Dramsam Centro Giuliano Musica Antica Page 11.

English

Made with MAGIX

DRAMSAM ENSEMBLE Since 1987, the ensemble Dramsam, has dedicated

itself towards the musical heritage of the middle ages.

Dramsam performs regularly in major Italian cities and

as well as major international festivals and cultural

events (Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Austria,

Slovenia, Croatia, Poland), participating in numerous

radio and TV recordings (RAI, NDF, SDF, RTK, Can 5).

Directed by Giuseppe Paolo Cecere, Dramsam offers

the public a generous musical proposal of the rich

medieval and renaissance repertoire(expecialy italian)

while respecting the historical points of performance

practice. The group uses instruments reconstructed

from attentive studies of the insturments used in

Medieval Europe. some Dramsam's musical programs: AL PULSAR DI CAMPANA (To the ringing of the bells)

a day heard through music in an Italian city of the l4th century

The l4th century (il trecento) represents one of the happiest periods in the history of

Italian music. In this program the listeners cover the forms, themes and manners of

this repertoire traced throughout the moments and activities articulating a typical day

in the life of a city during the “trecento". Diverse moments and varied musical

functions to which not only the textual contents correspond to but also the same

stylistic musical elements exemplify the moments of the day. From the popular

accents of the short ballate related to the quotidian themes to the solemnity of

religious moments, the listeners are presented with a world in which one becomes

momentarily distracted but still hears the chiming of the bells in the rhythms and ways

traced between the walls, along the streets and buildings of our antique cities.

program: (5-6 musicians)

NICOLO’ DA PERUGIA : THE MORALIST

PROVERBI E MOTTI DI SPIRITO NELLA MUSICA DEL ‘300 ITALIANO

Little is known about Magister Ser Nicholaus Prepositi de Perusia (as he is called in

the Squarcialupi Codex) only that he was born in Perugia, worked during the second

half of the l4th century in central Italy, mostfy in Florence. The works of Niccolò da

Perugia are especially interesting not only for the refined musical style, but also from

the point of view of the textual material. With strong pedagogical charactaristics, the

texts express a very concise moral opinion: civil education, popular wisdom and

meditation, often ironic towards the moral habits of his contemporaries. No other

composer of this period demonstrates such a close relationship stylistically between

musicand text. The level of complexity of the poetry finds a well matched mirror image

in the musical material. The direct discourse. the proverbial sentence. the

autobiographical reflections are presented in the form of the ballata and, following the

poetic style of the texts, the musical construction moves continually in the direction of

melisma and harmony.This program presents a selection of polifonic ballate with a

common theme of expressing different moral opinions and offers the public a

sampling of the work of this musician/composer who, in his musical journey through

life, maintained a strong altruistic intention and active intervention towards the 'things'

of the world.

program: (5 musiCIANS)c

VIATORES songs of Knights, Ladies and Pllgrims on the roads of Medieval Europe

During che middle ages, pilgrimage represented a Spiritual adventure, an opportunity

for ritual and collective purification. The destinations of medieval pilgrimage were

primarily Rome, Santiago de Compostella and Jerusalem, of which the last was

surely the most Important. Not only was pilgrimage to Jerusalem decreed as having a value pro omni potentia by

the Council of Clermont, but Urbano II also guaranteed all those departing on

pilgrimage to the holy lands a plenary indulgence, the forgiveness of all sins end

complete redempcion. In followlng this custom of pilgrimage to the holy land, the

crusades thus represented a continuation, a variation of the eradition of the faithful in

the time of the year 1000. The rich documentatlon of the lyrical musical moments first

in support of the crusades and further sustaining the force of moralization and the

renewal of the original principles of the armed pilgrimage. It was the convergence of

troubadours, trouvère and minnesanger, the most skilful and famous. Among the

themes of "persuasion" used by the singers of the crusades, as one could say in

terms of propaganda, the most. common of which was that the journey to the Oriente

was a direct wish of God and therefore of sacred Importance (giving rise to the

concept of Holy Wars which was then adopted by the Moslems and clearly

demonstrated religous intollerance); simultanously, and of no less importance was the

appeal of having heroic figures. Sanctified warriors and knight were greatly admired

and emulated by the general public for their conviction of the true faith against the

enemy. These same knights never tired of discerning similarities between thenselves

and the heroes of the epic poems, the Chanson di Geste, which in thatera was well

known in many lands and used as an affirmation of Ideal behavior. This program

illustrates the dlverse aspects of pilgrimage and is divided in three sections: the first

includes songs of the crusades beginning with the exhortation and ending wlth

imprisonment; the second section, interludio dell'attesa, expreases the voice of the

ladies waiting for the return of their knight; and the third section is dedicated to the

songs of devotion and pillgrimage.

(5-6 musicians ; ev. with choir - 5 persons)

ANTONIUS DE CIVITATE:

a composer from Friuli between Ars Nova and Ars Subtilior (XIV-XV centuries)

Antonio da Cividale was a Dominican friar active at the end of the period, Ars Novs.

He was born in the city of Cividale where a strong poliphonic tradition had produced

the most precious "discanti" performed by the gentle voices of the Dom's sextons and

provided him with an ideal opportunity to release his creativity. In 1392, he entered

the cloister of San Domenico in Venice where he remained until 1406, the year he

moved to Fiesole. His life and the path of his artistic evolution are to be traced in

many of his compositions. Antonio could compose in the old-fashioned

. and simple style of the musical tradition of Aquileia, as well as he could use the

more advanced musical techniques imported from France. The French language and

culture had probably exerted its strongest influence in Northern Italy, considering the

cultural life in Padoa and its university. Thanks to Antonio's musical compositions it is

possible to have a vivid impression of the times and places where he lived. He

learned the French stylistic elements of Ars Nova, such as the isorythmlc motet, and

applied them to his own cultural reality which was open to such contributions.

Simultaneously, he maintained the important musical heritage of the ancient city of

Cividale.

program: (6 musicians)

OTHER PROGRAMS OF MEDIEVAL MUSIC AVAILIBLE: ** CHIARA FONTANA: music in Italy from the time of Leonardo da Vinci, (5-6

musicians) ** CARMINA BURANA: repertoire chosen from the Codex Buranus (4-6 musicians-

choir)

** NOVA CARMINA: songs of love and gaiety from the 12th to 14th c. (4-6 musicians-

choir)

** EL REY SABIO : the cantigas of Santa Maria of Alfonso X "EI Sabio" (5 musicians)

** STELLA NOVA: Christmas in the music of the Middle Ages (5 musicians- choir) ** LA GAIA SCIENZA (lo gaj saber): trobador art of the 13th and 14th cent. in the

romance lands (3-4 musicians)