Collegium Musicum to Sing Music of Elizabethan England in Washington, D.C., and at Fairchild Chapel, Saturday, April 29, 8:00 PM Story by Michael Chipman Collegium Musicum photo by John Seyfried
	THE PROGRAM Sacred Music of William Byrd • O Lorde, Make thy Servant Elizabeth • Ne iracaris • organ voluntary • Mass for Four Voices with Plainsong Proper for the Feast of St. John the Baptist • organ voluntary • Sing Joyfully Steven Plank defines "organ voluntary" as, "organ music performed in context of a church service, which is often of a free nature: perhaps improvised and perhaps free of pre-existent melody." For another look at "organ voluntary": How long, O Lord?		At the invitation of Keith Reas '74, music director at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., Oberlin's Collegium Musicum, a 40-voice ensemble directed by Steven Plank, professor of musicology, will embark on a weekend tour to Washington, D.C. where, on April 8, they will perform choral music from Elizabethan England, composed by William Byrd. The ensemble will repeat that performance at Oberlin's Fairchild Chapel on Saturday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. The Collegium Musicum is an ensemble that specializes in the performance of Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque music. Initiated in the early 1960s by Dean Nurnberger, the group celebrates its 10th year under the direction of Steven Plank. The group has performed Mass and motet, settings by Byrd, Tallis, Fayrfax, Monteverdi, Victoria, Lasso, Schuetz and Palestrina. The group traditionally presents two concerts a year in Oberlin and has appeared on several recent occasions in Cleveland. "This is a group that I take the most wonderful delight in," says Plank of the ensemble that draws a diverse mix of students from the Conservatory and College. "We have a really good time singing this stuff. It is nice for them to perform this music in a variety of settings, particularly large ones like St. Marks. In Cleveland we have also sung in the garden court at the Cleveland Museum of Art, but this tour will give them a chance to perform in a more grand acoustic. "We have often performed English music -- that's a particular interest of mine," says Plank. "The sound of English choirs is a model for what we do. We've had a lot of investment in English music." Plank says one of the high points of English church music is the work of William Byrd, whose music comprises the main portion of this program, and who, according to Plank, is a fascinating character. "Byrd had the distinction of being a Roman Catholic in the Chapel Royal of Elizabeth. The fact that he survived is evidence of the high esteem in which he was held. But he did survive, presumably because he was an unusually valuable asset to the court through his music. Even his family was brought up on charges of 'recusancy' - a Roman Catholic's refusal to attend Church of England Services - during the time when that was illegal for political reasons. Covert Catholic communities sprung up during that time, all over England. "In his later years Byrd moved to one of these covert Catholic communities in Essex and, rather boldly, decided to compose music to overt Roman Catholic texts for his music. He illegally composed -- and amazingly published -- three Masses." Plank chose one of these masses for the April Collegium Musicum concerts. "We'll perform the Mass with a set of PlainSongs Proper for the audience to get a sense of how and actual Elizabethan liturgical ceremony would sound," says Plank. "On recordings, you hear all five movements in sequence. In actual practice, a lot of different things happened during the ceremony of the Mass. We want to provide a sense of the interplay and contrast in performance as it would have been done when Byrd composed it." One of the additions to the Mass sequence is the motet "Ne Iracaris" which, says Plank is "quite poignant. The text, as in many of Byrd's motets, focuses on exile, captivity and desolation. Much of the music of the time, while extremely beautiful, was not personally attached to the composer. This motet speaks very personally for William Byrd. The text is about exile, and exile was the condition of a Roman Catholic in England during Elizabeth's reign." Plank adds, "Also, the Jesuits from the continent would often sneak in to serve the covert Catholic communities and were arrested. One of these Jesuits, Edmund Campion, preached on imagery that resurfaces in 'Ne Irascaris' on the very day he was caught." Collegium Musicum will round out the program with other Elizabethan music, including two English anthems which Plank says is simply, "me indulging in some of my favorite pieces. One anthem, 'O Lorde, Make thy Servant Elizabeth' is a prayer for the monarch. Another, 'Sing Joyfully' refers to the God of Jacob, which metaphorically becomes an ode to King James." Plank says this opportunity is a special one, as he commemorates his tenth anniversary directing the group. "We will spend the weekend in D.C. and it should be very beautiful with all the cherry blossoms in bloom." He adds, with a laugh, "We may just have to go out and enjoy that a little bit."
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