Troubadours and Trouveres: An Overview

8/9/2019 Troubadours and Trouveres: An Overview

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European music, for thousands of years, sat under the influence of the Catholic Church.

Already well documented is the use of plainsong from the early beginnings of the church and up

to the 15th century; even today, the tradition of plainsong is kept alive by some. aving been

ubi!uitous across the whole of Europe, all of today"s #estern music is in some way influenced

by the chants sung in both cathedrals and small parishes.

$he same is true for the music of the 1%th and 1&th centuries. As can be gleaned from

e'tant manuscripts, sacred music dominated the landscape of the medieval era. (ung wholly in

)atin, the music kept a sure distance from whatever folk music e'isted at the time; sacred music

was patroni*ed by the nobility, who maintained court chapels for their own personal worship and

entertainment. An anomaly sprung up in the 1%th century, however; music performed not in )atin

and in the church, but in vernacular language and in the courts and castles of +rovenal -rance.

$he troubadours, both influenced by the sacred )atin chant and the ccitan literary tradition, are

the first e'ample of vernacular music in Europe of which we.

$he troubadours were the poets and composers of southern -rance during the 1%th century

and into the 1&th century; they moved in a class above common performers, becoming known by

name and hired into the courts of nobility. $he earliest known troubadour was himself of

nobility/ #illiam 0, 2uke of A!uitaine. 2espite the societal stratum to which troubadour poetry

belonged, however, troubadours themselves were a social tapestry of individuals. 3embers of

society from both the poorest classes and the noble classes could be troubadours, recognition

stemming from talent alone. 4ernart de entadorn, perhaps the most successful and well6known

troubadour, came from low social status, as found in his vida.


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“Bernart de Ventadorn was from Limousin, from the castle of Ventadour. He was

a man of humble origin, the son of a servant who was a baker, and who heated

the oven to bake the bread of the castle. And he became a handsome and an able

man, and he knew how to sing and how to invent poetry well, and he became

courtly and learned.1

Even the term troubadour came to be all inclusive, covering any man or woman who wrote

anything at all, whether it be lyric or narrative, with or without music.2 $his e'pansive inclusion

e'erted a wide cultural influence on -rench society which, along with northern -rance"s

particular receptiveness for ccitan poetry,3 led to the advent of the northern -rench trouv7res

who were imitators of the troubadour style about 58 years into the 1%th century.4

#hile the troubadours were the ones to formulate the wide6spread movement of

vernacular poetry and music in -rance, almost %888 trouv7re melodies have been preserved, their

repertory representing the largest known in secular medieval music, compared to only %59

troubadour melodies.5 $his ini!uity is potentially due to the later dates of the trouv7re

composers, who were displaced from the troubadours by 58 years; however, the geographical

1 Qtd. In L. T. Topsfield, Troubadours and Love (London: Cambridge Uniersit! "ress, 1#$1%, 112. T&is 'otation

)omes from t&e vida for *ernart de +entadorn a ida -as a small introd)tor! biograp&! sed to introd)e songs

in ant&ologies of t&e late edieal period.

2 L. . /rig&t, 0is)on)eptions Con)erning T&e Trobadors, Trores nd instrels,0 Music and Letters 4, no.

1 (1#$%: 33#. T&e dis)ssion of &o- t&e trobadors and troeres -ere named is an interesting one. T&e term

6troere7, almost )ertainl! deried from t&e 8ld 9ren)& trover , meaning to inent.; T&e term 6trobador7 is

some-&at more n)ertain bt )an be )onne)ted to t&e 8))itan trobar , meaning to find or inent. T&e terms, t&s,are potentiall! more s!non!mos to or modern idea of a general artist.

3 /illiam t!les,; The Musical Quarterly $2, no. 3

(1#%: 32#.


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placement of the trouv7res may also have contributed, as the anthologies of troubadour and

trouv7re songs were produced primarily in northern -rance. ne would assume that ccitan,

being an important language in poetry and literature at the time, would have been the primary

language of the anthologies of troubadour and trouv7re song, thus these being produced in

southern -rance. :nfortunately, by the time these anthologies were composed in the late 1th and

15th centuries, southern -rance was reeling from the invasive crusades against the resident

Cathars, while

the latter was spoken in northern -rance. :sing mutually unintelligible languages, the trouv7res

and troubadours may have employed a mischsprache, or a ?middle language@, for creative

purposes; certainly, there was some sense of linguistic mi'ture between both sections of -rance.

$he two groups of -rench composers cultivated two distinct branches of poetry


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$he newer, more individualistic poetry of the late 3edieval ages cultivated a sense of

craftsmanship in troubadours and trouv7res. $he early troubadours took a self6conscious stance

as creators in the metaphysical sense; this sort of confidence led to the potential of rather biting

social commentary. 3ostly, however, both troubadour and trouv7re poetry e'pressed the courtly

e'perience of the aristocratic social code. $his courtly e'perience manifested itself in the concept

of fin! amors.# riginally a troubadour creation, fin! amors was the sole topic of the canso/ an

imperfect lover strives towards a perfect and unattainable lady who is separated from him by a

metaphysical distance. $his view of love seems to be born of a few sources; at the surface, fin!

amors is a purifying love, a love which can heal and make courtly, for the unattainable lady is

eternal and a reflection of courtly perfection. At a deeper, spiritual level, the poetry takes much

of its language and emotion from the church"s Christian love for a deity. 0n it, there is infinite

disproportion between the lover and the lady, and the lover reoices in his bondage and suffering,

becoming nobler through the refinement of his cultish love.1B $he poetry is, at its core, not about

the lady; ?these songs are about loveB more than celebrations of the physical and moral

!ualities of a shadowy beloved, they are celebrations of the idea and nature of love itself.@11 4oth

the canso and chanson d!amour demonstrate this concept in their form; characteristically, the

song opens forcefully, with the composer standing outside his creation as creator, or stepping

C&arlotte ross, T&e Cosmolog! of =&etori) in t&e Aarl! Trobador L!ri),; Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of

Rhetoric #, no. 1 (/inter 1##1%: 4B.

# m!t&e, Trobador >ongs,; 2324.

11 Fo&n >teens, 7La rande C&anson Cortoise7: T&e C&ansons of dam de la @alle,; !roceedin"s of the Royal

Musical Association 1B1 (1#$41#$5%: 14.


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inside the song and marking the inception of season, love, and song; however, at its end, the

canso and chanson ends weakly, maintaining a love unresolved.12

$he poetic form of the medieval period placed enormous emphasis on the numbering of

syllables and rhymes; while this may be foreign to a modern audience accustomed to euphony

and rhyme in poetry, the songs of both the troubadour and trouv7re rely upon the count and meter

of syllables. As ohn (tevens says, ?we shall never accept medieval artistic creationB unless we

can accept the overriding importance of [email protected] $he troubadours and trouv7res considered

themselves craftsman, and, in regard to how much attention is paid to syllables, there is an

absolute sense of poetic craftsmanship. 0n a study by ohn (tevens of poetic samples of the

trouv7re Adam de la alle, it was found that very rarely do accented syllables fall on weak beats,

or do unaccented syllables fall on stressed beats. As will be discussed, even melody, and perhaps

rhythm, rely wholly upon the count of syllables.

$he most enlightening e'tant treatise on how the composers handled the form of poetry

in song comes from the contemporary 2ante Alighieri, who took a keen interest in ccitanian

poetry. 0n the treatise "e vulgari elo#uentia, 2ante gives a very detailed description of the form

of troubadour and trouv7re songs.

“But there are some stan$as which admit of a diesis %division&' and there can be

no diesis %division& in our sense of the word unless a repetition of one ode

%melody& be made either before the diesis %division&, or after, or both. (f the

repetition be made before the diesis %division&, we say that the stan$a has feet

%pedes&) and it ought to have two, though sometimes there are three) very rarely,

12 ross, T&e Cosmolog! of =&etori),; 4445, 4$.

13 >teens, La rande C&anson,; 1415.


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0t is at this point where some differences between troubadours and trouv7res begin to

become more apparent. -irst, for clarification/ troubadors and trouv7res wrote their poetry in

stan*as and composed their music to one of the stan*as. Each stan*a was a repetition of the same

melody in almost every instance =there is one known deviation from this procedure.1$ $o continue/ the oda continua, a through composed

melody without repetition, was the preferred form for troubadours;1 it is rarely employed the

trouv7res. 0nstead, they most often use the pedes cum cauda, an AA4 form.1# ery little beyond

the two forms described by 2ante were utili*ed by either troubadour or trouv7re.

-orm was completely unrelated from the genre of a song. 4esides the love poetry of the

canso and the chanson d!amour , the troubadours and trouv7res employed many different, though

parallel, genres =these are the half6lyrical, half6narrative genres mentioned earlier>. Contrafacta2B

was prominent in the 1%th and 1&th centuries; the sirventes was almost e'clusively a contrafacta,

certainly a product of the satirical nature through which it commented on society and politics.

ther prominent genres in troubadour repertoire include the pastorella, about a knight and

shepherdess; the tenso, partimen, and 0oc1partit = 0eu1partit in -rench>, which were debate songs;

the planh, a dirge for a deceased dignitary; and the alba, a song about lovers parting at dawn. -or

the trouv7re repertoire, the rondet et carole was also popular; among the rest, the chanson de

toile, a song about work; the chanson de femme, a song sung from the woman"s perspective; the

chanson mal mariee, a song about an unhappy wife; and the rotrounge.21 2espite the wide range

1$ @ans Tis)&ler, Uni'e and =emarEable Troere >ong,; The Journal of Musicolo"y 1B, no. 1 (/inter 1##2%:

1B.

1 >m!t&e, Trobador >ongs,; 2$3.

1# >teens, La rande C&anson,; 1#.

2B Contrafa)ta at t&is time inoled taEing t&e melod! of anot&er7s song and setting it -it& ne- -ords.

21 rdis *tterfield, +erna)lar poetr! and msi),; in The &ambrid"e &ompanion to Medieval Music, ed. arE

Aerist (?e- GorE: Cambridge Uniersit! "ress, 2B11%, 21521.


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of genres available to both troubadours and trouv7res, melodic pattern was not governed by the

type of type of lyric to which it was oined;22 however, ust as today we relate melodic events to

maor and minor tonality, it is entirely possible that 1%th and 1&th century audiences heard melodic

events in relation to modality, though a pattern has not yet been found to say what this may have

sounded like.23

)ike plainchant, the movement of troubadour and trouv7re melodies is essentially by step

mmer 1##5%: 2$.

24 >m!t&e, Trobador >ongs,; 2$1.

25 Tis)&ler, ode, odlation, and Transposition,; 2$$.

2 @ans Tis)&ler, Troere >ongs: T&e Aoltion,; 333.


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1. 3anneriae2$ 1 and & are closely related and often alternate in a melody.

2. 3anneria % is very rarely employed.

3. 3anneriae & and are far more often used than manneriae 1 and %.

4. 0n many melodies the modal octave is e'panded, and the authentic and

plagal ranges may be combined.

5. 3any trouv7re melodies ?modulate,@ i. e. move from one mode to another,

often more than once in a tune.

. All modes appear on different ?pitch@ levels, transposed particularly often

by a th or 5th =up or down>, but also sometimes by a %nd, Fth, or octave.2

$he same generali*ations are similar for troubadour melody. 4eyond modality, the troubadour

and trouv7re songs are governed by few rules, though maintain some similarities throughout the

1%th and 1&th centuries. 2ue to the syllabic aspect of the poetry, the number of notes or note

groups in the melodies of troubadours and trouv7res must always correspond to the number of

syllables; these musical units are between one to four notes. $wo other undisputed aspects of

troubadour and trouv7re melody are that the musical phrase must be the line length and that lines

with weak poetic endings must have weak cadences.2#

Another difference between the troubadours and trouv7res arises at this point; while

troubadours had freedom with a melodic pattern, the trouv7res utili*ed a great deal of common

2$ anneriae refers to t&e )lassfi)ations of e))lesiasti)al modes sed at t&is time. Aig&t manneriae -ere sed,

rog&l! e'ialent to for of t&e modern modes: in order, t&e dorian and &!podorian, t&e p&r!gian and

&!pop&r!gian, t&e l!dian and &!pop&r!gian, and t&e miDol!dian and &!pomiDol!dian.

2 @ans Tis)&ler, 8n odalit! in Troere elodies,; Acta Musicolo"ica $1 (Fan. H Fn. 1###%: $.

2# >teens, La rande C&anson,; 1.


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motives and formulae in their writing. ust as medieval writers made use of stereotyped motives,

the trouv7re composers drew heavily from a series of melodic formulae.3B $his has been a point

of debate amongst scholars recently; the initial view that trouv7re composers commonly

borrowed music from one another is eroding. 0nstead, the idea has come to be that melodic

formulae, potentially drawn from regorian chant, were used udiciously. an )aDue

encapsulates the predominating thought among scholars at this point.

“2here family resemblances are more rule that the e3ception, the fact of melodic

similarity clearly declines in importance. A coincidence does not necessarily

imply a relationship.31

$here are truly only two unmistakable e'amples of musical borrowing in trouv7re

repertoire, according to $heodore Garp/ two chansons by 3oniot d"Arras, Amours n!est pas, #ue

c!on die and Amours, s!on#ue en ma vie. $he other is two chansons, La douce vois du rossignol

salvage by Chatelain de Covey, and Loiaus amours et desiriers de 0oie by Colart de 4outellier.32

therwise, what was once seen to be musical borrowing is now viewed as melodic formulae.

(ome common e'amples of these formulae include a conunct ascent through the interval of a th

= *141Bb>, single note rising scales of &6H notes, recitation figures akin to plainchant, and seven

syllable lines which alternate single notes and groups of notes.

3B T&eodore arp, *orro-ed aterial in Troere si),; Acta Musicolo"ica 34, fas). 3 (Fl. H >ept. 1#2%: #4.

"ages #5#$ )ontain an abndan)e of msi)al samples demonstrating t&ese moties and formlae.

31 Fan Lare, >ignifi)ant and Coin)idental =esemblan)es bet-een Classi)al T&emes,; Journal of the American

Musicolo"ical Society 14, no. 2 (>mmer 1#1%: 224, as dis)ssed in arp, *orro-ed aterials.;

32 arp, *orro-ed aterials,; ##1B1.


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0n regards to the rhythm of these melodic lines, no scholar has fully synthesi*ed a

satisfactory e'planation. $here are some mensurally notated songs e'tant, though those may be

rhythmic transcriptions added in later dates. (ome have suggested that the rhythm is related to

the declamation of the poetry. thers have put forth the notion that the ecclesiastical rhythmic

modes were used. $his idea has an issue, however, for the rhythmic modes were very likely not

in e'istence at the time of the earliest troubadours. 33 At the very least, it is unlikely the songs

were sung in free unmeasured rhythm, as rhythm had been a staple of #estern music for

centuries before.34

$he rhythmic !uestion aside, performance of troubadour and trouv7re songs has been a

long discussed topic. 3anuscripts are often written with no regard to rhythm and no mention of

instrumentation. 0t is likely that both troubadours and trouv7res ornamented and departed from

the melody.35 0t is also likely that the songs of troubadours and trouv7res were accompanied by a

vielle;3 the most direct confirmation of the use of a vielle comes from a erman source, #irnt

von ravenbaere"s 2igaloise.

5sehs fidlaere

"ie wolden im sine swaere

6it ir videlen vertriben

"o begunden sie es riben

33 @. an der /erf, The &hansons of the troubadours and trouveres: a study of the melodies and their relation to

the poems (Utre)&t, 1#$2%: 43, as dis)ssed in Ian "arEer, T&e "erforman)e of Trobador and Troere >ongs:

>ome 9a)ts and ConJe)tres,; 'arly Music 5, no. 2 (pr. 1##$%: 15.

34 >m!t&e, Trobador >ongs,; 2.

35 "arEer, "erforman)e of Trobador,; 2B5.

3 >m!t&e, Trobador >ongs,; 2.


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6it kunsterlichen griffen

Bi$ im was gar entflissen

"iu swaere von dem her$en sin.3$

0f instruments did participate in the performance of songs, they would have likely provided

improvised preludes, interludes, and codas, as well as playing drones or doubling the voice part.

Iot many other instruments would have been suitable for these tasks; due to the modulatory

nature of troubadour and trouv7re songs, any instrument with a fi'ed drone would have been

terribly dissonant at certain times. Haut instruments would have been far too loud for songs. Iot

only would the voice have been drowned out, but the haut instruments would have been

inappropriate for the indoor setting of troubadour and trouv7re songs; the songs were intended to

be sung as entertainment inside the courts and castles of nobility. 2espite the various influences

from the lower classes, troubadour and trouv7re song remained a noble pursuit, aiding in its

transmission across the boundaries of the medieval era. (urely, had it been true folk music, we

would not have the anthologies of song which e'ist today.

3$ /irnt on raenbaere in #i"aloise (+ $425%, 'oted in "arEer, "erforman)e of Trobadors,; 1$. T&e epi)

poem eDplains t&at a +ielle pla!er mst be able to eit&er &old p &is o-n tne or Join &is sond to t&at of a song.


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4ibliography

Alighieri, 2ante. 7he Latin 2orks of "ante, trans. A. . -errers owell. )ondon/ 198.

4utterfield, Ardis. ?ernacular poetry and music,@ in 7he 8ambridge 8ompanion to 6edieval

6usic, ed. 3ark Everist, %856%%. Iew Jork/ Cambridge :niversity +ress, %811.

ross, Charlotte. ?$he Cosmology of Dhetoric in the Early $roubadour )yric,@ 9hetorica' A

:ournal of the History of 9hetoric 9, no. 1 =#inter 1991>/ &965&.

Garp, $heodore. ?4orrowed 3aterial in $rouvere 3usic.@ Acta 6usicologica &, fasc. & =ul. K

(ept. 19H%>/ LF6181.

)arue, an. ?(ignificant and Coincidental Desemblances between Classical $hemes,@ :ournal of

the American 6usicological +ociety 1, no. % =(ummer 19H1>/ %%6%&.

+aden, #illiam 2. ?ld ccitan as a )yric )anguage/ $he 0nsertions from ccitan in $hree

$hirteenth6Century -rench Domances,@ +peculum HL =199&>/ &H65&.

+arker, 0an. ?$he +erformance of $roubadour and $rouvere (ongs/ (ome -acts and

Conectures,@ ;arly 6usic 5, no. % =Apr. 199F>/ 1L6%8F.

+errin, Dobert . ?(ome Iotes on $roubadour 3elodic $ypes,@ :ournal of the American

6usicological +ociety 9, no. 1 =(pring 195H>/ 1%61L.

(mythe, 4arbara. ?$roubadour (ongs.@ 6usic and Letters %, Io. & =19%1>/ %H&6%F&.


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(tevens, ohn. ?")a rande Chanson Courtoise"/ $he Chansons of Adam de la alle,@

-roceedings of the 9oyal 6usical Association 181 =19F619F5>/ 116&8.

$ischler, ans. ?A :ni!ue and Demarkable $rouvere (ong,@ 7he :ournal of 6usicology 18, no. 1

=#inter 199%>/ 18H611%.

$ischler, ans. ?3ode, 3odulation, and $ransposition in 3edieval (ongs,@ 7he :ournal of

6usicology 1%, no. & =(ummer 1995>/ %FF6%L&.

$ischler, ans. ?n 3odality in $rouvere 3elodies,@ Acta 6usicologica F1 =an. K un. 1999>/

FH6L1.

$ischler, ans. ?$rouvere (ongs/ $he Evolution of the +oetic and 3usical (tyles,@ 7he 6usical

/uarterly F%, no. & =19LH>/ &%96&8.

$opsfield, ). $. 7roubadours and Love. )ondon/ Cambridge :niversity +ress, 19F1.

an der #erf, . 7he 8hansons of the troubadours and trouveres' a study of the melodies and

their relation to the poems. :trecht, 19F%.

#right, ). 3. ?3isconceptions Concerning the $roubadours, $rouveres and 3instrels.@ 6usic

and Letters L, no. 1 =19HF>/ &56&9.


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Documents

Troubadours and Trouveres: An Overview