MEDIEVAL ‘OKTOBERFEST’ ON TAP FOR UTOPIA SEASON OPENER THIS WEEKEND

It’s going to be a musical Oktoberfest when Utopia Early Music opens its fifth season this weekend with music from medieval Germany. “The program will have a little bit of everything,” said Utopia co-founder and singer Christopher LeCluyse. “We’re going from the sublime to the ridiculous.”

The program does in fact, cover a lot of musical territory.

Emily Nelson

On the sublime side will be music by the 12th century composer, poet and religious visionary Hildegard von Bingen. Emily Nelson, co-founder of Utopia and also a singer, finds Hildegard’s music riveting. “She wrote fascinating, mystically sacred music that uses unusual imagery and metaphors.”

Hildegard wrote mostly sequences, or odes, Nelson added. Many of them deal with the Holy Spirit. “She sees God in all things, and she believes the Holy Spirit permeates all of creation.”

The ridiculous will be represented by Carmina Burana, a collection of poems, many of them racy and even vulgar, written by monks during the Middle Ages. The work is widely known today through Carl Orff, who took 24 of the texts and set them to music in 1937.

“Modern scholars have put the texts [from Carmina Burana] to existing music from the period,” Nelson said, adding that that was a common practice in the Middle Ages. “There was no concept of ownership or copyright laws back then.”

Christopher LeCluyse

Since there is no music associated with the poems in Carmina Burana, this is all conjecture on the part of musicologists, LeCluyse added. “It’s enlightened guesswork.” But in its favor is the fact that music was disseminated widely throughout Europe, so a many people would have known the tunes that musicologists used for these texts. “This music is like songs,” LeCluyse said. “Music got around. It was an international culture.” And as far as anyone knows, some of these tunes might actually have been used for these poems back in the 12th century.

Also on the program will be music by the Minnesänger, the German equivalent of French troubadours. “Some of this music is original to the Minnesänger,” LeCluyse said, “and others were taken from other sources and given German words.”

Joining Nelson and LeCluyse on the program will be Shulamit Kleinerman from Seattle on medieval fiddle; Therese Honey from Houston on Gothic harp; and local singers Geoffrey Friedley, tenor, and Ricky Parkinson, bass. Local recorder player Lisa Chaufty will also perform.

“The concert will have a festive feel, and it’s going to be really entertaining,” Nelson said. “Medieval music is a hard sell, but there are going to be a lot of catchy tunes and a lot of sweet sounds on this concert. It’s not going to be stuffy at all.”

Here is a rundown of Utopia’s concerts this season. Except where noted, all concerts take place in the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, 231 E. 100 South. For more information log on to www.utopiaearlymusic.org.

  • Oct. 4-6: “Harvest Song: Music from Medieval Germany” – Music from the 12th century renaissance.
  • Dec. 6-8: “An Early Music Christmas” – Music from medieval chant and English carols to Latin American dances, early American hymns, French noëls and Italian lullabies.
  • March 14-16, 2014: “Baroque Winds” – Music by Handel, Telemann and Bach.
  • May 12, 2014: “Music from the Time of Vlad Dracula” – Utopia joins San Francisco based medieval ensemble Cançonièr to perform 15th century music from the cultural crossroads of eastern Europe during the reign of the infamous Vlad the Impaler. (Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College.)

  • CONCERT DETAILS:
  • What: “Harvest Song: Music from Medieval Germany
  • Venue: Cathedral Church of St. Mark, 231 E. 100 South
  • Time and Date: 8 p.m. Oct. 4-5, 5 p.m. Oct. 6
  • Tickets: Free will payment (suggested $15 general, $12 seniors, $10 students)
  • Web: www.utopiaearlymusic.org
This entry was posted in Concert Previews by Edward Reichel. Bookmark the permalink.

About Edward Reichel

Edward Reichel, author, writer and composer, has been covering the classical music scene in Utah since 1997. For many years he served as the primary music critic for the Deseret News. He has also written for a number of publications, including Chamber Music Magazine, OPERA Magazine, 15 Bytes, Park City Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He can be reached at ed.reichel@gmail.com. Reichel Recommends is also on Twitter @ReichelArts.

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