m)
  32. Planctus: Umils forfachs

  33. Anon., Vatican Library, Chigi C.V. 151, 69r-85v
  34. Planctus: Senher quel mont
  35. Planctus: Raphael vai conortar
  36. Antiphon: Veni Sponsa / Hec est virgo

Playing time: 66' 38"

Performers:
Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua [Monica Piccinini (Aines), Anna Simboli (Soror), Cristina Calzolari (Mater), Stefano Albarello (Apodixes, Prephectus, lute), Marco Scavazza (Christus), Antonio Domenighini (Gabriel, Michael), Matteo Zenatti (Raphael), Paolo Faldi (flute, shawm), Marco Muzatti (psalterion, percussion), Gianfranco Russo (fiddle)] - Stefano Albarello, dir.
Musical reconstruction and dramaturgy by Stefano Albarello.

Recording site and date:
Chiesa dei SS. Giovanni e Reparata, Lucca, Italy [04/1998]

Reviewed in:
Diapason (#-p.):
Gramophone (Vol./#-p.): 77/926-126 (april 2000)
Fanfare (Vol./#-p.):
Goldberg (#-p.):

Comments:
Information from owned CD.
(t) = text, (m?) = melody as in Chigi 151 Ms but probably from the stated source

To the best of my knowledge, it is a first recording of the Chigi Ms. A reference to this Ms with Bornelh's Reis glorios can be found in Fonti musicali fm 216 "Compostella medieval", but if Ensemble Porque Trobar have borrowed the melody from the Ms (normally it should have been reference R (Paris, Bibliothèque, fr 22543)), certainly not the text!

This is a most interersting recording, not only by its content and the quality of interpretation, but also on philological grounds. Here are some excerpts of the very well written accompanying booklet by Stefano Albarello:

"The Mystery of St. Agnes is preserved in the manuscript, Chigi C.V. 151 .... datable to the end the fourteenth Century or beginning of fifteenth Century. ... On the whole, the Mystery poses many questions; its basic language is certainly provençal ... it seems possible for this source to be a collage of various versions from different periods ... And there is the question of the difference in age between the transcription of the text and the presumed dating of certain melodies, creating a gap of several centuries - a rather enigmatic case of the survival of troubadour melodies! ... In reading the story it becomes immediately clear that the theme is in keeping with a symbol dear to the courtly tradition, Love; ... One reason the musical part of this play is so deserving of attention is undoubtedly because these melodies are so precious, being almost all unica. Except for the melodies taken from Gregorian chant ..., almost all the other melodies are contrafacta of the troubadour repertory ... In order to render more dramatic certain points in the story, we have added compositions taken from the romance tradition of the same period and having appropriate thematic material and style to the Provençal Mystery. The pieces are Amor m'ard (anonymous) ... [and three] ... by Guiraut Riquier.

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Pierre-F. Roberge