Epitaph for a Green Lover
St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, 12/9/26
Epitaph for a Green Lover: music from the songbooks of Margaret of Austria (1480-1530)
Héloïse Bernard (voice), Linarol Consort of Viols: David Hatcher (viol, drums), Alison Kinder (viol, rebec), Claire Horàček (viol), Tim Lin (viol)
On an autumnal afternoon in the elegant surroundings of St Cecilia’s Hall an eager audience gathered for a concert by soprano Héloïse Bernard and the Linarol Consort of viols to launch their first CD, ‘Epitaph for a Green Lover’. Who was this mysterious Green Lover? We were all agog.
The Linarol Consort was founded in 2017 to explore the rare sound of the earliest surviving renaissance viol, a 1540 Venetian instrument by Francesco Linarol (c.1520–1577). They play modern copies based on this original, made by Richard Jones in southwest Scotland using locally sourced figured or rippled sycamore, which sound as beautiful as they look. The six-stringed viols ranged from the treble and tenor to bass, and gut strings gave an intense, granular resonance to the sound.
The Linarol Consort and soprano Héloïse Bernard, well known to Scottish audiences, began their musical collaboration in 2021, and this first recording is a collection of songs and instrumental pieces taken from manuscripts owned by Margaret of Austria (1480-1530).
Héloïse Bernard stood in a semi-circle with the viols rather than in front, her sensitive, strong, serene voice blending with the other instruments as the melody passed from one to the next. She sang with great feeling and insight into songs full of love, longing, and loss.
Margaret of Austria’s story is fascinating. At a time when royal women were used as pawns in dynastic marriages and expected to be decorative, decorous, and fecund, Margaret was a remarkable person: an astute diplomat, businesswoman, and renowned patron of the arts.
The excellent programme listed the song lyrics with English translations for those whose medieval Latin, Flemish, and French was a little rusty. The concert was in four self-explanatory sections: Early life, childhood in France; Marriages, disappointments, grief; Regency, power, court life; Death.
It featured some more familiar composers: Josquin Desprez (c.1450/55-1521) ‘Plus nulz regretz’ (‘No more regrets’); Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497) ‘Petite camusette’ (‘Little snub-nose’), some new to me: Marbrianus de Orto (c.1460-1529) ‘Dulces exuviae’ (‘Sweet relics’), and of course the well-known Anon ‘Me fauldra il’ (‘Must I?’).
David Hatcher gave a brief commentary on the programme. I learnt that the tenor line was written first, with other lines written or improvised above (alto, or ‘alto tenore’, above the tenor) and below (bass, or ‘basso tenore’, below the tenor). The soprano (‘sopra’, above) floats above all the other lines, which may be the reason some sopranos (but not Ms Bernard) may feel themselves superior to other singers.
After the interval the musicians reappeared, marching down the hall to the sound of a wooden pipe, tabor (drum), and rebec. The rebec is a small, flat faced, bowed instrument with no bridge which means all four strings are played at once. This produces a drone-like effect not dissimilar to bagpipes, but a lot quieter.
In the instrumental pieces the Linarol Consort showed what they could do with both lively and decorous dances. Renaissance court dances (‘basses [low] dances’) were elegant, smooth dances where the feet kept contact with the floor. There was no lifting or leaping - that was for the common folk. Margaret loved dancing, and the Dancing Book of Margaret of Austria (Basses dances, KBR MS 9085), kept in the Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, is a physical as well as a musical treasure, made with expensively dyed black parchment and written using pure gold and silver.
Now to that intriguing title. Margaret had a beloved pet: a beautiful green parrot (not a Norwegian Blue), which she left in the care of a courtier while she went travelling. In her absence the parrot pined not for the fjords but for its mistress and died. Distraught by its death Margaret had her court poet Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473-1525) write an epitaph ‘Epitaphe de l’Amant Vert’ (‘Epitaph for a Green Lover’), which was turned into a mournful song ‘Soubz ce tumbrel’ (‘Within this tomb’) with music (possibly) by Pierre de la Rue (c.1452-1518).
The songs are over 500 years old, but the emotions of love, loss, and longing are evergreen. When St Cecilia’s Hall was opened in 1763, this music was already more than 250 years old. Héloïse Bernard’s voice entwined with the other instruments and gathered into a golden skein of sublime sound, drawing the appreciative audience into the world of Margaret of Austria; a woman ruling in a man’s world. A lonely place, but filled with beautiful music. What a great way to spend an afternoon.
For more information visit: https://www.continuoconnect.com/features/margaret-of-austria-her-story-through-music
https://www.heloisebernard.com/
The CD is only available from the Linarol Consort. To buy it (£15 plus p&p) email: linarolconsort@gmail.com
Monty Python’s Dead parrot sketch: https://dai.ly/xoh8j
