Consort 8
Courtly Ayres & Dances
Saturday September 19, 2020
The end of the fifteenth century brought a definite change in art music in Spain. Before this the Spanish rulers had looked for musicians in France, Flanders or Italy, but the Catholic court, under Ferdinand and Isabella, whose marriage in 1462 had united the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, engaged only Spanish musicians for their orchestra. Above all it was Ferdinand who, after the death of Isabella in 1504, invited the best Castilian musicians to his court and founded the royal chapel, one of the largest in Europe, with 46 musicians. With such patronage, Spanish music turned away from the prevailing Franco-Flemish style of the early fifteenth century. This new style, strongly oriented towards folkmusic and based on a simpler harmonic structure, resulted in an outpouring of emotion and expression. The inner melancholy of the music, the rhythm, the form and the contents of many songs are evidence of the presence of Jews and Arabs. The most important collections of songs from this period is the Cancienero de Palacio. The songs included are of many different kinds, love stories, political and historical narratives, religious, knightly and pastoral subjects, light-hearted pieces and dance music.
Tres morillas me enamoran en Jaén: I fell in love with three Moorish girls in Jaén
Axa, Fátima, Marién Axa, Fátima, Marién
Tres morillas tan garridas Three lovely Moorish girls,
iban a coger olivas, went to pick olives
y hallában las cogidas de Jaén and they found them already picked in Jaén
Axa, Fátima, Marién Axa, Fátima, Marién.
y hallában las cogidas And found them already picked
Y tornavan desmaidas and they turned back in dismay
y las colores perdidas en Jaén: with all their colours lost in Jaén
Axa, Fátima, Marién Axa, Fátima, Marién..
Tres morillas tan lozanas Three vigorous Moorish girls,
iban a coger manzanas went to pick apples,
y hallában las cogidas de Jaén and they found them already picked in Jaén
Axa y Fátima y Marién Axa, Fátima, Marién
This performance was part of Consort 8's COVID-safe concert.
More Information:
consort8.org
/ consort8