LE DIAMANT ET LA MARGUERITE
HABSBURG-BURGUNDIAN MUSICAL TREASURES
7 musicians. 60 minutes. 2023-
In Le Diamant et La Marguerite, Phaedrus illuminates the raucous and virtuosic early repertoires of the Renaissance traverso consort during the lifetime of the Archduchess Margaret of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Using dances, chansons, and textless polyphony transmitted by Habsburg and Burgundian scriptoriums, Le Diamant provides a soundtrack to the equally illustrious public and private sides of the multi-faceted figure of the Archduchess.
Le Diamant et La Marguerite takes its name from one particularly mysterious book recorded in Margaret's private library inventory: a lost treatise known only by its title, Traité du Diamante et de la Marguerite. While the contents remain unknown, it is thought that the book was given as a gift to the Archduchess by her father, Maximilian I. Le Diamant et la Marguerite encapsulates the precious quality of the Burgundian chansons in the Augsburger Liederbuch, the lush instrumental consort music in the Codex Leopold and the Linz fragments, and most especially, the impressive basse danse manuscript kept under lock and key in the personal library of Margaret of Austria.
The instrumental depictions found in Flemish prints and in Maximilian I's allegorical works from the early-16th century polish yet another face of Le Diamant. The images connect us to a world in which the transverse flute was celebrated in tandem with the drum during the most important galas and processions, while charting a volatile trajectory into the more intimate consort instrument it became later in the 16th century. Beyond the iconography, traces of the flute's transformation are found in other sources: in Cologne between 1515-1519, the partbooks of Arnt von Aich proposed polyphonic performances on the transverse flute. Even earlier, in the court of Philip the Fair, ‘certaines joueurs de flutes alemans’ were reported in 1504. In Mechelen, the repeated purchases of cases of flutes between 1502-1534 also marked a rising interest in consort-style playing.
The striking images and records of professional flute players in the courts of the Archduchess and the Holy Roman Emperor, together with the innovative repertoires performed by instrumentalists in the early-16th century, have helped Phaedrus chart the course for this impressive concert program. The traverso consort, percussion, lute and voice shine brightly amongst a challenging repertoire in Le Diamant et la Marguerite, proposing a fresh interpretation of the music heard in the early-16th century Burgundian and Habsburg courts.
7 musicians
MARA WINTER
Artistic direction, arrangements, traverso
MIRIAM TREVISAN
Voice
RENAISSANCE TRAVERSO CONSORT
Mara Winter
Charlotte Schneider
Liane Sadler
Luis Martinez Pueyo
BOR ZULJAN
Lute
MASSIMILIANO DRAGONI
Percussion
MUSICAL CONTENT
Duration
60 minutes
PROGRAM (subject to change)
Damoiselle Anonymous, Augsburger Liederbuch c.1505-1514
Plus nulz regretz Josquin Desprez, Augsburger Liederbuch
La marguerite Anonymous, B-Br MS 9085 (Dance Book of Marguerite of Austria), c.1470 *arranged by Mara Winter
D'ung aultre amer Johannes Ockeghem, F-Dm, Ms.517 (Dijon Chansonnier)
D'ung aultre amer á 4 Alexander Agricola, Augsburger Liederbuch
Dung plus amer Anonymous, A-LIb 529, Fragment 29 & Pixérécourt Chansonnier
Untexted Jo. de Salice, D-Mbs Mus. MS 3154 (Leopold Codex) c.1466-1511
Sans faire de vous departie Pierre Fontaine, GB-Ob MS. Canon. Misc. 213 c.1420-1450
Sans faire de vous departie Anonymous, B-Br MS 9085 *Arranged by Mara Winter
Hoftanz (Le petit Rouen) & Trippel Anonymous, Munich BSB Mus. MS 1516 No. 183-184, c.1540
Entré je suis en grant pensée Josquin Desprez, Augsburger Liederbuch
Fantasia: Par vous je suis Johannes Prioris, Basevi Codex
Le serviteur á 3 Heinrich Isaac, I-Fn MS Banco Rari 229
I' so' 'l tuo servitor Anonymous, F-Pnm Français 15123 (Pixérécourt Chansonnier) c.1480-1484
Le serviteur Anonymous, A-LIb 529, Fragment 43
Untexted Anonymous, Leopold Codex
Tout a par moy Alexander Agricola, Augsburger Liederbuch
La danse de Cleves Anonymous, B-Br MS 9085 *arranged by Mara Winter
Marchons le dureau Anonymous, B-Br MS 9085 *arranged by Mara Winter
Marchez la dureau A-LIb 529, Fragment 9