German Renaissance at Early Music Fest

I am learning a lot at Early Music Festival this year, like that Michael Praetorius's real last name was Schultz, and that each mode is associated with a different sign of the zodiac. Who knew? The first class I have is on Hildegarde of Bingen - we start the morning singing music she wrote. Then I have a class on Medieval German love songs, and as Banjo Player noted on her MyFace page, it was jarring to be accompanied by an accordion in there. My performance class is on the modes and their mystical connotations in Renaissance Germany, and I learned that the mode associated with Capricorn is the Hypophrygian. Oh well, it could be worse, but nobody's sign is associated with the Locrian because they refused to acknowledge the existence of that mode back in the day. Then we are working on a German Mass and triple-choir Te Deum in the all-festival choir and orchestra. I am also attending a lecture series, and today we learned about a set of partitas by Biber based on the fifteen original mysteries of the Rosary, and each one has the violin tuned differently. So much to learn! Praetorius/Schultz supposedly wrote a chapter on how to identify a mode when you hear it, so now my goal is to find that chapter, read it, and distill its essence for you, my 5.3 loyal readers.

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