I Fagiolini: The ache, the bite and the banger - St Martin's Digital
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I Fagiolini:
The ache, the bite
and the banger
Live, Thursday 24 June, 7.00pm
Recorded for broadcast on St Martin-in-the-Fields
Trafalgar Square
Wednesday 30 June, 7.30pm London
WC2N 4JJ
Available for online concert ticket holders to watch as many times 020 7766 1100
as you like and available for 30 days. www.smitf.org
PROGRAMME
Prologue to L’Orfeo — Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
T’amo mia vita — Monteverdi
Ahi come a un vago sol cortese giro — Monteverdi
See, see, the shepherd’s Queen — Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Weep, o mine eyes — John Bennett (c1575-after 1614)
Noel, adieu, thou court’s delight — Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)
Light of my soul — Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795-1856)
Rest — Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Love is a babe — Adrian Williams (b. 1956)
Stripsody — Cathy Berberian (1925-1983)
The Sloth — Flanders & Swann (1922-1975 & 1923-1994)
I love my love — Trad arr. Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
PROGRAMME NOTES
by Sarah Maxted
I Fagiolini begin ‘The ache, the bite and the banger’ with three works by the Italian master
of musical drama, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). Working for the court at Mantua,
Monteverdi was one of the pioneering composers who contributed to the genesis of the
opera genre at the start of the seventeenth century. Following the innovations of fellow
Italian composer Jacopo Peri, Monteverdi developed the era’s fashionable court
entertainments into a format recognisable as opera with his 1607 work L’Orfeo. The opera
is based on the mythological story of Orpheus and Eurydice, with a libretto by Mantuan
court diplomat Alessandro Striggio. The plot is introduced with this Prologue sung by La
Musica, the personification of music.
Beyond his operatic fame, Monteverdi is known for his extraordinary output of Italian
madrigals: secular songs for multiple voices, often with amorous or pastoral subject matter.
From his First Book of Madrigals published in 1587 to the Ninth Book published
posthumously, Monteverdi’s madrigals represent a remarkable stylistic journey of musical
expression and textual interpretation. T’amo mia vita and Ahi come a un vago sol
cortese giro are both continuo madrigals from his Fifth Book, published in 1605. The texts
are from Rime by Italian poet Giovanni Battista Guarini and Monteverdi’s settings are
theatrical in nature, with the lines of poetry shared in dialogue between the different vocal
parts, foreshadowing the distinctive dramatic style and success of L’Orfeo two years later.
The Italian madrigal style spread quickly across Europe and Elizabethan England soon
found itself in the throes of madrigal fever. Inspired by the popularity of madrigals by
Monteverdi and other composers including Luca Marenzio, the English poet Thomas
Watson published The first set Of Italian madrigals Englished in 1590. This unleashed a
brief but glorious age of English madrigals in the Italian style, with all the leading composers
of the day trying their hand at the genre.
Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656) was a prominent church musician and composer of keyboard
and consort music. His madrigal collection Songs of 3, 4, 5 and 6 parts was published in
1922, including the five-part madrigal See, see, the shepherds’ Queen. The text
celebrates the traditional pastoral figure of Phyllis with cascades of light-hearted ‘fa-la-la’s
and merrily dancing shepherds.
Weep, O mine eyes is a poignant lament by John Bennet (c.1575-c.1614) based on the
‘lachrimae’ (tears) motif. The motif is a descending scale, like a falling tear, which was
widely used by Elizabethan composers and was immortalised by the composer-lutenist John
Dowland in his song Flow my tears. An earlier Italian madrigal by Marenzio also used the
motif in 1585, titled Parto da voi. Of Bennet’s life, little is known beyond his important
contribution to English madrigal canon, preserved in collections including his 1599
publication of Madrigals for Four Voices.
Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) was a prolific composer of English madrigals, publishing four volumes of these secular vocal works between 1597 and 1608. Noel, adieu, thou court’s delight is from his 1600 collection of eight Madrigals to 5 and 6 parts. It is an elegy composed following the death of Elizabethan courtier and politician Henry Noel in 1597. There is perhaps some irony to be relished in Weelkes’ setting; the tragic text professes the end of joy and pleasure, but the music is undeniably enjoyable with its bittersweet and indulgently dissonant harmonies. Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795-1856) was an English composer primarily remembered for his vocal works reviving the Renaissance madrigal style. He was a founding member of the Bristol Madrigal Society, which began meeting in 1837. Pearsall’s arrangement of the carol In Dulci Jubilo and the richly emotive part-song Lay a Garland are enduringly popular standards of choral repertoire, but his six-part madrigal Light of my soul is now rarely performed. The text is a serenade from the historical romance novel Leila or The Siege of Granada by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published in 1838. Pearsall’s setting showcases his Romantic sensibilities, layering the voices in a flowing texture of imitative entries and luxurious suspensions. Rest is an early choral work by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), written for performance by the Magpie Madrigal Society in 1902. Like his other early part-songs, this piece is strongly influenced by Vaughan Williams’ interest in Elizabethan poetry and madrigals. The text is by the nineteenth century poet Christina Rossetti but is written in the Renaissance form of a Petrarchan sonnet. Vaughan Williams’ use of triple time brings out the lullaby metre of the poetry and captures a sense of eternity through the effect of subtle hemiolas, stretching time languidly over the bar-lines. The music is articulated with expressive silences, illustrating Rossetti’s description of ‘silence more musical than any song’. Based on Sonnet 115 by William Shakespeare, Love is a babe was composed by Adrian Williams (b. 1956) for Robert Hollingworth’s 2012 album of Shakespearean sonnet settings. The title, which Williams uses as a refrain throughout the piece, is taken from the final couplet of the sonnet. Typically, these two lines follow the sonnet’s volta (thematic turn) and contain a concise kernel of truth, distilling the core meaning of Shakespeare’s verse. In this case, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of Cupid, the infant god of love, to assert that love always has scope for growth. Stripsody is an iconic work by American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian (1925-1983). Berberian’s performance repertoire ranged from Monteverdi madrigals to contemporary works by composers including Luciano Berio, her partner in both music and marriage. Having established her career as a fiercely witty and intelligent interpreter of avant-garde music, Berberian wrote her first composition Stripsody in 1966. It explores the onomatopoeic language and sound effects of comic strips, notated as a graphic score with illustrations by Roberto Zamarin. The Sloth is a charming song by the comedy duo Flanders & Swann. Michael Flanders (1922-1975) and Donald Swann (1923-1994) were classmates at both Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, but they didn’t fully develop their famous musical partnership until the late 1940s. Together, they cowrote a plethora of comic songs, monologues and
revue shows and enjoyed performances and tours worldwide. Some of their most memorable ditties concern the animal kingdom, including this delightful commentary on the contentedly idle life of a sloth. Gustav Holst (1874-1934) arranged the Cornish folksong I love my love as part of his collection of Six Choral Folksongs in 1916. The song paints an evocative narrative of loss and madness which extends over six stanzas and – unlike so many folk tales – concludes with a rare happy ending! The upper voices repeat the words ‘I love my love’ in a lilting refrain, coloured by Holst with varying harmonies to represent the changing moods of drama, distress and devotion. I Fagiolini (c. Matthew Brodie)
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Prologo to L’Orfeo La Musica Dal mio Permesso amato a voi ne vegno, From my beloved Permessus I come to you, incliti eroi, sangue gentil di Regi, illustrious heroes, noble race of Kings, di cui narra la Fama eccelsi pregi, whose glorious deeds Fame relates, nè giunge al ver perch’è tropp’alto il segno. but falls short of the truth, for the target is too high. Io la Musica son, ch’à i dolci accenti I am Music, who in sweet accents so far tranquillo ogni turbato core, can calm every troubled heart, et hor di nobil ira, et hor d’amore and now with noble anger, now with love, posso infiammar le più gelate menti. can inflame the coldest minds. Io sù cetera d’or cantando soglio With my golden lyre and my singing, I am used mortal orecchia lusingar talora, sometimes to delight mortal ears, e in guisa tal de l’armonia sonora thus to inspire souls with a longing de le rote del Ciel più l’alme invoglio. for the sonorous harmony of the heavenly lyre. Quinci à dirvi d’Orfeo desio mi sprona, From here, desire spurs me to tell you of Orpheus, d’Orfeo che trasse al suo cantar le fere, Orpheus who drew wild beasts by his songs, e servo fè l’Inferno à sue preghiere, and who subjugated Hades by his pleas, gloria immortal di Pindo e d’Elicona. the immortal glory of Pindus and Helicon. Hor mentre i canti alterno, hor lieti, Now while I sing, now of joy, hor mesti, now of sorrow, non si mova augellin fra queste piante, let no small bird stir among these trees, nè s’oda in queste rive onda sonante, no noisy wave be heard on these shores, et ogni Auretta in suo camin s’arresti. and let every little breeze be still in its course. Alessandro Striggio (?1573-1630) “T’amo, mia vita!” la mia cara vita " I love you, my life" my dear life dolcemente mi dice, e in questa sola sweetly says to me, and in this single sì soave parola so sweet a word par che trasformi lietamente il core, seems to transform the heart with joy per farmene signore. to make me its lord. Oh, voce di dolcezza e di diletto! Ah, voice of sweetness and pleasure! Prendila tosto, Amore; Take it quickly, O Love, stampala nel mio petto . imprint it in my breast.
Spiri solo per lei l’anima mia; May my soul breathe only for her. “T’amo, mia vita!” la mia vita sia. "I love you, my life", may this be my life! Guarini, Rime madrigale 70 Ahi, come a un vago sol cortese giro Alas, for only one graceful and kind glance de’ due belli occhi, ond’io of these beautiful eyes - from which soffersi il primo dolce stral d’Amore, I was first wounded by Love's sweet dart - pien d’un novo desio, how full of new desire sì pront’a sospirar torna’l mio core. my heart is ready to sigh again! Lasso, non val ascondersi, ch’omai Wretched me, it's useless to hide, for already conosco i segni che’l mio cor addita I know the scars that my heart shows de l’antica ferita. from the ancient wound. Ed è gran tempo pur che la saldai. Though I mended it long time ago, Ah che piaga d’Amor non sana mai! Ah, Love's wound never heals! Guarini, Rime 102 See, see the shepherds’ Queen, Fair Phyllis all in green. The shepherds home her bringing With piping and with singing. Then dance we on a row And chant it as we go! Weep, O mine eyes and cease not. Alas these your springtides methinks increase not. O when begin you to swell so high that I may drown me in you? Noel adieu, adieu thou Court’s delight, Noel adieu, adieu thou Court’s delight, Upon whose locks the graces sweetly played; Now thou art dead, our pleasure dies out right, For who can joy when thou in dust art laid? Bedew, my notes, his death bed with your tears; Time helps some grief, no time your grief out wears. Light of my soul, arise, arise! Thy sister lights are in the skies; We want thine eyes, Thy joyous eyes; The Night is mourning for thine eyes! The sacred verse is on my sword,
But on my heart thy name The words on each alike adored; The truth of each the same. Rest O earth, lie heavily upon her eyes; Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth; Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs. She hath no questions, she hath no replies, Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessèd dearth Of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth; With stillness that is almost Paradise. Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her, Silence more musical than any song; Even her very heart has ceased to stir: Until the morning of Eternity Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be; And when she wakes she will not think it long. Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) Love is a babe Those lines that I before have writ do lie, Even those that said I could not love you dearer; Yet then my judgment knew no reason why My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer. But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents Creep in 'twixt vows and change decrees of kings, Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents, Divert strong minds to the course of altering things; Alas, why, fearing of Time's tyranny, Might I not then say 'Now I love you best,' When I was certain o'er incertainty, Crowning the present, doubting of the rest? Love is a babe; then might I not say so, To give full growth to that which still doth grow? William Shakespeare (1564-1616) The Sloth A Bradypus, or Sloth, am I, I live a life of ease Contented not to do or die, But idle as I please I have three toes on either foot, Or half a doz. on both
With leaves and fruits, and shoots to eat, How sweet to be a Sloth The world is such a cheerful place When viewed from upside-down; It makes a rise of every fall, A smile of every frown; I watch the fleeting flutter by Of b***erfly or moth And think of all the things I'd try If I were not a Sloth. I could climb the very highest Himalayas, Be among the greatest ever tennis players, Win at chess or marry a Princess or Study hard and be an eminent professor. I could be a millionaire, play the clarinet, Travel everywhere, Learn to cook, catch a crook, Win a war then write a book about it. I could paint a Mona Lisa, I could be another Caesar. Compose an oratorio that was sublime. The door's not shut on my genius but I just don't have the time! For days and days among the trees I sleep and dream and doze Just gently swaying in the breeze Suspended by my toes While eager beavers overhead Rush through the undergrowth I watch the clouds beneath my feet; How sweet to be a Sloth. Michael Flanders (1922-1975) and Donald Swann (1923-1994) I love my love Abroad as I was walking, one evening in the spring, I heard a maid in Bedlam so sweetly for to sing; Her chains she rattled with her hands, And thus replied she: "I love my love because I know my love loves me! O cruel were his parents who sent my love to sea, And cruel was the ship that bore my love from me; Yet I love his parents since they're his although They've ruined me:
I love my love because I know my love loves me! With straw I'll weave a garland, I'll weave it very fine; With roses, lilies, daisies, I'll mix the eglantine; And I'll present it to my love When he returns from sea. For I love my love, because I know my love loves me." Just as she sat there weeping, Her love he came on land. Then hearing she was in Bedlam, He ran straight out of hand. He flew into her snow-white arms, And thus replied he: "I love my love, because I know my love loves me." She said: "My love don't frighten me; Are you my love or no?" "O yes, my dearest Nancy, I am your love, also I am return'd to Make amends for all your injury; I love my love because I know my love loves me." So now these two are married, And happy may they be like turtle Doves togheter, in love and unity. All pretty maids with patience wait That have got loves at sea; I love my love because I know my love loves me. Traditional Folksong Our thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, for supporting the ReSound concert series at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The performers and technical crew carefully adhere to all current government regulations for COVID-19.
PERFORMERS
Soprano Baritone
Rebecca Lea Greg Skidmore
Elspeth Piggott
Bass
Tenor Charles Gibbs
Matthew Long
Countertenor / Harpsichord
Robert Hollingworth
I Fagiolini is internationally renowned for its genuinely innovative productions. Signature
projects have included The Full Monteverdi by John La Bouchardière; Tallis in Wonderland,
a new way of hearing polyphony with live and recorded voices; Simunye, the South African
collaboration; How Like An Angel (HLAA), with Australian contemporary circus company
C!RCA for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and performed at the Perth International Arts Festival,
New York and in cathedrals across Europe; and Betrayal: a polyphonic crime drama (with
John La Bouchardière), an immersive theatre piece sung to the music of Gesualdo with
dancers and singers set in 'crime scenes'. Premiering in 2021, Re-Wilding The Waste Land
is based around T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Waste Land’ and is inspired by our need to “Re-wild”
(David Attenborough), both our world and our creativity post-pandemic. The programme
features six new commissions from Joanna Marsh, Shruthi Rajasekar and Ben Rowarth.
Recent projects include three performances in the VOCES8 Foundation’s online festival
series LIVE From London: Monteverdi (The Ache of Love), Long, Long, Ago - Messe De
Minuit, and Re-Wilding The Waste Land with Tamsin Greig narrating. A short series of
three films for socially distanced chamber musicians, #NotInThisTogether (Le Zoom,
Phone-y Canzone-y, and Cake Mix), and also a weekly educational and outreach series Sing
The Score funded by ACE and University of York. New podcast ‘choral chat’ collaboration,
Choral Chihuahua, with The Sixteen’s Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan has been
winning admirers globally.
The group is delighted to be Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of York. I Fagiolini is
managed worldwide by Percius.ReSound is a brand new concert series from St Martin-in-the-Fields, aiming to put St
Martin’s at the heart of music-making in the capital. The series is focused around an exciting
range of online concerts, some of which can also be attended in-person.
The concerts are streamed through our online platform, StMartins.Digital, and are available
to watch as many times as you like for 30-60 days. We also have the opportunity for you to
be a part of the audience for some of our concert recordings. Explore our range of in-person
and online events by visiting the links below.
Voices in the Crypt, available online until Wednesday 21 July
St Martin's Voices with Simon Russell Beale
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day
Love bade me welcome
Long live fair Oriana
Paddington Bear's First Concert
Available online until Wednesday 21 July
Will Todd Ensemble and St Martin's Voices:
Songs of Love
Available online until Sunday 27 June
The Wind in the Willows
Available online until Friday 30 July
Benson Wilson and James Baillieu
Available online until Wednesday 7 July
Academy of St Martin in the Fields: Miniatures
Available online until Saturday 10 JulyQuartet for the End of Time:
Melvyn Tan and Friends
Available online until Thursday 22 July
St Martin’s Voices with Anna Lapwood:
Upon your heart
Available online until Friday 23 July
Organ Recital: Rachel Mahon
Available online from Saturday 26 June
Organ Recital: Ben Giddens
Available online from Saturday 26 June
The Hermes Experiment
Available online from Monday 28 June
Attend in-person, Friday 25 June, 7.00pm
Vivaldi and the Ospedale della Pietà
Available online from Tuesday 29 June
Attend in-person, Saturday 26 June, 7.00pm
I Fagiolini: The ache, the bite and the banger
Available online from Wednesday 30 June
Attend in-person, Thursday 24 June, 7.00pmFree, non-ticketed events
The Song and The Story, in-person only, Sundays, 3.30pm
In youth is pleasure, Sunday 27 June
and from Sunday 5 July - Sunday 29 August
Festival Evensong with St Martin's Voices
In-person, Sunday 27 June, 5.00pm,
and live-streamed
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