In praise of short stories

Pumpkin Cornbread photo and recipe by Healthy Seasonal Recipes

I was thinking of following up September’s ode to Molly Bloom and pumpkin spice with a Tolkien-inspired epic about the perils of shopping/traveling/surviving during the holiday season. I came to my senses when I looked at my calendar and realized the vast number of tasks I have to begin/undertake/improve/finish in the next couple of weeks, so I’ll leave you with this: Happy Thanksgiving, and may we all have pumpkin cornbread with our meals!

By the by, we’re giving a concert in December. I think you should come! Details below.

-Danny

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Joy & Light:
Delights of the Season

Saturday, December 14, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 15, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, sweet Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

 Much of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe, including folk tunes and chant from the Czech Republic, Germany, and Hungary that have remained popular through modern times. We have chosen three enchanting Sephardic songs for the Chanukah section, two secular and one sacred. In addition, we will present music by the “newly discovered” Vicente Lusitano, a mixed-race Portuguese composer. Active in the 16th century, Lusitano has been described as the first published Black composer.

 One of the central composers of the French Baroque, Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a master at composing graceful and exciting Christmas pastorales. We have combined one of his most popular pastorales and one of his most popular oratorios into a seamless, shorter work, featuring his intimate orchestration, solos, and choral airs. Enjoy the audio teaser from our Gaudete CD below.

Visit our Recordings page to view all of our CDs. They make great holliday gifts!

 The British Isles are represented by a variety of popular ballads and folk songs from England and Ireland, all penned by that long-lived composer, Anonymous. As usual, there will be a few pieces composed and arranged in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire.

 Cayla Cardiff, Joel Nesvadba, Erin Calata, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, and Jenifer Thyssen are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. We coined a new word to describe the concert: multilicious!

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

Paris in full bloom, with spice

Wow! You know, we almost scheduled a preview concert of our upcoming Paris City Limits program in actual Paris this summer, but then someone scheduled the Olympics there so we decided to wait and stay closer to home. I mean, the traffic alone deterred us. I know we could have waited until the Fall and we could do the Paris concert in Paris then, but we would miss some of the other important goings-on here in AusTex! Besides, I don’t know if you can get a latte aux épices de citrouille there, not that I’ve ever had a bona fide, certified PSL here. But that brings us to the heart of the matter:

It’s September, when we locals begins to look forward to the finer things of life, including cooler weather for several months at a time, so we can begin to enjoy outdoor spor… I mean musical activities and festivals and walks through the Hill Country on a cool autumn day and watch out for that cactus and there’s nothing like nature yes the wild mountain cedar then the sneezes and the rushing yes for the tissues yes then the beautiful country with fields of oats and wheat and buckwheat yessss I said buckwheat and yes I’ll have another buckwheat pancake and yes I would yes even as we see rivers and streams yes and culverts and wildflowers of all sorts of shapes and smells and… Whoa! What is that intoxicating aroma wafting through the junipers and cedars? Of course, it’s the perfume of the wild pumpkin spice!! I forgot, it’s September!! We’ve finally finished August, aka that long pre-pumpkin-spice month! 

Ok, I know I digressed, but I must go. I need to begin my search for you-know-what while I’m finishing up the work on our Paris concert (in Austin). Check out all the details below. I need to find a latte aux épices de citrouille, stat!!

—Danny

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Paris City Limits:
Circa 1550

Saturday, September 28, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, September 29, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

We’ve named our 2024-2025 season Reconnections: Reflections with friends, old and new. Our most recent Paris City Limits concert was almost exactly six years ago, and we all know that is a long time to be separated from a dear friend. How fortunate that the dear friend in question has such a rich history: Renowned for its popular music of France from the 16th and 17th centuries, Paris City Limits regales audiences with exuberant dances, popular folk songs, dazzling chansons, and heartfelt songs of love and melancholy by both the masters of the day and some relative unknowns.

Imagine a music festival that explores the rustic and sophisticated musical hits of 16th-century Paris and its environs. There are some top hits by Josquin and Lassus, some lyrics by the leading serious poet of the time, Pierre de Ronsard, as well as wondrously gentle and touching songs by Janequin and the new kid on the rue, Pierre Clereau. Then it will be time for some exuberant Breton dances to put a smile on your face and a tap in your foot.

There are dozens of chansons attributed to the master of the day, Josquin des Prez, and we will be performing four of them. Three of those four are for six parts, allowing the master to experiment with textures and harmonies. As the finale, TEMP’s 16-voice chorus will perform Janequin’s spectacular and picturesque chanson about the birds (Le chant des oyseaux). Enjoy the audio teaser from our Paris City Limits CD below.

Click/tap on the CD cover images to enjoy more audio samples
and visit our Recordings page to view all of our CDs.

Our featured singers for this year’s Paris City Limits include TEMP regulars Jenifer Thyssen, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Jenny Houghton, Cayla Cardiff, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones Ragona, Ryland Angel, and more. The instrumental ensemble features harpist Elaine Barber, violinist Bruce Colson, our viol consort (Mary Springfels, Kit Robberson, Joan Carlson, John Walters, and David Dawson), recorder player Susan Richter, and lutenist Héctor Alfonso Torres.

Venez, y’all!

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

Joy, Light, & Everything Pumpkin Spice

Welp, we all know what’s about to happen, right? I’m gonna make a reference to the artificial jet lag created by the time change and that I kinda like it. And then I’m gonna say something like “it must be that time of year for another sweet potato curry, washed down with a pumpkin stout, and then chased by a slice of pumpkin cheesecake” or somesuch.

So let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

Time’s a’wastin’ because I need to be finalizing the music for our Joy and Light concert in December and preparing for the Fall Texas Toot workshop in East Texas and trying to make time to watch our London City Limits concert video because we spent a lot of time on the concert and the audio/video editing and it’s pretty danged good! You should watch it. Details are on our website.

So, you see, rather than go on and on about not being able to find any pumpkin spice contact lens solution, I’m gonna get back to work! And think about the pumpkin spice ice cream I might have during a break.

See details about about our upcoming Joy and Light concert below!

And Happy Thanksgiving!
–Danny

P.S. Don’t forget: TEMP CDs make great holiday gifts! Purchase CDs at our concert venue or order from our Recordings page!

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Joy and Light: Delights of the Season

Saturday, December 9, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 10, 2023, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2023-2024 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, sweet Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

 Much of the music for this concert comes from Southern Europe, including folk tunes from France that have remained popular through modern times as well as newly written pieces based on French chant. The enchanting Sephardic songs that we have chosen for the Chanukah section come from Turkey and Morocco. In addition, we will present music by the “newly discovered” Vicente Lusitano, a mixed-race Portuguese composer. Active in the 16th century, Lusitano has been described as the first published Black composer.

 In addition to the haunting motet for 5 voices by Lusitano, we have created a “medley” on the popular 14th-century tune In dulci jubilo (also known to modern carolers as Good Christian Men, Rejoice), using settings by different composers of the German Renaissance and Baroque: Michael Praetorius, Hieronymus Praetorius, and Dietrich Buxtehude. The settings range from verses for 2 parts, 3 parts, and so on, up to 12 different parts.

 The British Isles are represented by a variety of popular ballads and folk songs from England and Scotland, all penned by that long-lived composer, Anonymous. As usual, there will be a few pieces composed and arranged in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire.

 Tim O’Brien, David Lopez, Cayla Cardiff, Erin Calata, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, and Jenifer Thyssen are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

 Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. We coined a new word to describe the concert: multilicious!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Going on Pilgrimage…

…and I have nothing to wear!

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Pilgrim's outfit belonging to Stephan Praun (1544-1591). Germanisches National Museum

Greetings, and many thanks to all who have written to congratulate us on getting the services of that renowned designer of the finest haute couture pilgrimage-wear, Yves de St. Jaime-en-el-Cielo-con-Diamanté, who has sent some preliminary photos of the gorgeous smocks we will all be wearing on this and other pilgrimages.

All of his designs will be replete with staffs, rosaries, and scallop shells, which have traditionally been the symbol of a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

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Sadly, due to supply chain issues, we will not be able to supply everyone with their very own Tarta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake that is available for pilgrims at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Feel free to make and bring your own cake!

A veces se gana, se pierde algo. (You win some, you lose some.)

Don your most fashionable pilgrimage gear and come to our Medieval Pilgrimage concert! Details below.

—Danny

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Medieval Pilgrimage in Iberia

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, May 14, 2023, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

View fullsize

Map showing the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

There was never a more popular time for religious pilgrimage than during the Middle Ages. In those times, people made long and dangerous trips, lasting months or years, in a search for spiritual meaning or fulfillment or as an act of penance. Several of the most important sites of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages were located in what is now northern Spain. 

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Llibre Vermell: Stella splendens

The Llibre Vermell (it was discovered in a red binding in the 19th century, and therefore is called the Red Book) comes from the monastery at Montserrat in Catalonia. Some of the music is sophisticated, but some of it was intended to be sung by the pilgrims themselves and included chants, rounds, folk songs, circle dances, and polyphony. We will also perform music from the Cistercian convent in Burgos (Las Huelgas Codex), Las cantigas de Santa Maria from the royal court of Alfonso X, and selections from Codex Calixtinus, from the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Enjoy these two Llibre Vermell audio teasers from our related CDs: Stella splendens and Sacred.

A company of fourteen women singers explores the music of pilgrimage in Medieval Spain. This music celebrates the richly transparent timbre of treble voices in unison or in polyphonic settings, making the most of sweet consonances and pungent dissonances. Mary Springfels (vielle and citole) joins the ensemble and the TEMP Medieval orchestra of vielles, harps, recorder, and oud. Featured soloists include Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Gitanjali Mathur, Page Stephens, Laura Mercado-Wright, and more! An an extra-special bonus, local luminary Tim O’Brien will provide a little background information and personal reflections from his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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A special bargain!

Available for only a short while, 3 for the price of 11...

Coming Soon!

☞

Coming Soon! ☞

So you know how some blogs are really just like infomercials, designed to lull you into complacence, sort of like hypnosis, before they creatively entice you to buy something that you didn’t know that you needed? Or maybe it’s the other kind of informercial that’s swinging for the fence with every word, with every phrase designed to make you buy something that you didn’t know that you needed and you should buy it now, and you do, just so they’ll stop talking!?!??! Or maybe it’s the kind that is designed to confuse, as though they don’t really know what they’re selling, but it turns out to be a stealthomercial about something kinda different from what you thought it might might be.

Well, we would never do that, you know! We will just come right out and say that you really, really need to come to our Convivencia concert in May. (See the details below!)

And for the low, low price of whatever a ticket costs, we will throw in, absolutely free, a chance to win a CD in our post-intermission drawing.

This is one of our more cherished repertoires, with concerts from 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We are eager to present the 2022 version to you, with special performers and a special guest lecturer. See? Not much stealth involved there at all!

If you wish to attend the Saturday, May 14, lecture and performance, you’ll need to buy your tickets in advance, either online or via phone at 512-377-6961. Due to the requirements of our venue, tickets cannot be sold at the door.

Please join us for our final program of the season!
–Danny

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Convivencia: The Three Worlds of Renaissance Spain

with special guests
Julie Slim, singer
Mary Springfels, viols

Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer: Professor Edwin Seroussi,
Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pre-performance lecture one hour before the concert begins.

Saturday, May 14, 2022, at  7:30 pm; 6:30pm pre-concert lecture
Temple Beth Shalom, 7300 Hart Lane
Tickets for Saturday’s performance must be purchased in advance online or by phone: 512-377-6961
Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
&
Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 3:00 pm; 2:00pm pre-concert lecture
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Convivencia means coexistence.

In our season finale, we explore many of the cross-cultural ties and themes that connected the three great cultures of early Spain: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian. Convivencia illuminates the lives and emotions of the inhabitants of Spain in the early Renaissance musically and poetically.

The swirling and sensuous rhythms and intricate melodies of Arabo-Andalusian and Sephardic music alternate with courtly, sometimes boisterously exuberant works of the Spanish masters such as Juan del Encina, Cristóbal de Morales, and others from the Spanish courts. Glimpses of daily life and cultural interactions are lovingly presented through songs and dances from the 15th and 16th centuries, performed on reproductions of historical instruments.

TEMP is pleased to welcome popular Lebanese-American singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Julie Slim, in her first performance with us. She is well known to Austin audiences through her performances with the Threshold Choir, her own group Julie Slim & RendezVous, and Bereket (the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble). Julie is a multitalented musician, skilled in jazz, Middle-Eastern styles and languages, composition, percussion, and much more, with an eclectic background in performance and commitment to collaboration and connection.

We are also proud to present our Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer, Professor Edwin Seroussi, Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A pioneer in the study of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical cultures and traditions, Professor Seroussi was awarded the 2018 Israel Prize in the music category. He has also won the Joel Engel Prize for Life Achievement in Jewish Music Research, Tel Aviv Municipality. Professor Seroussi received his PhD in Music from UCLA.

TEMP is always proud to present our core musicians, such as soloists Gitanjali Mathur, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Daniel Johnson, David Lopez, Ryland Angel, Tim O’Brien, and 9 more singers. Besides our guest instrumentalist, well-known local performers such as Elaine Barber, John Walters, Josh Peters, and others will perform on a variety of Medieval and Renaissance instruments such as oud, psaltery, harp, rebec, vihuela, viols, recorder, and sackbuts.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

Join us for our final concert of the season in Renaissance Spain when we say ¡Adiós, que tengáis un buen verano! and then prepare to attend our first concert of the 2022-2023 season in Renaissance Germany, with music from the court of Maximillian I, and we will say Hallo und hurra, es ist fast Herbst!

COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Awww, I forgot to mention Robert Burns's Birthday

Portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

So, I don’t know about you, but when I think about a ceilidh, I think of a gathering, usually informal, with fun, often-times impressively good music from Ireland and/or Scotland [and/or other places, I guess, but that’s for a different blog.]

And since I’m thinking of a fun time with dance and music and Ireland and/or Scotland, then I’m likely to be thinking of something to drink, which means Guinness (or some other dark stout. And if it’s a day that ends in ‘y’, then it’s probably pumpkin stout that I’m thinking about. But that’s for later.)

But then if I think of a stout in Ireland or Scotland, I’m likely to start thinking about jovial pubs I’ve been to and enjoyed, and how that helps to complete the picture.

But then when I’m thinking of pubs, I can’t help but think of pubs from some movies and how they seem like fun—but then suddenly, they don’t seem like fun at all, like when everyone tells you that you should leave, you don’t have time for a Guinness, and they don’t have room for you. But at least they take the time to give you helpful warnings like “Go! Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon, lads!” and other things that might not immediately make sense.

Hmmm. Where was I? Oh, right! So our upcoming Celtic Crossings concert isn’t exactly a ceilidh, but there will be songs and dances from Scotland and Ireland, but there won’t be any stout, Guinness or otherwise. And though some of the dances and songs might be sort of casual, like one might find in a pub, we won’t be advising you to “Keep clear of the moors and beware the moon,” since there won’t be a full moon that weekend; so the chance of a werewolf sighting is low.

See you at the concert. BYO Haggis, but no food is allowed in the sanctuary!
-Danny
P.S. Rabbie Burns’s birthday is January 25!

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Celtic Crossings

Saturday, February 12, 2022, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 13, 2021, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Scottish ballads from the 18th century have been a part of TEMP’s core repertoire since the late 90s. With musical sources dating from the 16th–18th centuries featuring poems by Robert Burns and an exciting roster of other poets, the concert will give wonderful insight into the people who created this very popular and accessible music.

Even the English held Scottish ballads in high esteem and our own Benjamin Franklin adored these songs and considered them the height of great art. (We are performing one of his favorites!) Scottish ballads are renowned for their evocative, heartfelt, and humorous aspects, but also for their beautiful and expressive melodies.

Some of the songs provide a glimpse into historical or cultural events (Frennet Hall), while others create immediate visceral emotions with strong connections to the land (The Banks of the Devon). And there are plenty of love songs to go around! There will be some stirring dance pieces from Ireland and Scotland as well.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

TEMP’s soloists for this concertare Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, and Tim O’Brien, as well as frequent guest artist, Ryland Angel. Harpist Therese Honey will perform a solo or two and will be joined by TEMP core players Marcus McGuff (flute), Bruce Colson (violin), John Walters (mandolin), Héctor Torres (lutes and guitar), Carolyn Hagler (cello), and will feature kantele player Viktoria Nizhnik from Karelia! Hey, people traveled back in those days, too.

Come enjoy these enchanting pieces with musical links to another time and place that still lives! 
BYO haggis.

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722

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COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Do you remember this scene?

You know the one from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which the peasants are all muddy and working in the field are generally, you know, oppressed? I always think of that scene when we’re preparing a concert from that time period in England. As luck would have it, that’s what we’re doing now, because this weekend we have our first concert with real, actual humans in our vicinity since February 2020. Huzzah, y’all!

This season’s ‘theme’ is gathering again. Because, you know, we are. And for this concert, which is partly in Middle English, it’s gaderen: gathering again. (Jonathan Riemer has some of The Best ideas.! You can download our season brochure here.)

However, we are gathering again safely, following the protocols: We will be encouraging distancing, so that you and your pod of friends can sit with a little distance among other pods. We will also be strongly requesting that you wear your masks during the concert. We will have some special masks for you, as well. Please read our Covid Information below and on our 2021-2022 Season page.

Also, we are releasing a reissue of the CD of the concert that was the inspiration for this concert. Mirie it is! Early Middle English Songs was part of our “3rd Annual Mid-Winter Festival of Music” in 2001 and was based on the research that Judith Overcash Acres conducted during her studies at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a Doctoral degree in Historical Performance Practices in 2001. So, you can take home a companion volume, as it were, to this weekend’s concert. (Seven of the eighteen pieces on our new concert were also in the 2001 concert, so it’s not a direct copy.) You can visit the Mirie it is! CD page to listen to audio samples and purchase the CD now for $21, shipping included! We hope that you will also want to get the Mirie it is 2021 concert recording when we release it as well! 🙂

We hope to see you at the concert on either Saturday, Oct. 2 or Sunday, Oct. 3. We will not be quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail and will reference it only 1 or 2 times at the most.

Gaderen!
–Danny

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Mirie it is!
Medieval English Music

Saturday, October 2, 2021, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 3, 2021, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

For its first in-person concert since February, 2020, TEMP is presenting music from really olde England in the 12th century through around 1450, well into the early Renaissance. There are only a handful of Middle English songs from before 1350 that have remained extant, and TEMP is performing eight of them. The music and texts in the Medieval repertoire of the concert deal with daily life, faith, the turning of the seasons—especially the joyful arrival of Spring and Summer and the specter of the advancing dreariness of Winter.

The Renaissance portion of the concert includes works by two of England’s most important composers, Leonel Power and John Dunstable, as well as anonymous motets in honor of famous individuals like St. Augustine of Canterbury and the martyr priest, Thomas à Becket. Most early Renaissance polyphony is for three parts, and it was just awesome enough to be all the rage on the Continent as well, and it even had its own name: the contenance angloise, or the English manner.

Our “return” concert has the single lines of the Medieval repertoire, the rich harmonies of the contenance angloise, and a couple of delightful Medieval English dances, performed by vielles, harps, recorder, and psalteries.

Our special guests are tenor Christopher LeCluyse, who is one of TEMP’s founding members, and frequent guests Ryland Angel (tenor and countertenor) and Mary Springfels (vielle and citole). They are joined by ten singers (including soloists Cayla Cardiff, Gitanjali Mathur, and Shari Alise Wilson) and four instrumentalists.

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722

COVID Protocols

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Strange days have found us...

Remember the good old days? The big question was, “Now, is it the night to set out the recycling or the night to set out the trash?”. I used to chuckle at myself for even having to think about it, but now we are mindful of absolutely everything we do.

We are also mindful of what we can’t do and what we really want to do: We want to gather together, rehearse, and present concerts for you (and for ourselves—we wouldn’t present the music if we didn’t love it!). As I mentioned in the previous blog from March, we were preparing to present music by a composer (Machaut) who was seminal in my "career path” before plans were derailed.

Our current plans, subject to change by the ever-fluid situation, include extending our 2019-2020 season for several months so that we can more safely gather to present the two postponed concerts: Ah, Sweet Lady: Passion in Medieval France, previously scheduled for March, and The Student Becomes the Master: Monteverdi & Cavalli in Venice, previously scheduled for May, We will let you know as soon as we have more details and we will, of course, honor purchased tickets at our rescheduled concerts. If we are not able to safely include audiences, we will come up with other plans, including live-streaming or videotaping the concerts.

There are many wonderful writers who have waxed eloquently about the human situation during these strange days, so I know I don’t even have to attempt to do the same other than to hope for your continuing health and safety.

In the meantime, I hope you are able to catch our Tuesday Musical Tacos. We’re trying to offer a variety of “flavors” so we can appeal to every palate! For additional audio samples, please visit our Recordings page and enjoy past videos on our Gallery page.

All the best,
-Danny

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