Done the dang outline. Need it out of my system. 2 papers down, 2 to go. Time to get dressed and go give a lecture.
Christina Allen
Music of the Western World I
December 3, 2002
Presentation Outline
Topic:
My topic is the Virgin Mary and her place in medieval and Renaissance music.
Thesis:
The Virgin Mary is one of the most iconographic figures in the Western sphere, and there are many factors that are incorporated into the archetype of the sacred virginal maid. Among these factors are remnants of older goddesses from Greece, Italy, and Gaelic Ireland, and also the secular Marian-worship of the late medieval/ Renaissance period. This project will explore the origins of the Virgin Mary archetype and the icon’s portrayal in music through the development of the Ave Maria and other virgin-centric works.
I. The Archetype
A) The Goddesses- I will begin by recounting the myth of Astarte, the original “Queen of Heaven.” I will mention Isis and Ishtar as early examples if goddesses with savior/dying god sons Tammuz and Horus, with a distinct parrallel to the story of Mary, and how they were worshipped as Earth mothers of healing. Also mentioned will be Diana and Artemis, respective goddesses of youth and the moon, who were celebrated due to their unending virginity. All of these factors contributed to the icon of Mary and the rise of her mystery cults.
B) Transformations into sainthood- I will briefly detail the Christianization of Europe, wherein many of the pagan beliefs were made to seem evil to facilitate conversion. An example of this is the stag-god Cernunnos, whom Satan’s goat-like appearance was patterned after. Also, the previous triad of Maiden/Mother/Crone was then replaced by the Holy Trinity of Father/Son/Holy Spirit. Then, I will mention the transformation of the Gaelic mother goddess, Brighid, into Saint Bridget, an Christian saint. She, like Jesus, is credited with the ability to heal lepers with a touch, and as Europe became more Christianized, Brighid, the crone goddess of ancient wisdom, was one of the old gods that the Christians could not weed out entirely, so the canonized her as a saint. There was a distinct need for a mother figure in the Judeo Christian pantheon left by the change from worship of the great mother to the Christian sky-father (Yaweh, G-D), and they thought that integrating goddesses would alleviate this, butt the archetype was still too strong. Cults of Mary- worship began to arise, and she began to embody the feminine aspects of God through Christian values (purity, humility, grace.)
C) Judeo-Christian basis- I will speak about the biblical Mary, and her relationship to the Judeo-Christian pantheon. Mary was a virgin from the town of Nazareth who was of the ancestric line of King David, who was himself a direct descendant of Adam and Eve. She was to marry a man named Joseph when the archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she would bear Jesus, the savior of mankind, even though she was still a virgin. She bore Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, and wise men saw the star that shone above Bethlehem, and knew that the savior had been born. Not much else is truly known of Mary, other than the fact that she and Joseph had many other children, and she was present at the crucifixion. Like the passion of Jesus, the suffering of Mary at the foot of the cross is also a heavily iconicized Christian expression of grief. She is seen in three main roles: the mother, the virgin, and the bride/queen of Heaven. In Christian lore, she becomes the soft, pious intercessor of man on behalf of a stern god.
D) Secularization of the archetype- I will mention the Maid Marian of British lore, a secular version of Mary; a virginal lady who was worshipped chastely and made the subject of many troubadour/ trouvere chanson. In the twelfth century, the cults of the Virgin were nearing their zenith. At this time, tales of Robin Hood and his chaste maid were also very popular, and often the subject of the minstrel songs all over Europe. Mad Marian exemplified grace, piety, and purity, so she became to be an extension of the archetype. In this way, the cult of the Virgin and the phenomenon of courtly love in the music of the troubadours fed off of and supported each other. Marian and Mary were twin types of the untouchable lady. Similarly, 13th century French literature deals with the ability of chaste love to elevate a man’s soul. According to “Alone of All Her Sex,” by Marina Warner, “chastity was the highest dynamic of the struggling heart.” Marian and the Virgin Mary were both associated with the notion that the body and the soul should be separate entities.
Three of the most famous troubadours were Bernard de Ventadorn, Guillaume de Machaut, and Contessa Beatriz de Dia. Ventadorn’s “Can vei la lauzeta mover” deals with longing for that which he cannot have, as does Machaut’s “Quant Theseus- Ne Quier Voir,” which is a six stanza work of Marian worship that utilizes Machaut’s own poetry juxtaposed with the poetry of Thomas Paien. The reoccurring theme exemplifies the movement of Marian worship:
“For in seeing her beauty, in her countenance and her bearing, imbued
With sweetness, I acquire wealth great enough to be rich, for her great goodness
redowns in me by virtue of her noble love… I see enough when I behold my lady.”
I will play “A chantar m’er de so queu no volria” by Contessa de Dia, which shows the phenomenon of courtly love from a more feminine perspective. It is set to a drone instrument, and deals with longing and chastity. It begins and sets the tone with the line, “I must sing if what I do not want. I am so angry with the one I love, because I love him more than everything.”
II. The Icon in Sacred Music
A) I will touch on the roots of the text of the traditional Ave Maria, its meaning, and its place in the liturgy of the Catholic church throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods, and also its significance today.
Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
(Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you above all women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.)
The text here are the combined words of the Archangel Gabriel and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, from the Gospel of Luke, verses 28 and 42. They are seen combined as early as the 7th century by James of Antioch. It was sung as an antiphon ( a scripture-based hymn with clear meaning and very simple melody) standard, especially at festivals like the Feast of Annunciation, which celebrates Mary.
Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
(Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us now
And in the hour of our death. Amen.)
This was found in the writings of clergyman Bernardine of Siene (1380-1444), and was added tot the preexisting Ave Maria text. This text was standardized in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.
B) Early examples will include motets textually centered on the Virgin, such as the anonymous 13th century motet, O Mitissima/ Virgo/ Haec Dies, which I will play. This piece is polytextual (texts from the church propers) with three voices all singing separate texts. Text I is the Mitissima, which centers on the Virgin as intercessor and protector. It is defined by the line, “Oh, sweetest virgin, beg thy son to give us help.” Text II is the Virgo text, which centers on a celebration of virginity. The third voice, the tenor, simply chants the Haec Dies (“This is the day that the Lord hath made”) text, filling out the trinity overtones.
This piece is very difficult to understand, and there is very little emphasis on any particular word or text. The text is syllabic and sung very rhythmically, although with out definite meter. It is highly disjunct and very representative of the medieval motet form.
C) An example of the setting of the Ave Maria in the Renaissance will be Josquin’s Ave Maria, Virgo Serena. This example was one of an SATB choir with a very calm, serene tone. The lack of vibrato also lent the piece a sense of innocence that was very conductive to the devoutly sacred, adoring tone of the words that describes the holiness of the Virgin Mary. The text was predominantly syllabic, although the ends of phrases tended to be treated melismatically. Harmony was predominantly imitative polyphony, although towards the end, the voices blend into a homophonic texture. The piece is in a rather slow duple meter and it is in a major key. It is for the most part conjunct and consonant, and the rhythm is not very pronounced, giving the piece a drifting, ethereal feel.
The text is a departure from the traditional setting of the Ave Maria text as well, as it mixes snippets of the text with different Virgin-centric prose that celebrates the aspect of Mary as Virgin. The meaning of the text is best exemplified through the line, “Hail, true virginity, unspotted chastity whose purification was our cleansing.” It is also another consonant step towards the Palestrina sound of the high Renaissance.
III. Conclusion
I will conclude the presentation with a brief summary of the history of the Ave Maria, and I will briefly mention aspects of its continuing significance today both in liturgy and secular performance.
Bibliography
Anonymous. “O mittisima/ Virgo/ Haec Dies.” “Ave Maria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1999.
“Ave Maria.” New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition. Stanley Sadie, ed. London, Macmillan Press, 2001.
“Ave Maria.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Catholic University Of America, Washington D.C., 1967.
Boyer, Marie-France. The Cult of the Virgin. Thames and Hudson, Ltd., London, 2000.
Des Pres, Josquin. “Ave Maria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1999.
Dia, Beatriz. “ A chantar m’er de so queue no volria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1998.
Greeley, Andrew M. The Mary Myth- On the Femininity of God. Seabur Press, New York, 1977.
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. Goddess: Myths of the Female Divine. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994.
“Mary, Blessed Virgin- The Saint in Art.” Winston, Jessica. Art History, Volume 25, No. 3, 2002.
Preston, James T. Mother Worship: Theme and Variations. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
Ruether, Rosemary R. Mary- The Feminine Face of the Church. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1977.
Warner, Marina. Alone of All Her Sex. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1976.
Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings From The Middle Ages To The Present, Revised Edition. Carol Neuls-Bates, ed. Boston, University Press, 1996.
Christina Allen
Music of the Western World I
December 3, 2002
Presentation Outline
Topic:
My topic is the Virgin Mary and her place in medieval and Renaissance music.
Thesis:
The Virgin Mary is one of the most iconographic figures in the Western sphere, and there are many factors that are incorporated into the archetype of the sacred virginal maid. Among these factors are remnants of older goddesses from Greece, Italy, and Gaelic Ireland, and also the secular Marian-worship of the late medieval/ Renaissance period. This project will explore the origins of the Virgin Mary archetype and the icon’s portrayal in music through the development of the Ave Maria and other virgin-centric works.
I. The Archetype
A) The Goddesses- I will begin by recounting the myth of Astarte, the original “Queen of Heaven.” I will mention Isis and Ishtar as early examples if goddesses with savior/dying god sons Tammuz and Horus, with a distinct parrallel to the story of Mary, and how they were worshipped as Earth mothers of healing. Also mentioned will be Diana and Artemis, respective goddesses of youth and the moon, who were celebrated due to their unending virginity. All of these factors contributed to the icon of Mary and the rise of her mystery cults.
B) Transformations into sainthood- I will briefly detail the Christianization of Europe, wherein many of the pagan beliefs were made to seem evil to facilitate conversion. An example of this is the stag-god Cernunnos, whom Satan’s goat-like appearance was patterned after. Also, the previous triad of Maiden/Mother/Crone was then replaced by the Holy Trinity of Father/Son/Holy Spirit. Then, I will mention the transformation of the Gaelic mother goddess, Brighid, into Saint Bridget, an Christian saint. She, like Jesus, is credited with the ability to heal lepers with a touch, and as Europe became more Christianized, Brighid, the crone goddess of ancient wisdom, was one of the old gods that the Christians could not weed out entirely, so the canonized her as a saint. There was a distinct need for a mother figure in the Judeo Christian pantheon left by the change from worship of the great mother to the Christian sky-father (Yaweh, G-D), and they thought that integrating goddesses would alleviate this, butt the archetype was still too strong. Cults of Mary- worship began to arise, and she began to embody the feminine aspects of God through Christian values (purity, humility, grace.)
C) Judeo-Christian basis- I will speak about the biblical Mary, and her relationship to the Judeo-Christian pantheon. Mary was a virgin from the town of Nazareth who was of the ancestric line of King David, who was himself a direct descendant of Adam and Eve. She was to marry a man named Joseph when the archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she would bear Jesus, the savior of mankind, even though she was still a virgin. She bore Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, and wise men saw the star that shone above Bethlehem, and knew that the savior had been born. Not much else is truly known of Mary, other than the fact that she and Joseph had many other children, and she was present at the crucifixion. Like the passion of Jesus, the suffering of Mary at the foot of the cross is also a heavily iconicized Christian expression of grief. She is seen in three main roles: the mother, the virgin, and the bride/queen of Heaven. In Christian lore, she becomes the soft, pious intercessor of man on behalf of a stern god.
D) Secularization of the archetype- I will mention the Maid Marian of British lore, a secular version of Mary; a virginal lady who was worshipped chastely and made the subject of many troubadour/ trouvere chanson. In the twelfth century, the cults of the Virgin were nearing their zenith. At this time, tales of Robin Hood and his chaste maid were also very popular, and often the subject of the minstrel songs all over Europe. Mad Marian exemplified grace, piety, and purity, so she became to be an extension of the archetype. In this way, the cult of the Virgin and the phenomenon of courtly love in the music of the troubadours fed off of and supported each other. Marian and Mary were twin types of the untouchable lady. Similarly, 13th century French literature deals with the ability of chaste love to elevate a man’s soul. According to “Alone of All Her Sex,” by Marina Warner, “chastity was the highest dynamic of the struggling heart.” Marian and the Virgin Mary were both associated with the notion that the body and the soul should be separate entities.
Three of the most famous troubadours were Bernard de Ventadorn, Guillaume de Machaut, and Contessa Beatriz de Dia. Ventadorn’s “Can vei la lauzeta mover” deals with longing for that which he cannot have, as does Machaut’s “Quant Theseus- Ne Quier Voir,” which is a six stanza work of Marian worship that utilizes Machaut’s own poetry juxtaposed with the poetry of Thomas Paien. The reoccurring theme exemplifies the movement of Marian worship:
“For in seeing her beauty, in her countenance and her bearing, imbued
With sweetness, I acquire wealth great enough to be rich, for her great goodness
redowns in me by virtue of her noble love… I see enough when I behold my lady.”
I will play “A chantar m’er de so queu no volria” by Contessa de Dia, which shows the phenomenon of courtly love from a more feminine perspective. It is set to a drone instrument, and deals with longing and chastity. It begins and sets the tone with the line, “I must sing if what I do not want. I am so angry with the one I love, because I love him more than everything.”
II. The Icon in Sacred Music
A) I will touch on the roots of the text of the traditional Ave Maria, its meaning, and its place in the liturgy of the Catholic church throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods, and also its significance today.
Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
(Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you above all women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.)
The text here are the combined words of the Archangel Gabriel and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, from the Gospel of Luke, verses 28 and 42. They are seen combined as early as the 7th century by James of Antioch. It was sung as an antiphon ( a scripture-based hymn with clear meaning and very simple melody) standard, especially at festivals like the Feast of Annunciation, which celebrates Mary.
Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
(Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us now
And in the hour of our death. Amen.)
This was found in the writings of clergyman Bernardine of Siene (1380-1444), and was added tot the preexisting Ave Maria text. This text was standardized in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.
B) Early examples will include motets textually centered on the Virgin, such as the anonymous 13th century motet, O Mitissima/ Virgo/ Haec Dies, which I will play. This piece is polytextual (texts from the church propers) with three voices all singing separate texts. Text I is the Mitissima, which centers on the Virgin as intercessor and protector. It is defined by the line, “Oh, sweetest virgin, beg thy son to give us help.” Text II is the Virgo text, which centers on a celebration of virginity. The third voice, the tenor, simply chants the Haec Dies (“This is the day that the Lord hath made”) text, filling out the trinity overtones.
This piece is very difficult to understand, and there is very little emphasis on any particular word or text. The text is syllabic and sung very rhythmically, although with out definite meter. It is highly disjunct and very representative of the medieval motet form.
C) An example of the setting of the Ave Maria in the Renaissance will be Josquin’s Ave Maria, Virgo Serena. This example was one of an SATB choir with a very calm, serene tone. The lack of vibrato also lent the piece a sense of innocence that was very conductive to the devoutly sacred, adoring tone of the words that describes the holiness of the Virgin Mary. The text was predominantly syllabic, although the ends of phrases tended to be treated melismatically. Harmony was predominantly imitative polyphony, although towards the end, the voices blend into a homophonic texture. The piece is in a rather slow duple meter and it is in a major key. It is for the most part conjunct and consonant, and the rhythm is not very pronounced, giving the piece a drifting, ethereal feel.
The text is a departure from the traditional setting of the Ave Maria text as well, as it mixes snippets of the text with different Virgin-centric prose that celebrates the aspect of Mary as Virgin. The meaning of the text is best exemplified through the line, “Hail, true virginity, unspotted chastity whose purification was our cleansing.” It is also another consonant step towards the Palestrina sound of the high Renaissance.
III. Conclusion
I will conclude the presentation with a brief summary of the history of the Ave Maria, and I will briefly mention aspects of its continuing significance today both in liturgy and secular performance.
Bibliography
Anonymous. “O mittisima/ Virgo/ Haec Dies.” “Ave Maria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1999.
“Ave Maria.” New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition. Stanley Sadie, ed. London, Macmillan Press, 2001.
“Ave Maria.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Catholic University Of America, Washington D.C., 1967.
Boyer, Marie-France. The Cult of the Virgin. Thames and Hudson, Ltd., London, 2000.
Des Pres, Josquin. “Ave Maria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1999.
Dia, Beatriz. “ A chantar m’er de so queue no volria.” W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, 1998.
Greeley, Andrew M. The Mary Myth- On the Femininity of God. Seabur Press, New York, 1977.
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. Goddess: Myths of the Female Divine. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994.
“Mary, Blessed Virgin- The Saint in Art.” Winston, Jessica. Art History, Volume 25, No. 3, 2002.
Preston, James T. Mother Worship: Theme and Variations. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
Ruether, Rosemary R. Mary- The Feminine Face of the Church. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1977.
Warner, Marina. Alone of All Her Sex. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1976.
Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings From The Middle Ages To The Present, Revised Edition. Carol Neuls-Bates, ed. Boston, University Press, 1996.