Program Note

Today’s program is loosely organized around the theme of “La Monica”. We will sample the music of the early modern Italy, Germany, England, and France as we explore the development of “La Monica” tune in these countries.

La Monica

“La Monica” was a popular folk tune during the Renaissance and Baroque period in many parts of Europe. Though its origin is unknown, it may have been a dance tune as its English name “Alman” (Allemande – literally, “German dance”) suggests. The name “La Monica” is derived from its association with the Italian text “Madre non mi far Monaca” (Mother, do not make me a nun), which tells the story of a young girl who was forced to become a nun against her will, most likely because her family could not afford dowries to secure her a desirable husband.

Frescobaldi composed a set of six (6) keyboard variations called “Parte sopra lamonicha”, and published them in Toccate e Partite, Libro 1 (1615). This was expanded to eleven (11) variations in the second edition (1616), which is the version performed in today’s recital.

In contrast to the secular nature of the Italian text, German texts associated with this tune are often more pious and religious. The Lutheran chorale “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” (I will not forsake Got) is based on “La Monica” tune and was elaborated by various composers including Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Sonata sopra La Monica” is a variation set for the bassoon composed by Philipp Friedrich Böddecker. Though himself a Roman Catholic, Böddecker worked in both Lutheran and Catholic churches and must have known the Lutheran chorale “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen”. His decision to associate his bassoon sonata with “La Monica” in the title may reflect his intention to emphasize the Italianate character of this highly virtuosic piece.

In England, the tune was known as “The Queen’s Alman” or “Old Alman”, suggestive of its origin as dance music. Though certain texts seem to have been sung to this tune, no English texts are closely associated with this tune.

“Une jeune fillette” (a young girl) is the common name for this tune in France. Like its Italian cousin, the text is a lament of a young girl who was forced to become a nun. Interestingly, during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the text for the Annunciation was assigned to this tune and this was transformed into a Christmas music (Noël).

Purcell songs [had to be cancelled due to illness]

Henry Purcell is best known for his vocal and stage works. Today’s selections focus on “music” – “Here the Deities approve” is from one of his odes to St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, and two of the three settings of “If Music be the Food of Love”.

A few words on Jacquet de La Guerre…

Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre was a composer and keyboardist in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France. She was the first woman in France to compose (and publish) an opera. She was regarded highly by her contemporaries as evident from her place as second only to Jean-Baptiste Lully in Titon du Tillet’s Le parnasse François (1732).

“Susanne” is a cantata based on the story of Susanna in the Book of Daniel, where she was falsely accused of adultery by lecherous old men who spied on her while she was bathing. “Bathing Susanna” was a popular theme for art works during the early modern period.

Song text