Tuesday, April 2, 2002

Part-time job opening: Manager See Vivian for more information.

Singers in small group pieces: I am looking for a 'leader' for each group to be a contact person and source of information for the group. Please let me know are willing to volunteer.

Instrumentalists Instrumentalists are on their way! Next week, the hurdy gurdy & the viols will be in attendance. Let's show 'em what we can do!

Solos: There are solos/duets? in both Hildegard pieces and Stella Splendens. Tell Erica if you are interested.

Sectionals with Ann:

PART	DATE	LOCATION
T	Tue. Apr 2, 6:30	Grace North
A	Wed. Apr 3, 7:30	Ann's Place (pick up a map)
S	Tue. Apr 9, 6:30	Grace North
B/A	Tue. Apr 16, 6:30	Grace North

Sto Si Goro Sectional: Thursday, April 11 7:30pm

Era of the Week The 13th Century (High Middle Ages):
Many 12th century trends continued. The Crusades proceeded unsuccessfully, but Jerusalem would never again be held by Christian forces. Pope Innocent III extended the concept of "war on infidels" to other enemies, authorizing brutal "Crusades" to crush heretical Christian groups such as the Albigensians in France. The Franciscan and Dominican monastic orders were founded, with the Dominicans authorized to convert Muslims and Jews and put down heresy. They would become the main administrators of inquisitorial trials, and the Church would officially sanction the use of torture as punishment for religious disobedience.

National borders continued to shift. King John of England (unpopular brother of Richard the Lionheart) lost most of the continental holdings of the Angevin Empire, was excommunicated by the pope, and was forced by the English barons to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. While having no immediate effect for the non-noble classes, the Magna Carta is generally regarded as "as a symbol of a limited government and a crown that is bound by the same laws as the public." Later, Edward I of England established a group of nobles as the first Parliament, but which was still a long way from being any sort ofrepresentative government body. Various kings of France succeeded in expanding their territory, and the Moors were driven out of Spain, while the Holy Roman Empire gradually became more fractious. In the East the Mongols captured the Middle East and most of what would eventually become Russia and the other former Soviet states, and Kublai Khan became ruler of China as well.

With Jerusalem again in the hands of the Muslims, pilgrimages to the Holy Land were too dangerous. Alternative pilgrimage sites became popular, including Rome, Santiago de Campostela, and Montserrat, with the prayers and songs of the Montserrat pilgrims eventually compiled into the Llibre Vermell, from which we are singing the "Stella Splendens." In a German monastery the songs known as the "Carmina Burana" (also familiar to choral singers) were being written, and the oldest poem in English (reputedly), "Sumer is icumen in," dates to 1225.

Despite the Church's power, education was escaping into the province of the laity. Literacy increased and schools taught in languages other than Latin. Cambridge University and the Sorbonne in Paris were founded, and philosophers such as Roger Bacon and Thomas Aquinas advocated the use of sensory observation and rational thinking. Science and technology moved forward as Leonardo Fibonacci introduced his "Fibonacci series" of squared numbers still relevant to mathematicians today, and studies of optics continued, with eyeglasses appearing by 1280-1290 (though only to correct far-sightedness). Bacon wrote on the concept of explosives, and coal mining began. Both water clocks and eventually mechanical clocks appeared in more urban areas, bringing new regularity to days previously punctuated only by church bells signaling services. Paper and communication by letter became more commonplace. In the arts, Giotto of Florence is considered to have brought in the modern concept of painting when he introduced naturalism into his work, and Dante Aligheri (author of the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso) was born in 1265.

Europe was more aware of the outside world. Crusaders brought spices, lemons, and leprosy home from the East. Papal emissaries visited China. Marco Polo traveled the east extensively in the late 1200's, and returned to Italy with secrets of pasta and wild tales of paper money. Further afield, dervishes began to whirl in Persia, Zen-Buddhist calligraphy was traveling from China to Japan, Guan Daoshang, a famous female Chinese artist, was born, and in the New World, the Mayans were creating their "Codex." Daily life was still harsh for most, but for most of the century in Europe the weather was good and crops were abundant. Despite heavy taxation to support all those Crusades, in many areas the common people were thriving. Villages grew into towns and then cities, and the merchant and trade guilds were flourishing. Clearly, it was time for new crises to appear.

Happy 29th! This appears to be the season for 'Bella-ite' (Marcelle's word) birthdays. Happy 29th to Laura, Alison, Jeff and Erica.

"Shameless Plugs" # This weekend! C Alumni Chorus presents Music of the Americas Sunday, April 7, 2002 -3pm Hertz Hall - UC Berkeley (Bancroft, near College). Selection includes the Misa Criolla, and folk songs from Caribbean and the U.S.
Tickets $15 general/ $10 students and seniors. For tickets & information call 510 643 9645,talk to Jody (alto), or visit www.ucac.net.
# Berkeley Broadway Singers "Another Op'nin', Another Show", at St.Jerome Church in El Cerrito (308 Carmel Ave.) on April 14th at 5 PM (free). This event is wheelchair accessible.
# Berkeley Broadway Singers A benefit concert for St. Ambrose Church (1145 Gilman Street in Berkeley). Donation requested is $10.
For more information, or tickets for either event, contact (510) 525-7815 or singbroadway@yahoo.com.
# Schumann Frauenlieben und Leben song cycle A "free and short" concert at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Wednesday, April 17. Featuring mezzo-soprano Christina Schiffner, who performed the alto solos in our recent Mozart Requiem Sing-Along.