bells
03/08/2013
First Lutheran Church, Palo Alto, CA
Shira Kammen, vielle, voice
Priscilla Smith, recorders, bagpipe, voice
Tim Rayborn, percussion, voice
雖自稱是古樂迷，但想想，我聽的古樂範圍還頗窄的，晚期文藝復興到巴洛克晚期，也只不過200多年。中古世紀及其餘文藝復興時的音樂，又是另一門龐大的學問和寶藏。看到SF Early Music Society這場音樂會，就和多年前那場Ciaramella一樣，抱著好奇探索的心態前來。
這場音樂會有個共通主題，就是中世紀時的Dancing Plague現象(中文好像有「舞疫」的翻譯)。基本上，就是有大批的人不由自主地手足舞蹈，在一旁觀看的民眾也會被「傳染」，一同舞動起來。這種現象，以今天科學理性的態度出發，多半會被當作無稽之談。的確，有些案例是一千多年前的事情了，被歸類為傳說是很合理的。但距離今天最近的1518年Strasbourg Dancing Mania，有許多目擊者和官方文件的詳細記載，清楚表示確有此事。至於要如何解釋這個現象，則是眾說紛云。不過今天大多社會學家採用「群眾歇斯底里」的解釋方式。
這場由Cançonièr表演的曲目，綜覽了十一世紀到十六世紀和舞疫相關的音樂，來自英國，德國，荷蘭，及法國。因為曲目眾多，所以在這兒不再一一列出。上半場的開頭以及結尾的曲子，Canconier表演了兩首德國十四紀鞭笞派(Flagellants)信徒們會唱的歌曲。鞭笞的行為早在宗教狂熱份子當中一直是普遍的，不過鞭笞派在十四世紀中歐洲暴發瘟疫(黑死病)時變得最為盛行。遊行的隊伍，一邊鞭打著身體，口中不斷地祈禱或是唱歌，希望透過行動證明自己的虔誠，希望得到救贖。為了增加表演的效果，開頭的歌他們是從教堂大門進來，邊走邊唱走到台上，而上半場要結尾時，則是從台上走下來，從大門離開。 十四世紀前有關舞疫的記載大部份都發生在德國，因此上半場的曲子多數也來自那兒。
上半場結束前Canconcier改編的法國歌曲Des Merveilles，歌詞中提到風笛(bagpipe)是多麼邪惡的樂器，會讓人開始隨之起舞。這不禁讓人聯想起The Pied Piper(漢姆林的吹笛手)；這個有名的西方童話，在講一位吹笛手用他有魔法的笛子解決了一個小鎮的鼠患。鎮長後來反悔不付答應給吹笛手的酬勞，吹笛手一怒之下便吹起魔法調子，將鎮中的小孩子都帶走了。在充斥著迷信的年代裡，也難怪會有有此一說。當然，二十世紀的搖滾樂，也常被許多人灌上「惡魔的音樂」的封號。
來聽Canconier這種比巴洛克時期還要更早期的音樂會，最新奇的莫過於可以見識到更多各式各樣的樂器。團長Tim Rayborn主要是負責打擊樂器，提供低沉的男聲部，不過也是幕後改編曲子的主要功臣。Shira Kammen則是善長演奏許多樂器，除了唱歌以外，還會拉中古世紀的提琴vielle和彈豎琴。另一位多才多藝的成員Tom Zajac因為生病，當天無法參與演出，但看節目單上寫他會十幾種樂器之多。而Priscilla Smith，則是主要吹奏直笛以及風笛。上述的Des Merveilles，便是她與女聲樂家Phoebe Jevtovic的演出。Smith一邊吹，一邊繞著Jevtovic並擺出各種幽默的表情，甚是逗趣。
frame drum
psaltery and lute
因為成員少了一人，所以下半場的曲目有些更動，省略了幾首曲子。首先是來自義大利的音樂，有salterello以及tarentella舞曲。Tarentella(塔朗泰拉)舞曲，是有流傳到浪漫時期的，當然也是經過很大的轉變，和原來中古世紀的大不同。Tarentella的起源為當時人們被tarantula(狼蛛)咬到，相信有驅毒效果而開始跳起的舞。伴隨的音樂，瘋狂且充滿活力，且一定少不了打擊樂器敲打著節奏。雖然和舞疫的現象不大相同，但為了是治療某症狀而衍生出來的音樂，倒和舞疫有許多相似之處。
接下來法國Strasbourg以及最後回到德國的音樂。因為舞疫爆發時，都不知道要如何處理，所以甘脆建議用音樂伴奏，說不定可以減輕症狀。那時期所寫出來的音樂，許多可能和舞疫都有密切關係。就算沒有絕對關係，但作曲的人或是演出的音樂家，說不定參與過哪個城市的樂隊，幫助舞疫感染者呢。
Canconier這場音樂會，將聽眾帶回至更早的年代。那時，西方音樂尚未形式化及制度化。靠著本能的韻律，勿需困難的技巧，更沒有對錯之分，演奏音樂和跳舞，就和呼吸一樣是多麼自然的動作。舞疫雖然消失了，但所幸音樂是流傳了下來。
(註：這篇讓我相當難寫，因為題材特殊，和平時接觸非常不同。卡了將近半年多，最近才勉強將此文擠出。)
vielle
This was a difficult concert to review, and therefore I had a very hard time trying to complete it. The challenge lies in the unorthodox and unconventional program that Cançonièr put together. The ensemble is a San Francisco Bay Area-based early music group which specializes in "medieval music from the 12th to 15th centuries." Much like the Ciaramella concert years ago, this is clearly music out of my familiarity zone.
The title of this concert is titled Choreomania, which refers to the dancing mania/plagues of the medieval and Renaissance times. Although seemingly like material of folklore and legends of the distant past, one of the last major outbreaks in Strasbourg 1518 had many eyewitness accounts and was fully documented. Although no one could fully explain what actually happened, today the theory of mass hysteria seems to be one of the most common ones out there.
Canconier's concert surveys music between the 11th and 16th century related to the dancing plagues of Europe, including nations such as England, Germany, and France. Due to all the pieces being quite short and therefore resulting in a long concert program, I've decided not to list each piece that was played here.
Canconier began and ended the first half with two German flagellant songs. In the spirit of the flagellants in the Medieval times, members of Canconier processed up onto the stage from the church entrance in the opening song and did the reverse in the closing song. The remaining of the first half surveyed dancing mania music up to the 14th century, which the program notes state that most documented outbreaks came from Germany. Could this be due the meticulous German spirit of book-keeping and preserving of records that seem to skew the incidents towards the German-speaking region, or was it something else ?
Canconier had an arrangement of the poem Des Merveilles by Eustache Deschamps. There, it talks about the evil nature of the bagpipe, which corrupts the mind and compels the people to dance in "demented ways." I couldn't help but think of the story of the Pied Piper, where the piper's music magically attract first the rats and later the children of the town to follow him. Guest musician Priscilla Smith and singer Phoebe Jevtovic put quite a comedic show, with Smith on the bagpipe circling and taunting Jevtovic repeatedly, becoming increasingly animated in each new verse.
One of the biggest treats of attending the concert is to see the exotic instruments and experience their music making up close. Besides the dedicated singer Jevtovic, the remaining members of Canconier are all multi-instrumentalists. The director of the group Tim Rayborn mainly specializes in percussion, but he also provides the lower voice, and most importantly, is in charge of arranging most of the music. Shira Kammen provides a female voice, but more importantly plays the bowed string instrument vielle and also the harp. Priscilla Smith, as mentioned previously, played the bagpipe, but she was playing the recorder for the most part this night. Tom Zajac, the member who was absent because of illness, is listed on the program notes as capable of playing at least 10 instruments.
Shira Kamen on the harp and Tim Rayborn
As we moved into the second half, we were also moving closer to our time. Because of the absence of Tom Zajac, it was expected that some pieces had to be re-arranged. However, a few pieces were apparently unplayable and were downright omitted from the program. In medieval Italy, the tarantella dance arose from origins that bears some resemblance to the dancing plagues. Back then, when people were bitten by tarantulas, they thought that breaking out into a dance would purge and cure them of the "deadly poison". Naturally, the music to accompany the dancers/victims followed, which were upbeat, lively, often with strong percussion beating to it.
The concert ends with music from Strasbourg and Germany. While the notes point out that while the selected music may not be directly connected to the dancing plagues per se, but they nonetheless represent the type of dance music common at the time. Many of the musicians that played these pieces could easily have been employed to play along next to the dancing plague victims, a popular treatment believed to remedy the symptoms (add more music to the already frenzied victims and hope they'll calm down?).
The Canconier concert was indeed very amusing to say the least. More importantly however, it transported the audience to an earlier time, before music was standardized and institutionalized. Where spontaneity and camaraderie was placed before virtuosity and precision, music making and dancing was as natural as breathing. While the dancing plagues have disappeared, the music has fortunately been passed down to us.
P.S. 為了延伸所聽的音樂的範圍，音樂會結束之後大方地買了他們的兩張專輯。
P.S. To expand my musical horizons a bit further, after the concert, I generously bought two of their albums.
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