Bryan Butler's Cantores Atri Mortis stuff

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History

So, Neill or Helen should really write this, but I'll say what my (failing) memory is of some of the background of the group. Please forgive me for any mistakes I make, or better yet tell me what the truth was and I can fix it. Or even better yet, just rewrite this part!

I believe it was started by Neill Reid and Helen Johnston, in the astronomy department at Caltech (Neill a research fellow and Helen a grad student). I think it was started before I arrived as a grad student in 1988, but I'm not positive. And I think it was Joel Schwartz, who was a fellow grad student with me in planetary science, who introduced me to the group, but I'm also not positive of that, as it could have been one of the other members who I would have met either through the Glee Clubs or in general via grad student activities. I had just gotten back into singing, in the Glee Clubs, after taking my undergrad years off. I had never sung much renaissance/madrigal music, but always liked it, so when I heard about it I was enthusiastic to join. My memory tells me that it was mostly astronomers (or we itinerant planetary scientists), but looking back at the roster it was less than half in that category. It was, though, mostly grad students (all but Neill?), from various divisions at Caltech (astronomy, planetary science, biology, chemistry, applied math, geology, etc.).

We rehearsed roughly weekly, downstairs in one of the practice rooms in a building on South Campus (I can't remember the name of it). Afterward, many of us would go out for a bite and a beer (or more); most often at Crown City, but sometimes elsewhere. It was mostly Helen and Neill that chose repertoire because they were far and away the most knowledgeable about it (Neill had a collection of CDs that ran around his entire front room!), but we were all welcome to bring any piece we liked and wanted the group to sing to try out. We performed a concert roughly every six-to-twelve months in Dabney Hall, and did some gigs around town for modest pay. We didn't wear period costumes, but rather just casual attire with our own Cantores Atri Mortis t-shirts (I think I still have mine, in a box in the garage somewhere). As members started to graduate and move away, new members were recruited, but eventually we just lost too many, and things just kind of petered out in 1993 or so. I don't remember the details, but Helen graduated in 1992 and left soon thereafter and that may have had something to do with it.

Although it was in the end only for a few years, I have to say that singing in Cantores Atri Mortis was easily the most enjoyable choral experience I've ever had (and I've now sung in many choirs, even at a semi-professional level, and still do). We were all of an age, of a time, of a place, of similar (certainly not identical though!) mind, and it was just damn fun. And the quality of the singing was really outstanding (yours truly excepted ;).

I wish I had a picture of us, but I cannot find one in any of my albums (and I wasn't taking a lot of pictures at the time anyway). Maybe one of the others does.

This is a concert program cover for our concert on Friday, March 8, 1991.

See below for a setlist and recording.

The Members (from some programs and memory, I'm sure some are missing!)

Repertoire (again, from programs, recordings, and memory, and, again, I'm sure some are missing!)

Recordings

I apologize for the quality - these are from cassette tapes that are more than 30 years old, played through a crappy player, and only moderately edited (for denoise and compression) by yours truly. So the quality is not great. But there you go. If any of you have better recordings let me know!

March 1991

Setlist:

Can she excuse (Dowland)
April is in my Mistris' face (Morley)
Fine Knacks for ladies (Dowland)
The Silver Swan (Gibbons)
Si ch'io vorrei morire (Monteverdi)
Il est bel et bon (Passereau)
Look down, O Lord (Byrd)
Jesu dulcis memoria (Vittoria)
Tu es Petrus (Palestrina)
Sicut Cervus (Palestrina)
Fyer, fyer (Morley)
When Phoebus first (Dowland)
Say, Love (Dowland)
Weep, O mine eyes (Bennet)
Matonna, mia cara (Lassus)
Mon coeur se recommande a vous (Lassus)
Anima del cor mio (Monteverdi)
El Grillo (de Pres)
(Encore) Come again! Sweet love doth now invite (Dowland)

November 1991

Setlist:

Coming...

A random one -- I'm not sure what it's from but I found it on an old tape ;). I don't know if it was a concert (or concerts) at Dabney Hall, just one of our rehearsals down in the basement of whatever building that was (I can't remember :/), or something else.

Side 1:

Setlist:

Coming...

Side 2:

Setlist:

Coming...

Last Modified on 2023-Nov-03