Sederunt principes (Pérotin) - New York Polyphony/ Lizzie Ball

[@tiocuauh]

I knew about this song reading the book The Name of the Rose from Umberto Eco, and I find it beautiful, greetings from Mexico.

[@marcelleandradecintra7061]

Oh! I came to watch for the same reason, I'm reading this part of the book now

[@paoloramacciotti3532]

Utterly astounding: the sound of spheres gleaming with diagonal spikes.

[@vragenstaatvrij777]

Nice video and a respectful creative interpretation of an 800 year old masterpiece. Many thanks.

[@jonathanfontenelle2021]

Conheci essa maravilha pelo livro "O nome da rosa" de Umberto Eco!

[@Searle8]

Excellent....an example of what could be termed Experimental Early Music...!

[@PlusDeltaM]

Lovely. Thank you.

[@belamoure]

I liked the vigourous bite you gave to the whole ensemble, and the whining violin creating purple drapes of exctasy was divine; needless to say that I enjoyed Ms Lizzie Ball's high heels and her langourous body -harnessing these rosaries of angelic notes.

[@rogermoore27]

I will be following you guys. You sound EXCELLENT.

[@QMPhilosophe]

Beautiful!!!

[@RockingJamboree]

What is the drone instrument being played/pumped by the conductor? Very interesting arrangement. When the video started on the street, I was hoping the music would take place there too. I know the acoustics wouldn't be as good on the street. But the reactions of passers would be interesting. What if you did this same piece (or something similar) in a Capital Rotunda or in a Subway Station between trains!

[@vKarl71]

There's a wonderful group in New York called the Rennaissance Street Singers who used to sing in big reverberant spaces like Grand Central Terminal. I hadn't seen them around for a long time then saw them on the High Line a few years ago. Started by John Hetland in 1973!

[@Teona1212]

Amazing !

[@bangersfuzzy]

Klasse. Gefällt mir. Hat was für sich.

[@jockboy69]

I especially liked the 21st c. combination of 12th c. music and high stilettos on Ms. Ball! Jean-Paul Gautier should use Perotin for his next runway show. He's from the right country. S&M leathers accompanied by medieval highly spiritual polyphony! Great job, as always!

[@PlusDeltaM]

Viderunt Omnes please! This is amazing.

[@themrqwertymark]

OM goodness... so awesome

[@nypolyphony]

Here's how to find us on Facebook: facebook.com/newyorkpolyphony

[@guilhermesobrinho1329]

Jesus Christ! That was so beautiful!!!! Warm hugs from Brazil ^_^

[@carnevalspettacolo]

Fantastico!!!!

[@pagatwarrior]

2:22min - great Tribute to Salome by Richard Strauss! :)

[@Searle8]

The New York Polyphony could do some more pioneering work in this area. I am sure the experience would be fascinating. My youtube site is the largest audio-visual collection of Medieval, and Renaissance Music on the web. Plenty of inspiration can be found on it.....

[@jessiezsings]

So my question is, since there weren't really violins back then, would the violin part in this piece have been played by another instrument or is it added to the score? Or am I wrong in thinking violins came later? There were lyres and wind instruments, but not violins, right? :)

[@nypolyphony]

The violin part is 100% anachronistic-- a modern embellishment. Lizzie is improvising in the mode of the piece.

[@jessiezsings]

***** Thanks so much for replying! Such a beautiful piece of music, and I absolutely adored the violin part, regardless of whether it was originally in the score or not. :)

[@nypolyphony]

Our pleasure. Glad you like the video. (We just added some new ones, btw.)

[@DonVueltaMorales]

+jessiezsings Furthermore, instruments are not played simultaneously with voices in church until probably the end of the 15th century (maybe). The organ, for example, was used to give the tone or the incipit and used for playing alternating verses of long liturgical works like the Credo. Whereas you might like the sound of this music, know that the performance here has nothing to do with 12th-century Western European music. They might as well have brought in Autotune and a set of timpani (not that there's anything wrong with it). This is more Medieval Tymes- and Renaissance Faire-type fantasty.

[@hwhamlin]

That is a harmonium.

[@carolineleiden]

Just wondering: do you use the original Gregorian scores, or the ones translated into modern music annotation?

[@gunnarthorsen]

Sorry - I don't care for this at all. The singing is sublime, as is the violin playing, but they seem to compete with each other, not compliment one another. Though the singers are "performers", their chanting is praise, intended for worship. The violin playing comes across as being purely "performance", showy, all about the violinist. I know that others will disagree of course, but there it is.

[@leforain]

+Gunnar Thorsen I don't know if the chanting is praise exactly. Here are the lyrics in English: The princes sat, and spoke against me: they have persecuted me unjustly. Do thou help me, Lord my God: Save me for thy mercy's sake

[@bonumfatum457]

The Church defines Gregorian Chant as sung prayer. This particular verse is the Introit for the feast day of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. I agree with Gunnar; the singing is sublime, but the addition of the violin seems superficial to me. I also didn't care for the sound, but that's unrelated. Kudos to NYP, Perotin is no easy sing!

[@DonVueltaMorales]

The "problem" with this, as I see it, is that folks off the street will think that Perotinus's work was really like klezmer or country fiddle and that they have something to do with each other (beyond the fact they they're all music). The harmonium accompaniment is another issue, which might also have been thought of as sacrilegious in 1199. However ... if you go with the video ... this is 21st-c. NYC and is merely an agglomeration of interesting sounds performed exceedingly well. The performers are probably atheists to boot, but we shouldn't fault them for that either. This is a mash-up, somewhat like Reich's _City Life_ or like something from Caroline Shaw and Room Full of Teeth, etc. Again, the "problem" is that the average Bushwick hipster barista layman walks away saying, "I heard some great medieval music at Smokey Mary's during lunch hour. Wow. I have to download some, yo. It was really dope." Uh ... like, no, you di'in, b!+@#.

[@smallwonder4465]

@@DonVueltaMoralesRight. The problem as you see it is that the average Joe lacks tbe knowledge to differentiate between 800 year old polyphonic innovation and 20th century variations on same. Damn, I wish my problems were on the scale of your own. My life would be much closer to ideal that's for sure... lol

[@OrbiliusMagister]

This "experimental music" follows the experiments made by The Hilliard Ensemble with Jan Garbarek or Paul Giger around 25 years ago.