medieval.org
Olive Music, Et'Cetera KTC 1900
2008
medieval.org
Olive Music, Et'Cetera KTC 1900
2008
SOLAGE
1. S'aincy estoit que ne feust la noblesce [12:34]
fol. 36 — ballade
2. Un crible plein d'eaue de vray confort ~ A Dieu vos comant, baudor [3:14]
fol. 13v — virelai
Philipoctus da CASERTA ?
3. Médée fu en amer veritable [10:08]
fol. 24v — ballade
Antonello da CASERTA ?
4. Je ne puis avoir plaisir [5:31]
fol. 24 — virelai
GALIOT ?
5. Se vos ne volés fayre outrage [2:34]
fol.40\2 — rondeau
Matteo da PERUGIA ?
6. De quanqu'on peut belle et bonne estrener [5:58]
fol. 28 — ballade
Franciscus ANDRIEU
7. De Narcissus, home tres ourgilleus [9:12]
fol. 19v — ballade — (Magister Franciscus)
Jacob de SENLECHES
8. Je me merveil aucune fois comment ~ J'ay pluseurs fois pour mon esbatement [13:58]
fol. 44v — ballade — (Jacob Senleches)
TETRAKTYS
Kees Boeke
Jill Feldman, chant
Carlos Mena, chant
Marta Graziolino, arpe
Silvia Tecardi, vielle
Kees Boeke, vielle, fluste
Vielles:
Robert Foster, UK 2003
Maurizio Marcelli, Rieti 1997
Fabio Galgani, Massa Marittima 1996
Flustes:
Luca de Paolis, l'Aquila, Italy
Diapason: 523 Hz
Temperament: Pythagorean
Recorded: 12-15 February 2007
at the Pieve di San Pietro a Presciano (Arezzo)
Production:
Jeannette Koekkoek | Kees Boeke
Recording engineer: Valter Neri
Pre-editing: Kees Boeke
Digital editing: Valter Neri
Liner notes: Laurens Lütteken
Design and lay-out: Artwize Amsterdam
cover illustration:
Prayer-book of Maria van Gelderen, (before 1415), vellum, 18,1 x 13,4 cm
Staatsbibliothek Preussischer, Kulturbesitz, Berlin
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry - The Adoration of the Magi
(detail folio 52r), Musée Condée, Chantilly
Ⓟ © Olive Music 2008
The compositions of the Chantilly Codex and the music
around 1400: at the limit of what is possible
Among
the great innovations in music of the 14th c. belongs the "musica
mensurabilis", "measurable music" which was invented "out of the blue"
at the end of the 13th c. and was definitively transformed during the
second decade of the 14th. The foundation of this "musica
mensurabilis", which was a reaction against the "unmeasured" Gregorian
chant, was a new graphical system, a new kind of musical notation which
essentially measured long and short values.
The crucial novelty
therefore was the possibility to assign not only a relatively exact
pitch (by its position on the five or six lines) to a single graphical
sign, i.e. a note, but also a precise duration (by its shape). Thus the
note could be read in two senses. In this way, polyphonic compositional
processes could be individually structured for the first time in
musical history and were no longer dependent on predetermined patterns.
The composers immediately jumped on this possibility, especially in the
realm of the motet, and with such fervour that they had already shortly
after 1300 more or less exhausted the limits of the system. For this
reason the system was once again fundamentally revised after 1310, in a
certain way it was rationalized and stabilized. The main problem here
consisted in the division of the central note value, the Brevis, which
could in the period shortly after 1300 be divided in up to 7 or even 9
equal parts. The subsequent rationalization provided, on the other
hand, only for a (perfect) division in 3 and an (imperfect) division in
2, and this starting from the Brevis down all the levels of hierarchy.
These newly created possibilities were immediately applied, not only to
the genre of the motet, but also to the new and upcoming secular song
(with Ballade, Rondeau and Virelay). The use of plainsong in this new
style of polyphonic motet was nevertheless so controversial that pope
John XXII intervened in this development in the mid 1320's and tried to
veto this form of polyphony.
However, the created system, which
was called "novus" by its inventors and thereby gave its name to the
whole epoch ("Ars Nova") was, albeit with regional differences, spread
all over medieval Europe and remarkably consistent, even though the
transmission through manuscripts in the entire 14th century, and
especially in its second half, is not particularly assertive. The
number of surviving manuscripts is in fact quite scanty, even if we
have proof of the existence at the time of a non-negligible quantity of
other mss. from library catalogues for example. Nevertheless:, the
source situation is precarious, which makes any more generalized
assertion difficult. At least, however, we can recognize a certain
tendency: towards 1400, in fact, composers once again demonstrated a
propensity to exhaust the possibilities of the notational system,
within the limits irreversibly imposed on it. Its focus consisted in a
new fascination for the most complex rhythmical articulation in
polyphonic musical composition. As opposed to 1300, this was not as it
were an
unorganized and unregulated creative explosion, but
precisely the contrary: in the motets as well as in the secular works,
we see the controlled refinement of an already intensively tested
potential related to a precise stylistic imagination that was
intimately linked to the texts set to music. What was, time and again,
described by contemporaries as the "subtilitas" of these compositions,
led to the christening of this period with the not quite unproblematic
term "Ars subtilior".
Again, few manuscripts document this
phase. The most significant among them is the codex which today lies in
the Muséé Condé in Chantilly. It arrived there only in 1861, however,
as part of the famous art collections of the Duke Henri d'Orléans, Duc
d'Aumale (1822-1897). The Duke inherited the Renaissance castle
Chantilly from the Condé family in 1830, in which he accommodated his
collections and which he ultimately donated to the "Institut de
France". To his most precious acquisitions belong the famous Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, originated in the 15th century.
The
Duke had a sumptuous new binding made for the music manuscript in 1880
and it is possible that through that important characteristics went
lost. He bought it in Florence, where, according to a remark on one of
the first pages, it had been since 1461. Apart from the apparently
Tuscan copyist, also the 6-line system, typical for Italian trecento
repertoire, which is used throughout the manuscript points at an origin
in Italy, even maybe in Florence.The contents - 13 Latin motets in
addition to 97 almost exclusively French songs - do not contradict
these origins: French music was still widely spread in northern Italy,
even as far as Rome or Naples.
The precious parchment manuscript
supposedly was written around 1400 with the exception of the two pieces
that became famous for their "graphical" notation (in the form of a
heart and a circle, respectively) which were completed a little later.
Whether the codex was somehow connected to an Italian court (such as
Milan or Pavia) or not, must remain open, though it is not unlikely.The
assembled repertoire excels specifically in the way that notational
complexities are pushed to the extreme, a fact that for many decades
left schollars in a state of perplexity. They could not agree on the
sense of this impossible technique or even considered it only a mental
exercise. Now, after some decades of experience in the performance
practice of music of the 14th and early 15th century, the opinions have
seriously changed. Not only have the greatest notational and rhythmical
difficulties become playable and singable, but even more importantly it
has become slowly clear that the "subtlety" in this music consists in
its refined relationship to the text/lyrics/poetry. In other words, we
are dealing with text-expression, albeit in a different form than we
know it from the "Klavierlied" in the 19th century.
One of the
great events of the 14th century was the fact that it was now possible
to compose secular song polyphonically. A new, fresh musical genre saw
the light. It drew its formal criteria from the fixed structures of
lyrical poetry, known as "formes fixes".Among these, the emphasis was
laid on the Ballade, whereas the Rondeau and Virelay played at that
point in time a relatively minor role. All these forms are Refrain
forms, but in the Ballade this is most clear and manifest: in principle
there are two identical musical verses (characterized by an "ouvert"
and "clos" ending) and a concluding part of which the ending in its
turn is mostly identical with the "clos" (A1A2BC). Usually there are
three rhymed strophes, sometimes more, sometimes less. Thematically the
Ballade can sweep over many subjects and is - unlike the Rondeau and
Virelay - not exclusively concerned with love poetry. The works on this
recording belong to the most beautifuland complex Ballades of the
repertoire. Some of these feature themes from antiquity: in Andrieu's De Narcissus
the story of Narcissus, in love with his own mirrored image, is told
allegorically in an unusual musical setting, and characterized by
sweeping vocal melismas. The many stylistic similarities with another
Chantilly composition by F. Andrieu, "Armes, amours", a lament
on the death of Machaut, lead us to believe that Magister Franciscus is
identical with the composer Franciscus Andrieu.
In Médée fu
on the other hand, the couple of lovers is compared to famous
mythological couples like Jason and Medea, Helena and Paris. Poems
which quote ancient heroes and lovers to compare them with contemporary
people were extremely fashionable at the time. In this Ballade the
comparison is used against the lady: She is less faithful even than
Medea, Helen and Bryseida, none of whom is particularly famous for her
virtue.The affective confusion is expressed through a tense,
ultra-sensitive setting, in which no notational complication is left
out. Time and again we find peculiar harmonic turns that highlight
certain text lines, if not single words. After all we observe clear
traces of Italian music here. The closing line (refrain) of the poem
"Ma dame n'a pas ainsy fait a-my" can be read two ways: "This
way my lady did not make a friend" and "This is not how my lady behaved
towards me", a typical pun on the word amy. Chantilly contains
six compositions by Philipot/Philipoctus, and stylistic similarities as
well as the serious quality of the writing might suggest him as the
author of this magnicent Ballade.
The Italian influence is also visible in De quan qu'on peut,
a work that in its eccentricity could easily have been written by
Matteo da Perugia, or at least have been influenced by his style. The
flavour of the musical refrain at the end of the A and B sections and
the persistent polyrhythmical setup of this piece very strongly remind
us of this extraordinary subtilior composer. There is no other
ascribed composition by him in the Chantilly Ms., although several
Chantilly pieces were copied in the Modena Ms., the main source for
Matteo's works. The incipit of the text - De quan qu'on peut - Of all one could give
- becomes as it were its own compositional program, by the fact that
indeed it unfolds a kind of rhythmical compendium, with only a certain
calming down at the beginning of the second part. Both upper voices,
although clearly differing in tessitura, are melodically so similar
that they create the type of setting that a little later was favoured
by Johannens Ciconia, although completely without rhythmical
complications. One can hear this particularly well in the instrumental
version of the piece recorded here. Through these intensifications the
polyphonic song ultimately strove to equal the ambitions of the motet.
That the latter in the background was still considered the "touchstone
of perfection" is shown in several works. An outstanding example is the
Ballade Je me merveil by Senleches in which, just like in a
motet, two text are simultaniously sung in the upper voices. It is
striking, however, that the composer ignores the usual hierarchy
between motetus and triplum and treats all three voices equally, or
both higher ones as a kind of duo, the lower one as "harmony carrier"
(though not rhythmically separated). The Ballade fulminates against
musical dilettantism, a favourite subject among 14th century composers,
Italian or French. To illustrate the subject, the notation and
"subtilitas" of this composition are stretched to the limit,
culminating in the canonic refrain which is however not notated as a
canon. Senleches writes down the same identical music with two
completely different notational systems.
Similarly, also the
only Virelay on this recording, Un crible plein d'eaue - A Dieu vos
comant, owes much to the motet. This very clever composition uses
apparently a simple folk song as a kind of isorhythmic tenor, with a
slightly histerical cantus, that fulminates against the traps of
marriage. The particularly angular contratenor in syncopated binary
rhythms exemplifies the terrible conflicts of which the text speaks.
The little Rondeau-like Se vos ne voles
lacks its full text, although the musical composition is apparently
complete. It appears on the same page that contains another full-sized
Rondeau by Galiot, hence the ascription.
Solage's Ballade S'aincy estoit
on the other hand shows itself a grandiose eulogy to Jean, Duc de
Berry, a possible commissioner of the Chantilly Ms. It was probably
composed in 1389. 15 years later the same Duke commissioned another
famous manuscript, the Très riches heures... Solage employs
extreme harmonical and rhythmical means to underline his subject
matter, which at times create serious difficulties in judging his
ultimate intentions. The proposed text underlay produces highly
illustrative instrumental interludes and comments.
Biographies
The
transmission of composers' names is still an exception in the 14th
century (and even during the following century). As a rule pieces are
written down anonymously in the mss. However, also from this point of
view, the Chantilly Codex occupies a special place: of the 110
preserved compositions, 32 are anonymous, which equals about 30%.The
remaining can be ascribed to 33 different authors, although not all of
them are mentioned in the codex. They are identifiable through parallel
sources, so called concordances. Anyway, the number of compositions
with a certified author is considerable and proves the status assigned
to these works of art. On this recording we find, apart from one
anonymous work, songs by the following composers:
F[ranciscus] Andrieu
is mentioned (with abbreviated name) as the composer of a
double-texted, four-part Ballade, written in 1377 on the occasion of
the death of Guillaume de Machault. The poem was written by his
student, Eustache Deschamps, famous French poet of the second half of
the 14th century. There are two further works (three-part Ballades) in
the Chantilly Codex, however not headed with F. Andrieu but with
"Magister Franciscus". Scholars, however, assume that this is the same
person. So far, any further biographical details are unknown.
Galiot
i s anothern ame that we only meet in the Chantilly Codex, as the
author of four works. Unfortunately the copyist seems to have made an
ascription error in two of them, so that in the end only two are really
irreproachable. Also his identity is a mystery, because it is not even
certain that this is a real name (Gian Galeazzo Visconti has been
proposed as a candidate). One of the works ascribed to him (without
however mentioning his name) is considered very influential for the
musical culture in Paris before 1400 in a Hebrew treatise of the early
15th century.
Matteo da Perugia belongs to the most eccentric composers of the period round 1400, at any rate as far as his oeuvre
is concerned. On the other hand, we hardly know anything about his
life. His name suggests his origins from Perugia, from where he
apparently went to Milan for whatever reasons. There is proof that in
1402 he was Maestro di Capella at the Cathedral there, at that point a
major construction site. Matteo was a cleric, maybe even a Franciscan.
He arrived in Milan with the Franciscan Filargo di Candia, who had been
elected Archbishop in 1402. It seems that Filargo, in the meantime
promoted to Cardinal, took his Maestro di Capella with him to the
council of Pisa in 1408 where there was an attempt at mediation between
French and Roman interests. This culminated in Filargo being chosen
Antipope Alexander V in 1409. Matteo may have served as a Maestro di
Capella to the pope after that. Unexpectedly, however, his patron died
the next year and was succeeded by John XXIII. It seems that Matteo
left Pisa at that point and we lose track of him until 1414, when we
find him back at the cathedral in Milan. Once again he is traceable
there in 1418 after which he disappears from the archives indefinitely.
There is no proof that Matteo was still alive in 1426, as has recently
been suggested. His compositions are exceptionally artful and
experimental. Four Ballades can certainly be ascribed to him.
Also Philipoctus
can not be traced in the archives as a person. His authenticated
compositions suggest links to the papal court in Avignon as well as the
court of the Visconti in Milan or Pavia. Nothing is known about the
functions he could have exercised there. The existence of a Credo by
his hand however suggests that he worked in a court chapel or
cathedral, which means that he must have been a cleric. We find his
name four times in Chantilly (as "Phot" and "de Caserta") pointing to
his southern Italian origins. Two more works can be certainly
attributed to him by means of existing concordances. Until now Médée fu has not been discussed as a possible composition by Philipoctus, but similarities to his other works, especially Par les bons Gedeon e Samson, make this attribution plausible.
It is possible that Jacob de Senleches
was born in the small village Senleches in the diocese of Cambrai. In
1383 we find a certain "Jacquemin de Sanleches" at the court of
Navarra, but in the service of Pedro de Luna, the later Pope Benedict
XIII. Since he is emphatically mentioned as a "juglar de harpa", the
identification with the composer is not without problem: we can assume
that a learned composer, who was capable of reading and writing, led
the existence of a cleric. A harpist, on the other hand, belonged
unequivocally to the class of instrumentalists, or minstrels. There is
some indication that Senleches was active in Lombardy and around the
circles of the Visconti court. He would thus be a further Chantilly
composer with connections to Milan. Only four works are known by him
beside Je me merveil and the Virelay La harpe de melodie, which was much admired by his contemporaries.
Whether Solage is indeed a
name or only a kind of epithet or anagram must remain conjectural. This
is no exception in Chantilly (e.g. Trebor=Robert) and "Solage" could be
a similar word game (a combination of "sol"and "age"?). Nevertheless
there are twelve identifiable compositions under this name that can not
be connected to any known person. The text of some of his compositions
could indicate that he was active in France, but even that has to
remain speculation.
Laurenz Lütteken
translation Kees Boeke, Robert Claire
