Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Attention December 2001 Bella members: We have a professionally edited CD of our performance(s) from last December. In order to cover the cost of recording, we are asking for $10 if you would like one. Please sign-up on the sheet in the back if you are interested in getting a copy.

Basses and Tenors: Tonight at break is your opportunity to participate in Henry V! Dick Bagwell needs extra backstage voices (male). He will record, a short, easily learned selection at the break if you will oblige him.

Do you like to meet (former) chorus & audience members?: (I'm still looking for you!!!) We are planning to have a phone drive to increase concert attendance and raise money. Let Erica know if you might be interested. (Just talking to me doesn't constitute a commitment).

Marcelle (vocal coach) reminds you to breathe: --but not just any, old way! Breathe in through your nose or a silent breath with lowered larynx (breathing in the vowel you plan to sing next). Keep your throat open.

Meet the composers: Anonymous (?,?) Perhaps the most prolific and dynamic composer of all time, Anonymous has... The piece "Stella Splendens" comes from the Llibre Vermell of Montserrat.
The Benedictine monastery of Montserrat was founded in 1027 in the mountains of Catalonia, Spain, about 30 miles from Barcelona ("Montserrat" alludes to the jagged look of the surrounding mountains). By the end of the Middle Ages, the monastery had become a center of great importance for pilgrimages and devotion. Pilgrims came from all of Catalonia to the monastery to visit the shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As well as an Escolania, or music school where boy singers were trained, the monastery housed an important and impressive library. Most of the library was destroyed in 1811 by the armies of Napoleon. Fortunately, the library's manuscript #1, finished in 1399 and containing 10 pieces of music, has survived. In the nineteenth century, the manuscript was bound in red velvet, universal symbol of piety and purity. Due to this binding, the manuscript has become known as the Red Book or Llibre Vermell.

No accompaniment, harmonies or instructions on how to perform these songs were every written down so far as we know. In fact, the notation employed to transcribe the melodies, resembling flags and slanting lines, leaves them open to rhythmic interpretation as well. When modern musicians sing and play these pieces, they make assumptions based on the type of musical influences at work in Alfonso's court: middle-eastern rhythms and modes as well as French and central European styles. Therefore different performances of the same piece may vary a good deal.
http://www.onr.com/user/steveh/vermell.htm

"Shameless Plugs"

Bella Musica is being represented in the "First Annual" Berkeley Choral Festival, "In Praise of Music". Tickets can be purchased at a 20% discount for you, friends & cohorts of performers ($12(student) $20/$30/$40). The concert is Monday, March 4, at Zellerbach Hall. Proceeds to benefit the Musicians' Pension Fund. Ask for a form or visit www.berkeleysymphony.org for more details. (tell them you are with Bella Musica, to get the discount). We'd love to see you there!

The fourth annual Mozart Requiem sing-along benefit concert is coming up Saturday, March 9, 8pm at St. Joseph the Worker church (1640 W. Addison) Admission is by donation, suggested donation $12 general, $10 students & seniors.

Julian White BCCO Benefit Recital Concert pianist, composer, Julian White will give a benefit recital at 8 PM on Friday, March 8th at the Berkeley Piano Club, 2724 Haste (between College and Piedmont), Berkeley. Julian White has performed as an orchestral soloist and recitalist nationwide and has appeared on radio and television on numerous occasions. Tickets are $30 (see Lyrie, soprano, for tickets)

SF Bach Choir performs Bach's b-minor Mass in the grand acoustics of St. Ignatius, March 9 & 10. (See below and visit www.SFBach.org.) We're over 100 strong this time around. Special discount for all BCCO & Bella Musica members, $5 ticket discount (net $17, $12 student) by contacting h3m@juno.com via e-mail or at (510) 527-9964.