Micrologus; Alta Capella

82-19 THE ALTA CAPELLA

Today's Micrologus is entitled "The Alta Capella." It is a mystifying term: a classical Latin scholar might contend that alta capella referred to a small female mountain-goat. An Englishman with a smattering of Latin would certainly venture that alta capella referred to "high church" as opposed to "low church" observance in the Church of England. But in the context of the music of the late Medieval and Renaissance, alta, like the French word haut, is used to mean "loud,” and capella seems to mean something like "group" so that alta capella is a Latin term referring to a loud band.

Different countries had their own vernacular terms for the group: Flanders and Spain commonly used Alta; but in Italy they were the piffari; in France the haut menestrels (loud minstrels); in Germany the Stadtpfeifer (the town pipers); and in England they were the "Town Waits,” the "shawm band,” or appropriately, the "Noyse of Musicians.” In all of these countries, the loud band was an extremely important part of music-making.

Indeed, it has been estimated that the sound of the loud band was heard more often by the average person in the Renaissance than any other musical sound, with the possible exception of Gregorian Chant. Every town of any size seems to have had its own official alta capella, charged with the duty of playing outside at processions, market days, entries of notable persons, and daily concerts at City Hall, and inside for dancing, banquets, wedding feasts, and even church services. Wealthy nobles, too, sometimes hired full-time loud bands, mostly for playing dance music.

There are a couple of circumstances which have contrived to make the music of the alta capella unfamliar to modern audiences. The first is that the music played by the group was almost entirely improvised so we have very little written record of it. The second is that the dominant instrument in the ensemble was the shawm--shawms are double-reed instruments which make a wonderful noise (as you will hear), but until recently good shawms have been hard to come by in our day, and even good shawms are devilishly difficult to play! So we are faced with an important musical phenomenon which most people know nothing about.

On today's show we will be listening to the musical roots of the alta capella, along with a few pieces from its known and presumed repertory, and in a striking break from tradition on this program, a sample of its modern heritage.

We begin with an anonymous 14th century Italian dance performed by a pre-alta capella group: an Arab-derived ensemble consisting of shawm, drone trumpet, and percussion. The performance is by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London.

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We know that the alta capella sometimes performed with just shawms, and sometimes with a combination of shawms and brass--slide trumpet or sackbut. It seems certain that shawm and fiddle would never or rarely have combined but that is the combination we have been given for the next selection. David Munrow apparently had trouble finding other capable shawm plavers when this recording was made.

The piece is the first of four settings that we will hear of the highly popular dance tune "Casulle la Nouvelle" or "La Spagna" (as it was commonly called). This setting is entitled "Falla con misuras" and is ascribed to Master Gullielmus who may be Guglielmo Ebreo, the famous Jewish-ltalian dancing-master of the l5th century. The "La Spagna" tune is heard in slow-moving notes played by the fiddle while above it, the shawm plays a florid part in an improvised style.

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We know from archival references and paintings that by far the most common combination of instruments for 3-voice alta capella music was: treble shawm on top, alto shawm playing the slow-moving tenor melody, and slide trumpet or sackbut playing a counterpoint above and/or below the tenor melody. Not one recorded performance could I find of this combination, however, so I asked some members of the Case Western Reserve University Collegium Musicum to tape something especially for this program. This piece again is based on the slow-moving "La Spagna" melody, and significantly is entitled "Alta." The composer is Francisco de la Torre and the featured performers are Kimberly Bryden, treble shawm, and Drew Gardner, sackbut.

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Next we have another 3-voice setting of the "La Spagna" melody, and this time the sackbut contratenor has a part which is almost as active as the treble shawm part. The composer is Heinrich Isaac. The performance by Kimberly Bryden and Drew Gardner from the Case Western Reserve University Collegium Musicum.

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The last 3-voice example we have uses three shawms, in this performance by Michel Piguet and the Ricercare Ensemble. The piece is based on the Dutch folk song "Taunder naken,” and is ascribed in its manuscript source to King Henry VIII of England. It seems unlikely, though, that Henry would have written a piece in such a style, even though we know he was musically literate. Perhaps his shawm band improvised this version of “Taunder naken" and Henry wrote it down thus taking credit for its composition.

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The next piece we hear illustrates the trend towards greater numbers of voices- which took place throughout the 15th century. Again, the work is based on "La Spagna,”a 4-voice setting this time, and the performance is by the Guildhall Waits.

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You may have noticed in that performance that one of the parts was taken by the cornetto (a wooden instrument with fingerholes like a recorder but producing the sound with a trumpet-like mouthpiece). Around the year 1500, the cornetto enjoyed a sudden upsurge in popularity and its combination with the sackbut formed an ensemble which by the end of the 16th century had surpassed the shawm band in importance. More about that in a moment. First we hear another selection combining cornetto with shawm and two sackbuts. We have heard all dance music so far and, by contrast, this piece represents the kind of thing which might have been performed by the alta capella as a fanfare honoring some notable personage. In fact this particular piece was written by Josquin Desprez to honor King Louis XII of France "Vive le Roy" (Long live the King!), performed by the Early Music Consort of London directed by David Munrow.

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Sometime toward the middle of the 16th century the repertory of the alta capella changed. The technique of improvising over a slow-moving melody gradually died out and the alta capella had to rely on the same instrumental ensemble repertory that was being used by other consorts of instruments. The shawms still had the advantage over all other instruments in loudness, however, so it seems likely that the loud band continued to be an important group for outside performances of dances. From the Pierre Attaingnant's 1547 collection of dance music, we hear the Bransle "Charlotte" performed by The Towne Waytes of Vancouver.

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Next we hear two courantes by Samuel Voeckel. Like most other instruments during the l6th century the shawm was made in a family of sizes and we will hear three different sizes in this four-part piece. I mentioned before that David Munrow seemed to have trouble finding other shawm players. In this performance he confirms that by multi-tracking all four shawm parts.

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The last actual shawm band piece we will hear is "Nec Invideo" from Anthony Holborne's 1599 collection of dances, and to illustrate the aesthetic which was taking over from this town band we will hear "As it fell on a holie eve" from the same collection, performed by an ensemble of cornettos, sackbuts, and dulcian. The performances are by the musicians of the Oregon Shakespearean Festival directed by Jack Ashworth, and by the Guildhall Waits.

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It is interesting that the dominance of the cornetto and sackbut ensemble lasted only a short time. The violin band rapidly became the most important musical ensemble for dance music after 1600. The tradition of the alta capella lived on in parts of Europe, however, and still exists in the cobla ensembles of Catalonia. I could not resist the temptation to share a little bit of this music with you—I cannot think of another occasion when you would ever have a chance to hear it. This unforgettable selection is from the sardana "Amont i avall,” performed by Combo-Gili featuring the artistry of Jose Roura. Hang on to your hats!

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You've been listening to a program of music exploring the roots the repertoire, and the relics of the alta capella.