Italy & France
A Florentine Patroness at the Parisian Court
Catherine di Medici
Catherine di Medici, born to the famous Florentine Medici family, was betrothed to the future king of France, Henri, son of François I at the tender age of 14. Orphaned as an infant, she was raised in convents in Florence and Rome before her betrothal to the future monarch. She was a music lover and in her later years a great patroness of the arts, planning lavish entertainments for the French court.
This program will feature Italian music that was a part of her early years in the convents, and the French songs and dances that she encountered at the French court. Piffaro will be joined by soprano, Shari Alise Wilson, who will help paint a picture in song of the life and adventures of this most notable Renaissance noblewoman.
October 24, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust St., Philadelphia
October 25, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Road, Philadelphia
October 26, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Sts. Andrew and Matthew Church, 8th and Shipley St., Wilmington, DE
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Nouvelle, Nouvelle!
Nativity scene
Christmas in Renaissance France
In many rural cathedrals of 16th century France, a midnight mass on Christmas eve was a joyous celebration filled with music, dance and theater. Parishioners heard not only sacred chant and polyphony, but also the rustic texts and tunes of French noels.
A 16th century manuscript of these old texts, housed in the Rare Book Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia, will be our source for these noels, and the Missa Voulant honneur by Claudin de Sermisy, based on a French chanson, will provide the framework of the program. The manscript’s illustrations of dancing peasants, musicians playing shawms, recorders, hurdy-gurdy and the like, even featuring a bagpipe playing pig and a dancing dog, will also play an important role.
bagpipe-playing pigs?
Piffaro members, together with soprano Laura Heimes and tenor Philip Anderson will be joined by actors Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell, who will help bring the characters from this manuscript alive.
December 19, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Road, Philadelphia
December 20, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust St., Philadelphia
December 21, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Sts. Andrew and Matthew Church, 8th and Shipley St., Wilmington, DE
December 22, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
All Saints Church, 16 All Saints Road, Princeton, NJ 08540
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Venice, Paris & Lyons
Centers of Music Publishing in the 16th c.
With the dawn of successful efforts to print music at the turn of the 16th century, printers in Italy and France began to flood the new market with volumes of music from the best composers across Europe. Venice, Paris and Lyon took the lead in making available collections of dances, motets, masses, chansons and more. The publishing firms of Ottaviano Petrucci (Venice), Pierre Attaingnant (Paris), Jacques Moderne (Lyons), and LeRoy & Ballard (Paris) provided a plethora of editions to keep the new market for music volumes well supplied.
Examples of music moveable type
Our concert will draw upon all of these publishers and highlight the multiplicity of styles and genres of French and Italian music made available during this exciting new era in printing.
February 13, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust St., Philadelphia
February 14, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Road, Philadelphia
February 15, 2009, 4:00 p.m.
Sts. Andrew and Matthew Church, 8th and Shipley St., Wilmington, DE
Harmony of the Spheres
A Celebration of Celestial Inspiration
Harmony of the Spheres
rom the days of Pythagoras, the 6th century BCE Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer from Croton in southern Italy, through the Renaissance, music was allied with numbers as a guide to interpret the visible world and the larger cosmos. Terrestrial music, musica humana, was simply a reflection of the harmony that ordered the celestial realm, musica mundana or the harmony of the spheres. Italian composers, theorists and practitioners all paid homage to this worldview.
Our concert continues this homage in music, art and illustrations, as we explore one of history’s most profound and enduring musical notions that inspired great composers and great compositions. Piffaro will be joined by a quartet of singers.
May 8, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust St., Philadelphia
May 9, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Road, Philadelphia ***
May 10, 2009, 4:00 p.m.
Sts. Andrew and Matthew Church, 8th and Shipley St., Wilmington, DE
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