Sequentia (music group)
Encyclopedia
Sequentia is an early music
ensemble, founded in 1977 by Benjamin Bagby
and the late Barbara Thornton
(died 8 November 1998). The group specializes mainly in Medieval music
. Sequentia focuses particularly on music with texts, specifically chant
s and other stories with music, such as the Iceland
ic Edda
. They are interested in the interplay between drama
and music
, and sometimes do partially staged performances, such as that of Hildegard of Bingen
's Ordo Virtutum
. Bagby and Thornton have both been active in original research on the projects they perform.
, Germany
, in the same year (Neumann 1998; Zahn 2001). The group would work from Cologne for more than twenty years; in 2002, it relocated to Paris
.
In 1977, while still at Basle, Thornton and Bagby, together with the group Studio der frühen Musik
and some associated singers, staged two 12th century miracle plays relating to St Nicholas; the plays were taken on tour and a live recording from a performance in Amsterdam was put out the following year on an LP entitled Ludi Sancti Nicolai ("Plays of St.Nicholas"; EMI Electrola, 1978). Although the singers involved used the name "Ensemble Vocale Guillaume Dufay
", this experimental staging of two church dramas can be regarded as the debut record of Sequentia; the dramatic and angular vocal style and the approach to partly improvised instrumentation already has much in common with their later recordings.
The only long-term members of Sequentia have been Benjamin Bagby, Barbara Thornton, and Katarina Livljanic after Thornton's death. The rest of the members are hired according to the needs of the particular project.
They mainly record on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label (Weber 2001).
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
ensemble, founded in 1977 by Benjamin Bagby
Benjamin Bagby
Benjamin Bagby is a singer, composer, harpist, and groundbreaking performer of medieval music. Educated at Oberlin College and the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Bagby founded the ensemble Sequentia with Barbara Thornton in 1977...
and the late Barbara Thornton
Barbara Thornton
Barbara Thornton was a singer, musicologist and groundbreaking performer of medieval music....
(died 8 November 1998). The group specializes mainly in Medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
. Sequentia focuses particularly on music with texts, specifically chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
s and other stories with music, such as the Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic Edda
Edda
The term Edda applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching into the Viking Age...
. They are interested in the interplay between drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and sometimes do partially staged performances, such as that of Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen
Blessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
's Ordo Virtutum
Ordo Virtutum
Ordo Virtutum is an allegorical morality play, or liturgical drama, by Hildegard of Bingen, composed c. 1151...
. Bagby and Thornton have both been active in original research on the projects they perform.
History
Originally formed in Basle in 1977, the group moved to CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, in the same year (Neumann 1998; Zahn 2001). The group would work from Cologne for more than twenty years; in 2002, it relocated to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In 1977, while still at Basle, Thornton and Bagby, together with the group Studio der frühen Musik
Studio der frühen Musik
Studio der frühen Musik was an early music group active from 1960–1980 and based in Munich.The leader of the group was Thomas Binkley, and the activity of the group coincided with the years he was teaching at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis...
and some associated singers, staged two 12th century miracle plays relating to St Nicholas; the plays were taken on tour and a live recording from a performance in Amsterdam was put out the following year on an LP entitled Ludi Sancti Nicolai ("Plays of St.Nicholas"; EMI Electrola, 1978). Although the singers involved used the name "Ensemble Vocale Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.-Early life:From the evidence of his will, he was probably born in Beersel, in the vicinity of...
", this experimental staging of two church dramas can be regarded as the debut record of Sequentia; the dramatic and angular vocal style and the approach to partly improvised instrumentation already has much in common with their later recordings.
The only long-term members of Sequentia have been Benjamin Bagby, Barbara Thornton, and Katarina Livljanic after Thornton's death. The rest of the members are hired according to the needs of the particular project.
They mainly record on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label (Weber 2001).
Discography
- Ludi Sancti Nicolai (1978, as Ensemble Vocale Guillaume Dufay, with Studio der frühen MusikStudio der frühen MusikStudio der frühen Musik was an early music group active from 1960–1980 and based in Munich.The leader of the group was Thomas Binkley, and the activity of the group coincided with the years he was teaching at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis...
) - Minstrels and Clerics
- Trouvères. Courtly love songs from Northern France (1982)
- Wandering Satirists of Medieval Germany (1982)
- Philippe le Chancelier: School of Notre Dame (1986)
- English Songs of the Middle Ages (1987)
- Philippe de VitryPhilippe de VitryPhilippe de Vitry was a French composer, music theorist and poet. He was an accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, and may also have been the author of the Ars Nova treatise...
: Motets and Chansons (1988) - Vox Iberica:
- I: Sons of Thunder. Music for St. James the apostle. Codex Calixtinus, 12th century (1989)
- II: Codex Las HuelgasCodex Las HuelgasThe Codex Las Huelgas is a music manuscript or codex from c. 1300 which originated in and has remained in the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, in northern Spain...
(1989) - III: El Sabio. Songs for King Alfonso X of CastileAlfonso X of CastileAlfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
and Léon (1991)
- Frauenlob. Heinrich von Meissen (1990)
- The Bordesholm Lament of the Virgin Mary (1992)
- Oswald von WolkensteinOswald von WolkensteinOswald von Wolkenstein was a poet, composer and diplomat. In the latter capacity, he traveled through much of Europe, even as far as Georgia , and was inducted into the Order of the Dragon...
: Songs (1993) - DanteDANTEDelivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
and the Troubadours (1993) - Visions from the Book (1994)
- Shining Light. Christmas Music from Aquitanien Monasteries (1996)
- Aquitania. Christmas Musik from Aquitanien Monasteries (1994/96)
- Hildegard von Bingen: Complete Edition
- Symphoniae. Spiritual Songs (1982/83)
- Canticles of Ecstasy (1993)
- Voice of the Blood (1994)
- O Jerusalem (1995)
- Ordo Virtutum (1982, re-recorded 1998)
- Saints (1996)
- Edda. Myths from Medieval Iceland (1996)
- The Rheingold Curse (2001)
- Lost Songs of a Rhineland Harper (2004)
- Chant Wars (2004)
Sources
- Neumann, Klaus L. 1999. "Barbara Thornton, 1950–98". Early Music 27, no. 1 (February): 169.
- Tick, Judith. 2001. "Women in Music, §I: Historiography". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Press.
- Weber, Jerome F. 2001. "Harmonia Mundi". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Press.
- Zahn, Robert von. 2001. "Cologne". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Press.