USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia is an ensemble of period instruments and voices specializing in music from the 16th through the mid-18th centuries. Founded in 1986 by James Tyler, the ensemble is currently led by early music program director Adam Knight Gilbert and Rotem Gilbert. The Baroque Sinfonia consists of graduate students majoring in early music, graduate students of modern instruments and classical voice minoring in early music, and a small but growing number of undergraduate students, all performing four different programs each year. With the support of scholarships from the Colburn Foundation and funds from the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, the Thornton Baroque Sinfonia has won the Early Music America Collegium Grant in 2008 and every year from 2011 to 2022, travelling to the Berkeley, Boston, and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. The ensemble’s recording of British broadside ballads D’ye Hear the News, supported by the USC-EMSI for the Yale University Press, can be heard online at iTunes U. Its performances have been heard on National Public Radio and can be enjoyed on YouTube. Current members and alumni perform, research, and teach around the world.

Surge amica mea
Song of Songs: 13-14
Virgilio Mazzocchi
 
Surge, amíca mea, speciósa mea, et veni:
colúmba mea, in foramínibus petræ, in cavérna macériæ,
osténde mihi fáciem tuam, sonet vox tua in áuribus meis:
vox enim tua dulcis, et fácies tua decóra.
Alleluia, alleluia.
 
-English Translation-
 
Rise up, my love, my brilliant one, and advance.
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall,
reveal to me your face. Let your voice sound in my ears.
For your voice is sweet, and your face is graceful.
Alleluia.
 
 
Psallite, superi
Chiara Margharita Cozzolani
 
Psallite, superi; plaudite, caelites; canite, angeli; jubilate.
Quae est ista, quae ascendit quasi aurora consurgens?
Maria est, quae noctem peccati depulit, gratiae diem protulit, justitiae solem peperit.
 
Psallite, superi….
 
Quae est ista, quae ascendit pulchra ut luna?
Maria est, humore fecunda caelitium gratiarum, ut soli
Deo placeat; Spiritu Sancto superimpleta, ut terra gratias
influat, ut miseris mortalibus depluat.
 
Psallite, superi….
 
Quae est ista, electa ut sol?
Maria est, sola peccati nescia, ignara noctis tartari,
virtutem luce fulgida, vitæ cœlestis radiis coronata.
 
Psallite, superi….
 
Quae est ista, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?
Maria est, singularis inimica diaboli;
Maria virguncula, tenellula, placidula, metuenda;
diabolo invisa, terribilis, formidabilis; expugnatrix, triumphatrix Maria diaboli.
Quae est ista? Maria est.
 
Psallite, superi….
 
-English Translation-
 
Sing, you above; rejoice, you heavenly ones; sing you angels, rejoice.
Who is this woman, who ascends like the rising dawn?
It is Mary, who took away the night of sin and gave the day of grace;
she has given birth to the sun of justice.
 
Sing, you above…
 
Who is this woman who ascends, fair like the moon?
It is Mary, filled with the dew of heavenly grace, that she alone might please God;
brimming over with the Holy Spirit, that she might bring grace to the earth,
that she might succour miserable mortals.
 
Sing, you above…
 
Who is this woman, chosen like the sun?
It is Mary, alone free from sin, ignorant of Hell’s night, full of the light of virtue, crowned with the rays of heavenly life.
 
Sing, you above…
 
Who is this woman, frightful like a battle-line of military encampments?
It is Mary, the matchless enemy of the devil,
young Mary, tender and pleasing, the venerable one;
hated by the devil, frightful, imposing; the expiator, the conqueror,
Mary, the one who triumphed over the devil.
Who is this woman? It is Mary.
 
Sing, you above…
 
 
Chi desia
Francesca Caccini
 
Chi desia di saper che cosa è amore,
Io dirò, che non sia se non ardore,
Che non sia se non dolore,
Che non sia se non timore,
Che non sia se non furore,
Io dirò che non sia se non ardore,
Chi desia di saper che cosa è amore.
 
Chi mi domanderà s’amor’ io sento,
Io dirò che’l mio foco è tutto spento,
Ch’io non provo più tormento,
Ch’io non tremo, ne pavento,
Ch’io ne vivo ogn’ or contento,
Io dirò che’l mio foco è tutto spento,
Chi mi domandera s’amor’ io sento.
 
Chi mi consiglierà ch’io debb’ amare,
Io dirò che non vo’ più sospirare,
Ne temere, ne sperare,
Ne avvampare, ne gelare,
Ne languire, ne penare;
Io dirò che non vò più sospirare,
Chi mi consiglierà ch’io debb’ amare.
 
Chi d’amor crederrà dolce il gioire,
Io dirò che più dolce è amor fuggire,
Ne piegarsi al suo desire,
Ne tentar suoi sdegni, et ire,
Ne provare il suo martire,
Io dirò che più dolce è amor fuggire,
Chi d’amor crederrà dolce il gioire.
 
-English Translation-
 
To whoever wants to know what love is,
I’ll say it’s nothing if not passion,
it’s nothing if not suffering,
it’s nothing if not dread,
it’s nothing if not fury,
I’ll say it’s nothing if not passion
to whoever wants to know what love is.
 
To whoever asks if I’m in love,
I’ll say that my fire is all burned out,
that I’m no longer tormented,
that I don’t tremble, I’m not fearful,
that I live in contentment all the time,
I’ll say that my fire is all burned out
to whoever asks if I’m in love.
 
To whoever advises me love,
I’ll say I’ve had enough of sighing,
of being fearful, of hoping,
of burning, of freezing,
of languishing, of pain;
I’ll say I’ve had enough of sighing
To whoever advises me love.
 
To whoever believes in the sweet joy of love,
I’ll say it’s sweeter to flee from love,
not to submit to its will,
not to tempt its disdain and temper,
not to feel its affliction,
I’ll say it’s sweeter to flee from love
to whoever believes in the sweet joy of love.
 
-translated by Richard Kolb
 
 
Elevatis manibus
Vincenzo Ugolini
 
Elevatis manibus, ferebatur in caelum,
Et benedixit eis, Alleluia, alleluia.
 
-English Translation-
 
With raised hands, he was caried to Heaven,
And he blessed them. Alleluia.
 
 
Lamento della ninfa
Claudio Monteverdi
 
“Amor”, dicea, il ciel
mirando, il piè fermo,
“dove, dov’è la fè
ch’el traditor giurò?”
 
Miserella.
 
“Fa’ che ritorni il mio
amor com’ei pur fu,
o tu m’ancidi, ch’io
non mi tormenti più.”
Miserella, ah più no, no,
tanto gel soffrir non può.
 
“Non vo’ più ch’ei sospiri
se non lontan da me,
no, no che i martiri
più non darammi affè.
 
Perché di lui mi struggo,
tutt’orgoglioso sta,
che si, che si se’l fuggo
ancor mi pregherà?
 
Se ciglio ha più sereno
colei, che’l mio non è,
già non rinchiude in seno,
Amor, sí bella fè.
 
Ne mai sí dolci baci
da quella bocca havrai,
ne più soavi, ah taci, taci,
che troppo il sai.”
 
-English translation-
 
O Love – she said,
Gazing at the sky, as she stood –
Where’s the fidelity
That the deceiver promised?
 
[Poor her!]
 
Make my love come back
As he used to be Or kill me,
so that I will not suffer anymore.
 
[Poor her! She cannot bear All this coldness!]
 
I don’t want him to sigh any longer
But if he’s far from me.
No! He will not make me suffer
Anymore, I swear!
 
He’s proud
Because I languish for him.
Perhaps if I fly away from him
He will come to pray to me again.
 
If her eyes are more serene
Than mine,
O Love, she does not hold in her heart
A fidelity so pure as mine.
 
And you will not receive from those lips
Kisses as sweet as mine,
Nor softer. Oh, don’t speak!
Don’t speak! you know better than that!
 
 
Christe, adoramus te
Claudio Monteverdi
 
Christe, adoramus te,
et benedicimus tibi,
quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum.
Domine, Domine, miserere nobis.
 
-English Translation-
 
Christ, we adore you,
And we bless you.
You whom by the Holy Cross
Have redeemed the world.
Lord, Lord, have mercy on us.
 
 
Vidi speciosam
Song of Songs
G.P. Cima
 
Vidi speciosam sicut columbam ascendentem desuper rivos aquarum:
Cuius inaestimabilis odor erat nimis in vestimentis eius.
Et sicut dies verni, flores rosarum circumdabant eam, et lilia convallium.
Quae est ista, quae ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi,
ex aromatibus myrrhae et thuris?
Et sicut dies verni, flores rosarum circumdabant eam, et lilia convallium.
 
-English Translation-
 
I saw the fair one rising like a dove above the streams of water:
whose priceless fragrance clung to her garments.
And as on a spring day, she was surrounded by roses and lily-of-the-valley.
Who is this who rises from the desert like a pillar of smoke
from incense of myrrh and frankincense?
And as on a spring day, she was surrounded by roses and lily-of-the-valley.
 
 
Quae est ista
Song of Songs
G.P. Cima
 
Quae est ista quae ascendit per desertum,
sicut virgule fumi, ex aromatibus murae, et turris?
Et quae est ista quae progeditur quasi aurora?
Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium.
 
-English Translation-
 
Who is she who is rising from the desert,
like a pillar of smoke, fragrant with myrrh and frankincense?
And who is she who rises like the morning star?
I am a flower of the fields, and a lily of the valleys.
 
 
Nigra Sum
Song of Songs 1:4
Tarquinio Merula
 
Nigra sum sed formosa filiae Hierusalem,
Annuntiate dilecto meo quam magnum charitatis sit incendium et ingens amoris flamma.
Sum nigra sed formosa admiramini gentes. Alleluia.
 
-English Translation-
 
I am black but beautiful, you daughters of Jerusalem;
Tell my beloved how great is love’s fire
And how huge the flame of love.
Black I am but beautiful: marvel, you nations. Alleluia.
 
 
Laudate pueri primo
Psalm 112
Claudio Monteverdi
 
Laudate, pueri, Dominum; laudate nomen Domini.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.
A solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile nomen Domini.
Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus, et super caelos gloria ejus.
Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat,
et humilia respicit in caelo et in terra?
Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem:
ut collocet eum cum principibus, cum principibus populi sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo, matrem filiorum laetantem.
 
-English Translation-
 
Praise the Lord, all children: praise His Name.
Blessed let be His Name, now and forever.
From dawn to sunset, His Name must be praised.
The Lord prevails over all nations, and His glory is above the sky.
Who’s there like the Lord our God, who lives in the highest and comfort all humble creatures in heaven and over the earth?
He raises the lame from the earth and take the poor out of the soot.
And He talks to the princes, to the princes of His people.
And He makes the sterile woman live joyfully in her house, surrounded by her children.

USC THORNTON EARLY MUSIC FACULTY
 
Adam Gilbert, program director
Rotem Gilbert, early music ensemble & musicology
Jason Yoshida, plucked strings & early music ensemble
Jennifer Kampani, voice & early music ensemble
Lot Demeyer, baroque oboe & oboe band
Ian Pritchard, harpsichord & early keyboards
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 
Generous scholarship support for the members of the USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia is provided by the Colburn Foundation. We are also grateful for generous scholarship support from the Rutherford Fund, established by our dear late friend and donor Bill Rutherford. Special thanks to our generous friends and donors Tom Rosenthal, Bob Attiyeh and Mike Rosell. Finally, we would like to offer a very special thanks to Sharon Lilly for her continued generous donation to the Thornton Early Music Program.
 
This concert is made possible with generous support for the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute.
 
For more information, click here.