Piffaro, the Renaissance Band Will Perform NOW IS THE MONTH OF MAYING Programme

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band will wrap up its home season with an all-instrumental program, “Now is the Month of Maying.” Concerts take place May 9-11 at three  historic churches: Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, and Immanuel Church Highlands in Wilmington, DE. For those unable to attend in person, the concert will stream online May 23–June 5. Information about the concert can be found at piffaro.org/tix or by calling 215-235-8469.

“There is so much springtime music from the Renaissance,” says artistic director Priscilla Herreid. “Imagine living through a cold, dark winter in a time before electric lighting or central heating. Now it's May and you're emerging into warm sunlight. You want to celebrate being alive and being together again! You want to dance, maybe have a little wine, listen to birds sing, and strike up a tune yourself!” 

This springtime joy is a universal experience, and composers all over Europe were happy to provide the soundtrack. Piffaro will perform French chansons, German lieder, English songs, Italian madrigals, and dances from everywhere. Highlights include works by Orlando di Lassus, such as Ein guter Wein and Der Mey bringt uns die Blümlein viel; Claude de Sermisy's Vignon, vignon vignette; Oswald von Wolkenstein, Neidhart, and Ludwig Senfl's Der May mit lieber zal, Maienzeit, and Der Maien respectively. Herreid shares a personal connection to the music, recalling, “I played Wolkenstein's Der May mit lieber zal with my mom when I was a teenager, in our band called Quidditas. She would sing the tune and I accompanied her on tenor recorder. It's a treasured memory, from the early days of my obsession with Renaissance music.” 

Animal life also stirs in May, and inspired many charming tunes. Some of the most playful are onomatopoetic. Piffaro's instruments will evoke the calls of geese with krumhorns (capped double-reed instruments, which early music fans affectionately call “buzzies”), as well as cats, birds, and crickets through pieces like Die Katzenpfote from the Glogauer Liederbuch, Cucú, cucú, cucucú by Juan del Encina, and Josquin de Prez's El grillo.

After the concert, audience members will be invited onstage to visit Piffaro's instrument “zoo.” The band will showcase a variety of historically accurate instruments, including shawms, dulcians, sackbuts, krumhorns, bagpipes, recorders, lutes, and more. This experience provides a rare opportunity to get up close to these carefully reconstructed instruments, which bring the music of the Renaissance to life. Herreid invites newcomers to the concert, saying, “If you've never attended a Renaissance music concert, with real Renaissance instruments, this will be a fun, approachable introduction.”

Now is the Month of Maying

May 9 - Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral

May 10 - Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia

May 11 - Immanuel Church Highlands, Wilmington, DE

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