Editions

When did Dunedin Consort perform these works? 

We collaborated with our friends at Mahogany Opera and HERA to stage three of Jacquet de la Guerre’s biblical cantatas—Rachel, Susanne, Judith—in June and July 2023. Extraordinary historical jewels, written by a woman, about women, for women, these breathtaking miniatures had never before been staged in the UK. Out of her Mouth made these extraordinary pieces available to a British audience for the first time, with the new English translation by Toria Banks adding to the immediacy of the experience.  

What are these editions and why do they exist? 

These are the working scores—lightly modified and returned to the original French texts—that we used during the project. We needed something practical and lightweight to which we could set a new English translation and which would allow us to modify page layouts, add figures, and other details to fit the needs of a stage production.

These editions are by no means the final word in scholarly terms—for that the work of Mary Cyr is peerless—but we hope that they might prove useful and increase the options for performers wishing to explore and share Jacquet de la Guerre’s phenomenal work.

We are delighted to thank Cavalli Research Charity for their generous support in completing these editions.

Do I need permission to use or alter these editions? 

No! We are sharing these editions under under a Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/.

What about the English translation?

In Out of Her Mouth, we performed Toria Banks’ brilliant translation into modern English. It’s a superb piece of writing and we’d encourage you to contact Toria directly at HERA to discuss the use of her work. Subject to permission from her, we would then be happy to share this edition with her English text.