Newberry Consort Performs Music From 600-Year-Old Book Jan. 13

Four years ago, some art collectors discovered a tiny, 600-year-old music book in a pile of artwork in Belgium. When they looked inside they discovered it was in almost pristine condition, barely touched since it was written in the 15th century.

Now, the Newberry Consort is pleased to bring the long-forgotten manuscript and its music to vivid life in a multimedia program entitled “What’s Old is New: The Leuven Songbook,” happening Jan. 11 to 13 in Chicago, Hyde Park and Evanston.

Produced in collaboration with the Cleveland early music group Les Délices, What’s Old is New: The Leuven Songbook brings together solo voices with medieval fiddles, harp, lute, organetto (a special tabletop organ), and recorders to perform songs by Ockeghem, Busnois, and others — all accompanied by gorgeous projected images and supertitles.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to not only play this beautiful music, but also to give audiences a chance to peek inside this gorgeous manuscript,” said Ellen Hargis, co-artistic director of the Newberry Consort.

The Leuven Songbook’s origins can be traced to France’s Loire Valley c. 1475. Containing 49 songs (of which 12 were previously unknown), the book was produced by a team of artisans. Like Books of Hours, songbooks belong to a rich tradition of small, beautiful, personal books.

Debra Nagy, artistic director of Les Délices, compares songbooks, which contained both popular and little-known or unique songs, to today’s personal playlists or mix tapes. “Some of these songs were hugely popular — traveling the continent and clearly remaining in the repertory for decades. The unique songs, however, seem to have had but a brief moment in the sun — we can delight in these little-known works like a rare record’s B-side.”

The Newberry Consort’s production will also encourage audiences to consider Medieval readers’ experiences as they use the book’s contents to construct an imaginary narrative of love and loss. Nagy explained, “I looked at other so-called songbooks from the time that lack music (really, books of poetry) and thought about why the collector or editor chose to print them that way. Some scholars believe that anytime we read a series of poems or listen to songs in a certain sequence, we try to find links or relationships between them. Someone chose to put them in a certain order, right? I hope that this narrative element in our program provides listeners with yet another way to connect to the music.”

The concert will feature soprano Ellen Hargis, tenor Jason McStoots, baritone Daniel Fridley, plus Debra Nagy (recorders, harp, voice), Allison Monroe (vielle and rebec), David Douglass (vielle), Charlie Weaver (lute and voice), and Charles Metz (organetto).

Performances are Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. at Newberry Library in Chicago, on Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. at Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and on Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. at Galvin Recital Hall at Northwestern University in Evanston. A pre-concert chat will be held 30 minutes before each concert. Tickets range from $40 to $60.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

What’s Old is New: The Leuven Chansonnier

Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 at 8 p.m.

Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago

Tickets $50-$60

Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019 at 8 p.m.

Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St., Chicago

Tickets $40-$50

Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019 at 3 p.m.

Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston

Tickets $40-$50

Pre-concert lectures start 30 minutes before each performance.

About Les Délices
Les Délices (pronounced Lay day-lease) explores the dramatic potential and emotional resonance of long-forgotten music. Founded by baroque oboist Debra Nagy in 2009, Les Délices has established a reputation for their unique programs that are “thematically concise, richly expressive, and featuring composers few people have heard of.” The New York Times added, “Concerts and recordings by Les Délices are journeys of discovery.” The group’s debut CD was named one of the “Top Ten Early Music Discoveries of 2009” (NPR’s Harmonia), and their performances have been called “a beguiling experience” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), “astonishing” (ClevelandClassical.com), and “first class” (Early Music America Magazine). In addition to touring engagements, Les Délices presents its own annual four-concert series in Cleveland and at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, where the group has been Artist in Residence since 2009. Les Délices has been featured on WCPN, WCLV and WKSU in Ohio, WQXR in New York, NPR’s syndicated Harmonia and Sunday Baroque, and had their debut CD featured as part of the Audio-guide for a special exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (Watteau, Music, and Theater). Les Délices anticipates the release of their 4th CD, “Songs without Words,” by PARMA Recordings in November 2018. Visit www.lesdelices.org for more information.

About the Newberry Consort
Directed by David Douglass, Newberry Musician-in-Residence, and early music diva Ellen Hargis, the Newberry Consort plumbs the Newberry Library’s vast music collection and assembles a star-studded roster of local and international artists to bring you world-class performances of music from the 13th to the 18th centuries…and occasionally beyond! Affiliated with the Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies, the Consort also serves as an ensemble-in-residence at Northwestern University. In addition to an annual concert series in Chicago, the Consort has an active touring schedule.