Baroque Girona Holy Week
In
this CD Música Antiga de Girona presents several Girona Holy Week
compositions from the baroque period, specifically from 1682 to 1774.
These compositions are from an epoch of almost one hundred years in
which Girona was transformed from a town of craftsmen into a town of
services with a remarkable urban growth from 4000 to 8000 inhabitants.
This evolution saw the disappearance of warring among the nobility,
common in Renaissance times, and was accompanied by the arrival of new
religious orders bringing new humanistic perspectives: discalced
Carmelites, Jesuits, Servites, Capuchins etc. The empowerment of
ecclesiastical music following the Council of Trent not only renovated
the cathedral music but also the music in the town’s convents, who
increased their requests to the cathedral music chapel. This renovation
was accompanied by the suppression of theatrical performances, which
were often set to music, inside places of worship. In the cathedral
archives the lack of Easter compositions is surprising. This contrasts
with the abundance of those dedicated to Christmas, although elsewhere
for both Catholics and Protestants alike Easter music was indeed
important.
The works selected for this CD can be assigned to three types of liturgical celebration:
a) the forty hour service, which was a eucharistic celebration
beginning on Palm Sunday evening and ending on Holy Tuesday morning;
b) the short procession of the keeping of the Holy Sacrament, celebrated at the end of the holy Thursday mass;
c) the Good Friday liturgy with the Office of Darkness. They were all sung in the cathedral except for two that were
probably
sung in the church of the Dolors congregation on the Friday before Palm
Sunday. These are works with a penitential focus, one is by Gaz Oh que
mandas
de amor (Oh what bonds of love) and the other Milagro patente (Clearly
a miracle), by Gònima. Except for three works in Latin, the rest are
Spanish poems that express the spirituality of the town›s main groups:
the Carmelite vision was the most modern. They distanced themselves
from scholastic spirituality and compared the relationship of the
believer with God to that of two lovers who trust in love›s power to
overcome personal internal divisions. On the other hand, the scholastic
or classical mentality, represented in Girona by the Dominicans and the
Jesuits, emphasises human misery and the consequences of sin while
urging the sinner to ask for forgiveness. Finally there is the
spirituality of the Servites who try to convert sinners by emotional
means and emphasise the harshness and the suffering of Jesus’s Passion.
All three spiritual paths refer to the faithful in an abstract way
without ever indicating a specific group or person. The predominant
musical form is the «quatro”, a composition that consists of four
voices, two of which are tiples. There is no bass but there is the
continuous accompaniment of the positive organ, the cello and the lute.
This effective
and economical musical form lasted for more than a
century in Girona. It can be explained, on the one hand, by the
cathedral school residence of the four choir boys, who were assigned
the high voices, and, on the other hand, by the possible lack of
competent bass singers in the town. Motete and tono are the two other
musical forms present in this CD: they are old and very variable forms
t hat d isappeared i n G irona a t t he e nd o f t he X VII c entury w
ith t he arrival of Castilian villancicos at the time of the authors
Soler and Gaz. At the beginning of the works by both Gaz and Gònima
there is no instrumental accompaniment but there is a voice that was
joined by the other singers. Together they expound the theme of the
composition. Soler, on the other hand, begins with one vocal solo thus
allowing us to understand the theme of the composition, which is then
replicated by the other voices in polyphonic style. The two solos that
we present could well reflect certain moments of economic difficulty
in
the music chapel. Either this was due to an economic crisis like the
one of 1761 that Gonima suffered, or it was caused by a military siege
like the one that Gaz went through during the French invasion of 1694.
The
rhythmic sophistication, the combination of solos and choir, the subtle
mixture of the different voices in the choir or solos, plus the use of
new harmonies in certain works, explain why Girona cathedral was the
most important school of chapel masters during the second half of the
XVIII century in the whole of the Peninsula. They were the fruit of a
long tradition of excellent chapel masters from Soler to Gònima and
including Gaz.
The C astilian S panish t exts s how t he c omplexity
of baroque p oetry that displays innovative psychological analyses of
the faithful›s emotional balance in general and the sinner›s in
particular. The elaborate vocabulary makes one wonder for whom these
intricate poems were meant. We do not know if all the texts are the
work of the chapel masters who signed them or if other authors
collaborated.
1 Milagro patente
(Clearly a miracle). This is a penitential Holy Week composition about
the duality of human nature, being spiritual and material at the same
time. There are images that poignantly convey the sinner›s anguish, as
he is fearful of not attaining divine mercy. This anguish is emphasized
by the musical dissonances that end with a groan of despair followed by
a plea for divine forgiveness. This spiritual focus was typical of the
Dolors Congregation where it was probably interpreted during the
spiritual exercises that the congregation holds every year on the
Friday before Palm Sunday. The alternating rhythms, the protagonism of
the basso continuo plus the combination of soloists and tutti make for
a successful composition, as can clearly be seen in the worn paper of
the score pages 2 Constante anima el Cuidado
(Care gives me no respite). This is a penitential and eucharisitic
composition that was probably meant for the 40 hour service which began
on Palm Sunday evening and ended on Holy Tuesday morning. The text,
which is remarkably philosophical, is based on the personnification of
Worry (Cuidado), an allegorical character that encourages the repentant
sinner to bear the heavy burden resulting from the consequences of his
sins (de la cadena el peso altivo) and contrasts all human pleasure
with the corresponding pain by means of a complicated text, common in
baroque poetry. The words used – love, pleasure, fear, enjoyment –
suggest carmelite spirituality where love is all powerful and is the
most important means of salvation. It is difficult to see whether the
author uses these concepts as an academic resource or whether, as the
style of the poem suggests, he intends the listeners (most probably the
bishop and his following among the authorities) to be moved to
repentance. From the musical point of view the work is a cantata that
begins in polyphonic style without an instrumental introduction. The
diverse voices alternate with solos, similar to a poetic recital. There
is an aria that is also a solo. The neapolitan influence is evident and
Gònima, its author, was a notable follower of the neapolitan style. The
success of this composition can be seen in the worn out paper of the
score’s pages that have reached us.
3 Oh qué mandas de amor
(Oh what bonds of love). This is an extraordinary text that describes
an imaginary testament made by Jesus while nailed to the cross. This
kind of composition is typical of the catechism techniques used in the
baroque style and is similar to that used by Gaz himself in another
villancico of a moralising nature – Al juego del hombre, Fabio– where a
card game is used to demonstrate the dangers of female seduction. We do
not know in which circumstances it was used or why it is a solo
soprano. This detail and the nature of the text would indicate that it
was meant for the Dolors Congregation, since on the Friday before Palm
Sunday this congregation celebrates its own spiritual exercises that
include a musical part about Christ’s passion. In Gonima’s time this
musical part gave place to several oratories, Amor y Dolor (Love and
Pain) being one of them. It is possible that in previous years, in
Gaz’s time, instead of an oratory a villancico like the present one was
used. It is hard to imagine that such a composition was sung in Girona
cathedral owing to the liturgical rigidity of those times.
4 Panem et vinum obtulit
([Melchizedek] offered bread and wine). This is an extraordinary
eucharistic motet in Latin. It joins two biblical texts from two
different places and with no other connection except that of bread and
wine, the two elements that, according to an ancient liturgical
tradition, are the attributes of the Eucharist. We do not know when the
composition was used: it could have been part of the 40-hour service or
meant for the eucharistic celebration on Holy Thursday. The fact that
it is a short solo could indicate that it was used in the small
procession during the keeping of the Holy Sacrament after the Holy
Thursday mass. The incitement to rapture and
the power of friendly
love point to a piece of work that is close to the discalced carmelite
mentality. This would indicate the composition’s destination as Gònima
had an intense relationship with their convent in Girona. The
experiments with new harmonies would suggest that it is one of the
author’s later works.
5 Amante avecilla
(Loving little bird). This is an accomplished work that describes the
suffering of the believer who searches for God and does not find Him
easily. Its carmelite character can be seen in the usual imagery they
employed to convey their spirituality: birds are a symbol of the human
soul because of their freedom of movement. The mystical hunter is
Jesus, who came to this world to save humanity and who proceeds by
using the arrows of Love together with the consecrated communion wafer,
that has the capacity to cause ecstasy in the believer. The dialogue
between the believer and the bird beautifully conveys the different
moments experienced in the search for divine love. These moments are
emphasized by the melody of the aria when it imitates bird song. The
importance of the Carmelites in XVIII century Girona is a subject that
needs more research since they represented one of the religious
innovations in the town owing to their nonconformism, a contrast with
the religious rationalism of other orders. This factor transformed
their convent into a prestigious ecclesiastical nucleus of notable
social influence.
The musical form is also the cantata of neapolitan
influence, lacking an instrumental introduction but cleverly
alternating solos and choir, slow and fast rhythms, a recitative and an
aria as well as the usual couplets of villancicos. The wormusical
sheets indicate that it has been interpreted frequently.
6 Corazones que ardéis
(Hearts that burn). This is a eucharistic composition of distinct
carmelite character. It was probably sung at the beginning of the 40
hours service, a solemn hour dedicated to the bishop and his following.
The text contains a few penitential allusions, albeit marginal ones, as
there is a predominance of the typical carmelite spirituality: the
arrow and the flame of love, love’s pain, the groans of ecstatical love
etc. The image where the stars are described as a loving God’s tears is
remarkable. The poem ends with an exhortation to ask for the
forgiveness of our sins. It is worthy of remark that the plural form is
always used in the text, both in the expository part and in the
exhortation except in the two last verses where there is a plea for
forgiveness. The musical structure is typical of Gònima with a preceding
chorus, solo couplets, a recitative and an aria. This is an adaptation of the neapolitan cantata.
7 Lamentatio secunda:
Lamed (Second Lamentation). This is a composition with a Latin text
that is a crude reflection on the causes of the conquering and
destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The razing of
the Temple leads the author to conclude that the Jews’ moral perversion
was the cause of the city’s ruin. The Holy Week liturgy uses this
lamentation in order to make the faithful meditate on the consequences
of sin using the coarse language of the prophet and the striking
imagery characteristic of a siege. We can imagine the effect of this
moralising work if we bear in mind that it was sung at half past six in
the morning from the choir
situated in the centre of the broad nave
illuminated by candle light, the images covered by mauve cloths. Gaz
accompanies this graphic imagery with music that is gentle yet sad and
uses dissonances to highlight the sadness expressed in certain verses.
8 Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea
(They shared out my clothes). This is a short composition by Francesc
Soler, the chapel master who completely renovated the organisation of
the cathedral music chapel and also created the musical archive. It was
written for the short procession at the keeping of the Sacrament on
Holy Thursday. The text unites three Latin phrases of different
origins: on the one hand there is the sharing out of clothes mentioned
in the 21st psalm. On the other hand are Christ’s last words according
to the evangelist Matthew plus the text of an antiphony from the Holy
Saturday liturgy. All three refer to three successive moments in the
passion of Jesus. The music is processional, solemn, homophonic,
without changes in the rhythm, all of which facilitate a better
understanding of the Latin text and is reminiscent of the old style of
Renaissance Easter music.
9 Hoy, Amor, porque acierte la herida
( Today, Love, in order to inflict a wound). This is a eucharistic
composition of a moralising nature that warns of the dangers of taking
holy communion improperly. It is a typical composition from the 40 hour
service and must have been performed before the bishop and his
following. The text is a peculiar mixture of certain amatory images
typical of carmelite spirituality with rigor ( probably of French
origin) that is more in keeping with scholastic spirituality. The
poetic text abounds in contradictions, a typical baroque resource that
aims to captivate the listener with enigmatic allusions and verses that
would seem to be contradictory.
This work begins with a splendid
polyphonic stanza that describes the believer praying and looking at
the consecrated communion wafer on top of the altar while he examines
the rectitude of his life, exactly as the Jesuits did in their
spiritual exercises. The believer’s scrutiny, deep inside himself yet
at the same time directed at the Sacrament, is described as an arrow
that, should it miss the target i.e. the mistakes of his bad
behaviour, he will pay dearly for it,(¡ay de mi si no doy en el
blanco!) (Woe to me if I miss!).In the second part of all the stanzas
the stylistic resource “¡ay de mi!” (“Woe to me!”) characteristic of
baroque Castilian love poetry, is used. This resource was also used by
the carmelite school. The rhythmic structure clearly indicates its
antiquity.
10 ¿Qué disfraces son estos?
(What disguises are these?). This is a eucharistic composition also
typical of the 40 hour service with a mixture of two kinds of
spirituality - the carmelite and the traditional scholastic one - the
same as in the previous work. Here too the highly elaborate chorus is
solemn and after the initial solo the rest of the voices answer using
the resources of baroque polyphony, later increase by the use of echo,
especially in the odd numbered lines. This polyphonic elaboration
allows the author to give the verses an exceptional variety in spite of
the obvious contrast between the development of the chorus and the
simplicity of the couplets. The text shows
a surprising familiarity
with God and its philosophical concepts of space and the perception of
reality are indicative of the author’s high cultural level.
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