In the midst of preparations for “Celebrating the Pipe Organ in Hawaii,” there’s been another responsibility on my plate: to help publicize a special video presentation for Early Music Hawaii which begins THIS FRIDAY, March 4th and runs through March 11th, with a group called Calextone (ca-lek-sto-neh). The program is called “The Age of Bococcio’s Decameron: Music of 14th century Italy,” which was written during a pandemic of that time!

Ian Capps, president of Early Music Hawaii, and I were fortunate enough to preview the video presentation of this outstanding medieval quartet of multi-talented women. Their Facebook page describes the group as:

Calextone specializes in the music of western Europe from the 13th-15th C. Allison Zelles Lloyd, voice and harp; Frances Blaker, recorder and hammered dulcimer; Letitia Berlin, recorder, douçaine and psaltery; Shira Kammen, vielle, harp and voice.

I was most interested in the many unusual instruments the group played, and was especially glad to see each woman play different instruments as well as sing. Medieval artwork and poetry are interspersed with musical numbers, making for a delightful presentation which can be watched over and over again from March 4th, 7:00 pm HST through March 11, 10:00 pm HST.

I was drawn to a triangular stringed instrument, which I believe is a type of zither or psaltery. Here is a street performance of this kind of lap harp:

And here is a vielle, a medieval violin:

I also was not familiar with the instrument called “douçaine” which is described as a mellow and sweet sounding wind instrument. A Google search brought up this picture, but also this definition from Wikipedia, saying that “douçaine” is the French equivalent for “dulcian,” a stop with which I am familiar because there is a stop on the Beckerath organ called “dulzian.”

The dulcian is a Renaissance woodwind instrument, with a double reed and a folded conical bore. Equivalent terms include English: curtal, German: Dulzian, French: douçaine, Dutch: dulciaan, Italian: dulciana, Spanish: bajón, and Portuguese: baixão.

The predecessor of the modern bassoon, it flourished between 1550 and 1700, but was probably invented earlier. Towards the end of this period it co-existed with, and was then superseded by, the baroque bassoon. It was played in both secular and sacred contexts, throughout northern and western Europe, as well as in the New World. (Wikipedia)

Ian Capps’ reaction to Calextone’s video was:

I just watched the video and it is gorgeous! I am going to buy guest tickets for some of my friends and family in Canada, and Europe. 

Yes, you don’t have to live in Hawaii to see this sumptuous video presentation. We are also told that if you wear headphones, you’ll be able to enjoy the audio so much more, although even watching it on my laptop was excellent.

Here are some screenshots from the video:

Tickets at a very reasonable price may be purchased at earlymusichawaii.org. Enjoy!