PALOMA GUTIÉRREZ DEL ARROYO

Monophonic and Polyphonic Songs from the Carmina Burana

In this course, professional and amateur singers will perform monophonic and polyphonic pieces, both sacred and secular, whose texts appear transcribed in the famous Codex Buranus—sometimes with overlapping adiastematic neumes—and which we can only interpret thanks to, on the one hand, the earlier or later parallel sources to the compilation of this codex that did notate their music with pitches, and, on the other hand, the “contrafactum” work, so widely practiced at the time, that modern musicologists have done, adapting a melody from another contemporary piece with a similar meter to fit this text.

The course will focus on oral tradition and the manuscripts, working with different musical forms and styles from the 12th and 13th centuries found, among others, in sources and repertoires of the Notre Dame School of Paris and the St. Martial School of Limoges. Various notations, musical forms, sound qualities, and approaches to working with these repertoires will be explored.

Singer specialized in medieval music, working with leading performers and researchers of the repertoire at institutions in France (CNSMD of Paris and Sorbonne, Paris IV), Switzerland (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis), and Italy. She regularly performs on European stages and has collaborated with ensembles such as La Reverdie, Contrafacta, Dialogos, Malandança, and La compagnie Orion, and has formed duos with various actors and musicians, including singer Catherine Schroeder and multi-instrumentalist Bill Cooley. She is a co-founder of several international ensembles: the now-dissolved Puy de sons d’autrefois and Oiet, and the Ensemble Cantaderas (2015), and directs the EVOCA Project – Exploration of the Vocality and Orality of Ancient Song (2021), with which she investigates ancient vocal sounds, practices, and gestures, among others, in collaboration with the UCM. She also regularly performs in duet with harpist Manuel Vilas and in trio with both him and multi-instrumentalist Efrén López. She has premiered contemporary works and recorded for the record labels Arion, Etcetera Records, and Lindoro. She is active in teaching and promoting medieval music for audiences ranging from beginners to specialists, having collaborated with Radio Clásica-RNE and taught courses in museums (Lázaro Galdiano), professional and higher conservatories (Madrid, Lyon), universities (UCM, UAM, UAB, François-Rabelais-Tours University…), libraries (BNE), foundations (Royaumont, Santa María la Real, Joaquín Díaz), and specialized centers such as the Centre de Musique Médiévale de Paris. She directs the “Escuela de Música Medieval y de Tradición Oral” (School of Medieval Music and Oral Tradition), which she founded in 2016 within the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Madrid). Alongside her musical career, she also pursued a scientific career, culminating in a thesis in biophysics (CNB-CSIC-UAM) and a PhD title (2009).