Church concert showcases Renaissance convent music

By Mark Pavilons
Editor
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter

A unique church concert is sure to produce some miraculous melodic contours.
Christ Church Kettleby will host Kettleby native Eliza-Jane Callander and, together with other professional singers, she will present an evening of music written for and by nuns: “Songs for Mary: Music for Women's Voices, 1140-1640.”
The concert will be held July 26 at 6 p.m. and tickets are $25 regular, $20 senior or students, available online at facebook.com/subrosaensemble or cash at the door.
Guests will be treated to a truly one-of-a-kind performance that reflects the beauty of female acappella voices. It's a spiritual history lesson of sorts, that's sure to touch some hearts.
Callander said music has always been integral to monastic worship, and European nuns have composed since at least the 1100s, however, convent music began to flourish in the 1500s in Italy. At that time about 75% of Italian noblewomen were nuns, largely due to marriage dowry inflation. Convent dowries were somewhat cheaper and, with or without a true vocation, women had far greater freedom for intellectual and artistic pursuits as nuns. Public performance, especially singing, was risqué, but devoting her voice to Christ allowed a woman to (mostly) avoid this stereotype.
Convents thus became wealthy centres of both virtuosity and controversy. Nuns sang on a balcony, hidden behind a grate, for modesty. Their music increased church attendance, but authorities worried the nuns attracted too much attention to themselves; at times, convent music was illegal. Nuns often sang anyway, though, or resisted enforcement, even chasing the police away by throwing projectiles over the convent wall (yes, really).”
Most modern choral music, she says, is written for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass – two women's and two men's parts. However, men and women didn't usually sing together in this period. Boys sometimes sang the higher parts, and many churches didn't allow women to sing until the 1800s. Nevertheless, singing nuns were very popular. Anybody could attend convent services, and patrons often thought the “invisible” nuns surpassed the best male musicians.
Why then don't we hear more about these women?
“Not once in my entire music history education were they mentioned, just as women's contributions have been downplayed in so many fields. Nuns composed over several centuries, ranging from unison chant to sixteen-part choral harmony with orchestra. Much has been lost, but hundreds of pieces survive.”
Callander grew up in Kettleby in a musical household, but she didn't know much about classical music until she took voice lessons as a teenager. She studied Music History and Religion at McGill, then took a second undergrad in classical voice at U of T. She loved studying singing but, in her view, Canadian universities focus too heavily on opera.
“Besides, I always had too many questions: Who first sang this music? Where did they perform it? Who taught them to sing? My teachers didn't really have those answers, and kept saying, ‘Why don't you become a musicologist?' A musicologist studies music's history, methods, and relationship to society.”
It was only after her performance degree that she discovered “early music,” which is pre-classical: from about 1450 to 1700.
“I loved to sing sacred music from this era, but felt like my voice was an anachronism, until studying musicology made me realize that women did sing in church — a lot — as nuns!
“I wondered why I never heard convent music at the university or in local concerts, so I got some friends together and put on the first Sub Rosa concert in 2017. I completed my MA in Musicology at U of T and my PhD at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. My thesis was about the music of the Convertite, reformed prostitutes who became nuns.”
The hour-long concert, with intermission, will consist of mostly sacred music for four unaccompanied women's voices.
“We sing up to four-part harmony across three octaves. The music is mostly from the 1500s and 1600s, along with some medieval music. We are classically trained, so we sing without amplification, but in a softer, more streamlined way than the full-throttle ‘opera sound.' We listen closely to each other to ensure harmonic precision and a unified sound.”
Callander said the texts relate mostly to the Virgin Mary, the most common subject in convent music, as well as to the many beautiful things associated with her: flowers, nature, fertility, even jewels. She will also tell stories about the music and the composers. Songs are in Latin and Italian, with translations provided.
“I hope people who are new to early music might join us, as we aim to make the experience approachable and entertaining.”
Although this music is rare, it has great social significance, Callander notes. It shows that women's voices were taken seriously in their lifetime, not just in retrospect by modern society. Even for most classical musicians, this music is unfamiliar. It's risky to branch out from “big name” composers because you can't be sure if audiences will like it.
“I'm not sure why early music in general isn't more popular, though. It's more approachable than a lot of classical music: it's clearer, more nuanced, and is the foundation of modern styles such as folk.”
The pioneering ensembles Musica Secreta and Cappella Artemisia introduced convent music to the UK in the 90s. They encountered a lot of resistance.
“Some people still don't like the idea that we should hear more from marginalized composers (such as women or people of colour) just because they were marginalized. I say, why not give these composers a try, and then decide if they're any good? Convent music has become more popular recently. Things are changing slowly, both in scholarship and in performance. Toronto has lots of great music already, so I wish to bring this music to rural areas, and to share it with my neighbours.”
The group's next project will be a Christmas concert and they're aiming for a few concerts a year. Easter and Christmas have the most repertoire, but Callander also loves summertime concerts, when the professional season is paused and we have more time for passion projects.
“We would definitely like to record in the future.”
More information about the upcoming concert and past projects can be found on their Facebook page, Sub Rosa. You can also reach her at elizajanecallander@gmail.com for further enquiries.