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PORTUGAL traditional Christmas song ‘A la Villa Voy’ – THREE CELLOS (easy)

Other Identification:
Originally derived from a medieval dance lyric of the virelai or ballata type and associated with rustic or popular themes, the villancico (“vilancete”, in Portugal) was extensively cultivated in secular polyphonic music of the late 15th century and the 16th. In the second half of the 16th century devotional and religious themes gained in importance and the form became used increasingly for sacred compositions in the vernacular which were introduced into the liturgy on feast days. In the 17th century it became more important than the Latin motet, and although its artistic quality rapidly declined in the 18th and 19th centuries it remained popular in both Spain and Latin America. Since then, “villancico” has come to mean simply “Christmas carol”.

Movements or sections:
This music – transcribed for THREE CELLOS or larger cello ensemble is an anonymous Christmas carol from the 16th century. It comes from Cancioneiro de Elvas (an important source of secular music from the Iberian Renaissance), first published in 1560, and found in 1928 in the library of Elvas, by the musicologist Manuel Joaquim. It is principally is a Renaissance songbook of Portuguese music from the 16th century. It was copied in the 16th century and is divided in two parts:
** The first part is musical: contains 65 works of polyphonic (3 voices) secular music from Portugal and Spain. The poems used are villancicos and cantigas.
** The second part is literary: contains 36 poems without music.

Instrumentation: TRIO OF THREE CELLOS
Arranged by David Johnstone

Downloads of 2 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – All individual parts

Approximate difficulty: EASY
For cellists this music is fun, especially for beginners. Set here in G Major it is totally conceived in the first position (only the third voice has a low F-sharp forward extension). Apart from the very beginning it is nearly all “choral” with all parts moving rhythmically together.

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable): to the fine Spanish-Galician cellist Virginia del Cura Miranda

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