discogs.com
197?
Fortress Records BP 61670
A
1 - Deo Gracias, Anglia (Agincourt Carol) [0:52]
2 - Trotto [0:59]
3 - Be Merry, Be Merry [0:45]
4 - Lullay: I Saw a Sweete, Seemly Sight [3:07]
5 - Nowell Sing We Now [0:55]
6 - Saltarello [1:37]
Samson, Dux Fortissime
[11:58]
(A dramatic cantata of the thirteenth century)
7 - Chorus [1:22]
8 - Interlude – Samson – Samson and Chorus [2:28]
9 - Samson Dux Fortissime - Interlude; Samson [1 :36]
10 - Interlude – Delilah – Samson [1:31]
11 - Interlude – Chorus – Samson – Chorus – Delilah – Samson and
Chorus – Samson [3:31]
12 - Interlude – Chorus – Samson and Chorus [1:30]
B
Renaissance Choral Music
1 - Claudio MONTEVERDI: Pater, Venit Hora [1:22]
2 - Giovanni Pierluigi da PALESTRINA: Hodie Christus Natus Est
[2:07]
3 - Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK: Chantez a Dieu Chanson Nouvelle
[1:36]
Medieval Carols And
Dances
4 - Ah Man, Assay [1:42]
5 - Nova, Nova [1:28]
6 - Deo Gracias [0:57]
7 - Nota [1:10]
8 - Saltarello [0:54]
9 - Alleluia Psallat [1:10]
The Choir of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Bluma Goldberg Jacobs
(A/1, 3-8, 11, 12, B/1-5, 9)
Soloists:
Robert N. Peery, Jr. • tenor (A/4, 5)
Roy T. Lloyd • bass (A/5, B/5), Samson (A/8-12)
The Philadelphia Antiqua Players
Bluma Goldberg Jacobs
Ruth Silin • soprano (Delilah) (A/10, 11)
Kenneth E. Zindle • drum (A/1, 6-8, 11, 12)
Bluma Goldberg Jacobs • soprano recorder (A/2), alto
recorder (A/6), viola (A/8-12)
David C. Newhart • tambourine (A/2, 6-12)
John R. Warren • guitar (A/4, 8, 10, 11)
Robert G. Sonnenberg • bells (A/5, 6, 9), woodblock
(A/10, 12)
Fred T. Crawford • finger cymbals (A/10, 12)
Robert L. Buckwalter • soprano recorder (B/4, 6, 7, 9)
Kenneth T. Michnay • tenor (B/5), tenor recorder (B/4,
6, 9)
Robert E. Bornemann • alto recorder (B/4, 6-9)
Donald S. Cornelius • bells (B/5, 6, 9), finger cymbals
(B/7), triangle (B/8)
Leonard F. Ashford, Jr. • drum (B/7-9)
Douglas A. Haak • tambourine (B/8, 9)
It is only natural that from time to time the Philadelphia Antiqua
Players and the Choir of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
should join forces, since they have the same musical director. Of the
several occasions when they performed together, none was more happy
than when they presented Festa: A Medieval Divertissement . Beginning
with carols and dances from the 12th and 13th centuries, and using
ancient instruments for accompaniment, the work recalls the feasts and
entertainments of Medieval England – holiday season in the days of
chivalry.
The highpoint of Festa is the dramatic cantata telling the story of
Samson and Delilah, Samson, Dux Fortissime. The work of special
interest is the history of medieval drama. Unlike other dramatic works
with religious subjects from this period, the Samson has no liturgical
ties. Not intended for use in church, it appears to be a wholly secular
place, which just happens to have a biblical subject. It has no special
religious or theological concern: rather the piece celebrates Samson,
the hero and patriot, to whom belongs glory for what he did for his
fatherland. Along the way the piece manages also to make some wry
remarks about the dangers of falling prey to a designing woman! The
fact that this is the only work of this kind known from the Middle Ages
only enhances its interest.
The work is preserved in a manuscript of the British Museum (Harleian /
Harley 978), the same manuscript which has the famous round, “Sumer is
icumen in”. Strictly speaking, Samson is not a play, but a setting of
long Latin poem called a planctus, a lament. At the same time it is
clear that there is dialog between Samson and Delilah and Samson and
the narrator or chorus. Although unmarked in the manuscript itself, the
speeches of Samson and Delilah are clearly definable from the context
of the poem: those of the chorus are clear only at the beginning and in
the last two lines at the end. In this performing edition, the chorus
is given a rather substantial role. Where the sense of the text allows,
the chorus appears as narrator, telling the story: at other places,
however, it addresses Samson, and at times even participates in the
action.
Musically the work is also of interest. The whole piece is really a
free, rhapsodic development of about ten melodic elements, some quite
closely related. The somewhat restricted melodic material gives the
work unity, while the free handling of the material gives interest and
variety. Throughout there is a clear attempt at musical
characterization: the boasting , self-assured Samson and the seductive
Delilah appear not only in the text but also in the melodies. Some
melodic groupings appear several times in the work, and sometimes with
real dramatic impact, as, for example, in the case of laments of
Samson, which use the same melodies as Delilah in her song of triumph.
Samson is a monodic work, having only a single voice line, with no
harmonies and no instrumentation indicated. In this performing edition
instrumental accompaniment has been added as well as additional parts
for the chorus. The harmonies follow the style of early organum. Five
instrumental interludes have also been inserted. These are based on the
musical materials of the work itself and serve to mark the end of
section and to set the mood for the next.
The Philadelphia Antiqua Players and the Choir gave fifty performance
of the work. One critic described it as an “ingenious realization of
medieval dramatic cantata on the Samson and Delilah story – not as
elaborate as the Play of Daniel, but hardly less amazing”.