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Robin Snyder

I began performing as a solo singer when I was a postdoc, singing 16th and 15th C French and Italian lutesong with Theatrum Musicum. Just before I moved to CWRU to take up a faculty position, I founded Briddes Roune in order to record a CD of 13th C English song. I've been focused on medieval music ever since. (It's long been a love of mine.) There's precious little early medieval English music out there, however, and so after attending the Boston Camerata's Lo Gai Saber workshop, I've focused on troubadour music.

Wonderful as polyphony is, I love the fluidity of these monophonic repertoires. The lack of a set rhythm gives me more opportunity to let the words dictate the flow of the music. And such a range! I have sung troubadour pieces that come off like recitative, almost conversational, where the words are everything. And I have sung virtuosic pieces that test my vocal agility. Then there's the sinuous quality of much modal music. And finally, let's not forget the geek factor. Being serious about this repertoire means getting involved in a way that you usually don't have to with later music. Any instrumental accompaniment was not written down and was probably improvised. In addition, many wonderful lyrics have come down to us only as lyrics: the tune has long been lost. Many of us choose to set some of these lyrics, and we create contrafacts as well, setting lyrics to existing tunes. You'll find a guide to creating troubadour contrafacts under Troubadour resources.

To contact me:

email: res29atsigncase.edu (Replace "atsign" with "@")