THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
FSU Early Music Ensemble
Emily Eubanks, Director
Sarah Eyerly, Director
Rachel Shapiro, Director
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
5:00 p.m. | Dohnányi Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Cruda Amarilli Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Kylie Painter and Meg Schiliro, soprano; Jasmine Merriweather, alto
Jacob Parker, tenor; Logan Kenison, baritone
Intermezzo Adriano Banchieri from La Pazzia Senile (1568–1634)
arr. Eric E. Britt (b. 1995)
Seconde Fantasie Eustache du Caurroy (1549–1609)
Jane Cohen and William Schoenfeld, sackbut
Alexei Kovalev, serpent
Trio IV, Op. 10
Johann Baptist Vanhal I. Adagio (1739–1813)
II. Menuetto and Trio
David Scott, 6-keyed clarinet
Bárbara Santiago, violin; Turner Sperry, cello
Upon a Summer’s Day Love Went to Swim
William Byrd from Songs of Sundrie Natures (London, 1589) (c.1540–1623)
John Bateman, Madison Drace, Logan Williams, and Rachel Shapiro, recorder
Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Johann Sebastian Bach II. Allemande (1685–1750)
III. Courante
Turner Sperry, cello
As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623)
Anielya Wells-Miller and Ariel Rodriguez, soprano; Jasmine Merriweather, alto
Jacob Parker and Logan Williams, tenor; Logan Kenison, baritone
So drincken wir alle
Arnold von Bruck from Schöne auszerlesne lieder (1536) (c.1500–1554)
William Schoenfeld, Alejandro Valdivia, Francesco Pastore, and Alexei Kovalev, crumhorn
Canzona
Claudio Merulo (1533–1604)
John Bateman, Luce Markarian, Francesco Pastore, and Alejandro Valdivia, recorder
Trio Sonata in D major, Op. 3, No. 2
Arcangelo Corelli I. Grave (1653–1713) II. Allegro
Maya Johnson and Bárbara Santiago, violin Sam Green, organ
An Schwager Kronos, D.369
Licht und Liebe, D.352
Brandon Mecklenburg, baritone Cristian Dirkhising, fortepiano
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Jasmine Merriweather, soprano; Kelby Yoder, tenor Cristian Dirkhising, fortepiano
Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 11, No. 11
Ludwig van Beethoven I. Allegro con brio (1770–1827)
David Scott, 6-keyed clarinet Turner Sperry, cello Cristian Dirkhising, fortepiano
In sixteenth-century Italy, the powerful d’Este family used their splendid court at Ferrara not only as a site for elaborate festivities but also as a private residence. Surviving accounts describe the gatherings they hosted at court, which often included musical performances. One 1583 gathering hosted by Duke Alfonso II d’Este (1533–1597) and his wife, Duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici (1545–1561), featured music by their court singers:
[There was] a great concert in the rooms of the duchess of Ferrara...and afterwards the duke asked four of his musicians to sing some madrigals. (Newcomb, 1980)
Duke Alfonso’s patronage of “secret music” (musica secreta) in his private court chambers even extended to his founding a soprano trio, the concerto delle donne, known for its highly virtuosic improvisation. In the private rooms of the Ferrara court, madrigals were a central source of entertainment and were often sung by both professional musicians and members of the court. Surviving descriptions such as this, alongside extant physical spaces, visual representations, and instrument inventories offer glimpses into the many styles and genres of music that took place in European homes from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries.
In addition to vocal repertoire, instrumental music was performed in residential palaces to celebrate momentous occasions, introduce notable guests, and provide background music. In these large halls, the powerful sounds of sackbuts, cornetti, and shawms could easily fill expansive spaces, often travelling down from the musicians’ gallery, or hourdy, and resonating off wood-paneled walls and stone floors.
At both court and in wealthy homes, private apartments were ideal for the softer sounds of a recorder or crumhorn consort, as well as solo performances on keyboard or stringed instruments. In many wealthy European homes, dedicated rooms were specifically built for intimate musical performance. In these “music cabinets,” or studioli, individuals could study or play music while surrounded by beautiful books, paintings, musical instruments, and valuable coins, stones, and minerals, all of which attested to their owners’ cultivation and commitment to learning. In these private music rooms, solitary music-making offered a moment of personal entertainment, education, and reflection.
In addition to featuring secular works, domestic music-making could also serve devotional purposes. Many residential palaces in Europe included a private family chapel, where religious music was integral to the services attended by the court. By the seventeenth century, the publication of sacred vocal and instrumental music made such repertoire increasingly accessible to sheet music consumers. The circulation of published sacred works, including Arcangelo Corelli’s (1653–1713) church sonatas, offered a new source of domestic music-making that could facilitate religious reflection or worship.
By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, domestic music performances in major European cities were inseparable from salon culture. In the receiving rooms of wealthy homes, musical works were premiered, workshopped, and shared. Salons in Vienna became particularly active sites for artistic experimentation, including the gatherings associated with Franz Schubert (1797–1828). At these Schubertiades, friends and patrons heard Schubert’s compositions alongside literary and poetic readings, lively conversations, and games. Schubert’s expansive output of lieder often centralize the individual and private life, making these songs ideal for the intimate listening experience that salons cultivated. The Bohemian composer Johann Vanhal (1739–1813) also took advantage of the networking opportunities afforded by Viennese salon culture. According to the Irish tenor Michael Kelly, Vanhal
attended one such gathering in 1784, where he performed string quartets with Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799), Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), too, premiered works in Viennese homes, where patrons, critics, and fellow musicians gathered to share music and offer artistic exchange.
Prior to the rise of public music venues in Europe throughout the nineteenth century, the home served as a vital site for musical performance, allowing domestic life and music culture to intertwine. The characteristics and functions of these domestic spaces varied greatly, and the styles and genres of music heard in them were equally as diverse.
TEXT AND TRANSLATIONS
As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending
As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending, she spied a maiden Queen the same ascending, Attended on by all the shepherds’ swain, to whom Diana’s darlings came running down amain, First two by two, then three by three together, Leaving their goddess all alone hasted thither; And mingling with the shepherds of her train, with mirthful tunes her presence entertain. Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana, Long live fair Oriana!
Cruda Amarilli
Cruda Amarilli che col nome ancora D’amar, ahi lasso, amaramente insegni. Amarilli del candido ligustro, Più candida e più bella, Ma dell’aspido sordo E più sorda e più fera e più fugace. Poi che col dir t’offendo I mi morò tacendo.
Cruel Amaryllis, who with your name to love, alas, bitterly you teach. Amaryllis, more than the white privet pure, and more beautiful, but deafer than the asp, and fiercer and more elusive. Since telling I offended you, I shall die in silence.
Licht und Liebe
Liebe ist ein süsses Licht.
Wie die Erde strebt zur Sonne, Und zu jenen hellen Sternen
In den weiten blauen Fernen, Strebt das Herz nach Liebeswonne: Denn sie ist ein süsses Licht.
Sieh! wie hoch in stiller Feier Droben helle Sterne funkeln: von der Erde fliehn die dunkeln Schwermutsvollen trüben Schleier. Wehe mir, wie so trübe Fühl ich tief mich im Gemüte, Das in Freuden sonst erblühte, Nun vereinsamt, ohne Liebe.
An Schwager Kronos
Spute dich, Kronos!
Fort den rasselnden Trott!
Bergab gleitet der Weg:
Ekles Schwindeln zögert
Mir vor die Stirne dein Zaudern. Frisch, holpert es gleich, Über Stock und Steine den Trott Rasch ins Leben hinein!
Nun schon wieder
Den eratmenden Schritt Mühsam berghinauf, Auf denn, nicht träge denn Strebend und hoffend hinan!
Weit, hoch, herrlich
Rings den Blick ins Leben hinein; Vom Gebirg zum Gebirge Schwebet der ewige Geist, Ewigen Lebens ahndevoll.
Love is a sweet light. Just as the earth aches for the sun and those bright stars in the distant blue expanses, so the heart aches for love’s bliss, for love is a sweet light.
See, high in the silent solemnity, bright stars glitter up above: from the earth flee the dark heavy baleful mists. Alas! Yet how sad I feel deep in my soul; once I brimmed with joy; now I am abandoned, unloved.
Make haste, Chronos!
Break into a rattling trot! The way runs downhill; I feel a sickening giddiness at your dallying. Quick, away, never mind the bumping, over sticks and stones, trot briskly into life!
Now once again breathless, at walking pace, struggling uphill; up then, don’t be sluggish, onwards, striving and hoping.
Wide, lofty and glorious is the view around into life; from mountain range to mountain range the eternal spirit glides, bringing promise of eternal life.
Seitwärt des Überdachs Schatten
Zieht dich an Und ein Frischung verheissender Blick
Auf der Schwelle des Mädchens da Labe dich! – Mir auch, Mädchen, Diesen schäumenden Trank, Diesen frischen Gesundheitsblick!
Ab denn, rascher hinab!
Sieh, die Sonne sinkt!
Eh sie sinkt, eh mich Greisen Ergreift im Moore Nebelduft, Entzahnte Kiefer schnattre
Und das schlotternde Gebein,
Trunknen vom letzten Strahl Reiss mich, ein Feuermeer
Mir im schäumenden Aug’ Mich geblendeten Taumelnden
In der Hölle nächtliches Tor.
Töne, Schwager, in’s Horn, Rassle den schallenden Trab, Dass der Orkus vernehme: wir kommen, Dass gleich an der Tür
Der Wirt uns freundlich empfange.
A shady roof draws you aside and the gaze of a girl on the step, promising refreshment. Refresh yourself! For me too, girl, that foaming draught, that fresh, healthy look.
Down then, down faster! Look, the sun is sinking! Before it sinks, before the mist seizes me, an old man, on the moor, toothless jaws chattering, limbs shaking,
Snatch me, drunk with its last ray, a sea of fire foaming in my eyes, blinded, reeling through hell’s nocturnal gate.
Coachman, sound your horn, rattle noisily on at a trot. Let Orcus know we’re coming. So that the innkeeper is at the door to give us a kind welcome.