Houston Early MusicBy CHARLES WARD, January 13, 2008
…. But the Fortune’s Wheel singers - Lydia Heather Knutson, Aaron Sheehan and Shira Kammen - perfromed as if the Medieval English style had become their primarily musical language. Their simple communication with the audience made the essentially unfamiliar music as appealing as the Three Bs. Kammen, on the harp, and Mealy, on the fiddle, added sinuous accompaniments. ….
1015 Holman (at Main)
just south of downtown on the rail line
HCC/Ensamble Rail Stop
MAP
Since 1893 Trinity has provided a spiritual home for countless seekers in the heart ofHouston. Over the years, as our neighborhood and city have changed, we’ve evolved too, and responded to the needs of a challenging urban context. Today we are an interesting assortment of creative folk, who represent the eclectic nature and boundless energy of our vibrant cosmopolitan home. We are an open, inclusive community and welcome others to join us on the spiritual path. We value such things as beauty and diversity, which you’ll find reflected in our art, architecture, and music, and also in our commitment to outreach and service to those in need. We strive to be faithful to our call to reconcile all people to God and to each other. Our hope is that Trinity Church h\can be a refreshing oasis of calm, peace, and understanding amidst the chaos of city life.
Our historic neo-gothic church building was designed by renowned architect Ralph Adams Cram, assisted by William Ward Watkin, and was completed in 1919. The lovely Morrow Chapel was renovated in 2002 and features world-class stained glass, artwork, and liturgical furnishings by such artists as Kim Clark Renteria, Kermit Oliver, Troy Woods, Shazia Sikander, and Selven O’Keef Jarmon. Our Sunday worship services combine the serenity of these sacred spaces with the joyful
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
All medieval music is glimpsed from a great distance, but no repertory is so hard to see as that of England in the middle ages. Where France had a tradition of lyric song that lasted long enough for thousands of songs to be enshrined in manuscripts, the music we have from England of the same period is scattered and faint: much was destroyed when the monasteries were taken over by the state in the Renaissance, and much more has suffered from the ravages of time. What has come down to us, though, speaks in astonishingly vivid voices.
From Jonathan Saville, San Diego Reader
… The group’s latest program, Mirie it is, presented them with difficulties of a special kind. A great deal of medieval French music has come down to us with both words and tune, and to realize it in a modern performance what is needed is an informed feeling for the style and an ability to improvise historically suitable accompaniments and embellishments. The Fortune’s Wheel musicians are exceptionally good at this, neither too bold nor too cautious, but with a wonderful air of spontaneity and freedom.
… more
Mirie it is c.1225
Instrumental traditional Scottish tune
Edi beo þu hevene queenë pre-1300
Ave celi regina virginum 14th century
Ave mundi rosa
Estampie from Robertsbridge Codex c.1360
Ar ne kuth ich sorghe non c.1270
Fuwëles in the frith c.1270
Man mei longe him liues wene pre-1250
Bryd one brere c.1300
Solaris ardor romulis mid-14th century
The hymns by St. Godric c.1215
Criƒt and ƒainte Marie
Sainte Marie virgine
Sainte Nicholaes
Worldes bliƒƒ, have god day c.1280
Virgo salvavit 14th century
Stand wel moðer under rode (dialogue) early and mid-14th century
English dance arr. Kammen/Mealy
On Yooles night (carol) mid-14th century
Stantipes (14th century dance tunes) arr. Mealy/Kammen
In secreit place—text by William Dunbar, arr. Kammen
c.1460–c.1520
Houston Early Music will present the Boston-based Fortune’s Wheel with Mirie it Is–A Glimpse of Medieval England at 4:00 pm, Sunday, January 13, 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1015 Holman (at Main). Noted for performing “with a wonderful air of spontaneity and freedom” (The San Diego Reader), Fortune’s Wheel will present a concert of most of the surviving vernacular treasures from the once vast, now largely lost repertoire of the English Middle Ages.
Fortune’s Wheel is a spirited collaboration of four distinguished early-music performers—vocalists Lydia Heather Knutson and Aaron Sheehan, and instrumentalists Shira Kammen & Robert Mealy performing on vielle (medieval fiddle) and harp. Devoted to rediscovering the riches of medieval musical traditions, the ensemble made its debut at the 1996 International Festival of Early Music in Mexico City, where critics acclaimed the group’s “style, diction, tuning, perfect balance, and total engagement with the music.” Since then, the ensemble has been presented by early music concert series in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Tijuana, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Houston, Jackson, Tucson, Columbus, Cambridge, and Duke University. They have also appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Berkeley Early Music Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, The Cloisters and the Frick Collection in New York City, Yale University’s Collection of Musical Instruments, and many other series.
Fortune’s Wheel released its first CD, Pastourelle, on Dorian Recordings. Website www.fortuneswheel.org
Prior to the concert, at 3:00 pm, ensemble member Robert Mealy will give a preconcert talk discussing the music to be performed on the program.
Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for seniors, $10 for students, under 15 free. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling 713-432-1744.
Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
From the rough vigor of folk music to the refined sophistication of rarely-heard polyphony, Fortune’s Wheel presents most of the surviving vernacular treasurers from the once vast, now largely lost repertoire of the English Middle Ages.
“Fortune’s Wheel takes its medieval music seriously and then transforms the music at hand and voice into living, breathing art”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
