DOCSLIB.ORG

Consonance and Rhythm in the Organum of the 12Th and 13Th Centuries

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Consonance and Rhythm in the Organum of the 12Th and 13Th Centuries Consonance and Rhythm in the Organum of the I 2th and I 3th Centuries By ERNEST H. SANDERS MODERN OBSERVERSof medieval music usually make a sharp dis- tinction between monophony and polyphony, between chant and its accretions, on the one hand, and organum, on the other. One must remember, however, that certainly in the first several centuries of Western Mehrstimmigkeitan "organized"melody, whether it was a chant or a paraliturgical versus, was not thought of as a musical opus of distinct stylistic specificity, but as an elaborated version of that melody. An Alleluia was an Alleluia, whether it was rendered simply as a plainchant, with tropes, or with a vox organalis. This is borne out by the fact that, at least to the mid thirteenth century, those writers who described polyphonic techniques dealt with them at the end of their treatises as an aspect of the main topic, which was chant, togeth- er with all its appropriate subtopics such as intervals, modes, and so on. Generally, the authors were interested not so much in composi- tion as in modes of rendition. Since I am concerned with certain aspects of musical thought in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, I begin with a lengthy quotation from the treatise by the so-called De-La-Fage Anonymous of the twelfth century. Concluding his thirteenth chapter, "Since, therefore, we have at length, with God's help, fully expounded the proper man- ner of producing a chant, it behooves us to hasten to put together a guide for the properly constituted production of discant," he proceeds to the discussion of polyphony: Discant must be set againstchant as a counterpart,because it should not sound in unison with the chant, but higherand lower. For when the chant ascends, the discant must descend, and when the chant descends, the dis- cant, on the other hand, must ascend, so as to be true to its nature.Thus, whoeverof you wishes to put together(componere) a discant well andfittingly, you should strive always to be aware and securein your knowledgeof the consonances-to wit, fourth, fifth, and octave-as absolutelyindispensable; for all discantthat is made properlyis put togetherwith these, and if it is truly supposedto be a discant,it can in no way be constructedwithout them. This content downloaded from 159.149.103.9 on Sat, 6 Apr 2013 18:39:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CONSONANCE AND RHYTHM IN ORGANUM 265 ... In fact, either a discantwill concordwith a chant by meansof any of these, namelyfourth, fifth or octave, or it will form a unison with it; other- wise it absolutelywill not be a discant. And one must bewarewith all care and the greatestcaution that the discanthave no more notes than the chant, becauseboth must proceedwith an equalnumber of notes. But if by chance, in orderto havea morebeautiful and elegantdiscant as well as for the greater pleasureof the listeners,you shouldwant to mix in some organalpassages at the end of a periodor sectionat the last or penultimatesyllable of the text, that is permissible,even though the natureof the thing does not allow its inclusion;for it is beyond dispute that discant is one thing and organum another.Thus, when you wish to ornamentthe end of a periodor section, makesure that you don't all too frequentlygive the discantexcessive melis- maticpassages, lest in the mistakenbelief that you are makinga discantyou actuallyconstruct an organumand destroythe discant.... Now, to makean organumit is necessaryto know three things, that is, how it should be begun, by what method it should proceed, and in what mannerit effectsa cadence.It is equallynecessary for the organizatorto have knowledgeand awarenessof the consonances,because without them orga- numcan in no way be put togetherby anybody.Thus you haveto knowthat organumbegins with one of the consonancesor with a unison, i.e., on the same pitch as the chant. ... Discant and organum, however, are consideredto differ in this way: while a discant correspondsto its cantus with an equal numberof notes, which form consonancesor unisons with it, an organumis joined with its cantusnot note againstnote, but with an unlimitedmultiplicity and a kindof wondrousflexibility; it must begin, as has been said, with one of the con- sonancesor in unison with the chant, and fromthere, by singingwith much esprit, accordingas might seem appropriateand at the organizator'sdiscre- tion, it must ascendabove or descendbelow the chant, but at length it must place a division at an octave or unison. And indeed it may have a pause, which we call a clausaor clausula,only from the positionof the octaveor the unison, which, for the sakeof clearerunderstanding, is demonstratedby the following organum:Be ne di ca mus Do mi no [the music is missingin the manuscripts].See and recognizein this Benedicamusthe way pausesare placed;also considerhow it differsfrom discantand chant by its numerousnotes and how, by ascending,descending and skitteringabout, it quicklygets away fromthe chantand quicklyagain glides backto the chant. Note, therefore,the pauses and the breathingspots, because in organum pausesand breathingspots have differenteffect. Now, pauseswe call those haltswhich are madeby the organizatorat the unisonor octavefor the sakeof restingor dividingthe organuminto segments.Breathing spots we call those interruptionsthat are made by the organizatorwhen the organum[ascends or?] descendsfrom the chant to the fourth, i.e., the diatesseron,or to the fifth, i.e., the diapente,and there, breathinga little bit, recovershis breath, that he might better proceedto the pause.' 1 First publishedin Adrien de LaFage,Essais de diphthirographiemusicale (Paris, 1864;reprinted Amsterdam, 1964), pp. 355 ff. The polyphonicpart of the treatise was given by Jacques Handschinin "Zur Geschichteder Lehre vom Organum," This content downloaded from 159.149.103.9 on Sat, 6 Apr 2013 18:39:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 266 JOURNALOF THE AMERICANMUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY Jeromeof Moraviabegins his shorttwenty-sixth chapter with the formulation,"Now, however,we must dealwith plainchant,that is to say, accordingas it is subjoinedto discant,and indeedwith all species of said discant."This presentlyleads to his redactionof severaltreati- ses, of which the first and earliest is the premodalDiscantus positio vulgaris.I quotethe followingpassages from the olderportion of the tract: Now, a discantis a consonantcounterpart [to chant]. .... One must know what is mensurableand what beyond measurement;... Mensurableis that which is measuredwith the measure of one or more [two?] time units. Beyond measurementis what is measuredwith less than one time unit or morethan two. It must be noted, moreover,that all notes of the plain- chant are long and beyond measure,because they contain the quantityof threetime units. All notes of the discant,however, are measurableby means of the properbreve and the properlong. Hence, it follows that againstany given note of the cantusfirmus at least two notes-it goes without saying, a long and a shortor somethingequivalent to them, such as fourshorts or three with a short plica-must be presented;and furthermorethey [i.e., the notes of the plainchantand of the discant]must arrivetogether on any one of the said three consonances.2 Though a fundamentalnovelty, the precise mensurationof two notes, generally more and less consonant,respectively, as long and shortis still understoodby the authoras an attributeof a specialway of singingcantus ecclesiasticus. It seems reasonableto infer from his ex- clusive concern with measureddiscant, including its notation, and with consonance, that the stylistic conditions of organum had re- Zeitschriftfir Musikwissenschaft,VIII (1926), pp. 333 ff., and again in "Aus der alten Musiktheorie," Acta musicologica,XIV (1942), pp. 24-5. The entire treatise was pub- lished by Albert Seay, "An Anonymous Treatise from St. Martial," Annalesmusi- cologiques,V (1957), PP. 7-42. (There is no evidence for provenance from St. Martial.) My reading corresponds most closely to that given by Handschin in 1942. 2 Hieronymus de Moravia, Tractatusde musica, ed. Simon Cserba, Freiburger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, II (Regensburg, 1935), pp. 189-91; Edmond de Coussemaker, ed., Scriptorumde musicamedii aevi novaseries, 4 vols. (Paris, 1864; rprt. Hildesheim, 1963), I, pp. 94-5. The entire treatise has been translated by Janet Knapp, "Two XIII-Century Treatises on Modal Rhythm and the Discant,"Journalof Music Theory,VI (1962), pp. 200 ff. As to the chronological layers of the treatise, see Fritz Reckow, und Acta XXXIX "Proprietas Perfectio," musicologica, (1967), p. i37, n. 81. The fact that parts of it must be recognized as inorganic later additions does not, however, justify the conclusion that its essential parts were written after Gar- landia's treatise (Reckow, Die Copula, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Liter- atur, Abhandlungen der geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse, XIII (Mainz, 1972), P- 7, n. i). On the contrary, significant portions of it bear out Jerome of Mo- ravia's remark that est omnibus" "antiquior (Cserba, p. 194; Coussemaker, p. 97). This content downloaded from 159.149.103.9 on Sat, 6 Apr 2013 18:39:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CONSONANCE AND RHYTHM IN ORGANUM 267 mained unchanged and were therefore in no need of comment. The question whether a style later designatedas copula alreadyexisted would with all due caution best be answered in the negative. My third and final witness is Johannes de Garlandia, whose trea- tise begins with the following
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CAPTURING MUSIC Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages THOMAS FORREST KELLY Morton B
    CAPTURING MUSIC Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages THOMAS FORREST KELLY Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University BLUE HERON Scot Metcalfe, direcor SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2014 3 PM & 8 PM Firs Church in Cambridge, Congregational PROGRAM PART 2 at 8 pm Povre secors / Gaude chorus (Montpellier Codex, early 14th century) BG MB JM Capturing Music Diex qui porroit / En grant dolour (Montpellier Codex) Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages JM BG HARP Aucun ont trouvé / Lonc tans (Montpellier Codex) Tomas Forres Kelly Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University JM MB ST Blue Heron Scot Metcalfe, direcor Garrit gallus / In nova fert (Roman de Fauvel, 1314-18) IH MN SM Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377): Biauté qui toutes autres pere PART I at 3 pm OM JM MB Io son un pellegrin (14th century) Introit Ad te levavi OM ST soloist MB Jacob Senleches (f. 1380s): En atendant, Esperance conforte Introit Resurrexi OM CW SM soloist PT Baude Cordier (f. c. 1400): Belle, bonne, sage, plaisant et gente Alleluya Pascha nostrum MN CW SM soloist PG Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420-1497): Kyrie, Missa prolationum Hymn Ut queant laxis MN IH JM MB Leoninus (f. 1180s-1200): Alleluya Pascha nostrum soloist JM Perotinus (f. c. 1200): Alleluya Pascha nostrum soloists MB & ST (Alleluya) / OM & JM (Pascha nostrum) Michael Barret, Brian Giebler, Paul Gutry, Ian Howell, Clausula Latus est (Magnus liber organi) Owen McIntosh, Jason McStoots, Martin Near, Mark Sprinkle, soloist MS Sumner Tompson, Paul Max Tipton, voices Motet Immolata paschali victima (Magnus liber organi) Charles Weaver, lute & voice MS JM Scot Metcalfe, director, harp & fddle Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola (c.
    [Show full text]
  • Conductus and Modal Rhythm
    Conductus and Modal Rhythm BY ERNEST H. SANDERS T HAS BEEN MORE THAN EIGHTY YEARS since Friedrich Ludwig (1872-193o), arguably the greatest of the seminal figures in twenti- eth-century musicology, began to publish his studies of medieval music. His single-handed occupation of the field, his absolute sover- eignty over the entire repertoire and all issues of scholarly significance arising from it, and his enormous, inescapably determinative influ- ence on the thinking of his successors, most of whom had studied with him, explain the epithet der Grossehe was given on at least one occasion.' Almost his entire professional energies were devoted to the music of the twelfth and, particularly, the thirteenth centuries, as well as to the polyphony of the fourteenth century, which he began to explore in depth in the 1920s. His stringent devotion to the facts and to conclusions supported by them was a trait singled out by several commentators.2 Ludwig's insistence on scholarly rigor, however, cannot be said to account completely for his Modaltheorie,which appeared to posit the applicability of modal rhythm to all music of the Notre Dame period-except organal style-and of the pre-Garlandian (or pre- Franconian) thirteenth century, including particularly the musical settings of poetry. Much of the pre-Garlandian ligature notation in thirteenth-century sources of melismatic polyphonic compositions of the first half of that century (clausulae, organa for more than two voices) and of melismatic portions of certain genres, such as the caudae of conducti,3 signifies modal rhythms, and the appropriatenessof the modal system cannot be disputed in this context.
    [Show full text]
  • From Neumes to Notation: a Thousand Years of Passing on the Music by Charric Van Der Vliet
    From Neumes to Notation: A Thousand Years of Passing On the Music by Charric Van der Vliet Classical musicians, in the terminology of the 17th and 18th century musical historians, like to sneer at earlier music as "primitive", "rough", or "uncouth". The fact of the matter is that during the thousand years from 450 AD to about 1450 AD, Western Civilization went from no recording of music at all to a fully formed method of passing on the most intricate polyphony. That is no small achievement. It's attractive, I suppose, to assume the unthinking and barbaric nature of our ancestors, since it implies a certain smugness about "how far we've come." I've always thought that painting your ancestors as stupid was insulting both to them and to yourself. The barest outline of a thousand year journey only hints at the difficulties our medieval ancestors had to face to be musical. This is an attempt at sketching that outline. Each of the sub-headings of this lecture contains material for lifetimes of musical study. It is hoped that outlining this territory may help shape where your own interests will ultimately lie. Neumes: In the beginning, choristers needed reminders as to which way notes went. "That fifth note goes DOWN, George!" This situation was remedied by noting when the movement happened and what direction, above the text, with wavy lines. "Neume" was the adopted term for this. It's a Middle English corruption of the Greek word for breath, "pneuma." Then, to specify note's exact pitch was the next innovation.
    [Show full text]
  • Poetic Diction, Poetic Discourse and the Poetic Register
    proceedings of the British Academy, 93.21-93 Poetic Diction, Poetic Discourse and the Poetic Register R. G. G. COLEMAN Summary. A number of distinctive characteristics can be iden- tified in the language used by Latin poets. To start with the lexicon, most of the words commonly cited as instances of poetic diction - ensis; fessus, meare, de, -que. -que etc. - are demonstrably archaic, having been displaced in the prose register. Archaic too are certain grammatical forms found in poetry - e.g. auldi, gen. pl. superum, agier, conticuere - and syntactic constructions like the use of simple cases for pre- I.positional phrases and of infinitives instead of the clausal structures of classical prose. Poets in all languages exploit the linguistic resources of past as well as present, but this facility is especially prominent where, as in Latin, the genre traditions positively encouraged imitatio. Some of the syntactic character- istics are influenced wholly or partly by Greek, as are other ingredients of the poetic register. The classical quantitative metres, derived from Greek, dictated the rhythmic pattern of the Latin words. Greek loan words and especially proper names - Chaoniae, Corydon, Pyrrha, Tempe, Theseus, Zephym etc. -brought exotic tones to the aural texture, often enhanced by Greek case forms. They also brought an allusive richness to their contexts. However, the most impressive charac- teristics after the metre were not dependent on foreign intrusion: the creation of imagery, often as an essential feature of a poetic argument, and the tropes of semantic transfer - metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche - were frequently deployed through common words. In fact no words were too prosaic to appear in even the highest poetic contexts, always assuming their metricality.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetry Handbook I Read / That John Donne Must Be Taken at Speed : / Which Is All Very Well / Were It Not for the Smell / of His Feet Catechising His Creed.)
    Introduction his book is for anyone who wants to read poetry with a better understanding of its craft and technique ; it is also a textbook T and crib for school and undergraduate students facing exams in practical criticism. Teaching the practical criticism of poetry at several universities, and talking to students about their previous teaching, has made me sharply aware of how little consensus there is about the subject. Some teachers do not distinguish practical critic- ism from critical theory, or regard it as a critical theory, to be taught alongside psychoanalytical, feminist, Marxist, and structuralist theor- ies ; others seem to do very little except invite discussion of ‘how it feels’ to read poem x. And as practical criticism (though not always called that) remains compulsory in most English Literature course- work and exams, at school and university, this is an unwelcome state of affairs. For students there are many consequences. Teachers at school and university may contradict one another, and too rarely put the problem of differing viewpoints and frameworks for analysis in perspective ; important aspects of the subject are omitted in the confusion, leaving otherwise more than competent students with little or no idea of what they are being asked to do. How can this be remedied without losing the richness and diversity of thought which, at its best, practical criticism can foster ? What are the basics ? How may they best be taught ? My own answer is that the basics are an understanding of and ability to judge the elements of a poet’s craft. Profoundly different as they are, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Pope, Dickinson, Eliot, Walcott, and Plath could readily converse about the techniques of which they are common masters ; few undergraduates I have encountered know much about metre beyond the terms ‘blank verse’ and ‘iambic pentameter’, much about form beyond ‘couplet’ and ‘sonnet’, or anything about rhyme more complicated than an assertion that two words do or don’t.
    [Show full text]
  • Elements English Prosody
    E L E M E N T S E N G L I S H P R O S O D Y i CQEKS .5639ZNQZIR ‘FCU? LHiE IflV ‘Sf GUECLR E X P L AN AT O R Y O F T H E V A R IO U S T E R M S U S E D IN “ K N R O C H O E YC O M B . H N R U S K IN L L D O . ' , , H N A Y Q T U DE N T O F C H IS T C H U C H XF D A N D H N A Y O F O OR R R R , O OR ; O OR R C P U S C H R IQ T I C L L E G E X F D OR O , O OR . G E OR G E AL L E N , U N N Y ID R P IN G T N K N T S S E , O O , E . 1 8 8 0 . l W tson an d V ine P rin ters L on d on a n d A lesbu r . H a z el , a , y, , y y F A E P R E C . H AV E n ever hitherto printed any bo o k falling so far short of what I hoped to make it as this sketch of the system of English Prosody ; but I had e I no conc ption , when threw the first notes of it together, what a number of difficult and interesting questions would arise out of the vari a ble conditions of national ear for music, and intention in song .
    [Show full text]
  • Narrow Range -More Virtuosic
    Medieval Theory -Guido of Arezzo developed solomization -solfege came from the hymn “Ut queant laxis” -9th century oral transmission of music -10th century heightened neumes -11th century four line staff and square notation Secular Music Jongleur -Golliards -age of chivalry, courtly love -knightly love kin to monk with god -a religious love in secular music -chanson de geste (song of deeds) ex. King Arthur -were looked down upon, traveled from town to town Troubadour (Southern France) -12th century -educated family, higher class -knew how to read and write music -langue d’oc Trouveres (Northern France) -founder and seeker of song -langue d’oil -chansonnier secular love poetry (monophonic) -pastourelle seduction song Adam de la Halle’s Jeu de Robin et Marion -trouvere -monophonic rondeau (repeating refrain) -low style (profane aspect) -unsuccessful love -vernacular language (langue d’oil) Can vei la lauzeta mover -troubadour -strophic form -8 stanzas -modal music, Dorian mode -word-painting www.notesolution.com -narrow range -more virtuosic A Chantar -troubadour -ABABCDB -phrase end with same cadence (rhyme scheme) -more structural organization -Frauenlob famous German Minnesinger) Polyphony -organum earliest witten polyphony singing simultaneously at more than one pitch evidence in Musica & Scolica Enchriadis -parallel motion note vs. note, harmonized with fourth and fifth -contrary motion one melody with another melody beneath early cadence structure usually ends in octave Alleluia Justus ut Palma -word-painting melisma on “multiply”,
    [Show full text]
  • Vestiges of Midsummer Ritual in Motets for John the Baptist
    Early Music History (2011) Volume 30. Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261127911000027 M A A Email: [email protected] FIRE, FOLIAGE AND FURY: VESTIGES OF MIDSUMMER RITUAL IN MOTETS FOR JOHN THE BAPTIST The thirteenth-century motet repertory has been understood on a wide spectrum, with recent scholarship amplifying the relationship between the liturgical tenors and the commentary in the upper voices. This study examines a family of motets based on the tenors IOHANNE and MULIERUM from the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June). Several texts within this motet family make references to well-known traditions associated with the pagan festival of Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice. Allusions to popular solstitial practices including the lighting of bonfires and the public criticism of authority, in addition to the cultural awareness of the sun’s power on this day, conspicuously surface in these motets, particularly when viewed through the lens of the tenor. The study suggests the further obfuscation of sacred and secular poles in the motet through attentiveness to images of popular, pre-Christian rituals that survive in these polyphonic works. In the northern French village of Jumièges from the late Middle Ages to the middle of the nineteenth century, a peculiar fraternal ritual took place. Each year on the evening of the twenty-third of June, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose its new chief. Arrayed in a brimless green hat in the shape of a cone, the elected master led the men to a priest and choir; Portions of this study were read at the Medieval and Renaissance Conference at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Vienna, 8–11 August 2007 and at the University of Chicago’s Medieval Workshop on 19 May 2006.
    [Show full text]
  • PÉROTIN and the ARS ANTIQUA the Hilliard Ensemble
    CORO hilliard live CORO hilliard live 1 The Hilliard Ensemble For more than three decades now The Hilliard Ensemble has been active in the realms of both early and contemporary music. As well as recording and performing music by composers such as Pérotin, Dufay, Josquin and Bach the ensemble has been involved in the creation of a large number of new works. James PÉROTIN MacMillan, Heinz Holliger, Arvo Pärt, Steven Hartke and many other composers have written both large and the and small-scale pieces for them. The ensemble’s performances ARS frequently include collaborations with other musicians such as the saxophonist Jan Garbarek, violinist ANTIQUA Christoph Poppen, violist Kim Kashkashian and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. John Potter’s contribution was crucial to getting the Hilliard Live project under way. John has since left to take up a post in the Music Department of York University. His place in the group has been filled by Steven Harrold. www.hilliardensemble.demon.co.uk the hilliard ensemble To find out more about CORO and to buy CDs, visit www.thesixteen.com cor16046 The hilliard live series of recordings came about for various reasons. 1 Vetus abit littera Anon. (C13th) 3:47 At the time self-published recordings were a fairly new and increasingly David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones common phenomenon in popular music and we were keen to see if 2 Deus misertus hominis Anon. (C13th) 5:00 we could make the process work for us in the context of a series of David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones public concerts.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Theological Studies
    386 THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES Ill. I 1 Civitas contemnens quae habitat in spe, quae dicit in corde suo, Ego sum et non est post me adhuc I quomodo facta est in exterminium pascua bestiarum I omnis qui transit per illam sibilabit, I et movebit manus soas. 10 inlustris et redempta civitas, columba quae non audit vocem, non recepit disciplinam, in Domino non est con- 3 fisa, et ad Deum suum non adpropinquavit. • Prillcipes eius in ea ut leones frementes, iudices eius ut lupi Arabiae non relinquebant in <I mane. 'Profetae eius spiritu elati viri contemptores, sacerdotes eius 5 profanant sacra et conscelerant legem. • Dominus autem iustus in media eius non faciet iniustum 8 • Exspecta me, dicit Dominus, in. die resurrectionis meae in testi­ monium, quoniam iudicium meum ad congregationes gentium, ut excipiam reges, et eft'undam super eos iram meam • III 1-5 Tycon. R'K' Qwwt.; Lac:. Cal. Dt satId. Alllfm. i 36 III I, I Cypr. Ad Noval. v III <I S,.. xlvi HI 8 Cypr. Tub"". Hi 106 ; Dt bno pat. :ai. Ill. I. Civitas) pr a"" & in speJ .r .Ardle & ...Ar. fl' (8IIpw.er. r fl' ~ 3. Columba non euadit vocem, id eat praeclara et redempts civitas, non recepit doctrinam, et in Dominum fidens non fuit C inlustrls] quae erat splendida L quae) 0 ... & vocem) + G'OII 68 87 discipUnam] _3,ar M· (.a.a, MC.., e.~) non adpropinquavit] non accessit L 01111 'ITf'II0' 0 lli8 283 01111 'IY'fIG'0' & I. ('xc 153 233)" 30 in ea] 0... L /tab & (0'" AnN.) ut 1° 3°] sicut L frementes] fremunt L non relinquebant] non subreliquierunt L ..
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2: Secular and Cathedral Music in the High Middle Ages I
    Chapter 2: Secular and Cathedral Music in the High Middle Ages I. Introduction – Chapter 1 dealt primarily with sacred music, influenced by the fact that initially only sacred music was available for observation. Chapter 2 turns to secular music. II. Troubadours and Trouvères A.Troubadours 1. The first European vernacular poet whose work survives was William IX (7th count of Poitiers and 9th duke of Aquitaine). b. The tradition of these poets is known as the troubadour. c. The troubadour tradition was a “top down” as those of the highest social ranks were the main participants. Their poetry celebrated feudal ideals. d. Different types of troubadour verse dealt with various aspects of the feudal system, including songs of alliance, knightly decorum, exploits, challenges, and death. 2. Courtly love lay at the heart of the troubadour tradition. a. The canso was a song about love. b. Courtly love songs celebrated the same high ideals as other types of songs. c. The lady about whom a poet wrote usually outranked him, making her theoretically unattainable. d. Courtly love was generally more about veneration than physical love. e. The poetic style matches the lofty ideals of courtly love, as demonstrated in Can vei la lauzeta mover. B. Performance and Oral Culture 1. We do not know the rhythm of troubadour songs, but most likely the loftier style of the troubadour songs approximated that of contemporary chant. 2. Some troubadour songs matched a lower-class style; these were not based on chant style. a. Pastorela is one such genre. b. L’autrier jost’ una sebissa by Marcabru is an example.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Preliminary Observations on the Afterlife of Notre Dame Fragments*
    138 MASCHKE | NOTRE DAME FRAGMENTS Article Some Preliminary Observations on the Afterlife of Notre Dame Fragments* Eva M. Maschke | Hamburg In the broad spectrum of dimensions a manuscript’s afterlife1 and also the paths taken by manuscripts from one collection can take on, the use of manuscript fragments as binding to another; they might also enable scholars to assign further material was a very common case in the European Middle dismembered fragments to these contexts. Projects like the Ages and the Early Modern Period. Attempts to reconstruct Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland2 and the Penn/ dismembered manuscripts which were reused as binding Cambridge Genizah Fragment Project3 have developed tools fragments have often benefited from the systematic work of for future research which address an interdisciplinary audience. the bookbinder, who usually reused several pages of the same Musicological research on fragments, too, has shown manuscript in various bookbindings of the same collection. increasing activity during recent decades and has benefited Considering, however, that the majority of historic collections from major projects in which fragments have been catalogued; from the European Middle Ages are now widely dispersed, only a few random examples from different countries the reconstruction of historic libraries is usually the first step will be mentioned here. In the United Kingdom, Wathey, of a systematic search for binding fragments. Bent and Craig-McFeely happily announced a decade ago Attempts to virtually reunite
    [Show full text]