Il Transilvano: Musical bridges between Italy and Hungary around 1600
Prisma
rec. 2020, Jujurieux, France
Texts and translations included
EDITIONS AMBRONAY AMY312 [57:55]
Most 'classical' music performed today in churches and concert halls all over the world, and recorded on disc, belongs among the category of what is called 'art music'. It was written by composers and has come down to us in fixed form, either in manuscript or in printed editions. However, in the course of history, much music - and probably even more - was sung and played by people who did not use any written notes; many of them were probably not even able to read music. Improvisation was the name of the game, and music was handed over from one generation to another orally. It had no fixed form, and in the course of time, both texts and music often changed considerably. In most cases their original forms are not known, unless at some time such music was written down, as is the case in the manuscript the ensemble Prisma used as one of its main sources for the programme which it recorded on disc and which is reviewed here.
The title of this disc refers to an organ treatise by Girolamo Diruta, Il Transilvano, which was published in Venice in 1593 and was dedicated to Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania. This is also what Dávid Budai inspired to compose a toccata in Diruta's style. It is one of several pieces from the pen of members of the ensemble. With this disc they aim at showing the connection between 'art music' and traditional music. The thread is a manuscript from the 17th century, known as Codex Caioni, which includes pieces from Italy and Germany as well as traditional music from what is today Hungary and Romania. To that they have added traditional songs and dances of later times.
La Romana by Orazio Tarditi is an example of an Italian piece in the modern concertante style of the early 17th century which found its entry in the Codex. Whether Biagio Marini's well-known Sonata sopra La Monica is also part of the collection is unclear, but its inclusion is inspired by the fact that this popular song, which was known in different countries under different titles, was used in Hungary for a sacred hymn (comparable with the German hymn Von Gott will ich nicht lassen). Marini's sonata - one of quite a number of compositions on this song - documents that composers were often interested in traditional music. A well-known example from the 18th century is Georg Philipp Telemann.
I already mentioned that the ensemble and its members contribute to this programme with their own pieces, either entirely original or arrangements. Two keyboard pieces by Giovanni Picchi bring together these two procedures. The first two are arranged: "PRISMA arranges these pieces in the same way as Picchi did 400 years ago: we take the melodies and harmonic skeletons and decorate them with our ornaments". The performers add a gagliarda, "since a padoana (pavan) naturally calls for a galliard to follow it".
Improvisation is also an important element in the traditional part of the programme. Dávid Budai's Toccata la Francesca makes use of elements from the ensuing traditional song Bocsásd meg Úristen (Forgive me, O Lord). In this performance of the song, ritornellos are inserted between the stanzas. The same procedure is followed in Elment a két lány virágot szedni; whether these are improvisations is not entirely clear.
The programme includes a number of dances. Dance music is not only a substantial part of 'art music', it is also one of the most important aspects of popular culture. Dances of the first category are mostly not intended for dancing, such as the Sarabanda Gesneri, written by a composer of the name Ges(s)ner. It is notable that here it is a fast dance, whereas in most art music it requires a slow tempo. The Ungarescha Suite is a sequence of popular dances, ending with the Ungarescha by Giorgio Mainerio, a composer from Parma. One may think that traditional music is mostly rather simple, especially as its performers may usually have been amateurs, without a formal musical education. Some dances included here prove otherwise, as they are remarkably virtuosic. These were certainly intended for dancing.
The players of Prisma have no problem with these technical requirements. Over the years I have heard quite some discs with a mixture of traditional and art music, and many of them did not convince me, for instance because traditional music was given a too sophisticated performance, or, rather, because art music was 'popularised'. Nothing of that is the case here. This disc is a model of creative, but at the same time stylish music making. The selection of pieces makes much sense, and gives a very good impression of the connection between the two forms of music. The singing and playing is first class. Some of the playing is breathtaking. All in all, this is a compelling programme with lots of variety. If you have an open ear for traditional music, you should add this disc to your collection, also because music from this part of Europe is probably little-known outside the region itself.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
Contents
Dávid BUDAI
Toccata La Diruta [01:10]
trad
Hajnali (Morning song) [02:30]
Orazio TARDITI (1602-1677)
La Romana [02:59]
GESNER (?-?)
Sarabanda Gesneri [00:47]
Biagio MARINI (1594-1663)
Sonata sopra La Monica [04:14]
Elisabeth CHAMPOLLION
[Hungarian kaval solo] (improvisation) [03:02]
trad
Magos kösziklának (From the high cliff's edge) [01:41]
Giovanni PICCHI (1571/72-1643)
Ballo Ongaro [01:39]
Paduana ditta la Ongara [01:30]
Dávid BUDAI
Gagliarda ditta la Ongara [01:13]
trad
Angoli Borbála [03:34]
Ferenc Kulcsár: Pontozó [03:38]
Elment a két lány virágot szedni (Two girls went to pick flowers) [05:14]
anon
Intrada [02:32]
trad/Prisma - Giorgio MAINERIO (1535-1582)
[Ungarescha Suite] [07:12]
Dávid BUDAI
Toccata la Francesca [02:27]
trad
Bocsásd meg Úristen (Forgive me, O Lord) [03:03]
Vetettem violát (I have sown violets) [04:;11]
Öves - Ördög útja (On the devil's road) [01:29]
Legényes [03:40]
