I am thankful that living in NYC gives me the opportunity to attend concerts such as Monteverdi’s Vespers in December (which I had always wanted to hear performed live) and English renaissance vocal music at the Strand.
I sometimes blog about music (I am not a performer or musicologist).
I wrote: “I heard this medieval song [“A ne kuth”] performed by soprano Jolle Greenleaf (her voice is incredible and virtually indescribable) in a concert of English medieval music by Tenet Vocal Artists at the Rare Book Room of the Strand Bookstore on February 13, 2020.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Roger Smith
Hi Roger,
It’s so gratifying to read this — thank you so much! I’m grateful you were able to catch our last Vespers, and that you were with us at the Strand. What a wonderful night that was! I’m honored by your kind words – your blog is so important. Thank you for your work on that!
I heard this medieval song performed by soprano Jolle Greenleaf (her voice is incredible and virtually indescribable) in a concert of English medieval music by Tenet Vocal Artists at the Rare Book Room of the Strand Bookstore on February 13, 2020.
Pity the prisoners incarcerated, most of them with no purpose and for no good — I would guess this is true of about ninety-five percent of the prisoners currently incarcerated — by our criminal “justice” system.
“A common thread throughout medieval English sacred music, both in Latin and in the vernacular, is a devoted love of Mary. The sweetness of so much of English polyphony seems especially appropriate for music to celebrate Christianity’s great mother.
“In ‘Arne kuth ich sorghe non’ the singer, destitute and imprisoned, first calls out to Jesus for help. Finally, in the last stanza she turns to Mary, imploring her to intercede with her son Christ: “beseech thy son to have pity on us and bring us from this great misery.”
