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.

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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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December needs another week!

So that we can all go to all the concerts we want to go to, perform in all the concerts we want to / need to, and still have a little time for, oh, I don’t know, maybe shopping/eating/visiting and the occasional nap! I know I’ve seen this idea proposed on other forums but no one seems to do anything about it. C’mon! Someone do something!

Because, as it turns out, we have our very own Christmas concert(s). NEXT WEEK. Three days in a row. So I’m too busy and having too much fun to start the 5-week-December campaign.

An Early Christmas is, by all accounts, one of our favorite concerts, because we cover so much territory, historically speaking, that we change the parameters of what early music is and even what Christmas music can be, and yet still tug at the heartstrings. So join us next week. And then, maybe after the New Year, get into gear with the 5-week-December campaign.

Read the full program description and listen to audio teasers below. 

See ya! It’s multilicious!
-Danny

Tickets for Saturday and Sunday's concerts are selling fast. Guarantee your seat by purchasing your tickets in advance. There is still plenty of room on Friday!

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AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

Friday, December 13, 2019, at  7:30 pm
St. John's United Methodist, 2140 Allandale Road
Saturday, December 14, 2019, at  7:30 pm
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Avenue
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 3:00 pm
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 8134 Mesa Drive

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 sponsoring a concert!

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 Christmas music through the ages. Different cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous English and French carols, magnificent motets for 8 parts from Italy and France, and lively Celtic songs, dulcet Dutch carols, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our most recent CD, In dulci jubilo: Early Music of the Season:

Enjoy more selections from Gaudete: An Early Christmas, Swete was the Songe, Noël: An Early Christmas and Stella splendens: An Early Music Christmas.

Brett Barnes, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Jenny Houghton, Gil Zilkha, and Jenifer Thyssen are featured soloists, and acclaimed harpist Therese Honey, countertenor Ryland Angel, and Karelian chromatic kantele player Viktoria Nizhnik are featured as special guests.

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. And you can use our new word, multilicious!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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The post-Thanksgiving, post-Blagh Fridaegh blog

Yes, I indeed missed my opportunity to write a blog last Friday and call it Blog Friday, but it just couldn't be helped. Here we go, though: The Early Christmas concert is just less than two weeks away. Say that slooooowly and try to avoid hyperventilating. It hasn't worked for me; maybe it will for you. 

Our Christmas concerts offer a multiplicity of delicious music from diverse styles from diverse traditions and diverse musical eras. The upcoming one (in just less than two weeks away—did I mention that?) stays in that mold with some new elements and some that we haven't performed in so long, they seem like they're new! In honor of all this diversity of style, etc., we're using a new word to describe the concert: Multilicious! Feel free to use it. Give us credit.

Read the full program description and listen to audio teasers below. 

We hope to see you at one of our multilicious Early Christmas concerts! Buy tickets now because they often sell out! 

-Danny

An Early Christmas

7:00 pm, Friday, December 8, 2017
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX

 7:00 pm, Saturday, December 9, 2017
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX

3:00 pm, Sunday, December 10, 2017
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive, Austin, TX

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.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a multilicious feast of Christmas music through the ages. People in different cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth with sweet Dutch lullabies and joyous English carols, rousing Spanish villancicos and dulcet French noëls, Celtic cradle-songs and exuberant folk-tunes.

We’ve chosen pieces ranging from Medieval Spain and England to Baroque France and Germany and beyond, encompassing more than 500 years of humanity’s hope, love, and joy. TEMP puts its distinctive stamp on the intangible essence and passion of Christmas, with arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, flute, mandolin, viols, and lute.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our CDs Gaudete: An Early Christmas and Swete was the Songe:

Enjoy more selections from Noël: An Early Christmas and Stella splendens: An Early Music Christmas.

Brett Barnes, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Stephanie Prewitt, Meredith Ruduski, and Jenifer Thyssen are featured soloists, and nationally acclaimed historical harpist Therese Honey joins TEMP's troupe of solo voices, small chorus, violin, flute, mandolin, viols, and lute.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 500 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. And you can use our new word, multilicious!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

On the 11th Day of Early Christmas: A Favorite Through the Centuries

And here we are: It’s time to talk about the Lady Greensleeves, beloved cousin to the beloved Mr. Green Jeans, from “Captain Kangaroo.” They made popular the immortal hit, It’s not easy being green. Raise your hands if you believe this.

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The earliest source of the song we know as Greensleeves was a broadside ballad by Richard Jones in 1580; several more versions appeared shortly, with variants of title and text. There are references to the song in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and, by the end of the 17th century, the song had developed many variants in melody, harmony, and meter in versions by William Cobbold, John Playford, and others. Of course, the popular version for Christmas is What Child is This with lyrics by William Dix written around 1865. Our version is based around the mid-17th century version, The old yeare now away is fled and variations by Playford and Cobbold. Here is a excerpt of the song from our CD Stella splenends: An Early Music Christmas:

There are modern versions/variations by performers as varied as Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Presley, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and…well, lots more.

An Early Christmas in 2 days. In Austin.
Alas, my love: Be there!

Click to buy tickets for our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!

On the 7th Day of Christmas We Had some News about News of the French Carol Sort!

It's the 7th Day, so it must be time for French music. Let’s consult the New Oxford Book of Carols, my favorite reference book from late October through early December!

Words and languages change. In the late Middle Ages, nouvel an indicated the New Year, the time when carols were most usually sung. That phrase became corrupted to nouel and by the 16th century to noël, and the current use of a noël as a Christmas song was established.

Nouvelet can mean both ‘news’ and ‘newness.’ Noël nouvelet, meaning a newly-made song for both the New Year and the newly born infant-King, will be performed in 7 days. Our a cappella arrangement for 4 parts (sung by women) has been a fave for the last 6 or 7 years, even though there are often a few little tweaks from year to year. I’m not sure if the audients hear the changes but the performers do! Here's an audio teaser from our CD Stella splendens: An Early Music Christmas:

That’s all the nouvelet for now. Good night, and good luck.

TEMP: An Early Christmas in 6 Days.
Be wise, guys: get your tix in advance
at early-music.org

Click to buy tickets for our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!

Here we go - the 42 days of Christmas! Wait - is that right?

There are only 12 days leading up to the first TEMP Christmas concert, and we at TEMP would like to give you our version of the 12 Days of Christmas! Each day, we will present you with an interesting fact, tidbit, or fun story about Early Music. Here we go! 
On the First Day of Early Christmas...

Today's treat, for the 1st Day of Christmas!

Today is Stephanie Prewitt’s birthday! Remember how many times you’ve heard her sing over the last 3.5 decades (and you always want to hear more!) with Texas Early Music Project, La Follia Austin Baroque, New Texas Music Works (later known as Conspirare), the St. Mary Cathedral Schola Cantorum, and many, many other local groups. And then there’s the festivals and ensembles around the globe that have profited from Stephanie’s talents! We are so lucky to have her with us! Maybe a wee blessing for every time she’s brought a little tear to your eye or a rush of thanks to your heart … I know what color she likes, so ask me! For this year’s Christmas concert, her solos include our revival of the Scottish lullaby Balooloo, my lammie and a trio with Meredith & Brett in the Buxtehude section of the In dulci jubilo suite. Here's an excerpt of Stephanie singing Balooloo, my lammie from our CD Stella Splendens: An Early Music Christmas.

Join us for An Early Christmas In 11 days!

More tomorrow!
-Danny

Click to buy tickets for our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, and 13!