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    "artist" : {
        "name" : "Briddes Roune",
        "page" : "briddes_roune",
        "description" : "13th century medieval English songs",
        "location" : "CA, USA",
        "bio" : "The name Briddes Roune (BREE-dess RONE) is Middle English for bird song/conversation/speech and is a reference to the fact that two of the three of us are named Robin. I formed Briddes Roune specifically to record early medieval English songs, a repertoire I have been singing for several years. As anyone who's read Chaucer aloud knows, Middle English has a delightfully musical lilt, making it a fun language to sing, and the English fondness for thirds and sixths gives the music a sweetness that is unusual for that time.\n\nThis recording includes the songs of St. Godric, who claimed that all of his songs came to him in visions. For example, during a vision in which he saw Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary, the Virgin taught him \"Sainte Marie viergene,\" saying that if he found himself in pain or tired or succumbing to temptation, he should sing this song and she would come quickly to his aid. Godric died in 1170, making these songs the earliest songs in English with extant melodies. More on St. Godric can be found in the liner notes.\n\nI am particularly drawn to the songs without fixed rhythms. The rhythms of songs such as \"Stond wel, moder, under roode\" and \"Ar ne kuth, ich sorghe non\" are driven by the speaking rhythms of the words and by musical intuition. I like the improvised quality of these songs, and I enjoy the extra opportunity to express the text.\n\nPerforming medieval music involves some challenges not faced by those interested in later music. Instrumental accompaniments were almost never written down, and even the choice of instruments used was quite free. What you hear on this recording is very much our own arrangement. Our instrumental parts arise from a combination of planning and improvisation. Instrumental countermelodies are generally written out in advance by either Kathryn or myself. Drone parts are generally worked out in rehearsal. The process goes something like this:\n\nKathryn: How about this?\nRobin S.: ...mmm...no...maybe an A? ...no...a D? ...no....\nKathryn: What about this?\nRobin S: Yeah, that's best.\nKathryn: That's what I played originally.\n\nAll instrumental preludes and interludes are improvised.\n\nIn addition to the challenge of writing our own instrumental parts, very few English songs have survived with their melodies, although we have many lyrics. For the surviving melodies, I have used E.J. Dobson and F. Ll. Harrison's book, Medieval English Songs. For others (e.g. Lenten is come, Lutel wot hit any mon), I have set lyrics in the style of that time and place. I typically start by choosing a mode, which defines what notes are in the scale and which are most important, and then I start playing with the words, improvising tunes. When I get a fragment that I like, I write it down, and gradually the piece begins to take shape.",
        "photo" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/img/briddes_roune2.jpg",
        "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/briddes_roune/",
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            "name" : "Lenten is come",
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                "name" : "Briddes Roune",
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            "release_date" : "2004-01-02",
            "genres" : ["Classical","Medieval","Classical Singing"],
            "cover" : "https://magnatune.com/music/Briddes%20Roune/Lenten%20is%20come/cover_400.jpg",
            "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/albums/briddes-lenten/",
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            "buy_url" : "https://magnatune.com/buy/album?sku=briddes-lenten"
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    "license" : {
        "music_license" : "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 1.0)",
        "music_license_url" : "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/",
        "listening" : "Stream the free previews, or buy an album for $8 to download it in MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, OGG or WAV. 100% of the price goes to the musician.",
        "non_commercial" : "Non-commercial projects may use the music under CC BY-NC-SA 1.0: credit the artist and Magnatune, and share alike.",
        "projects" : "Magnatune members may use any Magnatune music in their projects, commercial or not (videos, films, podcasts, games, apps, websites, adverts), including work for clients, under the Magnatune Project Licence. Projects released while a member stay licensed for good; new projects need an active membership. Credit is required. TV or radio broadcast, cinema, and background music in shops, restaurants or on-hold lines are not included: license those from the musician. Membership: $10/month, $99/year or $299 lifetime; agents can buy one themselves with MPP at /api/member-pass ($10 month, $99 year, $299 lifetime, one-off).",
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        "how_to_credit" : "Name the artist and \"Magnatune\", with a link to the album's web_url."
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