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Welcome to Harmonia. I’m Angela Mariani. Sitting under a tree at dusk by the river, a cool breeze peacefully comes over you. This was supposed to be a nice evening to kick back and relax when suddenly a snake slithers at your feet! A slimy frog leaps from the lily pads onto your head! A fantastical serpent squiggles past… adding to this creepy turn of events. This hour, we’ll explore music based on slimy, slithering, and squiggling things. Plus, our featured release is Georg Philipp Telemann: Orchestral Suites, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin led by Stephan Mai, which includes a piece featuring a violin soloist playing the part of a reling—a mythical toad.

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MUSIC TRACK
Persée
Christophe Rousset, conductor / Les Talens Lyriques
Naïve 2001 / Naxos E8874
Jean-Baptiste Lully
CD. 1, Tr. 1 Persée, Prologue: Overture (2:08)
CD. 3, Tr. 26 Persée, Act V, Scene VII Passacaille (2:33)

Instrumental music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. That was from the 2001 recording of Persée, with Christophe Rousset conducting Les Talente Lyriques. The opera takes its theme from the ancient myth glorifying Perseus, the legendary hero and ruler who slayed the snake-headed Medusa. / We’ll hear more from this hero later in the hour.

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We’ll begin our slide off the slippery slope with some famous frogs. Handel’s Israel in Egypt, an oratorio, tells the Passover story from the Old Testament, with texts taken from Exodus and the Psalms. Frogs are the second plague sent against the Pharaoh. Here is the overture to this oratorio, followed by the aria “Their land brought forth frogs,” sung by countertenor Timothy Wilson.

MUSIC TRACK
Handel: Israel in Egypt
Andrew Parrott, conductor / Taverner Players
Erato – Parlophone 2009 / Naxos 0724356215559
George Frideric Handel
D. 1, Tr. 1 Israel in Egypt, Overture (2:17)
D. 1, Tr. 18 Israel in Egypt, Their Land Brought Forth Frogs (2:14)

That was the overture and aria, “Their land brought forth frogs,” from the 2003 rerelease of Handel’s Israel in Egypt performed by the Taverner Players, Taverner Choir, and soloists, all conducted by Andrew Parrott.

Heinrich Biber’s 1681 sonata “Representativa” playfully portrays several kinds of animals including birds, cats, and frogs. Unlike the pestilence caused by the frogs in Handel’s oratorio, Biber’s frogs croak lazily by the shore. We’ll listen to “Der Frosch” and the closing allemande from Biber’s sonata. Then, we’ll hear a less literal representation of frogs by John Dowland, inspired by the “Frog Galliard.”

MUSIC TRACKS
Violin Sonatas (1681)
Gunar Letzbor / Ars Antiqua Austria
Pan Classics 2011 / Amazon ASIN B0050MBUG6
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
CD 2, Tr. 17 Sonata Representativa, Der Frosch (The Frog) (:49)
CD2, Tr 18 Adagio (1:20)
CD2, Tr 19 Die Wachtel (the Quail) (1:03)
CD2, Tr 20 Die Katz (The Cat) (1:02)
CD 2, Tr. 22 Sonata Representativa, Allemande (1:57)

MUSIC TRACK
The Art of Melancholy
Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Thomas Dunford (lute)
Hyperion 2014 / Hyperion CDA68007 (or on Amazon ASIN B001B42DJ0)
John Dowland
Tr. 20 Now, oh now I needs must part (6:19)

We heard John Dowland’s version of “The Frog Galliard” under the title “Now, oh now I needs must part,” performed by lutenist Thomas Dunford. Before that, “Der Frosch” and music from Biber’s Sonata Representativa. Gunar Letzbor was the violinist performing with Ars Antiqua Austria on a Pan Classics CD from back in 1994 of Biber’s sonatas.

Slithering snakes have found their way into many pieces of art, literature, and music. In Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, fairies request “spotted snakes with double tongue” and other creeping and crawling creatures to stay away from the Fairy Queen. Here is a version of “You spotted snakes” that was popular in Elizabethan England.

MUSIC TRACK
The Hunt is Up: Shakespeare’s Songbook
The Playfords
Raumklang 2015 / Amazon Music B00SVYXPZ4
John Playford
Tr. 11 You Spotted Snakes (4:33)

We heard “You spotted snakes” performed by The Playfords from their 2015 recording The Hunt is Up.

Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 14th-century composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut writes about a symbolic reptile Python. Machaut writes:

“Python, the wondrous serpent
Whom Phoebus slew with his arrow
Was one furlong in length
As Ovid describes it.

But no man ever saw a serpent
So fierce, so cruel or so proud
As the serpent which repulses me
When I seek mercy of my lady.”

This serious, lyric ballad mimics qualities of trouvère songs. A hallmark of this style is the multifaceted nature of the text. The listener can hear the physical strength as well as other masculine kinds of prowess from Phoebus.

MUSIC TRACK
Mon Chant Vous Envoy
M. Mauillon, A. Mauillon, V. Biffi, P. Hamon
Eloquentia 2013 / Amazon ASIN B00F03CLPO
Guillaume de Machaut
Tr. 9 Ballade No. 38: Python, le mervilleus Serpent (6:12)

We heard baritone Marc Mauillon performing Machaut’s ballad “Python, le mervilleus Serpent.” That was from a 2013 Eloquentia release, Mon chant vous envoy.

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Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

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Mid Break :59 music bed
MUSIC TRACK
Le Serpent imaginaire
Les Meslanges
Hybrid Music Label 2015
Eustache du Carroy
Excerpt of Tr. 13 Une Jeune Fillette (1:30)

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Welcome back. We’re “plagued” this hour with music based on slimy, slithering, and squiggling things.

We’ve heard frogs and snakes. Now, let’s hear from some mythical creatures in Greek mythology. Gorgons are reptilian creatures depicted as women with snakes for hair, known for turning mortals into stone. The most famous gorgon, Medusa, was slain by the hero Perseus. Jean-Baptiste Lully depicts the story in his 1682 opera Persée. In Act III, Perseus begs courage from the messenger god Mercury, who says “Perseus, go fly, where Love calls you. Gorgons, henceforth you will be without power.” Perseus, wearing Pluto’s helmet of invisibility, approaches Medusa. After a struggle, he slays her. Mercury announces that Perseus carries the head.

MUSIC TRACK
Persée
Christophe Rousset, conductor / Les Talens Lyriques
Naïve 2001 / Naxos E8874
Jean-Baptiste Lully
CD. 3, Tr. 25 Act V Scene 8: Air des violons (1:19)
CD. 2, Tr. 19 Act III Scene 4: Le monde est delivre d’un monstre si terrible (Persee) (:42)
CD. 2, Tr. 20 Act III Scene 5: Persee, allez, volez, ou l’Amour vous appelle (Mercure) (1:04)

We heard music from the opera Persée by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Christophe Rousset conducted Les Talens Lyriques. The album was released in 2001 on the Astrée Naïve label.

Now for another kind of serpent completely…the instrument called the serpent! The bass member of the cornetto family, the serpent is constructed out of carved wooden halves bound together with leather and is played with a trombone-like mouthpiece. Although the serpent has holes, much like early woodwinds, it is considered an ancestor of the tuba. Since the tube forms an “S” shape, serpent-building challenges even the most skilled instrument maker. Let’s listen to two ricercadas by Spanish Renaissance composer Diego Ortiz, played on the serpent.

MUSIC TRACK
Le Serpent imaginaire
Les Meslanges
Hybrid Music Label 2015
Diego Ortiz
Tr. 1 Recercada I (1:29)
Tr. 4 Recercada III (1:36)

We heard two ricercadas by Diego Ortiz from the 2015 Hybrid Music release Le Serpent imaginaire. The recording features the ensemble Les Meslanges.

We’ve heard music about slimy, slithering, and squiggling things both real and imaginary. Our featured release showcases instrumental music by Telemann. His Violin Concerto in A Major gained the nickname “Frog Concerto” for its musical depiction of the amphibian. At the first solo entrance for the violin, the score is marked “Relings-Solo.” Reling was known as a toad species, which Grimm’s dictionary tells us “sits and sings in the unclean puddles in spring and summer, are golden yellow or almost red-yellow and spotted black on the belly below” (Grimm dictionary). The soloist plays quick interval leaps, like a frog jumping from lily pad to lily pad. Repeated sixteenth-notes are passed around from instrument to instrument, as if they were a choir of croaking frogs in a pond at dusk. We’ll hear the opening movement, Allegro, from Telemann’s “Frog Concerto.”

MUSIC TRACK
Georg Philipp Telemann: Orchestral Suites
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / Midori Seiler, violin / Stephan Mai, cond.
Harmonia Mundi 2013 / Naxos HMG50839697DI
Georg Philipp Telemann
CD 1, Tr. 16 Violin Concerto in A Major, TWV 51:A4, I. Allegro (5:30)

Violin soloist Midori Seiler played the opening movement, Allegro, from Telemann’s Violin Concerto in A Major known as “The Frog.” This 2013 Harmonia Mundi re-release is titled Georg Philipp Telemann: Orchestral Suites. It includes a rich collection of orchestral music by Telemann performed by a favorite German period instrument ensemble, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

We’ll stay in the water for our next piece. Telemann’s “Alster” suite portrays scenes along the banks of the Alster River, which runs through Hamburg, where Telemann spent much of his life. Let’s hear music that mimics a swan and one last slimy & slippery thing—a frog. Here are “Swan Song” and “The Concerting Frog and the Crow” by Telemann from His Suite in F Major, “Alster.”

MUSIC TRACK
Georg Philipp Telemann: Orchestral Suites
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / Stephan Mai, cond.
Harmonia Mundi (hm Gold) 2013 / Naxos HMG50839697DI
Georg Philipp Telemann
CD 2, Tr. 6 Der Schwanen Gesang (2:54)
CD 2, Tr. 8 Die concertierenden Frosche und Krahen (2:27)

“Swan Song” and “The Concerting Frog and the Crow” by Telemann from His Suite in F Major, “Alster.” Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin was led by Stephan Mai.

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Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.
Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

Special thanks to Charley Roush for his help obtaining copies of hard-to-find recordings.

The writer for this edition of Harmonia is Sarah Schilling.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

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