Willemina Johanna (Jos) Somsen [1426]
Music for Candlemas
Gregorian Chant & early 13th century
polyphony from the Ecole Notre-Dame
Passacaille 932
Trigon
The Trigon Ensemble specialises in the
study and performance of medieval music, with the early Gregorian as basis and
starting point. The group aims at immersing itself in the medieval spirit by
penetrating deep into the music in order to bring this fascinating world of
sounds and experiences back to life. With this end in view, Trigon always works
on the basis of original manuscripts.
The three women singers of Trigon - Margot Kalse, Jos Somsen and Penny
Turner - met each other in Rebecca Stewart's class for early vocal ensemble
music at the Brabant Conservatory of Tilburg, the Netherlands. Artistic
director Margot Kalse founded Trigon on the occasion of her final exam for
obtaining the title of Performing Musician in 1998. In the same year, Trigon
won the first prize at the International Young Artist's Presentation Early
Music in Antwerp. Trigon has performed at the Festival of Flanders Antwerp
(Belgium) and the Holland Festival of Early Music Utrecht (the Netherlands). In
August 2000 the ensemble’s first cd was released under the Passacaille label.
This cd features gregorian chant and polyphony from the liturgy of Candlemas,
in the style of the École de Notre Dame, a style that developed around the
Notre Dame of Paris, during the time of its construction (after 1150).
L’École de Notre Dame
Around the year 1150 a new style of church music came into being. Until then all chants were performed in unison, but now the need arised for more exuberant and solemn music -for adding lustre to holy days. The practice of improvising and ornamenting was not new: Gregorian melodies were already ornamented with fifths, fourths or octaves. But now a new style of composing developed from this practice: The Notre Dame Polyphony.
The most important genre of this polyphony is the organum, originally a composition for two, later also for three or four voices. The lower voice contains the original - though elongated - melody of the chant. Above that a new ornamental voice is composed that feels its way towards the end of the sentence, moving from consonant to consonant through all kinds of rhythmic peculiarities, discords and unexpected melodic lines. Refashioned into an organum the original gregorian chant therefore becomes longer, slower, solemner. The early organum singers must have been fascinated and astonished by the new possibilities which this polyphonic style of composing held. Trigon tries to capture this spirit in order to bring this music back to life.
Candlemas
The Latin name for this feast on February 2 is In purificatione Beatae Mariae
Virginis: the feast of the purification of the blessed Virgin Mary. This name
refers to the Law of Moses, which prescribes that a mother go to the temple to
be purified forty days after the birth of her son. A second element is the
presentation of Jesus in the Temple in the presence of Simeon, also in
accordance with the jewish Law, where it says that the first-born of the male
sex should be dedicated to the Lord. Both elements are referred to in the
gospel for February 2: Lucas 2, 22-24. A third element is
"candlemas", the custom of consecrating candles and carrying them in
procession before mass. The Romans too used to hold a procession in February
with burning torches in honour of one of their gods, which shows how elements
of an existing rite are incorporated into a new Christian feast held around the
same date.
As for the
ordering information:
For us it would be best if family members would order the cd from us directly (in that case the musicians would get the profit, instead of the label, the distributing company and the record shop), but I can imagine it would be a bit of a hassle to send money over to the Netherlands. Do you have information on that? For family members in the USA the cd costs fl 45,= (in Dutch guilders; including postage to the USA), to be sent to account no. 2945603 of Ms. W.J. Somsen at the Postbank N.V., Antwoordnummer 40000, 6800 XP Arnhem, the Netherlands. At the same time the full address details should be sent to Jos Somsen, Nazarethstraat 32, 5021 VX Tilburg, The Netherlands, or to my email address (jossomsen@hotmail.com). People could also call me at +31-13-5436981 to give their address details. I will send the cd as soon as I have received the fl 45 and the full address.
But I can imagine this would all be a bit complicated, so family members might just want to order the cd from the shop. The number of the cd is Passacaille 932 (Passacaille is a small Begian label), the cd will be distributed by Qualiton Import, and will probably become available some time in September.
I have some more ordering information for people living outside of the Netherlands or Belgium. The cd can be purchased through the internet, the name of the site is: