Chansons der Troubadours / Studio der frühen Musik
Lieder und Spielmusik aus dem 12. Jahrhundert




medieval.org
Telefunken "Das Alte Werk" SAWT 9567-A [LP-Stereo]
1970






Peire VIDAL (um 1160—um 1205?)
1. Baron, de mon dan covit  [9:52]
Countertenor, Lira

Giraut de BORNELH (um 1138—um 1215)
2. Leu chansonet' e vil  [4:22]
Tenor, Chitarra saracenica

3. Saltarello  [3:12]  Instrumentalstück, anonymus
Teil I: Schnabelflöte, Lira, Glocken, Timbrel (Schellen), Trommel
Teil II: Flöte (Querflöte), Schalmei, Vielle (Fidel), Rebec, Timbrel (Schellen), Trommel, Laute


Bernart de VENTADORN (um 1125—um 1295)
4. Can vei la lauzeta mover  [6:32]
Tenor (solo)

5. Veris ad imperia  [1:04]  anonymus
Mezzosopran, Countertenor, Tenor


6. A l'entrada del temps clar  [2:14]  anonymus
Mezzosopran, Countertenor, Tenor
Flöte, Schalmei, Vielle (Fidel), Lira, Nakir (Kl. Trommel), Laute


Raimbaut de VAQUEIRAS (um1155-1207?)
7. Kalenda maia  [7:14]
Countertenor, 2 Fideln

Comtessa de DIA (um 1160)
8. A chantar m'er de so qu'eu no volria  [11:52]
Mezzosopran, Lira, Laute, Timbrel (Schellen)




STUDIO DER FRÜHEN MUSIK
Thomas Binkley

Andrea von Ramm, Mezzosopran
Richard Levitt, Countertenor
Sterling Jones, Lira, Vielle (Fidel), Rebec
Thomas Binkley, Laute, Chitarra saracenica

mit

Nigel Rogers, Tenor
Johannes Fink, Vielle (Fidel)
Max Hecker, Flöte
Robert Eliscu, Schalmei
David Fallows, Schlagzeug (Nakir)




Übertragungen, Bearbeitungen und Gesamleitung: THOMAS BINKLEY

Wissenschaftliche Ausarbeitung und Überwachung der Texte: Dr. André de Mandach

Aufnahme: Klosterkirche St. Ottilien, Müschenfeld bei München, 7.1970


Titelseite: Wandgemälde im Palazzo Publico in Siena von Ambrogio Lorenzetti (14. Jahrh.)
Teilstück: „Tanz der jungen Mädchen" (Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte)



Instrumente:
Lira: Jugoslavien
Chitarra saracenica: Ankara (3)
Flöte: Günter Körber, Berlin 1970
Schalmei: Günter Körber, Berlin 1969
Fideln: Eugen Springer, Frankurt 1956 – Schweiz 1935 (2)
Rebec: Eugen Springer, Frankurt 1959 (1)
Laute: Marokko (4)
Glocken: Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London 1964
Nakir, Schellen und Trommel: Marokko (5)







The few Troubadour song manuscripts that contain music give only a melodic scheme for the poem with little indication as to its rhythm. What interests us however is the full sound picture of Troubadour music, and this must be reconstructed with the help of three kinds of evidence. First, the notation: we must not be confused into thinking that this represents the entire music. Second, our knowledge of Arab performance practice today; the importance of Islam influence on European culture in the 10th to 13th centuries applies to music no less than to poetry. Third, our knowledge of mediaeval French and Italian performance styles as derived from the Greco-Roman traditions, particularly that of the church.

The accompaniments of the songs were not written, but devised by the performers in keeping with the character and subject matter of the poem. The Arab Nuba has been taken as a model for the creation of the accompaniments since it is a form which seems to have changed little since the time when Arabian culture exerted such a positive influence on Western Europe. The Introduction (Mayalia) in the Nuba begins with a free section (Burguia) which presents the material of the song, its mode and the salient characteristics of its melody; this is followed by a Tuxia in which the rhythm is established. The interludes between the stanzas (Atuachi) are either formed from the same material as the song or independently conceived. In the song "A chantar" the interludes used are pieces that occur elsewhere in the Troubadour manuscripts. These earliest preserved examples of pure instrumental music are scarce, but they do have precise stylistic characteristics; thus the "Saltarello" (No. 3), which comes from a manuscript somewhat later than the Troubadour period, has been included on the record because it belongs to the same tradition.

The accompaniment to "Kalenda maia" is played on two vielles, as described in the Razo which tells of the song's composition (see enclosed text sheet). The contemporary German writer Wirnt von Gravenbere tells of vielle players improvising together on a similar occasion as follows: "neither let any note that the other played go unnoticed in his own playing". It is reasonable to assume that something similar occured in the performance of "Kalenda maia".

Our knowledge of the instruments used by the Troubadours comes from two main sources: references to instruments in the poems and pictures of them in manuscript illuminations. The instruments are mostly of Arab derivation: the Lute (Ud), the Vielle (Kimancha), the Lira (Rebab), the Nakers (Nakir) and others.

More information on this and other matters relevant to realising the foull sound picture of Mediaeval lyrics in the Troubadour region and other parts of Europe can be found on the following records: Minnesang und  Spruchdichtung, SAWT 9487-A, Carmina Burana, SAWT 9455-A, Carmina Burana - Zweite Folge, SAWT 9522-A,  and Weltliche Musik um 1300, SAWT 9504-A.

Thomas Binkley


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Troubadours & Trouvères


Troubadours · Trouvères · Minstrels