Program Notes

American civilisation came in large part from old Europe. So we all know — but do we? For the myth of modern, industrial America, that brand-new, technology-driven, rootless place is strong in the contemporary mind. American music, we tend to think, is a product of modern times and big cities.

Yet those who know and love American folk traditions are aware that the “newness” of the new world is sometimes more apparent than real. Great was the joy of English folksong collectors when, a couple of generations back, they began notating splendid versions of Elizabethan ballads from the mouths of semi-literate peasants in the Southern Appalachians. And many of the country melodies collected in Québec before the first World War have antecedents in the French songbooks of the early Renaissance.

This unorthodox recording, an intentionally provocative mix of early art song and modern folksong, is meant first of all to give pleasure — but it is also a meditation on history, on archetypes, and on the transmission of human culture. Much of the culture of Renaissance Europe, both “high” and popular, survived in the countryside: in the Old World, of course, but also in the New. What the impatient, novelty-seeking elites of the cities and courts had rejected remained to delight rural folk even into our own time. As we have seen so often in America (and perhaps elsewhere, too) the taste of ordinary people can be at least as good — or better than — the judgements of an official coterie. In our roots lies our strength!

Les racines de la musique américaine

La civillisation américaine est basée en grande partie sur celle de la vieille Europe. C’est ce que nous savons. Mais le savons-nous vraiment? Car le mythe de l’Amérique moderne, industrielle, ce pays tout neuf mené par la technologie et sans racines, est bien ancré dans l’esprit contemporain. On a tendance à penser que que la musique américaine est un produit des temps modernes et des grandes villes.

Et pourtant, ceux qui connaissent et aiment la tradition folklorique américaine savent que la “modernité” du nouveau monde est souvent plus apparent que réelle. La joie des collectionneurs britaniques a été grande, lorsqu’il y a quelques deux générations, ils ont commencé à noter des versions splendides de ballades Elizabéthaines de la bouche de paysans illetrés du sud des Appalaches. Beaucoup de mélodies populaires collectées au Québec avant la première guerre mondiale ont leur antécédents dans des collections francaises du début de la Renaissance.

Ce disque volontairement déroutant mélange musique savante ancienne et folklore moderne. Son premier but est votre plaisir… mais il est aussi une méditation sur l’histoire, les archétypes, et la transmission de la culture humaine. Une grande partie de la culture de la Renaissance européenne, tant savante que populaire, a survécu dans les campagnes: dans le Vieux Monde bien sûr, mais aussi dans le Nouveau. Ce que les élites citadines, impatientes et avares de nouveauté, ont rejeté, a fait le profit des ruraux, et ceci jusqu’à nos jours. Ainsi que nous l’avons souvent vu en Amérique (et peut-être ailleurs également) le goût des gens ordinaires peut-être au moins aussi bon -sinon meilleur- que les décisions d’un coterie officielle. De nos racines vient notre force!

These notes are © by Joel Cohen
traduction française: Anne Azéma

About

Exploring the connections between early music and what we know as folksong, Joel Cohen and his very adventurous and competent band of musicians not only show us where many familiar tunes come from, they also give us fresh and illuminating renditions of songs from the 10th century to the middle of the 20th century. Besides the recording’s obvious educational value, its primary purpose, according to Cohen, is “to give pleasure.” That it does, often in amusing ways, as when a song with religious origins is transformed into a ribald descendant. It’s also fun to see how widespread some songs are, with different versions common to many countries. Cohen demonstrates how songs that came from Renaissance forms were preserved by common folk long after the “elite” classes abandoned them. The songs are enhanced by excellent instrumental playing and well-conceived arrangements. — David Vernier

Prepare to go on an amazing, haunting musical tour when you put this disc on your player. Joel Cohen has once again assembled a group of musicians and singers who are up to the task of taking themselves, and you the listener, back through the mists of musical time. This disc contains songs that span hundreds of years, many of which actually originate in other lands. Yet, these songs would find their way into the early diverse fabric of colonial America, and go on to inspire much of emerging folk music in this country. Some of these songs are secular, but others have a distinctly religious flavor (as in the first piece on Judgment Day and the “stars falling”). Others are merry, dance-like tunes, and remind one of what might have been performed in medieval courts in Europe. Some are sung in english, others in different languages. The range of musical style and vocal interpretation is incredible. This wonderful diversity reminds the listener that America always had diverse roots, and even in colonial times, we were a nation that drew its strength and inspiration from many cultural sources. I like to listen to this disc during the bleak nights of winter, but it is wonderful music for any occasion. If you really are intrigued by the historical development of American music — or any music — then this disc is a “must” for your collection.

Some Reviews of New Britainfrom the Camerata Archives

This recording offers over an hour of absolutely exquisite music, surprising, by turns moving and vivacious, marvelously played and sung.This is a worthy sequel to the history making program, released two years ago, of “The Legend of Tristan and Iseult.”

Marcel Marnat, Son (Paris)

Congratulations to Erato for this recent recording with Joel Cohen and his Boston Camerata, “New Britain.” which, via Elizabethan ballads, French Renaissance chansons, and troubador songs, shows us the “roots of American folksong.” As is usual with these performers, their effort, both musical and linguistic, is very serious, and completely successful. An original program (very well annotated in the accompanying program book, where you will find texts and translations as well), which goes beyond the musicological or ethnographical document by its tone of authenticity and its constant depth of feeling.

La Marseillaise (Marseilles)

Joel Cohen and his Boston Camerata explore American folklore on our behalf…a recording that breaks down the wall between classical and popular music.

Phosphore (Paris)

After their very beautiful “Tristan et Iseult” of last year, here is a new creation from the Boston Camerata and Joel Cohen…A very original program, remarkably performed.

Spectacles (Nancy)

If only all recordings were planned and executed with this level of intelligence and finesse, reviewers could unplug their computers and head for the hills….every minute proves fascinating and beautiful.

Allan Ullrich, San Francisco Examiner

A stylish, fanciful round trip between the Old and New Worlds…an ear-opening experience.

Clarke Bustard, Richmond Times-Dispatch

This project is original and fascinating, like everything that Joel Cohen and his Boston Camerata do. They have tracked down in American popular music the souvenirs, survivals, and recollections of melodies — sometimes simply texts — of old Europe: English, French, and Spanish cultures. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance thus emerge from Appalachian farmers, or from Huron Indians, from New Mexico or Québec.

We are offered, successively and side-by-side, the old melody and its distant progeny: there are selections from all centuries and all styles, for every taste and every pleasure. For there is absolutely nothing academic in this collection, where the singers (including the Alsatian Anne Azéma) and the instrumentalists are like fish in water. These wandering ballads, childrens’ songs, tunes for dancing, drinking, and living life — in short, these folk songs offer a panorama of enormous freshness, and a subjet for meditation on the continuity of human history. A copious libretto allows us to lose nothing of this exceptional recording.
Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace (Strasbourg)

Joel Cohen and his band of Boston-based singers and instrumentalists have accomplished something very special on this new CD…it’s full of little gems that are well worth repeated hearings. And as a concept, it’s unique.
David Vernier, CD Review

A fabulous album…splendidly conceived and executed.

Daily Times (Sallisbury, Md)