Songs and Dances from the 100 Years War
Pianodrome Bruntsfield, 24/1/26
Eva Moreda (portative organ), Héloïse Bernard (voice), Eric Thomas (plectrum lute)
This concert was originally meant to be performed last August as part of the Friends of St Cecilia’s Hall series of Fringe concerts. However, due to Héloïse’s indisposition it had to undergo a major re-arrangement which saw the remaining two members of this Edinburgh and Glasgow based trio present a very different and extremely good programme. You can read the review of that concert by my EMR colleague Kate Calder here: https://www.edinburghmusicreview.com/reviews/4uq21lsi7u1ikfbn1cu38cgw38jc0f
I was delighted to discover that I could hear the original concert of music from the 14th and 15th centuriesjust round the corner from me at the Pianodrome Bruntsfield. Mindful of my previous visits, I wrapped up warmly and took full advantage of the cushions and rugs provided. The rest of the audience for this Saturday lunchtime concert were similarly muffled up. The frigid surroundings were very appropriate to the music. I have always felt the Middle Ages would have been rather cold, with people shivering as they went about their daily business of farming, fighting, and dying of the plague.
Soprano Héloïse Bernard was in fine voice and full of emotion despite the intense cold which rendered her breath visible. She had sensibly added a scarf and mittens to her concert outfit. Many of the songs and motets in the concert were originally intended for three or more voices, but here they were sung with solo voice and two accompanying instruments in place of the lower voices. Héloïse studied French literature and acting as well as music, and her ability to convey the drama of a song is outstanding.
First, two anonymous pieces. ‘L’homme armé’ was a song warning against ‘the armed man’. With so many soldiers roaming Europe at the time it was a necessary caution. The tune was hugely popular and formed the basis of many songs, and was even used in over forty Mass settings. Eventually the Church banned its use in sacred settings. Perhaps it was the ‘Baby Shark’ of its time? The secular ‘Agincourt Carol’ told the story of the famous English victory over the French.
Next was a sacred motet by Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300 – 1377), ‘Veni, creator Spiritus’, and ‘Una panthera’ a secular Italian madrigal by Johannes Ciconia (c.1370 – 1412). Then came two sacred motets: John Dunstable (c.1390 – 1453) ‘Quam pulchra es’, and ‘Petre Clemens’ by Philippe Vitry (1291 – 1361).
In between the groups of songs Eric Thomas and Eva Moreda introduced their instruments. Eric is hyper-local, as he lives across the road from the Pianodrome Bruntsfield. He played the plectrum lute with five sets of strings, using a piece of lute string to pluck the notes.
Eva’s instrument was the portative organ. It is a very small organ, small enough to hold on her lap, with pipes, two octaves of wooden keys operated with her right hand, and bellows operated by her left hand. With origins in antiquity, it was very popular at the time of the Hundred Years’ War.
The portative organ, lute, and (of course) the voice, were all used by troubadours who travelled around Europe bringing music, news, and stories (often in song form) to towns, cities, royal courts, and castles at a time when there was no easy way of spreading information.
More secular songs followed, telling of courtly love, ‘Je loe amours’ by Gilles Binchois (c. 1400 – 1460); Eva then joined Héloïse to sing ‘Phyton, le mervilleus serpent’ by Machaut. Their soprano voices, entwined like the seven tails of the titular serpent, went spiralling up to the roof of the former church. Then came ‘O Rosa Bella’ by Dunstable: “O lovely rose/My sweet soul/Let me not die/In courtly love”. Short and sweet.
The songs in this concert come from all over Europe. Some of the composers spent their lives in the country of their birth: John Dunstable, Philippe Vitry, and Guillaume de Machaut. However the majority were born in one European county but lived and worked in another: Johannes Ockeghem, Robert Morton, Johannes Ciconia, and Gilles Binchois, and they used the musical style of their adopted homes. This music ranged from simple tunes and words to much more complex compositions.
The last pair of songs were secular. ‘Il sera pour vous combat’ / ‘L’homme armé’ is the earliest surviving setting of that famous work we met earlier, by Robert Morton (c.1430 – after 1479). Finally, ‘D’ung aultre amer’ by Johannes Ockeghem (c.1410 – 1497) tells of a noblewoman pining for her courtly lover.
The rapt audience of 60 people applauded enthusiastically, and not just because it helped them to warm up.
Eric and Héloïse are members of the excellent Spinacino Consort, and there is a crowdfunder to raise funds to record their debut album 'Hey for Christmas!' with Siglo de Oro, recreating a musical 1620s Christmas. Here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hey-for-christmas
The Pianodrome also has an appeal to develop the Bruntsfield hub, to include upgrading the (almost non-existent) heating. Please give generously: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/pianodrome-hub
Photo credit: Charlotte Binstead
