Angels We Have Heard on High

I just came from a Folger Consort concert entitled “When Notre Dame Was New,” that featured the Norwegian Mediaeval Trio. I went by myself because I couldn’t interest family or friends in renaissance music. It was interesting to be by myself – almost like a mini-word-fast that Rebecca talks about. For 3-1/2 hours, no speaking, reading, or writing, and listening only to Latin and medieval French. I really think that talking to other people would have spoiled the atmosphere.

Strings plus wind instruments plus the voices of three angels. This was the sound that was sucked into the vortex that swirled upward among the Christian iconography of the National Cathedral. It was such a perfect setting for this type of music. I could close my eyes and imagine that I actually was in Notre Dame and when I opened them I was not at all surprised. The cathedral is perched on a hill and yet reaches still higher toward heaven. So it really was like sitting amidst the angels, who were accompanied by lyre and flute.

What was most amazing about the sound was that within a piece it never stopped. It was almost like a bagpipe where the sound is sustained by the constant flow of air. The three soprano voices acted as one voice which from time to time split into close harmony. They seemed to get their pitches out of thin air. It was yet another wonderful example of collaboration that resulted in a hauntingly beautiful sound.