medieval.org
ensemblesyntagma.net
Pierre Vérany PV 704041
2004
medieval.org
ensemblesyntagma.net
Pierre Vérany PV 704041
2004
1. Chanson, version instrumentale [3:36]
Jaque de CYSOING |
O M B A S D
2. «Bien se peüst ... » [6:17] Jeannot de l'ESCUREL |
soprano, contre-ténor, O M B A S D
3. Motet [1:33] anonyme |
P B A
4. Motet [1:51] anonyme |
P B A O
Anonymes de Metz
5. «Dieu d'Amour, ... » [3:46]
soprano, contre-ténor, O M B A D
6. «Dous Jhesus, ... » [3:17]
soprano, contre-ténor, O M B S D
7. «Amereis mi vous ... » [2:24]
soprano, M D
8. «Biaux Diex ... » [4:04]
soprano, contre-ténor, B O M S D
9. Chanson, deux luths [2:11]
M D
Gautier d'ÉPINAL
10. «Touz esforciez ... » [6:34]
contre-ténor, O D
11. «Se par forse de merci ... » [3:03]
soprano, O B A M D
12. Danza [3:29] Guillaume d'AMIENS |
O D S
13. «Quand je voy yver ... » [3:15] Colin MUSET |
soprano, O M B A S D
14. Chanson, version instrumentale [3:22]
Jaque de CYSOING |
O M B A S D
15. «Dex, comme m'ont mort ... » [3:40] Colin MUSET |
soprano, O
16. Estampie [2:31]
Jaque de CYSOING |
O M B A D
17. Renverdie [4:50] anonyme, Colin MUSET? |
contre-ténor, O B M D
18. «En may ... » [4:04] Colin MUSET |
soprano, contre-ténor, O M B A S D
Syntagma
Alexandre Danilevski
Agnieszka Kowalczyk-Lombardi, soprano
Akiro Tachikawa, contre-ténor
O Thais Ohara, vièle, rebec
M Agileu Motta, luth, guittern
B Bernhard Stilz, flûtes à bec
A Anna Danilevski, flûtes à bec, vièle, trompette marine
P Jean-Pierre Pinet, traverso médiéval
S Benoît Stasiaczyk, percussions
D Alexandre Danilevski, luth, colichon, vièle, cistre
Vièles : Rudolf Hopfner, 1992, Autriche ; Alexandre Danilevski, 1989, Russie
Rebec : Jorge & Jofer, 1985, Brésil
Luths : Daniel Larson, 1992, USA ; Alexandre Danilevski, 1989, Russie
Colichon : Anonyme. Italie, XVIIIe s.
Gittern : Jorge & Jofer, 2001, Brésil
Flûtes à bec : Bob Marvin, 1992, USA
Traverso : Marc Hopfner, Allemagne
Ce projet a bénéficié du soutien de Messieurs le
Général Roland Mentré, président des Amis
de l'Orgue de Nomeny, René Kirsch, SCI Metz - Nord, Bernard
Ruffenach, Directeur Artistique de l'ADDAM -57 que nous remercions
Avec le soutien financier du Conseil Régional de Lorraine
Couverture : «Trouvère» par Alexandre lvanov © d.r.
Enregistrement réalisé en l'église de Nomeny (Lorraine),
en avril et en octobre 2003
Direction artistique, prise de son et montage : Thierry Bardon.
Studio CÉDÉRIS.
Ⓟ © 2004 ARION S.A.
The thirteenth century, when
medieval culture reaches its culmination, was also the most
interesting, yet little known, period for musical creation in Lorraine.
Some magnificent works were produced at that time - works that were not
only of local importance, but whose fame spread much further afield.
The art of the trouvères did not reach Lorraine until the end of the
twelfth centrury, by which time it had attained a remarkable degree of
maturity.
In contact with Gregorian chant (of Byzantine
origin) and local folklore (close to that of Central Europe) the music
of the trouvères finally cast off the Arabic influence that was typical
of the style of the troubadours of southern France and developed its
own personality.
Colin Muset was one of the few
trouvères whose poetry remained in circulation over the centuries. Like
Thibaut IV, King of Navarre, and Gace Brûlé, he was well known even in
the eighteen century, when everything to do with the Middle Ages was
regarded as 'Gothic'. And at the time of Henri IV, the scholar Claude
Fauchet had paid tribute to him, also mentioning the fact that he
played the medieval fiddle.
Colin Muset, who was active in
and around Lorraine and Champagne in the first half of the thirteenth
century, had as his patrons Hugues of Vaudémont, and the Seigneurs of
Châteauvillaine, Choiseul, Sailly, Clafmont adn Vignory, and he also
appeared at the court of the Duke of Lorraine. He probably came from a
modets background, and his nickname, Muset (we also find his name spelt
Colins Musés or Colin Muzes) derives from the verb muser, which had
various meanings at that time: to muse, to write in verse, to amuse
oneself, to idle or waste one's time. HJe must have begun to compose
arround 1230.
Colin Muset was one of the first poets to
write 'autobiographical' poems. The twenty-one extant songs tell as
much about his tastes and attitudes, his contempt for convention and
his apsirations.
One of the first modern scholars to study
Muset was Gaston Paris (1839-1903), whose analysis has beeen accepted
without question by his successors. Thus the poet has been described in
various sources as 'basely sybaritic, extraVagant, philandering,
gluttonous, carpricious, and resentful when he is not served a good
plump capon', and above all as 'a shameless parasite, an unscrupulous
beggar', showing the 'lack of consideration that is typical of his
profession' - as if expecting payment for his art were an insult to
public decency! This picture has obviously been built up from just a
few lines found in three or four of the poems. 'Grasses gelines et chapons / Et bons fromages en glaon', for example: Plump chickens and capons, / and baskets of good cheeses.
Colin was clearly condemned to live on 'bread of sorrow and water of distress' ('pain de dolor et eaue d'angoisse').
And, much to his credit, he speaks of this with irony and detachment.
Like thousands before and after him, he made a precarious living by his
art.
Antagonism between Art and Mammon hast always existed,
and Art had interests at stake in the Middle Ages, as at any other
time. The themes of economic hardship and the struggle for survival
crop up constantly in twelfth and thirteen-century texts. Around 1100,
St Omer wrote: 'Why do I take such great pains to acquire knowledge and
virtue? Does not fortune favour only the wicked? I have had enough of
writing poetry'. And in the middle of the twelfth century, Gautier de
Châtillon declared: 'Let our rule be that of Horace: to earn money!'
While Colin says simply: 'My lord Count, I have played the fiddle for
you in your home, and you have given me nothing, nor have you paid off
my pledges'.
Colin Muset necessarily tried his hand at songs expressing fin'amour,
in which he shows the greatest respect for the rules: politeness,
generosity, discretion and the transcending of the self... But he
attains greater conviction and expression in the more rustic, erotic
genre. Such pieces followed a course parallel to that of the art of
courtly love songs, but the latter were more recent and of literaty
origin. In the thirteen century, sensualism gained in importance, while
the nobler genre showed signs of running out of steam for want of new
ideas.
Colin was worldly rather than spiritual, whence his
preference for the style inherited from more primitive times. The two
extreme dispositions of prudery and brazenness existed side by side in
the complex world of the Middle Ages, sometimes in opposition,
sometimes in combination. So much so that it is impossible to decide
whete the self-abnegation we find in the 'second' motet from the Metz
Manuscript is of a religious or an amorous nature.
Colin's taste for realism is particularly clear in his sirventois - or sirventès.
Sirventois are almost always works of a political nature, in which the
author takes up the cudgels for (or against) some specific person,
event or cause. Such pieces are particularly interesting in that they
provide insight into the thirteen-century French attitudes.
Generally speaking the poets of Lorraine, being far from the important
cultural centres and therefore from regular, educated audiences, had a
propensity for pessimisn and melancholy which shows in their outlook.
The world seen through their eyes is one of almost complete misery!
In medieval thought, the idea of making an effort to improve the
established order of things was inconceivable. One could try to make
the best of one's lot, but it was more important to set one's hopes on
the next world. As for deriving what limited advantage one could from
this life, Colin shows pessimism: 'Most willingly would I sing... and I
would lead a good life if this life, which causes me much suffering
were of any great worth'.
His criticism of the world was not limited to his own financial difficulties, however. In Hidousement vait lo mons empirant
he condemns the avarice and miserliness of the feudal lords and teh
intolerable ascendancy of their small-minded wives, the disappearence
of 'rich men of quality', and the importance of show and pretence.
Specialists have tended to ignore this text, which reveals the complex
realities of his time. Indeed, as historians tell us, with economic
expansion and the durable enrichment of the bourgeoisie, money took on
a new inmportance in the thirteenth centrury and became, so to speak a
'fifth element', to the detriment of the values of chivalry and
courtesy. The nobility began to be fond of money for its own sake,
rather than as a means to an end (the acquisition of pleasure and
magnificence). They were proud to accumulate money and unwilling to
part with it. Consequently, artists became more and more concerned
about and dissatisfied with their condition.
Li nouviaus tens, one of the few surviving works by Jacques de Cysoing, is about rich men who choose the recipients of their generosity unwisely: giving wisely shows a man's worh - 'bien doners toute valor esclaire'.
Gautier d'Epinal
was a fine poet, profound and enigmatic, and also an outstanding
musician. His melodic inventiveness was exceptional even for the
thirteen century, which was undoubtedly the most melodically rich
period in the history of French music. Gautier experienced the mal du
siècle quite differently from Colin Muset and Jacques de Cysoing. He
gave a new colouring to the traditional resources of amour courtois by
breaking with the conventional schematism (Se par forse de merci).
Little is known about Gautier, so much so that it was long believed
that he lived in the twelfth century. 1230 t0 1270 are the dates that
are now put forward with some assurance. He is generally assumed to
have been a member of the family of the seigneurs of Épinal, a powerful
family of great local importance, related to the Counts of Savoy. From
the eleventh century until the end of the fourteenth, the family was
responsible for supervising the administration of the region on behalf
of the Bishop of Metz.
The trouvère Gautier d'Épinal was
seigneur of Ruppes (near Domrémy), pertaining to the houses of
Vaudémont and Bar. He was the first and only truly great artist
produced by the 'perillose contrée' that lies between the Meuse and the
Vosges. The words of his poems lead us to suppose that he led an
itinerant career, fulfilling his responsabilities as a lord and knight
but also seeking an environment that was more conducive to creativity:
En perillose contree
Me sot fine amors laissier
Champeigne bienüree,
Qui ne m'eüstes premier
Plus legier
En fussent mes desirier
Entre la gene apensee
(In
perilous country / Foolish true love has left me. / If only, blessed
Champagne / You had had me first! / More bearable / Would be my desires
/ Among people who are inspired.)
His patrons were Hugues
III, Count de Vaudémont, the Counts of Bar and Grampré, but also the
Count of Champagne, and he was a visitor to the homes of the seigneurs
of Joinville, Brienne, Sailly and Houssinville.
Of the
twenty-three songs attributable to Gautier, fifteeen are definitley his
work, while the other eight are more doubtful. They were first
published by Lindelöf and Wallensköld in 1901.
Metz is one
of Europe's oldest cities and Gregorian chant flourishes from the
eighth to the tenth century. From1150 the hitherto very busy
Toul-Metz-Liège trade route slowly went into decline, as did the city's
fortunes as a centre of musical and intellectual life. The
thirteenth-century Metz Manuscript was preseved in the municipal libray
until 1944, when the city was liberated and it was destroyed by fire.
Fortunately, the Geman musiclogist F. Gennrich had studied the
manuscript at the beginning of the century and some of the pieces were
publised in 1921. The four anonymous chansons presented on this
recordings were originally included in the Metz Manuscript.
The works of
the trouvères chosen for this recording were taken from: the
Cangé Manuscript, edited by J. B. Beck in Les Chansonniers des troubadours et des trouvères,
vol. I, Paris-Philadephia, 1927; the Vatican Manuscript, parts of which
are reproduceds in various editions, incluiding that of H. van der
Werf, Trouvères-Melodien, I and II, Barenreiter Kassel, Basel-Tours-London, 1979 (Monumenta Monodica Medii Aevi, vols XI and X). Finally, the pieces from the Metz Manuscript appear in F. Gennrich, Rondeaux,
Viraleis und Balladen aus dem Ende des XXII., dem XIII. und des ersten
Drittel des XIV. Jahrhunderts, mit den überliefenten Melodien, vol. I, Dresden, 1921 (Gesellschaft für Romanische Literatur, vol. 43).
Emilia Danilevski
Translation: Mary Pardoe