Francesco d’Assisi
narrated by Franco Cardini
laReverdie
Franciscan spirituality in the Umbrian and Florentine lauds of the 14th and 15th centuries and in the Venetian lauds of the 15th century
Altissima luce
Or piangiamo lauda
Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale, Ms Banco Rari 18
Troppo perde ’l tempo
Cortona, Biblioteca Comunale e dell’Accademia Etrusca, MS 91
Laudar vollio per amore lo premier frate minore
Ciascun ke fede sente
Cortona, Biblioteca Comunale e dell’Accademia Etrusca, MS 91
Diana stella
(instrumental arrangement by Doron David Sherwin, 1994)
Anima benedecta
Vergene madre pia
O Francisce pater pie
Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Ms. Cl. IX, 145
Et gloria eius in te videbitur
(instrumental arrangement by Doron David Sherwin, 2008)
The life of St Francis, as narrated by Franco Cardini, conjures up one of the most adventurous lives in history, and offers a glimpse into the culture of medieval Italy, to which LaReverdie’s tireless research now gives new voice and sound. They draw from that treasure trove of devotional songs that, encouraged by the mendicant orders, developed within the Umbrian and Florentine confraternities between the 13th and 14th centuries. It was there and then that they started singing in the vernacular, which was establishing itself as a new poetic language. This gave expression to Marian devotion, the veneration of saints, and reflections on death. The musical journey then moves on to a 15th-century lauda, preserved in a manuscript now held at the Marciana Library in Venice, which originally came from a Franciscan convent in the city.
