{"id":57,"date":"2006-01-10T01:32:59","date_gmt":"2006-01-10T06:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=57"},"modified":"2018-08-23T23:00:26","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T03:00:26","slug":"the-play-of-daniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"The Play of Daniel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"06-01-10<\/a>I have two ver\u00adsions of this well known medieval piece, which is impor\u00adtant both from a lit\u00ader\u00adary and a musi\u00adcal point of view. Euro\u00adpean dra\u00adma evolved, in the Mid\u00addle Ages, from the litur\u00adgy of the Church. What began as the mod\u00adest elab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtions on the cer\u00ade\u00admony of the mass even\u00adtu\u00adally led, by slow incre\u00adments of change, to Ham\u00adlet<\/em>. Sim\u00adi\u00adlarly, the sim\u00adple mono\u00adphonic chant of the mass was the acorn from which opera, sym\u00adphony and con\u00adcerto grew. In both aspects, it was the neces\u00adsity to enter\u00adtain the audi\u00adence, rather than God, that pushed the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The Ludus Danielis <\/em>comes to us through a 13th Cen\u00adtury man\u00adu\u00adscript in the Cathe\u00addral of Beau\u00advais, but it appears to have been writ\u00adten a cen\u00adtury ear\u00adlier. It is clear\u00adly ascribed to a group of stu\u00addents of that Cathe\u00addral. The text is, of course, in Latin. It includes dia\u00adlogue and some fair\u00adly explic\u00adit stage direc\u00adtions. The musi\u00adcal nota\u00adtion is only for the vocal parts, though an orches\u00adtral accom\u00adpa\u00adni\u00adment is implied. The nota\u00adtion gives melody, but not tem\u00adpo or meter, so there is a great deal of room for inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion in the music. We also know that Medieval ideas of meter were clos\u00ader in spir\u00adit to mod\u00adern jazz than to the rigid tim\u00ading of clas\u00adsi\u00adcal music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giv\u00aden this broad scope for inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion, it\u2019s not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that the two ver\u00adsions of the Ludus Danielis <\/em>in my col\u00adlec\u00adtion sound noth\u00ading like each oth\u00ader. The first, per\u00adformed by the Schola Hun\u00adgar\u00adica in the ear\u00adly 1980s, leans as far toward the litur\u00adgi\u00adcal as pos\u00adsi\u00adble. The only accom\u00adpa\u00adni\u00adment is some sim\u00adple per\u00adcus\u00adsion. The singing style is lean, and the whole effect is \u201cchurchy\u201d, though the solo pas\u00adsages are treat\u00aded quite beau\u00adti\u00adfully as arias. It was record\u00aded in a 12th Cen\u00adtury Hun\u00adgar\u00adian Church. The oth\u00ader per\u00adfor\u00admance is the pio\u00adneer\u00ading 1955 per\u00adfor\u00admance in the Clois\u00adters of the Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Muse\u00adum of Art in New York, by New York Pro Musi\u00adca. This was prob\u00ada\u00adbly the first per\u00adfor\u00admance of the piece since the Mid\u00addle Ages, and it was done with great enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm and care. W. H. Auden even wrote a long poem as a pre\u00adam\u00adble to the per\u00adfor\u00admance. It leans far more towards the dra\u00adma. The orches\u00adtra\u00adtion is full, includ\u00ading trum\u00adpets, rebec, por\u00adta\u00adtive organ, psaltery, recorders, viele, harp, var\u00adi\u00adous per\u00adcus\u00adsion, and even high\u00adland bag\u00adpipes. Every\u00adthing is done to stress the play-like aspects. The con\u00adtrast between the two is so strong that only remem\u00adber\u00ading key melodies would let you know that you were lis\u00adten\u00ading to the \u201csame\u201d piece. The whole feel\u00ading is dif\u00adfer\u00adent. One seems a sacred con\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adtion, the oth\u00ader a bois\u00adter\u00adous pop\u00adu\u00adlar entertainment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Per\u00adson\u00adally, I sus\u00adpect that the Pro Musi\u00adca ver\u00adsion is clos\u00ader to what was per\u00adformed in the Mid\u00addle Ages. The Schola Hun\u00adgar\u00adica is seek\u00ading a puri\u00adty and sim\u00adplic\u00adity that is extreme\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful, but unlike\u00adly to have been what a bunch of medieval stu\u00addents would have liked, or pro\u00adduced. I\u2019m as much inter\u00adested in the play\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00adary ele\u00adment as in the music, and it seems to me that the lurid sub\u00adject of Daniel and Bels\u00adhaz\u00adzar, the writ\u00ading on the Wall (\u201cMene, mene, tekel upharsin!<\/em>\u201d), and clear\u00adly described action scenes of peo\u00adple being devoured by lions, is hard\u00adly mate\u00adr\u00adial design for con\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adtive meditation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have two ver\u00adsions of this well known medieval piece, which is impor\u00adtant both from a lit\u00ader\u00adary and a musi\u00adcal point of view. Euro\u00adpean dra\u00adma evolved, in the Mid\u00addle Ages, from the litur\u00adgy of the Church. What began as the \u2026<\/p>\n

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