Guillaume de Machaut and the mise en page of medieval French sung verse Sheila Kate Maxwell M.A.(hons), M.Phil Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Departments of French and Music Faculty of Arts University of Glasgow May 2009 2 If you want to know to whom this thesis is dedicated, rearrange the sixth and seventh words from the end of the Conclusion. There you will find the name you are looking for. 3 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to examine what a study of the visual presentation of the fourteenth-century poet-composer Guilluame de Machaut's songs can tell us that studying them simply as pre-defined works cannot. This has involved two distinct, but related fields of enquiry. Firstly, I have developed of a way of considering the six manuscripts of Machaut containing what appear to be his complete works which focuses on the visual impact of each codex as a whole, from the materials used to the content it contains (text, images, music). This methodology, which draws on the works of such scholars as B. Cerquiglini (Eloge de la variante, 1989), S. Huot (From Song to Book, 1987), and D. Leech-Wilkinson (The Modern Invention of Medieval Music, 2002) and relies heavily on primary sources, is founded on the premise that each of the manuscripts is a complete and unique artefact, irrespective of who created it and for what purpose. Building on this, I argue that each manuscript can be considered a performance. When one of Machaut’s compositions (poetical, musical, or both) is preserved in more than one source, each such manuscript is considered as a performance in its own right. This performative approach allows for and indeed welcomes variations in interpretation and presentation, including those that appear to entail manipulations of the work itself, by performers as diverse as copyists (involved in internal, possibly mnemonic performance), oral interpreters (singing or reading out loud, either from memory or from a copy), editors (whatever their purpose and medium, be it a paper edition based on all sources or a digital edition of just one: perhaps these are the equivalent of today's copyists?), and readers (scholarly and leisurely, from any era). Having established this approach in my thesis, I then assess the role of the individuals involved in such a manuscript performance. The differing role of the scribes and the author in a manuscript's production is considered, particularly with reference to the manuscripts over whose compilation the author is perceived to have had some control. The role of the reader is considered in terms of the reception of the manuscript and especially the extent to which manuscript layout and design subconsciously ‘control’ reader interpretation. In the light of this I analyse the manuscript presentation of Machaut's songs in each of the six principal manuscripts transmitting his works, with particular focus on the literary works that contain musical notation, the Remede de Fortune and the Voir Dit, the series of lays set to music, and the Messe de Notre Dame. The methodology adopted throughout considers the visual impact of the presence of music on the manuscript page and assesses the extent of this impact both on the reader and on its relevance to manuscript design: what can the layout of the music tell us about the manuscript's readers, patrons and creators? This analysis offers insights as to the role of artists in the society of mid- and late-fourteenth-century France, the changing perceptions of words and music, and the role of reading, writing, and memory in society. 4 Contents Abstract p. 3 List of Figures p. 5 Acknowledgements p. 13 Preface: The mise en page and Reading p. 15 Chapter 1: Identity and Performance p. 23 Chapter 2: Education and Performance in the Remede de Fortune p. 49 Chapter 3: The Lays and the Performance of Love p. 93 Chapter 4: Performing Memory in the Mass p. 128 Chapter 5: Scribal Memory and Authorial Performance in the Voir Dit p. 168 Conclusion: Performance and the mise en page p. 220 Bibliography p. 226 Appendix 1: Manuscript Details p. 250 Appendix 2: Anagrams p. 254 5 List of Figures Preface: The mise en page and Reading Fig. P.1: A fol. Fv (detail) p. 15 The third miniature from the Prologue in manuscript A Chapter 1: Indentity and Performance Figure 1.1: Manuscript C, fols. 58-58v (detail) p. 32 The anagram directions from the Remede de Fortune Figure 1.2: Manuscript C, fol. 58v (detail) p. 32 The end of the Remede, including the anagram passage Fig. 1.3: A, fol. 306 (detail) p. 35 The anagram passage from the Voir Dit in manuscript A Fig. 1.4: C fol. 26 (detail) p. 37 Guillaume composing (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Chapter 2: Education and Performance in the Remede de Fortune Fig. 2.1: C fol. 23 (detail) p. 52 The lady's castle (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 2.2: C fol. 24 (detail) p. 54 Guillaume and Love (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 2.3: C fol. 44v (detail) p. 54 Guillaume and Hope (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 2.4: C fol. 37v (detail) p. 55 Guillaume and Hope (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 2.5: C fol. 56 (detail) p. 56 The exchange of rings (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 2.6: C fol. 58 (detail) p. 56 Guillaume and his lady (from the Remede de Fortune in C) 6 Fig. 2.7: C fol. 51 p. 59 The virelai from the Remede de Fortune in C Fig. 2.8: C fol. 59 p. 60 The chanson roial from the Remede de Fortune in C Fig. 2.9: A fol. 49v (detail) p. 62 The opening miniature to the Remede de Fortune in A Fig. 2.10: C fol. 38 (detail) p. 63 The arms of love from the Remede de Fortune in C Fig. 2.11: A fol. 62 (detail) p. 63 The arms of love from the Remede de Fortune in A Fig. 2.12: A fol. 72 (detail) p. 64 Guillaume and the lady's castle (from the Remede de Fortune in A) Fig. 2.13: A fol. 78v (detail) p. 64 Guillaume and the lady (from the Remede de Fortune in A) Fig 2.14: A fol. 80 (detail) p. 65 Guillaume and the god of love (from the Remede de Fortune in A) Fig. 2.15: C fol. 57 p. 68 The rondelet from the Remede de Fortune in C Fig. 2.16: A fol. 78v p. 69 The rondelet from the Remede de Fortune in A Fig. 2.17: Vg fol. 90 (detail) p. 72 The opening miniature to the Remede de Fortune in Vg Fig. 2.18: Vg fol. 95v (detail) p. 73 A king and courtiers (from the Remede de Fortune in Vg) Fig. 2.19: Vg fol. 111 (detail) p. 74 Guillaume and Hope (from the Remede de Fortune in Vg) 7 Fig. 2.20: B fol. 119v p. 78 The rondelet from the Remede de Fortune in B Fig. 2.21: B fol. 93 p. 81 Extract from the lay from the Remede de Fortune in B Fig. 2.22: E fol. 35v p. 85 The rondelet from the Remede de Fortune in E Fig. 2.23: E fol. 23v (detail) p. 86 Extract from the lay from the Remede de Fortune in E Fig. 2.24: F fol. 40 (detail) p. 89 The opening miniature to the Remede de Fortune in F-G Fig. 2.25: F fol. 62v p. 91 The rondelet from the Remede de Fortune in F-G Chapter 3: The Lays and the Performance of Love Fig. 3.1: C fol. 165 (detail) p. 98 Miniature to the first lay in manuscript C ("Loyauté que point ne delay") Fig. 3.2: C fol. 170 (detail) p. 98 Miniature to the third lay in manuscript C ("Pour ce qu'on puist") Fig. 3.3: C fol. 26 (detail) p. 99 Guillaume composing (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 3.4: C fol. 173r (detail) p.100 Miniature to the fourth lay in manuscript C ("Aus amans") Fig. 3.5: C fol. 28v (detail) p. 100 Guillaume reading his lay to his lady (from the Remede de Fortune in C) Fig. 3.6: C fol. 188v p. 102 Extract from the tenth lay in manuscript C ("Lay de Plour") 8 Fig. 3.7: C fol. 189r (detail) p. 105 Miniature to the eleventh lay in manuscript C ("Ne say comment") Fig. 3.8: C fol. 194v (detail) p. 106 Miniature to the fourteenth lay in manuscript C ("On parle de richesses") Fig. 3.9: A fol. 367 (detail) p. 108 The opening miniature to the lays in manuscript A Fig. 3.10: A fol. 373v p. 112 Extract from the third lay in manuscript A ("Pour ce qu'on puist") Fig. 3.11: A fol. 410v p. 113 Extract from the twenty-second lay in manuscript A ("Lay de Plour") Fig. 3.12: Vg fol. 251 (detail) p. 115 Extract from the sixteenth lay in manuscript Vg ("Je ne cesse de prier") Fig. 3.13: B fol. 249 (detail) p. 116 Extract from the sixteenth lay in manuscript B ("Je ne cesse de prier") Fig. 3.14: E fol. 157 (detail) p. 119 The opening miniature to the lays in manuscript E Fig. 3.15: E fol.