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About Rosa Das Rosas
Product Description Centuries of dedication and folklore in the chapels and courts of early Italy, Spain and Portugal produced music with rhythms that reverberated across the Mediterranean. In this recording spanning three centuries of vocal and instrumental music, a diverse collection of lyric poetry, dances, Italian spiritual songs, and Galician-Portuguese Cantigas de Santa Maria tell of the Virgin s sometimes-humorous, always-incredible miracles. Review The Virgin Mary is the subject of this program of songs from late-medieval and Renaissance Spain and Italy. There are 6 cantigas from the codex of Cantigas de Santa Maria, which was compiled between 1257 and 1283 at the court of Alfonso the Wise. There are several monophonic and polyphonic Italian laudas from the Grey Collection (MS Cape Town 3.b.12), a manuscript so called because it comes from the library Sir George Grey donated to the South African Library in 1861. The program also includes religious works in Spanish and Latin by Juan del Encina (1485-c. 1530), Juan de Anchieta (1462-1523), and Francesco Guerrero (1528-99). Un Sañoso Porfia is quite a solemn song that commemorates the conquest of Ferdinand and Isabella over the Moors. Sung from the point of view of the conquered Moor, it is a simple song composed with very close, parallel triadic harmonies. The laudas are the work of musicians active among the confraternities in Northern Itlay, probably in Modena, Ferrara and Mantua. They are quite similar to the laudas one finds in the more famous collections from Florence (Codex Magliabechniano, 14th c.) and the Cortona Laudario (13th c.). Simple strophic structures with refrain are normative, sung here by soloist or small choir. Or Piangiamo, Che Piange Maria is the Virgin Mary s lament at the scene of the crucifixion. The text is deeply evocative and mystical in its subject matter; it is performed here by solo singer with occasional exclamations by a small choir. The choral passages demonstrate the same preference for parallel triadic sonorities as one hears in the cantigas. The singing is quite competent. Singers are often accompanied by vielle and percussion, similar to other recordings of this repertory --American Record Guide The Rose Ensemble is a Minnesota-based early music group which, like the Waverly Consort, weaves folk, medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music (both insturmental and vocal) into a rich and dramatic tapestry as entertaining to see as to hear. Rosa das Rosas is their seventh CD... The program is centered on six cantigas from the collection of Alfonso X, around which are grouped Italian laude and pieces from the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. All are unified by some textual connection to the Virgin Mary. There is splendid variety here. Although much of the music is monophonic, the ensemble utilizes discreet instrumental accompaniment, including harp, psaltery, vielle, and percussion. The numerous stanzas of the cantigas are varied by timbre, range, accompaniment and the occasional use of primitive harmonizations; two of them are performed by instruments alone, and one is recited rather than sung in the manner of a monodrama. Even the longish (over nine minutes) Una sanosa porfia of Juan del Encina is kept interesting by the alternation of various voicings and subtle percussion. There are 11 singers in the group; they typically sing in an unaffected manner, sometimes adding a slight edge to the tone. Tuning is impeccable. The performances, based on thorough and up-to-date research, are impassioned and brightly alive. The presentation is attractive (forgoing the usual plastic jewel case for an appropriately decorated cardboard sleeve) and the ambient acoustic (Webster Music Hall at the University of Minnesota, Duluth) is appropriately church-like. Notes, texts and translations are provided. Highly recommended to lovers of this repertoire. --Choral Journal From Spain on outward across Europe, recordings of the Cantigas de Santa María have pr
