"The CD edition won a "historical diapason d'or"; without hesitation, a
must for any listener of EM...
This is a very nice production, and of course what more can be said of
the songs themselves?"
medieval.org
- L'Oiseau-Lyre DL237 D6 (LPs)
medieval.org
- L'Oiseau Lyre 452 557 (CDs)
amazon.com
marzo y julio de 1980 (CDs: 1997)
Studio No. 3, West Hampstead, London
CD1
01 - Ce jour de l'an voudray joye mener (RCC, PH, MG, flute,
gittern, fiddle) [3:07]
02 - Entre vous, gentils amoureux (TP, RCC, fiddle)
[3:20]
03 - Resvellies vous et faites chiere lye (RCC, PH, MG, recorder,
2 fiddles) [5:49]
04 - J'ay mis mon cueur et ma pensée (RCC, PH, MG)
[1:23]
05 - Navré je sui d'un dart penetratif (TP, gittern,
fiddle) [3:40]
06 - L'alta belleza tua, virtute, valore (RCC, PH, alto
shawm, lute, rebec) [2:05]
07 - Helas, et quant vous veray? (clavichord)
[1:29]
08 - Je donne a tous les amoureux (TP, douçaine,
lute) [3:33]
09 - Je veuil chanter de cuer joyeux (RCC, PH, lute)
[2:23]
10 - Mon cuer me fait tous dis penser (RCC, PE, PH, MG)
[6:05]
11 - Je requier a tous amoureux (TP, douçaine,
gittern) [2:17]
12 - Resvelons nous, resvelons, amoureux (alto &
soprano shawms, trumpet) [1:16]
13 - Invidia nimica (RCC, gittern, rebec, fiddle)
[5:22]
14 - Ma belle dame, je vous pri (TP, RCC, lute)
[3:37]
15 - Passato è il tempo omaj di quei pensieri (JE,
2 fiddles) [4:16]
16 - Pour ce que veoir je ne puis (TP, RCC, douçaine,
gittern, rebec) [3:09]
17 - Par droit je puis bien complaindre et gemir (RCC,
PE, 2 fiddles) [4:00]
18 - Belle, que vous ay ie mesfait (flute, gittern,
fiddle) [1:53]
19 - Se madame je puis veir (TP, douçaine, lute)
[2:39]
20 - Mon chier amy, qu'aves vous empensé (RCC, PH,
lute) [6:15]
CD2
01 - Belle plaissant et gracieuse (alto & soprano
shawms, trumpet) [0:58]
02 - Ma belle dame souveraine (RCC, JE, PE, douçaine,
gittern, rebec, fiddle) [3:44]
03 - Helas, ma dame, par amours (recorder, lute,
rebec) [2:10]
04 - J'atendray tant qu'i vous playra (RCC, PH, MG)
[1:45]
05 - J'ay grant [dolour] (organ) [1:26]
06 - La belle se siet au piet de la tour (RCC, PE, harp)
[1:37]
07 - Ce moys de may soyons lies et joyeux (RCC, PH, MG, douçaine,
gittern, fiddle) [3:07]
08 - Je ne suy plus tel que souloye (JE, lute, rebec)
[2:20]
09 - La dolce uista (recorder, gittern, fiddle)
[2:25]
10 - Je me complains piteusement (RCC, JE, PE, alto
shawm, gittern) [1:57]
11 - Bien veignes vous, amoureuse liesse (harp,
gittern, rebec) [0:47]
12 - Dona i ardenti ray (TP, RCC, douçaine,
gittern, rebec) [1:50]
13 - Quel fronte signorille in paradiso (RCC, PH, lute)
[3:02]
14 - Bon jour, bon mois, bon an et bonne estraine
(recorder, gittern, fiddle) [1:28]
15 - Estrines moy, je vous estrineray (TP, RCC, gittern,
fiddle) [4:07]
16 - Je ne puis ce que y'ai peu (harp, gittern, rebec)
[1:07]
17 - Pour l'amour de ma doulce amye (RCC, PH, MG)
[4:02]
18 - He, compaignons, resvelons nous (RCC, PE, alto
shawm, gittern, rebec, fiddle) [3:36]
19 - Adieu ces bon vins de Lannoys (TP, alto shawm,
gittern, fiddle) [4:09]
20 - Pour l'amour de ma doulce amye II (RCC, MG, rebec)
[4:04]
21 - Portugaler (clavichord) [2:33]
22 - Belle, veullies moy retenir (TP, douçaine,
gittern, fiddle) [4:00]
23 - Vergene bella, che di sol vestita (JE, 2 fiddles)
[3:40]
24 - Belle, vueillies vostre mercy donner (RCC, PH, douçaine,
gittern, fiddle) [4:29]
CD3
01 - C'est bien raison de devoir essaucier (PE, recorder,
2 fiddles) [9:25]
02 - Mon bien, m'amour et ma maistresse (RCC, PH, lute)
[3:54]
03 - Je prens congie de vous, amours (TP, gittern,
fiddle) [3:58]
04 - Mille bonjours je vous presente (organ)
[1:27]
05 - Craindre vous vueil, doulce dame de pris (JE, 2
fiddles) [4:48]
06 - Entre les plus plaines danoy (harp, gittern,
fiddle) [1:06]
07 - Se la face ay pale (RCC, PH, alto shawm)
[2:50]
08 - Dona gentile, bella come l'oro (RCC, 2 fiddles)
[4:16]
09 - Bien doy servir de volentre entiere (flute, lute,
fiddle) [1:56]
10 - Las, que feray? Ne que je devenray? (JE, harp,
gittern) [4:22]
11 - Hic iocundus sumit mundus (clavichord)
[1:17]
12 - Pouray je avoir vostre mercy? (JE, lute, fiddle)
[4:01]
13 - Qu'est devenue leaulte? (organ) [0:55]
14 - Ce jour le doibt, aussi fait la saison (TP, douçaine,
gittern, fiddle) [5:39]
15 - Seigneur Leon, vous soyes bienvenus (recorder,
gittern, 2 fiddles) [1:25]
16 - Donne l'assault a la fortresse (PE, 2 fiddles)
[4:17]
CD4
01 - Se la face ay pale (TP, RCC, gittern)
[2:51]
02 - Je languis en piteux martire (RCC, recorder, 2
fiddles) [5:39]
03 - Trop lonc temps ai esté en desplaisir
(harp, lute, rebec) [1:42]
04 - Pierre FONTAINE - J'ayme bien
celui qui s'en va (TP, douçaine, gittern)
[2:35]
05 - Va t'en mon cuer, jour et nuitie (JE, lute,
fiddle) [3:59]
06 - Puisque celle qui me tient en prison (alto &
soprano shawms, trumpet) [0:58]
07 - Vo regard et doulce maniere (TP, harp, gittern)
[2:59]
08 - Or pleust a Dieu qu'a son plaisir (PE, 2 fiddles)
[5:25]
09 - Juvenis qui puellam (RCC, PE, PH, MG) [5:17]
10 - Je n'ai doubté fors que des envieux (harp,
gittern) [1:19]
11 - Par le regart de vos beaux yeux (RCC, 2 fiddles)
[3:54]
12 - Adieu, quitte le demeurant de ma vie (organ)
[1:07]
13 - S'il est plaisir que je vous puisse faire (PE, RCC, fiddle)
[6:42]
14 - Belle vueilles moy vangier (PE, 2 fiddles)
[5:20]
15 - Lamentatio sanctae matris ecclesiae constantinopolitanae
(TP, RCC, douçaine, gittern) [3:15]
16 - Adieu m'amour, adieu ma joye (RCC, PH, harp)
[5:36]
17 - Se la face ay pale (lute, douçaine, rebec,
fiddle) [1:15]
18 - Ne je ne dors ne je ne veille (TP, gittern,
fiddle) [5:03]
19 - Puisque vous estez campieur (RCC, PE, fiddle)
[3:34]
CD5
01 - O flos florum virginum (clavichord) [1:10]
02 - Je vous pri, mon tres doulx ami (RCC, PE, PH, MG)
[1:38]
03 - La plus mignonne de mon cueur (RCC, PE, fiddle)
[4:08]
04 - Despartes vous, male bouche et envie (flute,
gittern, fiddle) [1:17]
05 - Dieu gard la bone sans reprise (RCC, 2 fiddles)
[5:34]
06 - En triumphant de Cruel Dueil (PE, 2 fiddles)
[4:55]
07 - Je ne vis onques la pareille (TP, RCC, gittern)
[4:06]
08 - De ma haulte et bonne aventure (JE, 2 fiddles)
[6:03]
09 - Du tout m'estoie abandonné (recorder,
gittern, fiddle) [1:25]
10 - Malheureulx cueur, que vieulx tu faire? (PE, 2
fiddles) [4:38]
11 - Mon seul plaisir, ma doulce joye (RCC, PH, MG)
[4:53]
12 - Helas mon dueil, a ce cop sui ie mort (RCC, PH, harp)
[3:05]
13 - Franc cuer gentil, sur toutes gracieuse (TP, RCC, gittern)
[5:32]
14 - Vostre bruit et vostre grant fame (RCC, PH, fiddle)
[5:33]
15 - Resistera... (recorder, lute, rebec, fiddle)
[1:10]
16 - Le serviteur hault guerdonné (JE, 2
fiddles) [5:12]
17 - Les douleurs, dont me sens tel somme (RCC, PE, 2
fiddles) [5:27]
THE MEDIEVAL ENSEMBLE OF LONDON
Peter & Timothy Davies
Timothy Penrose, countertenor
CD1 #2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 16, 19
CD2 #12, 15, 19, 22
CD3 #3, 14
CD4 #1, 4, 7, 15, 18
CD5 #7, 13
Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor
CD1 #1-4, 6, 9-10, 13-14, 16-17, 20
CD2 #2, 4, 6-7, 10, 12-13, 15, 17-18, 20, 24
CD3 #2, 7-8
CD4 #1-2, 9, 11, 13, 15-16, 19
CD5 #2-3, 5, 7, 11-14, 17
John Elwes, tenor
CD1 #15
CD2 #2, 8, 10, 23
CD3 #5, 10, 12
CD4 #5
CD5 #8, 16
Paul Elliott, tenor
CD1 #10, 17
CD2 #2, 6, 10, 18
CD3 #1, 16
CD4 #8-9, 13-14, 19
CD5 #2-3, 6, 10, 17
Paul Hillier, baritone
CD1 #1, 3-4, 6, 9-10, 20
CD2 #4, 7, 13, 17, 24
CD3 #2, 7
CD4 #9, 16
CD5 #2, 11-12, 14
Michael George, baritone
CD1 #1, 3-4, 10
CD2 #4, 7, 17, 20
CD4 #9
CD5 #2, 11
Peter Davies
recorder: CD1 #3 - CD2 #3, 9, 14 - CD3 #1, 15 - CD4 #2 - CD5 #9,
15
flute: CD1 #1, 18 - CD3 #9 - CD5 #4
douçaine: CD1 #8, 11, 16, 19 - CD2 #2, 7, 11, 22, 24 -
CD3 #14 - CD4 #4, 15, 17
alto shawm: CD1 #6, 12 - CD2 #1, 10, 18-19 - CD3 #7 - CD4 #6
harp: CD2 #6, 11, 16 - CD3 #6, 10 - CD4 #3, 7, 10, 16 - CD5 #12
Andrew Watts, soprano shawm
CD1 #12 - CD2 #1 - CD4 #6
Martin Pope, slide trumpet
CD1 #12 - CD2 #1 - CD4 #6
Timothy Davies
gittern:
CD1 #1, 5, 11, 13, 16, 18
CD2 #2, 7, 9-12, 14-16, 18-19, 22, 24
CD3 #3, 6, 10, 14-15
CD4 #1, 4, 7, 10, 15, 17, 18
CD5 #4, 7, 9, 13
lute:
CD1 #6, 8-9, 14, 19-20
CD2 #3, 8, 13
CD3 #2, 9, 12
CD4 #3, 5
CD5 #15
Robert Cooper
fiddle:
CD1 #2-3, 5, 15, 17, 18
CD2 #7, 9, 14-15, 19, 22-24
CD3 #1, 3, 5-6, 8-9, 14-16
CD4 #2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 18
CD5 #4-6, 8-10, 14, 16-17
rebec:
CD1 #6, 16
CD2 #2-3, 7-8, 11-12, 16, 18, 20
CD4 #3, 17
CD5 #15
William Hunt, fiddle
CD1 #1, 3, 13, 15, 17
CD2 #2, 18, 23
CD3 #1, 5, 8, 12, 15-16
CD4 #2, 8, 11, 13-14, 17, 19
CD5 #3, 5-6, 8, 10, 15-17
Christopher Kite
fretted clavichord: CD1 #7 - CD2 #5, 21 - CD3 #11 - CD5 #1
organ: CD2 #5 - CD3 #4, 13 - CD4 #12
GUILLAUME DUFAY
The Complete Secular Music
Introduction
In the fifteenth century the music of Guillaume Dufay dominated the
courts and cathedrals of Europe. Over two hundred of his works survive:
these include motets, masses, hymn settings and at least eighty
chansons. It is his songs which hold the most immediate appeal today,
and this first complete recording of them reveals an astonishing
breadth of style and feeling. Throughout this booklet, all of the song
titles mentioned will be identified by their CD and cue-point number.
The standard edition of Dufay's songs was produced in 1964 by Heinrich
Besseler. It contains eight Italian, two Latin and seventy-four French
chansons, plus ten pieces of dubious authorship. All of these works
have been recorded here, but in the years since Besseler produced his
edition, new light has been shed on the sources, context and technical
details of a number of pieces. As far as possible this recording takes
these and similar developments into account.
Song Forms
Most of Dufay's songs are written in the fixed forms of the late
medieval period. His French works include fifty-nine rondeaux, four
virelais and ten ballades, and half of his eight Italian songs are in
the ballata form. All of these forms require two basic sections
of music, A and B, which are simply re-used for the parts of the poem
that have the same number of syllables and the same rhyme scheme.
Navré je sui d'un dart penetratif (1 /5) is a typical
sixteen-line rondeau, with the first two lines sung to the A music, the
next two to the B and so on. The resultant form is ABaAabAB, where
capital letters indicate the refrain (i.e. a repeat of the text as well
as the music). Some rondeaux have three lines of text for each of the A
sections, as in Adieu ces bon vins de Lannoys (2.19).
The ballade form can be seen in Ce jour le doibt (3.14). Each
of the three stanzas has ten lines of text; lines 1-2 and 3-4 are
each sung to the A music, and the rest of the stanza to the B music.
Actually, only the very last line of text recurs in each stanza like a
true refrain and so its music will be given a separate letter, C. Thus,
showing only the refrain element in capitals, we have aabC as the
musical form of the ballade. This refrain element occurs in all the
ballades with more than one stanza except Je languis en piteux
martin (4.2) - a work which, in any case, might not be by Dufay.
The virelai can be illustrated by the twentyone-line work Malheureulx
cueur (5.10). The A section sets five text lines, and the B section
three lines; the resultant musical form is AbbaA. This is very similar
to the form of the Italian ballata. Thus in the sixteen-line
song Passato è it tempo (1 / 15), the A music sets four
lines of text and the B music two lines, again giving AbbaA.
Life and times
We first hear of Dufay as a choirboy at Cambrai Cathedral in 1409. Aged
about twenty he moved to Italy where he served the Malatesta family
from Pesaro. He then seems to have returned to France for a time
because his song Adieu ces boos viol de Lannoys (2.19), dated
1426, bids farewell to the people and wines of the North, and he is
next found in Bologna in 1427. Dufay then sang in the Papal Chapel in
Rome (1428-33) and according to a note in the manuscript source, Quel
fronte (2.13) was composed there. For most of the 1430s he was torn
between two patrons, Pope Eugenius IV (whom he served 1431-33 and
1435-37) and Duke Amadeus of Savoy (at whose court he worked 1433-35
and 1438-39). Things came to a head in 1439 when a Church Council
deposed Eugenius and elected Felix V - who was none other than Duke
Amadeus of Savoy. Philip the Good of Burgundy was strongly opposed to
the election of the Savoy pope, and had Dufay remained in Savoy he
might have been barred from returning home to his native Cambrai (which
was under Burgundian control), or from collecting his benefices in
Burgundian territory. So it was, then, that in 1439 Dufay returned to
the North, apparently ending his Italian travels for good; his earliest
Italian patron, Carlo Malatesta, had died the previous year.
For the next eleven years (1439-50) Dufay was back in Cambrai. He also
visited the Burgundian court in 1446 (he had been in contact with it
since at least 1434), and in 1449 Duke Philip visited Cambrai. As he
was about to leave, apparently with Dufay in his retinue, two choirboys
and one of the Duke's men sang a farewell chanson (the name of the work
is not given). Dufay's Lamentation for the fall of Constantinople
(4.15) is often linked with the Burgundian Feast of the Pheasant (1454)
- part of Philip's attempts to initiate a rescue crusade for the city,
overrun by the Turks in the previous year - but it now seems that the
work was written a short time after this event. The last major upheaval
came for Dufay in 1450 when Felix V, the Savoy pope, resigned, and
Philip the Good re-opened contact with the Savoy court. Immediately
Dufay is found in Savoy territory (Turin) and then he worked at the
court itself (1452-58). Dufay ended his professional career where he
had begun it - in the Cathedral at Cambrai. He died, after a long
illness, on Sunday 27 November 1474. He was the last great composer of
the medieval, churchly era. His burial took place on the eve of the
Feast of St Andrew, patron saint of the Burgundian dukes.
Conventional Love Songs
In medieval courtly life there was a real and dangerous conflict
between protocol and amorous intent. The very vagueness and
conventionality of a love song made it a perfect emissary between
lovers who wished to remain cautious. This might explain why there is a
preference for songs which stress the pangs of the anonymous and
isolated lover who longs for public recognition from his Lady; there is
a string of Dufay works in this vein including Ma belle dame, je
vous pri (1.14), Pour ce que veoir (1.16), Ma belle
dame souveraine (2.2), Vo regard (4.7), Va t'en
(4.5), Ne je ne dors (4.18) and Las, que feray? (3.10).
A small number take a more contented view of love (J'ay mis mon cuer
(1.4) , Dieu gard (5.5), Ma plus mignonne (5.3); the
first of these was written when Dufay was a young man, but the other
two are late songs. Just occasionally the more personal circumstances
of the lover peek through the conventions: in J'atendray tant qu'il
vous playra (2.4) there seems to be a hidden plan (elopement? a
marriage proposal?) which will eventually be revealed as 'je le vous ay
dit long temps a' (I told you long ago), and in Mon bien, m'amour
(3.2) the lover has known the lady for ten years and has been offended
six times. The most tragic point comes when the lovers have to part,
and this event is recorded in [/i]Jje prens congie de vous[/i] (3.3), Adieu,
quitte le demeurant de ma vie (4.12) and Adieu m'amour
(4.16) . The grief at this moment is so intense that it is spoken of in
terms of genuine bereavement - a factor which has led some commentators
to describe as love songs sonic pieces which probably refer to an
actual death. En triumphant (5.6) is one such example, which
David Fallows has suggested is a lament on the death of the Burgundian
composer Binchois (1460); and Mon chier amy (1.20) is quite
clear in its general reference to bereavement and was possibly written
on the death of Pandolfo Malatesta (the brother of Dufay's patron,
Carlo Malatesta) in 1427.
Songs related to the 'Roman de la Rose'
The Roman de la Rose is one of the finest of medieval romances.
It was written in the thirteenth century by Guillaume de Lorris, with a
vast later addition by Jean de Meun. Song writers were attracted to its
concise and comprehensive representation of the stages of love by means
of allegorical characters such as Bel Accueil (Fair Welcome), Malebouche
(Slander), Dangier (the dominion, and hence threat, of the
loved one over the lover), Jalousie (Jealousy) and so on. For
the patrons of the song writers it struck a chord with its notion of
the ideal society as a Garden of Delights populated by lovers - a
successful attempt to socialise the concept of love, and one which
provided a model for the setting up of chivalric courts in Paris,
Burgundy and elsewhere.
The 'Rose' of the title represents the Lady, and Dufay uses this
equation directly in Mon cuer me fait tous dis penser (1.9),
where the heart yearns for the perfumed rose, and also in La dolce
uista (2.9). In the Roman de la Rose the lover's story is
cast in the form of a dream. One morning he is out walking and comes to
a walled garden - the Garden of Delights. Inside he is invited to dance
with various characters, including Courtoisie, Amour and Doux
Regard, who has charge of the Darts of Love. He then discovers a
pool, the Fountain of Love, into which he looks and sees the Rose
reflected from another part of the garden. At this moment Amour
chooses to strike the lover with his darts. This episode is echoed in
Dufay's song Navré je sui d'un dart penetratif (1.5)
where the Lady's 'doulx regart' has pierced the lover's heart. The
story continues with the struggle between the lover and the protectors
of the Rose, particularly Dangier (the gardener), Jalousie
and Malebouche. These characters are inveighed against in the
songs Belle, vueilles moy vangier (4.14), Je me complains
(2.10) and Departes vous, male bouche et envie (5.4).
Eventually Jealousy builds a castle around the Rose and the lover has
to storm the fortress with the help of the god of love. In Dufay's song
Donnes l'assault (3.16) the lover invokes this classic episode
to press his suit. Finally, of course, the lover attains the 'Rose'.
Fair Welcome returns to greet him, and Hope (Esperance) has not
played false its promise; these things are made clear to us in Dufay's De
ma haulte et bonne aventure (5.8) .
At the very end of the Roman de la Rose, love's enemies are
reviled, especially Jealousy, who wears about her head the marigolds of
anxiety. Dufay takes up the idea of the marigold in his song Je
donne a tous les amoureux (1.8), and transforms it into the flower
that frees the heart from Dangier and Jalousie. Two
groups of songs which are related only loosely to the Roman
tradition are those which refer to Amye and Fortune. Amye
was the lover's archetypal friend who, in the Roman, comforts
him in periods of separation from the Lady Rose. However, Dufay always
makes Amye synonymous with the Lady, as we see from Pour
l'amour de ma doulce amye (2.17), Je requier (1.11), Je
vous pri (5.2) and Je veuil chanter (1.9). Underlying the
adventures of the lover is the influence of Dame Fortune. Dufay makes
us aware of the oppressive power of Fortune in Je me complains
(2.10), Par droit (1.17), Trop lonc temps (4.3), Ce
jour de l'an (1.1) and Dona gentile (3.8). Perhaps it is
relevant here to note that when Dufay died, listed amongst his
belongings was 'an imperfect book in verse called Fortune ...'.
May Songs and the Courts of Love
Many of the Romances of the Middle Ages, including the Roman de la
Rose, begin their stories in the month ofMay. This month was the
'season of love', when a lover might approach his Lady with a may
branch - if the blossom stayed fresh then love would prosper. There are
four May songs by Dufay. In Resvelons nous (1.12) the lovers
are exhorted to wake up and go to the maying, and in Ce moys de may
(2.7) Dufay urges the listener to sing, dance and be merry. In Je
veuil chanter (1.9) the poet says he will sing 'high and clear' and
with a joyful heart because Love wishes it. The first of May was also
the day on which an official of the Court of Love (the Prince
d'Amours) held a festival. The idea of a Court of Love was revived
in the late Middle Ages by Philip the Bold of Burgundy; in 1401 he
founded a Cour d'Amour in Paris. At its meetings each member
had to prove himself a True Lover by presenting a song or poem to the
Prince of Love. This is exactly the situation described in Dufay's May
Song Ce jour le doibt (3.14), which must have been written for
just such an occasion later in the century. Dufay's piece is one of the
very few songs (as distinct from poems by Alain Chartier and others) to
mention the Prince of Love in this direct way; another is Pastourelle
en un vergier by Pierre Fontaine. This last composer is called
'Perrinet' in the accounts of Philip the Bold and is probably the
'Perinet' referred to in Dufay's Ce moys de may (2.7). The
Court of Love was primarily a Burgundian affair (the Burgundian
composers Charité and Briquet were listed as members of the
Parisian body) but other patrons such as Charles d'Orléans at
Blois organised similar gatherings. From the point of view of Dufay's
biography it is interesting to note that there were several links
between the Savoy court and the Parisian Court of Love. Amé
Malingre, maître d'hotel to Louis of Savoy, wrote a poem
in 1413 describing its activities, and Guillebert de Metz, in his
famous description of Paris written in the fifteenth century, tells us
that an unnamed Savoy poet, at the bidding of his Lady, sent his work
to Paris for the opinion of the Prince of Love.
New Year Songs
The exchange of New Year gifts - called étrennes - was
an important part of diplomatic as well as amorous activity; in 1399,
for example, Philip the Bold sent the composer Briquet to England to
deliver gifts to Richard II for the New Year, and in the fifteenth
century the composer Ockeghem presented the French King with a chanson
'most riclily illuminated' on New Year's Day 1459.
The word étrenne (or a close variant) is found in only
five of the ten New Year songs by Dufay, but several more talk of
gifts. The gifts referred to are the lover's gifts to his Lady - his
heart (as in Estrines moy (2.15) and Belle, veullies moy
retenir 2.22), or more generously, his heart, himself and his
goods, as in Ce jour de l'an (1.1), Se madame je puis veir
(1.19) and Pouray je avoir (3.12). In Bonjour, bon mois
(2.14) the poet thanks the Lord for the present of a good year, while
in Je requier (1.11) there are hopes for a better year than the
last one. In general the spirit of rejoicing can be seen from Mille
bonjours (3.4) and Entre vous (1.2), where all are
encouraged to sing and dance. Le serviteur hault guerdonné
(5.16), a work of dubious authorship, also mentions the étrenne
- the lover thanks his lady for the gift of a single well-placed word.
The gift of the marigold in Je donne a tous (1.8) has already
been discussed in the Roman de la Rose section. Although there
are New Year songs by other composers around this time (Cordier,
Malbecque, Johannes Franchois de Gemblaco, Grenon, Arnold de Lantins
and so on), Dufay and/or his patrons seem to have been particularly
taken with them; one in six of his rondeau settings is of this category.
References to People and Events
The practice of commemorating people or events in song became
particularly popular in the late fourteenth century. Several methods
were current: the person's name might appear directly in the text and
even be emphasised in the musical setting by long chords; the name
might be hidden in the combination of the first letters of each line
(an acrostic), or the person and their deeds might be referred to only
in allegorical or mythological terms. This last practice is not found
in Dufay's songs, but the other methods are. The acrostic device occurs
in a very early work by Dufay, Je veuil chanter (1.9), which
reveals the name Jehan de Dinant. A minstrel of this name is mentioned
in the documents of the Burgundian court of John the Fearless in 1409.
In this song the lover says of his lady 'Ne sauroit on jusqu'à
Paymie trouver ne qui me pleusist mieux' (one could not find even as
far as Paymie anyone who could please me better). The word 'Paymie' in
Besseler's edition appears to be a misreading of 'Paine' or 'Pavie';
the reference is unclear, but David Fallows has pointed out that if the
word is 'Pavie' (Pavia) then this could be a Savoy song referring to a
place just outside the Savoy territories.
Another early work is Resvellies vous (1.3) which directly
mentions the marriage of Carlo Malatesta and Vittoria Colonna, which
took place on 18 July 1423. Similarities between this work and Dufay's Sine
nomine Mass (particularly the Gloria) suggest that the Mass
was written for the same occasion. In the song the reference to Carlo -
'Charle gentil' - is set to four long chords; it seems likely that the
series of chords in Bien doy servir 3.E also set a patron's name
originally, but this song survives only with a very fragmentary text.
Two other works probably date from this early period; they are He,
compaignons (2.18) and Ce moys de may (2.7). The first
piece contains a list of nine companions (Huchon, Ernoul, Hunblot,
Henry, Jehan, François, Hughes, Thierry, and Godefrin) who
Alejandro Planchart has identified as a group of musicians active at
the Malatesta court in Pesaro where Dufay was employed in the 1420s. Ce
moys mentions Dufay and 'Perinet', who, as noted earlier, is
probably the Burgundian composer Pierre Fontaine, although other
suggestions have been made.
In C'est bien raison (3.1) Dufay praises the Marchese d'Este,
Niccolò III of Ferrara. Usually this song is assigned to the
peace celebrations between Florence, Venice and Milan on 26 April 1433,
mediated by Niccolò. Another piece probably written in the 1430s
is Craindre vous veuil (3.5) in which we find the acrostic
'Cateline Dufai'; it is not known if this person is one of Dufay's
relatives (his sister?). The music for part of this song is almost
identical with the short Italian piece Quel fronte (2.13) . The
exact relationship between the two is not fully understood. Both have
unusual features: the Italian work is not clearly in any particular
form and the first half of the French song is set in an unusually
syllabic fashion, and has an extremely small overall range (an octave
and a fifth). There is also an acrostic in Mon cuer me fait
(1.10) which reveals the names Maria and Andreas. This is a beautiful,
full-textured song, but the exact recipients are not known. It is just
possible that Andreas is the Savoy singer Andreas Picardi; the entry of
the tenor voice is exposed in a rather unusual way, and Dufay knew this
man well enough to sign some legal documents for him in Savoy. In 1438
Dufay visited the Council of Basle which had already been rumbling on
for seven disputatious years. He apparently satirises this situation
and the Pope's 'second marriage' (the Council of Ferrara) in Juvenis
qui puellam (4.9).
In a letter written to Piero and Giovanni de' Medici in 1456, Dufay
states that he had written four Lamentations 'in the past year' on the
Fall of Constantinople. Only one of them survives - Omnes amici/O
tres piteulx (4.15). The latest of Dufay's songs to refer to a
specific person or event is Franc cuer gentil (5.13), which has
the acrostic 'Franchoise'. It has been suggested that this person is
Johannes Franchois de Gemblaco, a Burgundian musician. However, he died
early in the century, and someone at least as likely to be 'Franchoise'
is Johannes Franciosus, one of the best singers at Cambrai, whom Dufay
sent to join the chapel of San Giovanni in Florence in 1467. Finally we
must mention Seigneur Leon (3.(15), which has been attributed
to Dufay by the musicologist Dragan Plamenac. It seems most likely that
'Leon' is Leonello d'Este of Ferrara, and that the song was written in
1442.
Poets and Fragmentary Texts
Only a handful of the texts set by Dufay can be attributed to specific
poets, and remarkably little is known about the precise relationship
between poet and musician in the fifteenth century. Of the French works
composed by Dufay, the text of Les douleurs (5.17) is by
Anthoine de Cuise, that of Mon bien, m'amour (3.2) by Charles
'le cadet' d'Albret, and Malheureulx cueur (5.10) is by Le
Rousselet. As David Fallows has pointed out, these texts are found in
poetry manuscripts associated with the court of Charles
d'Orléans at Blois, and these poets were part of the
D'Orléans circle. One might add that there is a specific
occasion when Dufay seems to have met Charles: he says in the letter to
the Medici cited above (1456) that he was sending chansons 'which, at
the request of some gentlemen of the King's court, I composed recently
when I was in France with Monseigneur de Savoye'. This must refer to
the meeting between Louis of Savoy and Charles VII on 16 December 1455
at Saint-Pourçain. It seems that Charles d'Orléans was
also present and perhaps this is where Dufay came across the texts.
Charles himself is the poet of Mon seul plaisir (5.11), but the
music is almost certainly by the English composer Bedyngham.
No other poets can be identified for the French works, but it is clear
that Dufay cannot have written all the other texts himself .We know,
for example, that the texts for his Lamentations on the fall of
Constantinople were sent to him from Naples. Little is known of Dufay's
own poetic tastes since the only poetry books listed at his death were
the small book called Fortune and a book containing eclogues by
Martin le Franc (secretary to Louis of Savoy); the influence of Le
Franc's poetry seems strongest in Donnes l'assault (3.16) and Navré
je sui (1.5). One of Dufay's Italian songs, Vergene bella
(2.23), is a setting of a famous text by Petrarch. Two other songs, Passato
è il tempo (1.15) and Invidia nimica (1.13), have
almost identical openings to two Petrarch poems, but they continue
differently. One other Italian text which deserves mention is Amore
chai visto by Lorenzo de' Medici. In 1467 this text was sent to
Dufay by the Florentine organist Antonio Squarcialupi with a request
that he set the piece. We do not know if Dufay ever did so, as no music
survives. It seems rather unlikely that Dufay wrote any of the eight
Italian texts that he set; this seems particularly true in the case of Dona,
gentile (3.8) which, as Nino Pirrotta has pointed out, contains
several words which will only fit the rhyme scheme and metre if they
remain in a dialect form of Italian.
There is no irrefutable evidence that Dufay wrote any of his texts, but
a number of factors suggest his authorship for some of them. Firstly,
there are two works which mention his name, one as an acrostic (Craindre
vous vueil, 3.5) and another directly (Ce moys de may, 2.7).
Secondly there is the negative fact that so few of his song texts are
ascribed to poets in poetry collections. Thirteenth- and
fourteenth-century musicians like Adam de la Halle, Philippe de Vitry
and Guillaume de Machaut wrote both song texts and pure poetry. It is
difficult to trace this tradition in the fifteenth century, but perhaps
it is suggestive that some later collections of poetry still seem to
group texts loosely by composer. Le Jardin de plaisance (1502),
for example, gathers all seven of Machaut's included music texts within
four folios (ff66-69) and ten of Dufay's pieces come between folios 74
and 83. Only Je languis (4.2) is out on its own (f.97), and
this work is probably not by Dufay because the musical style seems
untypical and, in the music source, Dufay's name has been written over
the top of Dunstable's, which has been partially erased. Adieu ces
bons vins de Lannoys (2.19) and Juvenis qui puellam (4.9)
seem to relate so strongly to events in Dufay's life that it seems
highly likely that the texts are his.
A number of Dufay's songs survive with only a very few words of text,
which makes it impossible to perform them meaningfully in their full,
intended form: Bien doy servir (3.9), J'ay grant (2.5),
Qu'est devenue leaulte? (3.13) and Adieu, quitte (4.12)
are in this category. In five other cases the surviving opening words
of the music sources have been matched to full texts in poetry sources.
These are: S'il est plaisir (4.13), Vo regard (4.7), Ne
je ne dors (4.18), Belle, vueilles moy vangier (4.14) and Mon
bien, m'amour (3.2) by Charles 'le cadet' d'Albret. A few other
songs recorded here survive only in sources written by German scribes.
They have lost all hints of their original texts since they have been
provided with substitute verses (contrafacta) in Latin; Hic iocundus
(3.11) and O flos florum virginum (5.1) are cases in point. A
number of songs survive with less serious omissions such as missing
stanzas or words: 2.19, 3.3, 4.8, 5.12; or with only the refrain
intact: 1.7, 1.18, 2.1, 2.3, 2.11, 2.14, 3.4, 3.6, 3.15, 4.3, 4.10,
5.4, 5.9, but in these latter cases a vocal performance could seem
misleadingly curt. Again, only the refrain survives of Je ne puis
plus (2.16). However, there is an amusing and intentional omission
of a lewd word at the end of this piece; the tenor part asks in Latin
'whence cometh my help?...' while the top part sings 'I cannot do what
once I did, I am even past having a...'. The tenor part is repeated
three times in increasingly smaller note values which shrivel in length
before our eyes.
Anthony Pryer
NOTE ON THE PERFORMANCES
The overall arrangement of the songs follows Charles Hamm's Chronology:
Group 1 - 1414-29 (1.1 - 1.19)
Group 2 - 1423-29 (1.20)
Group 2a - 1415-29 (2.1 - 2.10)
Group 2b - 1423-33 (2.11 - 2.21)
Group 3 - 1426-31 (2.22)
Group 4 - 1426-33 (2.23 - 3.1)
Group 7 - 1433-35 (3.2 - 4.12)
Groups 8 and 8a - 1435-60 (4.13 - 5.3)
Group 8b - 1454-74 (5.4 - 5.5)
Group 9 - 1454-74 (5.6 - 5.17)
Only songs with complete texts were performed vocally, although an
exception was made in the case of the ballata L'alta bellezza tua
(1.6) and the virelai Helas mon deuil (5.12) where it was felt
that the textual lacunae did not preclude a reasonable vocal rendering.
Heinrich Besseler's edition of the songs was used throughout except for
Mon bien, m'amour (3.2) and En triumphant (5.6) (text,
music and translations from Guillaume Dufay, Two Songs ed.
David Fallows, OUP 1975) and the keyboard intabulations of J'ay
grant (2.5), Mille bonjours (3.4) and Portugaler
(2.21) (from Das Buxheimer Orgelbuch ed. B.A. Wallner,
Bärenreiter 1955). The style of ornamentation found in these three
pieces was used as a guide in the intabulation of the other keyboard
items.
The triplum and contratenor parts of Pour l'amour seem to be
mutually exclusive, so this rondeau was performed twice using each in
turn (2.17, 2.20) . In addition Se la face ay pale was
performed in three different versions: firstly in three parts as it
appears in Besseler's edition (3.7); secondly in three parts using the
interesting alternative contratenor from the MS Escorial Cod. IV. a.
24. (printed in Besseler's Critical Notes) (4.1) ; and thirdly in the
four-part arrangement (4. 17).
Peter Davies