As we wearily raise our heads, now and then, from the ancient medieval manuscripts that strain our eyes even as they fortify our souls, we notice something odd. Many of the songs and poems we diligently pore over, in Latin, Old French, and Provençal, are actually political polemics! They sound like they were written by today’s disgruntled pundits on Twitter, cable TV, or on the op-ed section of your favorite daily papers.

How could this possibly be? We are shocked, shocked.

And so, we initiate the Camerata Corruption Corps (CCC), a thoughtful enterprise to keep our minds alert and engaged during these humid summer days. We’ll share with you some of the more telling rants-in-music we have unearthed from many centuries back, and we’ll allow you to apply them as you will to the people and events of our own crazy day.

Here is our first offering, Curritur ad vocem, from the thirteenth century Carmina Burana. The subject, bien sûr, is venality and corruption:

Translation:

Everyone is running towards the voice of Money. Everyone goes after that which is forbidden. That’s how to live! If anyone in this business doesn’t know how the world works, let him choose, or disappear: Get what you need, by whatever means necessary. Law is no deterrent; the judiciary doesn’t matter. Virtue is crime.