The hunt goes on

The hunt goes on...

Las Heulgas Codex facsimile. 

It was a big hunt: more voices to find,  more studying to do. I had to look beyond the  cloister. I  needed a world class research library. Graciously,  God did provide!  Not far  from  Bryn Mawr  is the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania.  With  Bryn Mawr and Haverford  introductions, the stellar Penn  music faculty and first rate music librarians  offered encouragement, consultation,  and extensive library support.   My first astonishing find was a facsimile edition of the Las Heulgas Codex, a manuscript  dated  around 1300.  It is a treasure trove of Medieval music compiled by the  sisters of the convent Las Heulgas in Spain. They organized and compiled much existing music,  transcribing those chants into what was then modern notation.  As they worked in their scriptorium, it is  likely  the nuns did some editing and arranging.   We cannot name most of the  composers.  However I decided, along with the  Anonymous 4 singers, that anonymous is likely female and thus fair game for the hunt!

Verbum Bonum, a chant included in Codex, is a conductus, or a processional chant that would have been used during liturgical movement. Verbum Bonum is a song in praise of the Virgin Mary, likening her to God's Good Word. Our volunteer singers loved singing it as an opening piece for  our liturgical performances.  We added light percussion which made the ancient chant come alive in current worship.  It became a favorite with worshippers and audiences as we toured at home and abroad.  Verbum Bonum is #3 in Voices Found.  

Further searching led to other women composers of Western liturgical music.  Sulpitia Cesis, an Italian nun writing in the 17th century, wrote motets for use in her Augustinian convent of St. Geminiano in Modena, Italy.  Her duet Maria Magdalena et alter Maria is #48 in Voices Found.  It is a setting of Matthew 23:1-7.

 More historical notes and performance suggestions are in The Leader's Guide to Voices Found available from Church Publishing, Inc. New York, NY

NB: Many, many faculty members, librarians, and staff at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges and at the University of Pennsylvania provided  hours of pro bono time and resources.  With grace, the clergy, staff, and parishioners of St. Mark's Locust St. in Philadelphia also offered encouragement, counsel, and financial support as did the Diocese of Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church Center.  I cannot thank them all here but I have gratefully acknowledged as many as possible in the Preface to Voices Found.