Cavern Choir

PROGRAM NOTES
A Lover's Complaint

Sunday, March 4, 2007
3:00pm EST / 8:00pm GMT
Community Room, A Beginner's Bevin

'No giorno t'haggio havere
Vicenzo Fontana (Italian, fl. 1555)
De jour en jour
Tielman Susato (Flemish, c1510-c1570)
The Nightingale so pleasant
William Byrd (English, c1540-1623)
Ploures dames
Guillaume de Machaut (French, c1300-1377)

Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance was preoccupied with one topic above all: love. Mystical, sacred devotions to God and the Virgin and the impetuous, bawdy lusts of amorous youth equally fired the early European imagination. The two sometimes even intertwined in settings of sensuous verses from the biblical Song of Songs or putatively secular chansons addressed to Mary. The popularity and livelihood of troubadors and trouveres in medieval France, court composers in Burgundy and the Low Countries, and magistri cappellae in the Pope's Rome all depended on man's fascination with this most complex and cherished of emotions.

Largely shaped by the poetry and music of the era, a sophisticated set of rituals and attitudes towards love developed in the courts of Europe into what we now call the courtly love tradition. In honor of the holiday at the heart of February, Valentine’s Day, today’s concert offers four songs that together trace the courtly lover's classic journey. Vicenzo Fontana's jaunty "'No giorno t'haggio havere" marks our lover's bold proclamation of inflamed passions, as well as his mulish determination to pursue and obtain the object of his desire. With lush music and surprisingly frank lyrics, Tielman Sustao's "De jour en jour" tenderly evokes our lover’s swelling ardor. Perhaps like Romeo and Juliet, it is evening and he sings from the shadows of a garden to his beloved on her high balcony.

Unlike Juliet, however, this lady plays her proper part in the courtly love story and refuses her lover's advances. Rebuffed, he notices a nightingale singing her sad song on a nearby branch and laments his own bad fortune with William Byrd's "The Nightingale so pleasant." According to tradition, the nightingale laments her lost love the whole night long. At least she is free to fly where she wills--our lover, on the other hand, is caged up by his impossible desire. Finally, with Guillaume de Machaut's atmospheric "Ploures Dames," he complains to his lady and to God, begging them for mercy and a cure to his love-sickness. His song is sure to win him his lady’s favor in the end, affording him the privilege to chastely serve her and champion her in court and on the field.

Without a doubt, our modern rituals, attitudes, and expectations for love differ from those of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. We obey different codes and hold different beliefs concerning this centrally human emotion. Even so, we can still hear in these beautiful songs something familiar, a sweet devotion and intense ardor that speak to us and our own loves today. We hope you enjoy the Cavern Choir’s debut concert this afternoon and join us again in the future for more musicmaking in the Deep City!

Texts & Translations

'No giorno t'haggio havere
Vicenzo Fontana One day I’ll have you
transl. IanAtrus

'No giorno t'haggio havere, intra 'ste mane,
Se 'nce dovesse perdere le zappe.
Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi,
quanto voi, che no me scappi.
Non ce pensare, no, lascia 'se trame,
Si' 'ngi sentita e fa che no, ce'ncapi.
Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi,
quanto voi, che no me scappi.
Me stratii e me beffeggi come cane,
E io, papieto, 'nce stongo a 'se mape.
Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi,
quanto voi, che no me scappi.
Dove va trenta, ben può, ir trenta uno,
Ch'io t'haggio haver a dispetto d'ognuno.
Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi,
quanto voi, che no me scappi.

One day I’ll have you in these hands
even if I have to lose my paws for it.
Run away, run away, run away
as much as you like, you won't escape me.
Don’t think about it, no, abandon these ideas,
you’ve heard and see that you don’t get caught up in them.
Run away, run away, run away
as much as you like, you won't escape me.
You tear me apart and mock me like a dog
and I, poor me, can't take this beating.
Run away, run away, run away
as much as you like, you won't escape me.
If you made it to thirty, you can make it to thirty-one,*
since I want to have you in spite of all the others.
Run away, run away, run away
as much as you like, you won't escape me.
* A Neapolitan proverb which approximately means
"When you start something, you finish it."

De jour en jour
Tielman Susato Day after day
transl. zam

De jour en jour tu me fais consumer,
Te gardant foy d'amour et loyaulté ;
Que pleust à dieu avoir esté sommé
Alors que fuz surprins de ta beaulté,
Je te supplye n’user de cruaulté,
Mais me donner de ton corps joyssance
Car aultrement n’auroye resjouyssance.

Day after day I am consumed by you,
keeping faithful to you in love and loyalty;
It pleased God that I was so commanded
Since I was caught by your beauty.
I beg you not to use any cruelty
but to give me the delights of your body
for otherwise I am unable to rejoice.

The Nightingale so pleasant
William Byrd

The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay,
in greenwood groves delights to make his dwelling,
in fields to fly, chanting his roundelay
at liberty against the cage rebelling.
But my poor heart, with sorrows overswelling,
through bondage vile, binding my freedom short,
no pleasure takes in these his sports excelling,
nor in his song receiveth no comfort.

Ploures, dames
Guillaume de Machaut Weep, ladies
transl. Jennifer Garnham

Ploures, dames, ploures vostre servant.
Qui ay toudis mis mon cuer et m'entente.
Corps et desir et penser en servant
L'onneur de vous que Dieus gart et augmente.
Vestes vous de noir pour mi.
Car j'ay cuer teint et viaire pali.
Et si me voy de mort en aventure.
Se Dieus et vous ne me prenes en cure.
Mais certains sui qu'en vous de bien a tant
Que dou peril, ou je sui, sens attente.
Me geterez, se de cuer en plourant
Priez a dieu qu'a moy garir s'assente.
Et pour ce je vous depri.
Qu'a Dieu weillies pour moy faire depri.
Ou paier creins le treü de Nature.
Se Dieus et vous ne me prenes en cure.

Weep, ladies, weep for your servant,
I who have always put my heart and my understanding,
My body, desire and thought to serve
Your honor which may God keep and prosper.
Dress yourselves in black for me,
For my heart is drained and my face pale;
And you see me in danger of death
If God and you do not take care of me.
But I am certain there is so much good in you
That without delay you will thrust me
From the peril I am in, if from your heart
You pray to God, weeping that he consent to cure me.
And for this I beg you:
That you be willing to make request to God for me;
Or I fear to pay the tribute of Nature,
If God and you do not take care of me.

A note on pronunciation

The Cavern Choir strives to incorporate performance practices of the day into its performance of music from all periods, while still exploring new artistic possibilities. Our pronunciation of the French texts in particular is informed by current research into the proper phonics of medieval and Renaissance European languages.

'No giorno t'haggio havere Vicenzo Fontana	One day I’ll have you transl. IanAtrus
'No giorno t'haggio havere, intra 'ste mane, Se 'nce dovesse perdere le zappe. Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi, quanto voi, che no me scappi. Non ce pensare, no, lascia 'se trame, Si' 'ngi sentita e fa che no, ce'ncapi. Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi, quanto voi, che no me scappi. Me stratii e me beffeggi come cane, E io, papieto, 'nce stongo a 'se mape. Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi, quanto voi, che no me scappi. Dove va trenta, ben può, ir trenta uno, Ch'io t'haggio haver a dispetto d'ognuno. Fuggimi, fuggimi, fuggimi, quanto voi, che no me scappi.	One day I’ll have you in these hands even if I have to lose my paws for it. Run away, run away, run away as much as you like, you won't escape me. Don’t think about it, no, abandon these ideas, you’ve heard and see that you don’t get caught up in them. Run away, run away, run away as much as you like, you won't escape me. You tear me apart and mock me like a dog and I, poor me, can't take this beating. Run away, run away, run away as much as you like, you won't escape me. If you made it to thirty, you can make it to thirty-one,* since I want to have you in spite of all the others. Run away, run away, run away as much as you like, you won't escape me. * A Neapolitan proverb which approximately means "When you start something, you finish it."
De jour en jour Tielman Susato	Day after day transl. zam
De jour en jour tu me fais consumer, Te gardant foy d'amour et loyaulté ; Que pleust à dieu avoir esté sommé Alors que fuz surprins de ta beaulté, Je te supplye n’user de cruaulté, Mais me donner de ton corps joyssance Car aultrement n’auroye resjouyssance.	Day after day I am consumed by you, keeping faithful to you in love and loyalty; It pleased God that I was so commanded Since I was caught by your beauty. I beg you not to use any cruelty but to give me the delights of your body for otherwise I am unable to rejoice.
The Nightingale so pleasant William Byrd
The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay, in greenwood groves delights to make his dwelling, in fields to fly, chanting his roundelay at liberty against the cage rebelling. But my poor heart, with sorrows overswelling, through bondage vile, binding my freedom short, no pleasure takes in these his sports excelling, nor in his song receiveth no comfort.
Ploures, dames Guillaume de Machaut	Weep, ladies transl. Jennifer Garnham
Ploures, dames, ploures vostre servant. Qui ay toudis mis mon cuer et m'entente. Corps et desir et penser en servant L'onneur de vous que Dieus gart et augmente. Vestes vous de noir pour mi. Car j'ay cuer teint et viaire pali. Et si me voy de mort en aventure. Se Dieus et vous ne me prenes en cure. Mais certains sui qu'en vous de bien a tant Que dou peril, ou je sui, sens attente. Me geterez, se de cuer en plourant Priez a dieu qu'a moy garir s'assente. Et pour ce je vous depri. Qu'a Dieu weillies pour moy faire depri. Ou paier creins le treü de Nature. Se Dieus et vous ne me prenes en cure.	Weep, ladies, weep for your servant, I who have always put my heart and my understanding, My body, desire and thought to serve Your honor which may God keep and prosper. Dress yourselves in black for me, For my heart is drained and my face pale; And you see me in danger of death If God and you do not take care of me. But I am certain there is so much good in you That without delay you will thrust me From the peril I am in, if from your heart You pray to God, weeping that he consent to cure me. And for this I beg you: That you be willing to make request to God for me; Or I fear to pay the tribute of Nature, If God and you do not take care of me.