Five Gothic Miniatures, for chorus a cappella

As a scholar and teacher of Medieval and Renaissance music and music theory, I have often reflected on how modern the music of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries can sound.  Moreover, many of the compositional techniques used in this music have had greatly appealed to post-tonal composers, from Stravinsky and Webern to Messiaen, Ligeti, and Pärt, to name just a few.

I thus composed these choral miniatures in gothic style in the spirit of Verdi’s (and later Stravinsky’s) statement, “Torniamo all’antico e sarà un progresso” (“Let’s return to the old and it will be progress”).

Other than a cantus firmus on the plainchant Introit “Invocabit me” in the second piece, this composition does not include any direct quotations or references to any pre-existing medieval music or composers.

I have adopted various polyphonic medieval styles, but I have done so deliberately “by ear,” based on my memory and knowledge of this music, not on direct borrowings or references to specific pieces.

The composition of this piece has involved a process of free interpretation of old styles from my perspective and through my own, modern craft.

I recognize the result as fully “my” music, that is, the music of a twenty-first century composer, who acknowledges and absorbs the beauty of Medieval music, and in doing so establishes a direct musical and spiritual dialogue with those great cathedral masters of the late Middle Ages.

Miguel A. Roig-Francolí

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