The Ides of April.

Is that a thing, or not? Discuss.

Hmmm April 15. Seems like I’m supposed to be doing something important today. I mean, I do recall that on March 15, I made sure to avoid going to the Roman Senate, but I have this stabbing feeling that I’m missing something about today. So I made a little list of possibilities.

I do recall that I wanted to let you all know that you should check out TEMP’s Musical Taco that is coming out tomorrow, April 16. It’s monumental: Our 100th Taco! We started making them during the COVID 19 lockdown so we could provide a little solace, humor, news, and music for you while we were working remotely. (The idea was Mary Ashton’s, I’m pretty sure!) We made them weekly for several months and then moved to every two weeks, and now we mostly get them to you every two weeks. ’Ish. Sometimes.

So then, in an effort to avoid thinking about what I was supposed to do on April 15, I got curious and counted the number of blogs we’ve released since we started doing these. To my astonishment, I discovered that this might be the 114th blog. Yes, I lost count.

And so then, forgetting that April 15 was something I was even supposed to be concerned about, I decided to count the number of concerts that TEMP has given. The answer: Not enough. To that end, I’m glad to announce TEMP’s next concert, the final one for the 2023-2024 Season. It’s Italian all the way, with lots of ‘firsts’ involved. See details below!

And, as we said way back in 2014 before a similarly-themed concert:

Preservare il passato. Arricchire il presente. Coinvolgere il futuro.
Si tratta di musica antica in una luce completamente nuova. Unisciti a noi.

Meanwhile, I guess I’ll find out on April 16 what it was that I forgot to do on April 15.

Saluti!
–Danny

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Italia mia:
Diverse Voices of the Late Renaissance

Saturday, May 11, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, May 12, 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 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 temp@early-music.org.

Through the happy union of musicology and live performance, we can now present music to you that was not available or even known just a few short years ago. Due to recent research, we are able to present madrigals by Maddalena Casulana, the first woman composer to have an entire book of her music published. Some of her music wasn’t discovered until quite recently, so we are fortunate to have this timely opportunity. Likewise, music by the first published Black composer, Vicente Lusitano, hasn’t been available to us until the last few of years. His mastery of Renaissance polyphony and inventiveness create a wonderfully rich and beautiful architecture of sound. Although he has been in our sights for quite some time, this is the first program in which we can really explore music by Salomone Rossi, Italian Jewish violinist and composer who, like Monteverdi, was a transitional figure between the late Italian Renaissance period and early Baroque. This should give just an idea of some of the incredible musical diversity available in Italy, the heart of the Renaissance, from about 1538 until about 1638, when tastes and styles transitioned from the Renaissance aesthetic to the beginnings of the Baroque.

In addition to these brilliant but relatively unknown composers, we will feature both chamber and large-scale choral works by Monteverdi, excerpts from La Pellegrina, (the 1589 extravaganza created for an important Medici wedding), and intimate or casual pieces that are suitable for the end of our 2023-2024 Street Songs season. And we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sing the stirring title piece, Italia Mia, by Philippe Verdelot.

Our 20-voice choir will also provide the vocal soloists for the concert, and will include Jenifer Thyssen, Jenny Houghton, Shari Alise Wilson, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Page Stephens, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Ryland Angel, and others. TEMP’s small orchestra of viols, violin, and plucked strings will feature Mary Springfels, Therese Honey, and theorbist Héctor Torres.

Join us as we explore 100 years of a variety of the delicious tastes of Italy
(not including some of those favored by Lucrezia Borgia…)

Click on the image above to  buy tickets now!

Scorching Hot Valentines…

Codex Buranus, München: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4660, f. 72v

…for my Friend, Billy Pilgrim

My “Spidey sense” tells me that it’s Valentine’s Day! Dang, I didn’t put up a tree or anything. Didn’t send any cards. Bought no prezzies. Didn’t think of putting up any lights, although I guess I could finally take down my Halloween decorations. Then again, Halloween is just around the corner, I think, so I may as well leave them up. That reminds me that my email used to be @soon.com, in honor of the curious relationship I have with time. I’m thinking about changing my ways. Maybe next year or so. You know: ’ish.

Anyway, since it’s Valentine’s Day, then that means we have must have a concert coming up. Or perhaps we already did it? Nope, nope, I’m pretty sure we haven’t done it because I’m really looking forward to it. I do remember that I haven’t experienced the joys of a live Medieval Carmina Burana concert in about 6 years, so it’s still on the way. And speaking of love poetry for Valentine’s Day, those 13th-century poets wrote some scorchers! Carmina Burana is just full of them! You should send Billy Pilgrim an earnest/scorching hot Valentine. Maybe it will entice him to come home from Tralfamadore.

I bet there will be details below. I should look at the details too, so I don’t schedule taking down my Valo-ween decorations at the same time.

But you should watch the video of our December Joy & Light concert before it goes away on Feb 26 and then come to the Carmina Burana concert shortly after that. One can never celebrate too many holidays at the same time.

And Happy Valentine’s Day!
–Danny

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THE ORIGINAL CARMINA BURANA:
FORTUNE’S SLIPPERY WAY

Saturday, March 2, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, March 3, 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 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.

Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioned the 13th-century manuscript Carmina Burana on his documentary TV series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey! What he didn’t say was that it contains unabashedly joyful and passionate songs about love, spring, mythology, love, dancing, drinking, love, flirting, philosophy, and…love!

Although Carmina Burana was given wide name recognition in 1937 by the composer Carl Orff, whose cantata of the same title popularized some of the Medieval texts and brought its existence into the light, the original version deserves just as much attention. With images of the cycle of the seasons and melodies which were often based on the most popular tunes, polyphony, and dances from Western Europe at the time, the songs of Carmina Burana reflect the lives of the 12th- and 13th-century Bavarian monks and students who collected and/or composed the pieces in this famous anthology. The poems, at once sensual and refined, satirical and sincere, offer a fascinating glimpse into life in the late Middle Ages. There are songs of love and flirtation, verses in praise of good food and good wine, diatribes against gossip and jealousy, odes to mythical heroes—all of these and much more are found in this extraordinary compilation of songs, dances, and chants.

The music is as varied as the texts, with melodies that are memorable and hummable. There are melodies clearly influenced by chant, by popular tunes, or by dances—sometimes all within the same song. Some of the selections from the Carmina Burana are among the most popular of TEMP’s medieval repertoire: Veris dulcis in tempore, sung by women, is both haunting and joyful in its exultation of springtime and the importance of love; Sic mea fata canendo solor is an exultant ode from a young man as he thinks about his love and describes his feelings in delicious detail! Did we mention that this concert is rated PG-13?

TEMP will feature some of its favorite soloists, including Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Page Stephens, Ryland Angel, and others. Our 10-piece medieval orchestra with its enchanting timbres and delightful combinations features medieval fiddles or vielles, oud, early harps, psaltery, recorder, and more. Of particular interest will be the northern European string instruments kantele and jouhikko, played by Viktoria Nizhnik.

Prepare for the arrival of spring with this rousing look at Medieval passions!

Click on the image above to  buy tickets now!

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!

A Day in the Life of the Market

“Buy my fine singing Glasses” from The Cryes of the City of London Drawne After the Life, by Marcellus Laroon (London, 1687)

Well, it finally happened; I knew it was coming and just kept putting it off. It was time to go shopping and I knew that pandemonium and chaos would engulf me for a while. But it was necessary. It was necessary to buy some fair bone lace, some cambric, buskins, doublets, and small coals. I also needed to find a cooper and to talk to the town crier about my old lost mare.

It was indeed as loud and unruly as I feared, with all sorts of vendors trying to entice me to buy oysters and haddock and sprats and cowcumbers and marking stones and raspis and … well, the variety was interminable. But — you know, after a while I sorta zoned out and listened to the wonderful harmonies that were being created by all this din and spontaneous vocal advertising. I eventually found all the items I was seeking and gave the crier my notice about my horse. Then I left, went to Wheatsville, and I bought some organic yogurt, some Ceylon cinnamon, an espresso (double), and got some victuals at the deli. Altogether a successful venture.

“Twelve pence a peck oysters” from The Cryes of the City of London Drawne After the Life, by Marcellus Laroon (London, 1687)

I must say I was reminded of this wonderful piece by Richard Dering, The City Cries from the early 17th century, in which he depicts a similar scene at the London street markets in c. 1615. Of course, the vendors don’t all ‘yell/sing’ at the same time; Dering lays the whole thing so you can hear the individual characters, all supported by a consort of viols.

Whoa! Such serendipity! TEMP happens to be performing that piece in its season opener October concert! You should check it out; I hope to be there! It’s also TEMP’s 25th concert season, a momentous occasion! There’s more info below.

I think I’ll go to the market again today. I need to talk to the chimney sweep.

New oysters, anyone?

—Danny

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London City Limits: Town & Country

Saturday, October 7, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 8, 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.

Thanks to boosts from popular culture on television and in movies, more people than ever are aware of and interested in the very important Tudor courts of Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I. During the time they ruled England—more than 90 years, from 1509 until 1603—England’s influence in the world increased dramatically and English musical and artistic culture became more prominent. Our concert picks up towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign and concludes during the second reign of the House of Stuart, at the end of the 17th century. This repertoire for voices, viols, and lutes fashions a colorful account of life in and around London for almost 100 years. This is music from the streets, the theater, the Tudor courts, and the cathedrals. Also, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the passing of one of Britain’s most important composers, we will have choral pieces by William Byrd (1543–1623). 

In those times, shoppers at street markets around the world would have heard various vendors hawking their wares with unique cries and slogans. In the later years of Elizabeth I and beyond, a popular style of composition came about that combined quite a number of these oral advertisements into notable compositions, both comedic and informative, while still being delightful. Richard Dering’s The City Cries presents a full day in the life of the market with more than 70 distinct characters/vendors represented by 13 singers in our performance.

We will have graceful songs and dances from Shakespearean productions and courts, vocal pieces suitable for singing in private homes, and more sophisticated pieces for the professional singers in the courts and cathedrals. These pieces are composed by well-known madrigalists such as Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Campion (I detect a trend), and others.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our CD Building Bridges to the Past, which will also be in London City Limits! 

A little later in the century, there are the social and political commentary songs, mostly ballads from the Pills to Purge Melancholy, a collection of broadsides and ballads. Some of the poems broach the issue of groups of people who are suppressed in order to elevate other groups, simply because the “powers that be” could, in fact, do so. The most dramatic piece of the concert is probably The Cloak’s Knavery, another ballad that speaks of political malevolence that leads to societal ills.

Although she performs with us so often she could be considered to be a regular, she’s still our special guest: viola da gamba superstar Mary Springfels (New York Pro Musica, Waverly Consort, Sequentia, the Newbury Consort, and more) will lead our consort of viols. Likewise, countertenor/tenor Ryland Angel joins us again and will perform solo and small ensemble works, along with other soloists Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Page Stephens, and others.

Help us celebrate our 25th Season!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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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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Now what was the name of that movie?

You know the one…

It’s just on the tip of my brain! It reminds me of fútbol/soccer but it’s a movie… It’s from the early 90s and it has that actor—she’s in most of Wes Anderson’s movies and she makes everything more interesting.

You know the curse they always talk about: “May you live in interesting times”? I wonder: Are “interesting times” in a movie also a curse? (It turns out not to be a Chinese curse but rather a misquoted statement from a British statesman in the 1930s.)

Oh right! And the movie we’re talking about is based, at least partly, in Britain. And it is interesting, not only because of that actor, but also because of its relationship with linear time, something we have explored several times in concerts! Hmmm. I wonder if that actor sings, because she would be great in our ‘It’s About Time’ programs; she’s too busy, I know, but she does look exceedingly authentic in Renaissance clothing! Oh! And that movie is set in the Renaissance! At least partly. And it’s called Orlando!

So very interesting, because our upcoming concert is also set in the Renaissance, and it’s called Orlando, too! Sadly, Tilda Swinton couldn’t be in it…

At any rate, check out the details of our Orlando! below. Come to our “Return to the Renaissance”concert!
-Danny

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Orlando!
Music by di Lasso for Voices & Viols

Saturday, February 11, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 12, 2023, 3:00 pm*
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

*We are happy to present preconcert music beginning about 2:15 pm before the Sunday concert by a consort of student viola da gamba players from Woodcreek Middle School in Humble, TX. They are featured in the January, 2023 edition of EMAg, The Magazine of Early Music America.
Viols of the Creek
Pedro Funes, Director

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.

Orlando di Lasso (aka Orlande de Lassus, Roland de Lassus, etc.) was one of the most prolific and versatile composers of the late Renaissance or any other musical era. As indicated by the variations on his name, he was astonishingly mobile: He was from the Lowlands, worked in Italy for at least ten years before returning to Antwerp via France and perhaps England, and then settled in Bavaria for the remainder of his life, although he continued to travel extensively. He was one of the rare composers equally adept at the truly silly and the utterly solemn.

His motets and masses were among the most diverse and exceptional of the entire continent, with subjects varying from the transcendent to the eccentric. Even in motets with standard Biblical texts, the range of expression and harmonic approach of his normal style made the typical become extraordinary.

Although sacred music dominates his extensive output of music, di Lasso was also a master of the styles and genres of secular music. He wrote with equal facility in each language in all the prominent secular forms of the time, including Italian madrigals and villanelle, French chansons, and German lieder. He wrote with equal facility in each language and with the “local flavor,” reflecting the many places he lived, and yet maintained his personal expressiveness and skill. Some of his secular compositions are serious and emotionally powerful while others are downright silly, ribald, risqué, and lots of fun!

A small choir of 20 voices will perform some of his best, most brilliant, stunningly beautiful works in varying combinations, including large scale pieces for 8 and 12 parts, and will include solos by Gitanjali Mathur, Jenifer Thyssen, Laura Mercado Wright, Cayla Cardiff, Ryland Angel, and more. For a change of pace, sonically speaking, we will have a four-part viol consort, featuring Mary Springfels.

Join Texas Early Music Project as we Return to the Renaissance
and the music of a truly cosmopolitan composer.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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The sound of one hand clapping for a series of realizations

Ya know, it’s hard to put one past me. I’m very observant. I’ve noticed a few things. Like, not too long ago, I noticed they were playing the World Series. Clue A. And then I noticed that all my clocks were wrong. Clue 2. And then, as I was shivering in my apartment at teatime, I noticed I was having some very good pumpkin spice tea to go along with my pumpkin bread and realized with a premonition-like chill that I was going to have some butternut squash dal and curry for supper and that I was going to wash it down with pumpkin stout. I think those count for Clues 3 and D. Maybe E, too.

“Obviously,” I said assuredly, “it’s my favorite time of the year and that means we must have our annual Christmas/Holiday concert coming up soon.”

So check out the blurb below (after you check out the video and graphics that Allison comes up with to illustrate this) and we’ll see you at the grocery store, standing in line to buy Thanksgiving sustenance, and then we’ll see you at An Early Christmas in December!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and see you at the concerts in December!
-Danny

P.S.: There is no truth to the rumor that I use pumpkin spice contact lens solutions. That is absurd. The stores have been out of that for months. Maybe next year....

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An Early Christmas

Saturday, December 10, 2022 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 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.

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.

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, lively Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

Most of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe and the British Isles. We’ve chosen pieces from Medieval England and France that glimmer with the transparency of the styles of the period. Renaissance Netherlands, England, and France give us both glorious polyphonic and appealing chordal ambiance. A little Baroque music from France and England will leave us with memorable (and recognizable) tunes. Although several of the pieces were written by the long-lived Anonymous, some composers of note are Praetorius, Scheidt, Sweelinck, and 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 Resonet in laudibus (also known as Joseph lieber, Joseph mein), using music by different composers of the German and Polish Renaissance for each verse. This unique, brand-new arrangement is for full choir and our small Renaissance orchestra. It is remarkable to hear how composers who worked in geographic and temporal proximity to each other set the different verses and sections.

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, and we will be presenting a short set of traditional and Sephardic music for the Chanukah celebration.

Tim O’Brien, Joel Nesvadba, Cayla Cardiff, 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.
And you can use our new word, multilicious!

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!

The Eagle Loved a Good Quodlibet!

Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and Pillow, 1493

I remember being a fan of Albrecht Dürer’s work when I was mere polywog of a music student. Anytime we listened to music from Renaissance Germany, one of Dürer’s works was likely to grace the cover or be prominently placed in some part of the album notes (which were reasonably sized, since they were LPs!) And then in Europe, I saw his self portrait and saw that outsized thumb and felt real kinship with him; no I don’t have an overly large thumb, but I was a polydactyl at birth and my right thumb is a bit, um, odd, as a result of the surgery to remove that extra thumb. And so I wondered if he felt the same amount of pain that I did when I would catch a baseball slightly wrong and it would hit my thumb in just the wrong place…holy-moly!, and he probably didn’t have a mitt as good as mine. Anyway, if he did, he has my sympathies.

The other thing that I should mention about this concert is that when I saw the New York Pro Musica in concert in at Texas Tech in 1970 (or ‘71?), the program they did was very similar to the program that we are doing. It was from Renaissance Germany and it was heavy on music by Ludwig Senfl, at any rate, and I remember falling in love with the song Ach Elselein, which we are doing, of course. Also, one of the viol players on their tour was on her first tour with them: Mary Springfels! And she’s in our concert as well!

So come to our concert, and 1) hear both gloriously extravagant and calmly intimate music by Senfl and his teacher, Heinrich Isaac; 2) say hi to our frequent guest, Mary Springfels; 3) try not to think too much about Dürer’s freakishly large thumb; 4) hope that I don’t hit my right thumb on a music stand or something, because when I hit it in just the ‘right’ spot where there’s a bit of nerve lurking just under the surface, I’m likely to say something very unconcert-like.

Did I mention that Sara Schneider will be our pre-concert lecturer and we will be offering pre-signed copies of her book? The Eagle and the Song Bird is about the subject of our concert, Emperor Maximilian I, and members of his court, including our friends Senfl and Dürer (she doesn’t mention his thumb.) Click on the book image to pre-order your signed copy now!

See the details below and we hope to see you there!
-Danny

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When Max was Emperor
Musical Splendor for the Holy Roman Court

Saturday, October 8, 2022 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 9, 2022, 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.

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.

Our first full concert of the 2022-2023 season explores early Renaissance music from the courts of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1508-1519. Though he was known as “the last knight,” he was also an ardent supporter of the arts and sciences, and his royal court reflected his interests, whether with music, visual arts, philosophy, cartography, literary arts, and more. 

In the same ways that Albrecht Dürer represented the visual arts in the royal court, there were two musicians who epitomize the musical life of Maximilian’s empire. The Flemish master Heinrich Isaac and his student, the Swiss-born Ludwig Senfl, were both active as court chapel masters to Emperor Maximilian’s Hofkapelle, whether in Innsbruck, Augsburg, or other places that the Emperor and his court traveled for numerous imperial congresses or for seasonal changes. 

Maximilian’s royal children, Margaret and Philip, inherited his passion for music. Both supported excellent chapels in Brussels and Mechelen, with musical masters such as Antoine Brumel, Pierre de la Rue, Jacob Obrecht, and others. We will sample a few strikingly intense pieces from these satellite courts as well as many pieces from Maximilian’s own imperial chapel. One of the striking and virtuosic works in the program will be Iaaac’s six-voice motet Virgo prudentissima. Composed by Isaac in 1507 while he was in Constance for the imperial Reichstag of that year (which was organized to prepare for the coronation of Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor), this amazing motet has grandeur, polyphonic complexity, and textural diversity, but never loses its forward motion or becomes static. 

The music splendor of Maximilian’s Holy Roman Court will be interpreted by eighteen singers, a consort of viols, two lutenists, and three sackbut (early trombone) players. As a special treat, we will have a pre-concert lecture by Sara Schneider, host of KMFA’s “Early Music Now”, TEMP Board member, and author of the historical novel The Eagle and the Songbird, which is about the Emperor and members of his retinue, both historical and fictional. 

Pre-concert Lecture:
Leaving Innsbruck: On the Road with Kaiser Max and his Musicians
Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:45 PM & Sunday, Oct. 9 at 2:15 PM

Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) ruled from the saddle as he traveled all over his empire: modern-day Belgium, Germany, and Austria. And wherever he went—court, cathedral, or battlefield—his musicians went with him! We'll follow him on some of his travels, and learn about the ways music enriched life and was used as a political tool at the imperial court.

Remember what they say: “Life is a quodlibet, old friend!”

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.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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