|
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
that disappeared in Girona at the end of the XVII century with the
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
Castilian Spanish texts show the complexity of baroque poetry 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 increased 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.
|
