On April 7, Boyd Recital Hall hosted Collegium Musicum, a chamber music experience designed for the performance of early music literature. 

Directed by Dr. Lourin Plant, Monday evening’s presentation featured around 20 musicians playing a wide variety of early instruments, packed both on stage and off, lending itself to a cozy on-stage feel.

Some of the featured instruments were familiar, like handbells or recorders, while some were more obscure, like the portative, a hand-held organ, or the cornetto, a curved woodwind.

Rowan professor emeritus Joseph Mayes featured multiple times throughout the evening playing both the Renaissance guitar and the lute, and Rowan alumni Richard Carroll spent much of the first half of the evening playing the hammered dulcimer, a pitched percussion instrument.

This performance even utilized the hurdy gurdy and the sackbut, two instruments of interest to the freshman music therapy major and audience member Rev Foster.

“I’ve been interested in learning the Hurdy Gurdy for forever,” said Foster. “I’ve played the sackbut before, so [seeing it in the performance] was pretty sick. So, I was pretty excited to see medieval instruments in action.”

“It’s so cool that we just have this stuff on hand here at Rowan,” said Foster. “I can’t think of any other university that would have dedicated medieval, baroque instruments and stuff. We should encourage more people to check out this stuff and try their hand at it.”

As the performance started, the room came alive with the sounds of medieval music. The night opened with a piece by Neidhart von Reuenthal, who composed between the years of 1190 and 1240. It was as if the audience was transported to a tavern of old or a medieval battlefield. 

Later in the evening, Dr. Lynn Gumert, a professor in the music therapy program, sang the pieces Yo parti para la Gera, Porke Yorach, and Cuando El Rey Nimrod, as the ensemble played beneath her.

Within the programs handed out at the door were translations of each song she performed, so the audience could better connect with the material.

“We also have music from the Sarajevo and the Sephardic music,” said Dr. Plant. “This music, I think, is very emotional and very lyrical. So the quality of the music is filled with drones and medieval melody, with droning and some instruments of the period.”

The first section of the performance contained pieces spanning Europe and the Middle East, concluding with a traditional Armenian piece, Armenia Kürdiihicaziar Longa, which was a recorder solo performed by David Doan.

The music transitioned from the medieval to the Renaissance and, lastly baroque. The second section of the performance concluded with a harpsichord duet performed by Richard Carroll and David Doan, “Quaturo á deux clavecins.”

Rowan senior Owen Speas began the baroque section with Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major,” an infamous cello piece audiences were sure to be familiar with.

“So we have Bach, we have fragments from several of his cantatas,” said Dr. Plant. “We have cantata number four, this is the music of Christ lag in Todesbanden, which is very fit for this season.”

At the evening’s conclusion, Dr. Plant encouraged audience members to see the musicians sooner rather than later if they wished to interact with the instruments. Some audience members took him up on this, with a few even getting up on stage after the performance.

As is the case with many performances hosted at Rowan, Collegium Musicum was not only an evening of early music but a learning experience for audience members, who may or may not have been familiar with the instruments or the music itself. 

To keep up with the performing arts at Rowan, students can check the Box Office website or find Performing Arts at Rowan on social media.

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