gothic voices - the marriage of heaven and hell.pdf

8/12/2019 Gothic Voices - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.pdf

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MOTETS AND SONGS FROM THIRTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE

THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELLGOTHIC VOICES CHRISTOPHER PAGE


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OUR COVER shows a young cleric, perhaps a student at theuniversity of Paris, offering money to a girl who, to judgeby the drum in her hand, is off to take part in a ring-dance,or carole. To the left stands a libidinous demon, while to theirright a friar holds an open book of the Old Testament and raises

his hand in warning. This Parisian picture is a fine emblem ofthe music on this record: the motet of the thirteenth century.Like the student and the girl, the motet of the years between1200 and 1300 was caught between the lure of the secular andthe summons of the sacredbetween Heaven and Hell.Although it developed from the liturgical music of Paris, themotet form has come down to us with texts of every kind: somedevout, some lascivious, some facetious, some wistfully roman-tic. The music, we may be sure, often has something in commonwith the songs of the ring-dances, the caroles.

It is often music of marvellous daring. To sense what wasrevolutionary in these pieces between 1210 and 1240 or so,listen to a conductus like Festa januaria bs or any of thepolyphonic conducti featured on the Gothic Voices recording

Music for the Lion-Hearted King (Helios CDH55292). Those

pieces are generally shaped in this way:VOICE 1

VOICE 2

VOICE 3

Schematic representation of a section of a three-part conductus

This diagram emphasizes that each voice in a polyphonicconductus sings musical phrases of the same length, the

phrases entering and leaving together and constantly tendingtowards units of four beats. This happens because a polyphonicconductus is essentially a strictly measured recitation of oneLatin text by two, three or four voices, often a text cast in

t l li f f t

As this diagram shows, the Tenor part of a motet (so called fromLatin tenere, meaning to hold, because the Tenor part held thepiece together) was often arranged in short, stereotyped rhyth-mic units that were constantly repeated. This Tenor was usuallya section of plainchant, whence the Latin cues in the titles of the

motets recorded here. These cues, generally present (but notalways correctly identified) in the sources, indicate the word orsyllable which originally bore the Tenor melody in the chant.

Now all of this may seem a sad decline from the humaneideals of the conductus; there the Tenor was usually anexpansive and melodious part, freshly made by a composerstriving to produce (in the words of one thirteenth-centurymusician) as beautiful a melody as he can make. This onlyshows how paradoxical changes in artistic style can be, for thetechnique of iterating rhythmic units in a small section of plain-chant excited the imagination of composers in a powerful way,and hundreds of motets have survived which use this tech-nique. Above all, perhaps, this Tenor organization helps to givethe motet its characteristic sense of being suspended in time;we hear that the piece is advancing, and yet the Tenor, exer-

cising many subtle controls over the register and content of theupper parts, keeps circling in one place, refusing to develop.There is another revolutionary concept embodied in the

above diagram of motet structure: an overlap of musicalphrases. This represents a reaction against the style and soundof the conductus, for motet style exploits the delicious sense of

forward movementand of liltwhen a voice brings a phraseto an end just as a phrase in another voice is beginning.

A further difference between the conductus and the motet isthat in a conductus the voices sing the same words, but in amotet each texted voice has words of its own. Sometimes,indeed, the parts of a motet carry texts which treat different

bj t i diff t l (t k 6 f l ) Thi


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partials in the note). In the motet, however, a chord may containtwo, three or four distinct vowels, and since the texts aredifferent there are no simultaneous changes of vowel timbre.Indeed, synchronization of vowel colour is so rare in the motetthat it becomes a special artistic device, as at the end of trackbo , where a motet is brought to a decisive close as both theTriplum and the Motetus sing the word amorete, or as inseveral other items where syllables of the same of similar soundare cunningly placed at the same point in all the voices.

A principal result of this contrast is that the conductus lendsitself very well to a forthright declamation; the unanimity ofvowel timbre produces a bright set of primary shades. Themotet, however, often possesses a more veiled sound in perfor-mance since the primary colours of the vowels are mixedtogether, and the more one mixes colours the more opaque theshade becomes.

THE MILIEU OF THE MOTETThis kind of music should not be performed before the general

populace for they do not understand its subtlety, nor do they delight inhearing it, but [let it only be performed] before the learned and beforethose who are seeking for subtleties in the arts.So says Johannes de Grocheio in his De musica of c1300.

Johannes adored Paris; leaving his Norman home, where thegreat town fairs were the principal distractions in a province ofvast fields and seigneurial castles, he found in Paris a great citywhere the bread of the world was baked. This saying, a com-mon one in the 1200s, conveyed more than an assurance that

all was well in the wharves and markets by the Seine; itembodied a proud claim that Paris supplied all Europe with themost rigorous theology and the most prudent legal advice.Between 1200 and 1300 the Parisians also provided Europe

ith th t i ti l h i i A f t ll

chapter gathered in some house in the close. As Johannes deGrocheio says, motets were for the learned; in other words theywere not for the people who thronged the churches of St Gervaseand St Leufroy on the great feastsnot for the tanners,carpenters and apothecaries.

This is all very well, but there is something suspicious aboutthe ideaa common one todaythat motets were only forintellectuals and connoisseurs. For one thing, it is an idea with atinge of anachronism; we run the risk of confusing the medievalmusician with the twentieth-century stereotype of the composeras intellectual, experimenting with dissonance to produce in-tense miniatures for the discerning few. Let us remember thatthe texts of motets are often in the vernacular and would havebeen intelligible to any tanner or apothecary; what is more, thelively texts and melodies of many voice-parts in motets probablyhad something in common with the idiom of the dance songs,the caroles, which the students, tradesmen and girls of Pariscelebrated on the fields of St Germain (it is a near certainty thatsnatches of dance songs, both text and music, are quoted insome motets). In short, while it is true that the motet repertoire

contains many musical subtleties for the discerning listener, wemiss much of the pleasure which they can give if we fail torecognize that their characteristic tone is often poised, to borrowa good phrase from Chaucer, betwixt earnest and game.

MELODY AND PERFORMANCEPart of the game lies in the melodic fluency of many of thesepieces; they offer lyrical, vocal melodies of an instantly

accessible kind. The melodies are highly variable in character,needless to say, but in general they are ingratiating, arebeautifully judged to lie in the best part of the voice, and are sodelightfully phrased that they embody all the qualities so often

l b t d i t t t b i l d l i Oft i


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been suggested that a motet challenged the listener to follow allthe texts at the same time, but that seems unlikely. Thecomprehensibility of even one text is reduced when we hear itsung, for word-bearing melody has the power to weaken thediscursive attention that we usually bring to language when

we see it written or hear it said. If two texts are sung simul-taneously then full comprehension of each becomes well-nighimpossible and was perhaps not the principal source of delight;the pleasure comes from the sense of sheer diversity andinvention that we receive when the ear discerns a moment ofone text, now a moment of another, amidst the kaleidoscope ofvowel colours. Achieving brightness of vowel timbre, indeed, isa cardinal matter in performing these motets, not only becauseof the tendency to a certain veiled quality which is present in allpolytextual music, but also because vowel colour in a motet is acrucial part of each melodic lines assertion of independence.

In this recording we have tried to emphasize the melodicaspect of these pieces by performing some of the motets inlayers, presenting one or all of the voices separately, with orwithout the Tenor, and then assembling them. This practice isnot mentioned in any source contemporary with the music but itaccords with the sequential nature of the texts in tracks 2 , 5and 9 (although in the case of track 9 we have opted for asimultaneous performance only). When this technique is em-ployed for a substantial piece such as track 5 the effect is tocreate an experience of music and poetry in which monophonicmelody, polyphony, lyric poetry and narrative sense cometogether into something much largerand much more

variedthan anything suggested by the appearance of thepiece in a modern edition. This style of performance can beextended to motets whose poems do not call for sequentialpresentation; as the individual parts unfold by themselves, wed li ht b th i th d i th ti i ti f th fi l lt

troubadours and trouvreslove as suffering, the lady asphysician, and so onbut that was how one spoke of love inOld French poetry, both lyric and narrative; there was no otherway. Instead of mistakenly seeking to trace the origins of motetpoetry to the trouvres we should rather linger over the diffe-

rences between the French motet and the trouvre chanson.Before c1240 very few trouvres of note composed poems likethose given here for the French motets; compare the songs byBlondel de Nesle or Gautier de Dargies with any of the Frenchmotet texts and the contrasts begin to emerge. Trouvre poemsare usually made from a set of identical stanzas, not from asingle verse paragraph with lines of widely varied length; theyrhyme according to a strict pattern, not in an opportunistic way;their rhyming is essentially discreet, not noisy with the iteratedsounds of the front vowels i and e; trouvre songs in the HighStyle are lyrics, not narratives or semi-narratives of shepherdsand their rustic loves. The motet poems, in contrast, display allof the features which the trouvre songs do not have, and theywed this essentially light-courtly poetry to a learned musicaltechnique. Compare, for example, the classic troubadour songby Bernart de Ventadorn, Can vei la lauzeta moverbn with themotet voice whose text is initially based upon it bo ; whereBernart is expansive and serious, the motet voice is light andtripping. There is not the least indication in thirteenth-centurysources that contemporary musicians would have regarded thelarge monophonic chanson of the troubadours and trouvres asa slight form beside the polyphonic motet; on the contrary,trouvre songs in the best style were increasingly associated in

the thirteenth century with the memory of aristocratic trouvresof the first generationGace Brul, for example, or Gautier deDargies; our Parisian witness who spoke of the motet, Johannesde Grocheio, rules that trouvre songs should be performed for

l d i l di A di t th d t di f


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All parts of motets are sung simultaneously unless otherwise indicated.The texts are usually laid out in descending order of parts(QuadruplumTriplumMotetusTenor) unless a layeredperformance is used following narrative sense; in that case the parts arepresented in the order in which they are sung.

1 Je ne chant pas / Talens mest pris /APTATUR / OMNES

This four-part piece reminds us that there is no such thing as atypical motet. The contrast between the chattering Triplum andthe slower-moving Motetus is a text-book feature of the motetgenre, as are the overlapping phrases, yet here they are com-bined with two Tenors! This piece also shows how the speed ofthe Tenor relative to the upper parts affects the impetus andindeed the entire character of a motet, for here the Tenors moverapidly, constantly repeating the same six measures of music,giving the piece a considerable thrust. The four-part motets ofthe thirteenth century have often been regarded as imperfect,over-ambitious works; this recording, which features a highproportion of such pieces, is an attempt to rehabilitate the four-part motet.

Performance orderI Motetus ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP + APTATUR / OMNESII All parts

TriplumJe ne chant pas per renvoiseriene par joliet,car trop mont amors longuement grev,et sai je tous jours bonement endur,nonques ne mi vi damours servir lass,

si le ma, ce mest avis,trop mal guerredonn,car nul secours ne nul confort nai encore trouva ma douce dame,en cui sont nuit et jour tuit mi pens.

I do not sing from cheerfulnessor gaiety,

for love has made me suffer so long,and yet I have always endured it willingly,and have never been weary of serving love,though it seems to me

that I have been very poorly rewarded;for I have not yet found any help or comfortfrom my sweet lady,who occupies all my thought night and day.

Alas! she was my undoingwhen she refused me!

For love of her I suffer grief and pain,and have heaved many a sigh;I will never see myself curedof this complaint,

for none but shecan restore me to health.

MotetusTalens mest pris de chanterpour celi que jai tant amee;Dieus! tant mi plaist a remirerson cors gent et sa face couloureeque je ne la puis oubliernuit ne jour,

mais sans sejourme convient a li penser ;et si nos a li parlerne dire ma doulour.Las ! par ma folourmit tient li maus que je ne puis endurer,si sai bien que je mourrai des maus damer.

I wish to singfor the sake of her I have loved so long;

God! I find such pleasurein looking at her fair body and her rosy facethat I cannot forget

her night or day,but must constantly


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2 Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs /PERLUSTRAVIT

Here is a striking approach to the challenge of composing amotet. The texts are very similar in technique, vocabulary andtone, but the musical settings of the poems, while homogeneous

in style, go their own way when sung together and fight formastery. The level of dissonance is high (the last musicalphrase unwinds a string of major seconds between the Triplumand the Quadruplum). This motet exploits a technique which isexplored (in a much more spacious way) in track 6 below: asection where all the voices phrase and rest together is followedby one where the voices overlap and tangle. Like many motettexts, these three set us wondering about their literary tone. As

I read it, the tone of these poemsas of so much pastoral andsemi-pastoral poetry in the motetis wistful (certainly notgiving way to boistrous merriment) and even a touchmelancholic.

Performance orderI Motetus LEIGH NIXON

II Triplum RUFUS MLLERIII Quadruplum ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP

IV All partsMotetusTrois sereurs sor rive mer Three sisters on the seashorechantent cler. sing clearly.Lainnee dit a: The eldest said: On doit bien bele dame amer One should love a beautiful lady,et samor garder and he who has her lovecil qui la. should cherish it.

Triplum

Trois sereurs sor rive mer Three sisters on the seashorechantent cler. sing clearly.La mainnee a apel The younger calledRobin son ami : for Robin, her love: Prise mavez el bois ram ; You took me from the leafy wood;

Je sui brune, savrai brun I am dark, so I will have a dark loverami ausi. as well.

PERLUSTRAVIT

BLONDEL DE NESLE3 En tous tans que vente bise

En tous tans que vente bise, Whenever the breeze blows,pour cele dont sui soupris, my heart becomes dark and sombrequi nest pas de moi souprise, on account of her whom I love,devient mes cuers noirs et bis. and who is not in love with me.De fine amour lai requise, I have courted her out of True Love,qui cuer et cors ma espris, who has captured me body and soul,et sele nen est esprise, and, if she too is not captured, it ispour mon grant mal la requis. my great misfortune that I court her.

Mais la doleurs me devise But my grief reminds me that I have

qu la meilleur me sui pris addressed myself to the fairest ladyqui ainc fust en cest mon prise; who was ever found in this world;se jestoie a son devis. if only I were to her liking.Tort a mon cuer qui sen prise, My heart is wrong to seek her favour,quar ne sui pas si eslis. for I am not sufficiently exalted.Sele eslit, quele meslise! If she chooses any, let her choose me!Trop seroie de haut pris. Then I would be exalted indeed.

Pour cest drois sAmours magree, Thus it is rightso help me Loveque mon cuer li ai doun. that I have given my heart to her.

Se samour ne ma dounee, Though she has not granted me love,tant la servirai a gr, I will serve her so willingly that,sil plaist a la desirree, if the object of my desire so wishes,que un baisier a cel I shall have a secret kissavrai de li a celee, from her in secret,que tant ai desirr. as I have desired for so long.

4 Plus bele que flors / Quant revient / Lautrier jouer /FLOS FILIUS EIUS

The Quadruplum is an unusual one; it has a strict syllable count(all the lines having five syllables) and a rigorous ABAB rhyme-scheme throughout. This is matched in the setting. The minortriad which opens the pieceand the major triad which

id i l i i h h ki d f i


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QuadruplumPlus bele que flors More beautiful than flowers,est, ce mest avis, I believe,cele a cui matour. is she to whom I devote myself.Tant com soie vis, As long as I live,navra de mamor none shall have the joy

joie ne deliz and pleasureautre mes la flor of my lovequest de paradis : save the flower of paradise:mere est au Seignor she is the mother of the Lordqui si nous a mis who put us in this worldet nos au retour and who always wants usveut avoir tout dis. to return to him.

TriplumQuant revient et foille et flor When leaves and flowers return

contre la saison dest, and summer approaches,Diex! adonc mi souvient damours God! then I think again of lovequi tot jours which has alwaysma cortoise et douce est. been kind and sweet to me.Molt aim son secors, I love the solace of love,ca ma volent which contents memaliege de mes doulours. by relieving my suffering.Mout en vient biens et honours Much good and honourdestre a son gr. come from serving Love.

MotetusLautrier jouer men alai The other daypar un destor; I went to amuse myselfen un vergier men entrai to a secluded place;por cuillir flor. I went into a garden to pick flowers.Dame plaisant i trovai, I found a fair lady there,cointe datour ; elegantly dressed;cors ot gai, she was pretty,si chantoit par grant esmai: yet she sang in great distress: Amors ai, I am in love;

quen ferai? what shall I do?Cest la fin, la fin, There is nothing for it:que que nus die, jamerai. whatever people say, I shall love.

FLOS FILIUS EIUS

homogeneous is their style; they share a preference for stepwisemotion, for a virtually identical range and tessitura, and for ashared repertoire of ornaments. When they are combined andeach part competes for attention, we hear the kind ofexhilarating tangle and clamour which was so attractive to

thirteenth-century listeners, and which restores to the perfectconsonanceswhere all the parts agree in fifths andoctavesthe almost magical power which medieval musictheory attributed to them.

Performing orderI Quadruplum ROGERS COVEY-CRUMPII Motetus LEIGH NIXON

III Triplum RUFUS MLLER

IV All partsQuadruplum[The rustic, lascivious love of shepherds is disdained]Par un matinet lautrier The other morningo chanter un fou bergier, I heard a foolish shepherd singingsen sui esmuz, and I was annoyed,qui se vantoit quil ot ge for he boasted that he had laintout nuz quite nakedentre les deus braz samie. in the arms of his sweetheart.II se vantoit de folie, This was a foolish boast,car tel amour est vilaine; for love of this kind is disgraceful;mes jain certes plus but I am sureloialment que nus. that I love more nobly than any.Puis que bele dame maime, Since a fair lady loves me,

je ne dement plus. I am no longer sad.

Motetus[Another speaker addresses the shepherd and envies his success]H, bergier! si grant envie Hey, shepherd! I am so envious

jai de toi, of youde ce que si bone vie since you lead such a merry lifeas envers moi ; compared to me;onques loialt ne foi I have never found loyaltytrover ni poi or faithfulnessl j l i d i h I h d d it


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Triplum[The shepherd resents what he has just heard, and especially the wayhis own love-life has just been described]H, sire! qui vos vantez Hey, sir! you who boastque vos avez that you havedeservie deserved

cortoisie courtesyet loialt, and loyalty,tel folie do not sayne dites mie such a foolish thingquen vostre amie as that you have foundtel vilanie such basenessaiez trouv; in your sweetheart;et reprov and you were wrongmavez fausement, to accuse meconques amour of never

nul jour having servedne servi loialment : Love loyally:Nunques mes ne les senti, I have neverles maus damours, felt the pangs of lovemes orendroit. till now.

EIUS

6 De la virge Katerine / Quant froidure / Agmina milicie /AGMINA

In this piece the essential idea of the polytextual motet is carriedto its limit. Here are three separate poems which speak of twodifferent subjects in two different languages. Since the note-values of the Tenor are fairly long relative to those of the upperparts, there is a pedal effect in many measures. There is a veryclear contrast in the piece between a first section, where all thevoices phrase together, and a second, where the phrases over-lap and we sense that each part is struggling for mastery. Thestrategic placing of the penultimate dissonancein this casean added sixthproduces a striking effect.

QuadruplumDe la virge Katerine chantera

car la foi Dieu preescha,son cors de pechi garda,en martyre devia.Pour ce quelle sermonaet vie dangle mena,lenporta

Nostres Sires par ses angles ou mont ou il baillala sainte loi quil donaa ceus ou tant de bien a.Tant motroi!Et se vous me demandez pour quoi

je ai si grant foi,a mon cuer le demandez, ne mie a moi.

Let all who believe in Jesus Christsing of the virgin Catherine;

since this virgin found such great grace in Godthat she will suffer no evil, near or far.He loved her so muchthat she received the three crownswhich he destined for her,

in addition to the common giftwhich he grantedto all who are destined for salvation:

for she preached the word of God,kept her body from sin,

and died a martyr.Because she preached and led an angelic l ife,Our Lord had her taken up by his angelsto the mountain where he delivered the holy lawwhich he vouchsafedto those who are full of goodness.

May he grant me the same!And if you ask mewhy I have such great faith,

ask my heart, not me.TriplumQuant froidure trait a fin As the cold weatherencontre la seson comes to an endque chantent en leur latin and the season approaches


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plaine de douour, green eyes,euz verz, face vermeilleite rosy facede fresche colour ; fresh of hue;souz ses mamelettes below her breasts,duretes, firm,blanches comme flour, white as flowers,

sa crine a sorete : her fair hair hangs down;cain ne fu paintour, never was there an artist,nule chose nest portraite never was anything paintedcom cele est por qui je chant. like her of whom I sing.Diex ! je Iaim tant, God! I love her so muchni puis durer : that I cannot last any longer;bien sai que mocirra. I am sure it will kill me.Diex ! qui li dira? God! who will tell her?Ne puis endurer I cannot bear the painsles maus que soufferz ai ja : which I have suffered already:

trop mi fait comparer. I pay too dearly for my love.Jai beu du boivre amer I have tasted the bitter drinkdont Tristrans morut ja. of which Tristran died long ago.

Je ne sai combien vivrai, I do not know how long I may live:fors tant sanz plus com li plera. just as long as it pleases her.

Motetus (text by Philippe the Chancellor)Agmina milicie All the troopscelestis omnia of the heavenly armymartyris victorie run forth to celebrate

occurrunt obvia. the victory of the martyr.Virginis eximie They shout aloudlaudant preconia, the praises of the peerless virgin,rosam patiencie the rose of patience,pudoris lilia, the lily of modesty,donum sapiencie, the gift of wisdom,legis eloquia. eloquent advocate of the Law.Virgo regia The royal virgin,regis filia the daughter of the king,

Christum regem hodie sees Christ the kingin celi regia in the realm of heaven in gloryrevelata facie with his face revealed.videt in gloria. The gates stand openChristi hostie to the victim for Christ;

gaudet requie. she rejoices at rest.Carnis habet spolia The summit of Arabia [Mount Sinai]apex Arabie; has the spoils of her flesh;Caro caret carie, her flesh is not decaying,Mens immundicia. nor her mind impure.Oleum hec gracie She gives this oil of grace

dat et precum suffragia. and the intercession of prayers.AGMINA

COLIN MUSET7 Trop volentiers chanteroieTrop volentiers chanteroie I would most willinglyse je savoie coment, sing if I knew how,et bone vie menroie and would lead a happy lifese li siecles valoit tant if this world which mistreats me

qui me tormente forment; so badly had any happiness to offer;et nomporqant tote voie but still in spite of thischanterai joieusement, I will sing joyfully,que Bone Amors lo maprent. for True Love teaches me how.

Puis kAmors vuet que je soie Since Love wishes me to be happyliez et renvoisiez sovent and cheerful often,et mes fins cuers si outroie and my noble heart consentssi tres debonairement, to this with such good grace, if onlyse li siecles se repent, the world would mend its ways

nule riens je ni donroie, I would not hold back,ke Bone Amors me deffent for True Love forbids meque ja naie cuer dolant. ever to have a heavy heart.

Se giere Deus, je feroie If I were God, I wouldlo siecle tot altrement, remake the world quite differently,et meillor gent i metroie, and put better people in it,car cist ni valent neient. for these are quite worthless.Kant plus ont or et argent, The more gold and silver they have,vair et gris et dras de soie, the more furs and silken cloth,tant sont moins large metant; the less generously they spend;plus que jeus usure prent. they are worse than a usurious Jew.

De Waignonrut la menroie I will turn at oncea Widemont maintenant. from Vignory to Vaudmont.Lo boen conte prieroie I would exhort the good Count


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8 Ave parens / Ad gratie / AVE MARIAThis is probably an English piece, like the next. It is the kind oflyrical, mellifluous hymn to the Virgin that English musiciansproduced easily (perhaps too easily) in the thirteenth century.Unlike the French pieces, it responds to an intonation closer to

Just than Pythagorean.TriplumAve parens Hail, motherprolis eximie, of a wondrous offspring,virgo carens virgin lackingcarnali carie. in all fleshly corruption.Flos non arens You are a flower that never withers,es tu, lux curie, O light of the [heavenly] court,semper clarens always resplendant

vernanti specie. and fresh as Spring.Stirps [m]arcebat The human stockhumana crimine; was withered by sin;revirebat it became green once morevirente germine; as the shoot began to blossom;

flos florebat, the flower flourishedflorente virgine, as the virgin flowereddum latebat while Goddeus in homine. lay concealed in Man.

Flos, odore O flower, whose fragrancefugans demonia, puts demons to flight,flos, candore O flower, surpassinglilia every lilyet decore in whitenessprecellens omnia, and beauty,nos amore bring us close to youtibi consocia in love,Maria. O Mary.

DuplumAd gratie The retinuematris obsequia of the Churchecclesie rejoices in the ritesgaudet familia of the mother of grace

leticie receiver of joylatrix egregia. in the sight of all.Milicie O celestial gloryspecie in the sightsuperna gloria, of the [heavenly] host,O nimie O subject

laudis materia, for unceasing praise,progenie descendantregum prosapia, from the lineage of kings,mundicie leaderprimipilaria, in all that is pure,nos hodie come to usvenie today,visita gracia O Mary,Maria. for the sake of forgiveness.

AVE MARIA9 Super te Jerusalem / Sed fulsit virginitas /

PRIMUS TENOR / DOMINUSThis is either an English piece or a Continental one to which a

fourth part has been added to produce a characteristicallyEnglish triadic sonority. The text flows from the Triplum to theDuplum and therefore a sequential performance would havebeen possible, but we have opted for a simultaneous one withthe lower two parts vocalized. Note the major triad which endsthe piece, unthinkable in French music of the thirteenth century.TriplumSuper te Jerusalem Over you, Jerusalem,de matre virgine God has arisen,ortus est in Bethleem becoming mandeus in homine; of a virgin mother in Bethlehem;ut gygas substancie he came forth

processit gemine like a giant of twin substancevirginis ex utero from the virgins wombsine gravamine. without pain.Non fuit feconditas This fertility was not causedhec viri semine by the seed of a man


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ne nos preda demonis lest we, whom you have boughtsimus pro crimine with the riverquos preciosi sanguinis of your precious blood,emisti flumine. become the devils prey through sin.

PRIMUS TENOR / DOMINUS

bl A vous douce debonnaireA number of motet voices survive, detached from the motets towhich they belong, and set down as free-standing secularsongs. Here we have taken the Motetus of a two-part motet andpresent it as an independent song, first as it survives in a motet,and then with editorial ornaments based upon what can bededuced about thirteenth-centry ornamentation from musicaland theoretical sources.

Performing order:I Motetus

II Motetus with ornamentation

[Motetus]A vous douce debonnaire, To you, sweet and courteous onerestors de toute ma vie, who has restored my whole life,me complai[n]g de mes dolor[s] I complain of my sorrow and sayet di, que ne sai que fere, that I do not know what to dose je nai la vostre ae. unless you come to my aid.Aimi, bele douce amie, Alas! beautiful and sweet friendqui jaim de loial amor; whom I love with a loyal love,pour Diu, prengne voz envie for the love of God, may you soonne conforter vostre ami ! wish to comfort your friend!Si fers comme loiale That would be a faithful gestureet seront li mal meri, and the pains that I have sufferedque jai por vos, damoisele, for you, lady, would be recompensed,quautrement mavs trai; for otherwise you have betrayed me.si di : Thus I say

Aimi, aimi, Marotele, Alas, alas Marotele,voz trais fame de mi! you have captured my soul.

TENOR omitted

bm M t t / M t i t d l / MULIERUM

above it in pitch. The Motetus shows motet melody at its best:generously filling the best part of the voice, and full of lilt. Whenthe Triplum enters the composers scheme becomes clear, forthis motet begins farily low in the two voices and then, towardsthe middle, moves its whole tessitura up a minor third and

seems to linger there in that suspended way so characteristic ofthe motet. A pungent and sustained dissonance of a minorsecond, quite unlike anything else in the piece, prepares the

final cadence.Performing order

I Motetus RUFUS MLLER + MULIERUMII All parts

Triplum

Mout souvent mont demand Time and again many peopleplusours have asked me if I am in love,se jaim, pour ce que je sui jolis. since I am so cheerful.Ol, que jaim la meillour Yes, for I love the bestqui soil en tout cest pas. lady in all the land.Mout a biaut, ce mest vis: I find her most beautiful;ses cors est poliz, she is of graceful bearingchief luisant, sorciz, with shining hair, fine eyebrows,biaus euz verz, menton bien asis, beautiful green eyes, well-shapedcol plus blanc que ne soit flour chin and a neck which is whiter

de lis. than lilies.Quen puis je, se je sui ses amis, How can I help being in love with herquant elle est si bele et si gentis when she is so beautiful, so graciousquen li ne faut fors mercis? that she lacks nothing but mercy?

MotetusMout ai est en dolour I have suffered for a very long timelonguement pour bien amer, for loving faithfully,et sui encor chascun jor; and I suffer still each day;si ne men puis destourber, yet I cannot leave her,tant a douour, for she has such sweetness,biaut, bont, et cors gent beauty, goodness

de bel atour, and such graceful bearing,euz rianz pour cuer navrer, smiling eyes which pierce my heart,d i f h l t f d f h l i


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BERNART DE VENTADORNbn Can vei la lauzeta moverCan vei la lauzeta mover When I see the lark unfurl his wingsde joi sas alas contral rai, for joy against the suns rays, and howque soblide.s laissa chazer he lingers and lets himself swoop downper la doussor cal because of the sweetness

cor li vai, that floods his heart,ai! tan grans enveya men ve ah! I am filled with such great envyde cui queu veya jauzion, towards all creatures I see rejoice;meravilhas ai, car desse I marvel that my heart does notlo cor de dezirer no.m fon. immediately melt with desire.

Ai, las! tan cuidava saber Alas! How much I thought I knewdamor, e tan petit en sai! about love, and how little I knowcar eu damar no.m posc tener of it! I cannot keep myself from lovingceleis don ja pro one from whom I will never have

non aurai. any reward. She has takentout ma mo cor, e tout ma me, from me my heart, myself, herselfe se mezeis e tot lo mon; and the whole world, and when shee can sem tolc, no.m laisset re robs me she leaves me nothingmas dezirer e cor volon. but desire and a longing heart.

Pus ab midons no.m pot valer Since entreaties, mercy, my rightsprecs ni merces ni.l dreihz queu ai, cannot help me to win my lady,ni a leis no ven a plazer and since it does not please her thatqueu lam, ja mais no.lh o dirai. I speak of my love, I speak no more.

assi.m part de leis e.m recre; Thus I yield and leave her service;mort ma, e per mort li respon, she has killed me, I reply with death.e vau men, pus ilh Since she will not have me

no.m rete, in her service, I go wretchedchaitius, en issilh, no sai on. into exile, I know not where.

Tristans, ges no.n auretz de me, Tristran, you will hear no morequeu men vau, chaitius, of me for I am going wretched away,

no sai on; I know not where; I forsakede chanter me gic e.m recre, singing and withdraw from it,

e de joi e damor mescon. and I flee from love and joy.bo Quant voi Ialoete / Diex! je ne men partir ja / NEUMACompare the melodic style of the Triplum with Bernarts song.

Performing order

Diex ! damer la plus bele del mont : to love the fairest lady in the world;les ieus a vairs, le chief a blont, her eyes are bright, her hair is blond,bele bouche et poli front, her mouth is fine and her foreheadla char a blanchete smooth, her skin is fairer than theplus que la noif qui vient damont. snow which falls from above.Sest bele joenete, She is young and pretty, but the

mes mesdisant grev mi ont; scandalmongers have slandered me;Diex leur pait leur dete, may God make them pay for it,si leur criet les ieus du front: may he tear the eyesadonques en pais seront out of their heads:amoretes. then love will be left in peace.

MotetusDiex! je ne men partir ja God! I will neverde ma douce amiete, leave my fair sweetheart,qui tant est doucete: who is so very sweet;

sa tres grant biaut soupris ma, her great beauty has captivated me,et sa bele bouchete, her pretty little mouthsa tres douce gorgete. and her sweet little throat.Tot mon cuer membla She stole my heart awayquant premiers a moi parla: the first time she spoke to me;tant la vi joliete she looked so prettyet si douce me sembla and her rosy little facesa face vermeillete, seemed so sweetqui si mesprist et embrasca that my heart was enamouredle cuer soz la mamelete, and inflamed in my breast,

que touz jourz mon cuer avra and my heart wil l always be hers,et plus renvoisiez en sera which will make herdamoretes. all the more happy in love.

NEUMA

bp En non Dieu / Quant voi la rose / NOBISThis is one of the most closely wrought motets in the wholerepertoire. The texts are interrelated to an extraordinary degree,

sharing phrases, syntactical constructions and rhyme words.Some of these echoes are cunningly placed to mark points ofmelodic imitation (e.g. et le roussignol chanter in the third lineof both poems), for the melodies display as many interrelations

h i


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et le roussignol chanter, and the nightingale singing,adonc fine amour me prie then true love compels medoucement dune joliete chanter: to sing sweetly about a pretty girl: Marion, laisse Robin pour Marion, leave Robin

moi amer! and love me!Bien me doi asss pener I ought to try my best

et chapel de flours porter and wear a wreath of flowerspour si bele amie, for such a pretty sweetheart,quant voi la rose espanie, when I see the rose in bloom, thelerbe vert et le tens cler. fresh green grass and fine weather.

MotetusQuant voi la rose espanie, When I see the rose in bloom, thelerbe vert et le tens cler fresh green grass and fine weatheret le roussignol chanter, and the nightingale singing,adonc fine amour menvie then true love urges me

de joie faire et mener, to be joyful, for hecar qui naimme, il ne vit mie; who does not love does not live;por ce se doit on pener so anyone who wants lastingdavoir amours et amie happiness ought to try his bestet servir et honourer, to find love and a sweetheartqui en joie vuelt durer ; and to serve and honour them both.en non Dieu, que que nus die, In Gods name, whatever people say,au cuer mi tient li maus damer. the pangs of love assail my heart.

NOBIS

GAUTIER DE DARGIESbq Autres que je ne sueill fasAutres que je ne sueill fas Contrary to my usual custom I ammon chant des autres mouvoir, composing a song just like the others,car ainc ne fui un jour las for never for a single day have I beendamer celi mon pooir weary of loving to the best of myqui si me tient en ses las : power her who holds me in thrall;de li ne me puis mouvoir. I cannot leave her.Petit me vaut mes pourchaz; My pursuit of her is fruitless.

dune chose la manas: I warn her of one thing:se je muir par son voloir if I die by her wish,ce sera mauvez eschaz ; it will be the worse for her;mainz en avra de pooir. her power will be diminished.

S i b l b H f i b d d h f l

je men doi trop bien doloir ; I have good cause for grief;quant plus serai clamez las, the more people think me wretched,plus devroie joie avoir. the more joyful I ought to be.

Sa faon a deviser I would like every dayvoudroie tous jours or ; to hear her appearance described.tant est bele, a li loer She is so beautiful that in praising

nus hom nen porroit mentir; her no one could overstep the truth;pour ce nen fais a blasmer I do not deserve to be criticizedse me pain de li servir. for exerting myself in her service.Vendre me puet u douner, She may sell me or give me away,ses sers sui sanz rachater, I am her servant unconditionallyne ja ne men quier franchir; and wish never to be freed;mieuz aim ensi endurer I prefer to suffer thusquun grant roiame a tenir. than to rule a great kingdom.

br Je men vois / Tels a mout / OMNESPerhaps more than any other, this piece conveys that feeling oftime standing still which seems to lie at the heart of the motetidea. The Tenor is a simple and very short musical phrase,constantly repeated, in which the note F predominates. As aresult the piece is almost one long, decorated chord of F.

Performing orderI Triplum MARGARET PHILPOT + OMNES

II All partsTriplumJe men vois, ma douce amie, I am going, my sweetheart,si vous lais, ce poise moi, and it grieves me to leave you,quonques mais en ma vie for never in my l ifene fis si grief departie. was I so sorry to depart.Bien sai quon ma encus; I know I have been criticized,mes som ma sevr but though I have been separatedde vo compagnie, from your companyne sont aillours mi pens. my thoughts are of none but you.

Jains la bele, la blonde, la sage ; My love is pretty, blonde, well bred;tout li ai mon cuer donn. I have given my heart to her wholly.Bien le tieng a assen ; I think him fortunate indeed:a son gr he may enjoy himself


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ce puet on bien esprouver this can easily be seenen amant; pour moi le di, in a lover. I mean myself,qui soupris sui damer for I am stricken with loveceli que jonques ne vi for her whom I have never seenses ieus envers mi tourner ; turn her eyes in my direction;si ne la puis oublier ; yet I cannot forget her;

certes, ce poise mi, it grieves me indeed,car je lains tant et craing si for I love and fear her so muchque ne sai comment a li that I do not knowpuisse parler. how I can possibly speak to her.Dieus! je ni os aler, Oh God! I dare not go to her;comment aroi merci ? how shall I obtain mercy?

OMNES

bs Festa januaria

This is the one conductus on this recording. It shows the kind ofsound which the motet composers were trying to replace withanother, so very different.

Performing orderI Top part ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP

II All parts

Festa januaria The feasts of Januaryfestiva sunt festorum, are the festivities of all feasts,vera figuralia true symbolsinsignia signorum. and the most significant of signs.Hec luminum oblatio, This offering of lightshec est illuminatio is an illuminationqua patet declaratio in which there is a declarationrataque rerum ratio. and a true understanding of things.

[Sillabatim neumata [Let us therefore join musicalproinde perstringamus phrases together, syllable by syllable,pariter organica; all of them equally polyphonic;ornate predicamus we proclaim in an ornamented fashionquod reseratur janua that the door is unbarred and thatet complanantur ardua. the steep places have been levelled.Cantemus nunc melliflua Let us therefore sing honeyed thingsper festa januaria!] throughout the feasts of January!]

A knowledge of the history of the motet can do much to enhance onesenjoyment of these pieces but cannot be discussed here.See the entry Motet in The New Grove. For further information onthe style of performance adopted for this recording, see ChristopherPage, The performance of Ars Antiqua Motets,Early Music, 16 (1988),pp 147164

All parts of motets are sung simultaneously unless otherwise indicated.

The texts are usually laid out in ascending order of parts (Quadruplum,Triplum, Motetus, Tenor) unless a layered performance is used followingnarrative sense; in that case the parts are presented in the order inwhich they are sung.

Translations are by Stephen Haynes (tracks 1 7 , bm and bo br )and Christopher Page (tracks 6 [Latin text], 8 bl , bn and bs ).

Special thanks to Ann Lewis and Mark Everist for much help and advice,and also to Duane Lakin-Thomas and Rgine Page.

Recorded in the Church of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester,on 2123 March 1990Recording Engineer TONY FAULKNERRecording Producer MARTIN COMPTONExecutive Producers CECILE KELLY, EDWARD PERRYP Hyperion Records Limited, London, 1990C Hyperion Records Limited, London, 2007(Originally issued on Hyperion CDA66423)

The front illustration is taken from a Bible illuminated in Paris c1250London British Library MS Harley 1526 f 31r


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Also available:

The Castle of Fair WelcomeCourtly Songs of the later fifteenth centuryCompact Disc CDH55274

Gothic VoicesGramophone Award Winners Collection

A FEATHER ON THE BREATH OF GODSequences and hymns byAbbess Hildegard of Bingen

THE SERVICE OF VENUS AND MARS

Music for the Knights of the GarterA SONG FOR FRANCESCA

Music in Italy, 13301430

3 Compact Discs CDS44251/3

The Spirits of England and FranceMusic of the later Middle Agesfor Court and ChurchCompact Disc CDH55281


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S

UR NOTRE COUVERTURE, un jeune clerc, peut-tre untudiant de lUniversit de Paris, offre de largent une

jeune fille qui, en juger daprs son tambour, sen vaprendre part une ronde, une carole. Sur la gauche, un dmonlibidineux guette, tandis qu droite un frre tient un exemplaireouvert de lAncien Testament et lve la main en signe daver-tissement. Cette image parisienne est un bel emblme de lamusique de ce disque: le motet du XIIIe sicle qui, commeltudiant et la jeune fille, se trouva pris entre la tentation duprofane et lappel du sacrentre le Ciel et lEnfer. Bien que

ne de la musique liturgique parisienne, la forme motet nousest parvenue avec tout un ventail de textes : dvots, lascifs,factieux, mlancoliquement romantiques. Quant la musique,elle a, pour sr, frquemment voir avec les chansons desrondes (caroles).

Cette musique est merveilleusement ose. Pour prouver lecaractre rvolutionnaire de ces pices composes entre 1210et 1240 environ, il nest que dcouter un conductus comme

Festa januaria bs ou encore lun des conducti polyphoniquesenregistrs par les Gothic Voices sur le disque Music for the

Lion-Hearted King (Helios CDH55292). Ces uvres sontgnralement structures ainsi:

VOIX 1

VOIX 2

VOIX 3

Reprsentation schmatique dune section de conductus trois parties

Ce diagramme met en lumire le fait suivant: dans und t l h i h i h t d h

Le motet qui, apparu vers 1200, avait clips le conductusen 1300, suivait un tout autre ensemble de principes:

TRIPLUMMOTETUS

TENOR

Reprsentation schmatique dune section de motet trois parties

Comme le montre ce diagramme, la partie de Tenor dun motet(partie qui tire son nom du latin tenere, tenir , le Tenor tantce qui tient la pice) tait souvent arrange en units

rythmiques courtes, strotypes et constamment rptes. CeTenor tait habituellement une section de plain-chant, do lesentres latines dans les titres des motets enregistrs ici. Cesentres, gnralement prsentes (mais pas toujours correcte-ment identifies) dans les sources, indiquent le mot ou lasyllabe qui portaient lorigine la mlodie du Tenor dans leplain-chant.

Or, tout ceci peut sembler un triste dclin par rapport auxidaux humanistes du conductus, o le Tenor tait en gnralune partie expansive et mlodieuse, frachement crite par uncompositeur singniant produire (pour citer un musicien du

XIIIe sicle) une mlodie aussi belle quil se pourra . Voil quimontre seulement combien les changements de style artistiquepeuvent tre paradoxaux, car litration dunits rythmiquesdans une petite section de plain-chant excita puissamment

limagination des compositeurs, et des centaines de motetsnous sont parvenus, qui utilisent cette technique. Surtout, peut-tre, cette organisation du Tenor concourt ce que le motetdonne le sentiment, si caractristique, dtre suspendu dans let t d l i t t t l T

LE MARIAGE DU CIEL ET DE LENFERMOTETS ET CHANSONS DE LA FRANCE DU XIIIe SICLE


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motet exploite le dlicieux sentiment de mouvement verslavantet de rythmequi survient lorsquune voix termine

une phrase au moment mme o une autre voix en entame unenouvelle.Autre diffrence entre conductus et motet: dans le premier,

les voix chantent les mmes paroles, tandis que, dans lesecond, chaque voix dispose de son propre texte, voire de textestraitant de diffrents sujets, dans diffrentes langues (piste6 ,par exemple). Do une image sonore trs loigne de celle dunconductus, o toutes les voyelleset tous les changements

vocaliquessont synchronises. On pourrait donc dire que,dans un conductus, les changements dans lharmonie de lamusique sont dramatiss par de brusques et unanimes change-ments dharmoniques (chanter une voyelle, cest placer letractus vocal de manire privilgier certains partiels dans lanote). Dans le motet, en revanche, un accord peut renfermerdeux, trois ou quatre voyelles distinctes et, comme les textessont diffrents, il ny a aucun changement de timbre vocaliquesimultan. En fait, la synchronisation de la couleur vocalique estsi rare, dans le motet, quelle en devient un procd artistique part, comme la fin de la piste bo , quand un motetsachve rsolument sur le Triplum et le Motetus chantant lemot amorete , ou bien, comme dans plusieurs autres pices,quand des syllabes identiques, de mme sonorit, sont habile-ment disposes au mme endroit, toutes les voix.

De ce contraste, il rsulte surtout que le conductus se prtefort bien une dclamation franche et directe, lunanimit dutimbre vocalique produisant un ensemble clatant de nuancesprimaires. Le motet, lui, possde, une fois interprt, une sono-it d t il l l i i d ll

mais devant les lettrs et ceux qui recherchent les subtilits delart.

Ainsi sexprime Johannes de Grocheio [Jean de Grouchy]dans sonDe musica (vers 1300). Johannes adorait Paris: ayantquitt sa Normandie, province de vastes domaines et dechteaux seigneuriaux o les grandes foires municipalesconstituaient les principales distractions, il trouva l uneimportante cit o le pain du monde tait cuit . Ce dicton,courant dans les annes 1200, ne se contentait pas dassurerque tout allait bien sur les quais et les marchs de la Seine: il

incarnait la fire affirmation selon laquelle Paris fournissait toute lEurope la thologie la plus rigoureuse et les conseilsjuridiques les plus aviss. De 1200 1300, les Parisiensoffrirent cette mme Europe la musique polyphonique la plusinventive. Pour autant quon puisse dire, le motet, tel quilapparat sur ce disque, fut une cration parisienne et ces picesont t, lorigine, interprtes soit Paris, soit dans les cerclesparisiens constitus dhommes qui avaient frquent quelquetemps les coles de la ville avant de retourner chez eux ou dansleur communaut religieuse. Peut-tre sagissait-il de frres quiavaient tudi aux frais de leur ordre ou de membres dunchapitre cathdral runis dans une maison de lenceinte.

Johannes de Grocheio le dit bien : les motets sadressaient auxlettrs; en dautres termes, ils ntaient pas pour le peuplepas pour les tanneurs, les charpentiers, les apothicairesqui,lors des grandes ftes, se pressait dans les glises de Saint-Gervais et de Saint-Leufroy.

Voil qui est trs bien, mme sil y a quelque chose desuspect dans lide, courante aujourdhui, de motets destins

l i t ll t l t i D b d il it d


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tanneur ou apothicaire; au surplus, les textes enjous et lesmlodies plusieurs parties vocales de ces uvres ntaientcertainement pas sans lien avec lidiome des chansons danser (caroles), que les tudiants, les marchands et les fillesde Paris glorifiaient Saint-Germain (on est presque sr que

certains motets citent des fragments de chansons danser,texte et musique). Bref, sil est vrai que le rpertoire du motetrenferme maintes subtilits musicales lintention de lauditeursagace, nous passons en grande partie ct du plaisir de cespices si nous ne parvenons pas renconnatre que leur toncaractristique tient souvent lquilibre entre srieux et

jeu , pour reprendre un bon mot de Chaucer.

MLODIE ET INTERPRTATIONLe jeu rside en partie dans la fluidit mlodique de nombrede ces pices aux mlodies vocales lyriques instantanmentaccessibles et de caractre fort variable, il va sans dire, maisgnralement avenantes, merveilleusement jauges pour occu-per la meilleure partie de la voix et si dlicieusement phrasesquelles incarnent toutes les vertus tant clbres dans laposie du motet (cler et legier). Souvent, lorsquil interprte

ces motets, le chanteur peut tre mu par le rythme pur de lamusique, une qualit que lon ne prte habituellement pas lapolyphonie, quelle quelle soit, du XIIIe sicle.

Combiner dans une mme composition deux, voire trois deces mlodies, avec chacune son propre texte, constitua cer-tainement un pas audacieux. Comment tait-on supposcouter une telle pice? Daucuns ont suggr que le motetmettait lauditeur au dfi de suivre tous les textes la fois, maiscela semble peu probable. La comprhensibilit dun texte, ft-il unique, est rduite quand il est chant, la mlodie porteusedes mots ayant le pouvoir daffaiblir lattention discursive que

d l t l it Si

clart de timbre vocalique est, en ralit, un but cardinal quandon interprte ces motets, non seulement cause dune certainetendance au voile inhrente toute musique pluritextuelle, maisparce que, dans un motet, la couleur vocalique concourt pourbeaucoup laffirmation dindpendance de chaque ligne

mlodique.Dans cet enregistrement, nous avons tent daccuserlaspect mlodique des motets en en interprtant certains en couches , en prsentant une voix ou lensemble des voixsparment, avec ou sans le Tenor, avant de les runir. Cettepratique nest mentionne dans aucune source de lpoquemais elle saccorde avec la nature squentielle des textes despistes2 ,5 et9 (mme si, dans ce dernier cas, nous navons

opt que pour une interprtation simultane). Lorsquelle estemploye pour une pice substantielle comme celle de lapiste5 , cette technique vise crer une exprience musico-potique o mlodie monophonique, polyphonie, posie lyriqueet sens narratif sunissent en quelque chose de bien plusgrandet de bien plus varique tout ce que peut suggrerune dition moderne de cette pice. Ce style dexcution peuttre tendu aux motets dont les pomes nappellent pas de

prsentation squentielle: comme les parties se dploient indi-viduellement, nous prenons plaisir et elles, et lanticipationdu rsultat final.

MOTETS ET CHANSONS DE TROUVRESOn a souvent avanc que la posie franaise des motets tait drive de la posie des trouvres , etc., mais ce genredarguments tait plus quil ne rvle. Certes, lamour clbrdans les vers du motet ressemble souvent lamor destroubadours et des trouvres (lamour-souffrance, la dame-mdecin ), mais ctait ainsi que lon parlait damour dansl i i f i l i t ti i i t


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franais avec les chansons de Blondel de Nesle ou de Gautierde Dargies et les contrastes ne tarderont pas apparatre. Lespomes de trouvres reposent gnralement sur un ensemblede stances identiques, et non sur un seul paragraphe aux versde longueur extrmement variable; ils riment selon un schma

strict, et non de manire opportuniste; leur rime, foncirementdiscrte, nest pas rendue bruyante par les itrations desvoyelles antrieures ( i et e ) ; enfin, les chansons detrouvres en style lev sont des pomes lyriques, ni narratifsni semi-narratifs, qui voquent les bergers et leurs amoursagrestes. Les pomes des motets, a contrario, affichent toutesles caractristiques absentes des chansons de trouvres etmarient une posie avant tout courtoisement lgre une

technique musicale savante. Comparez, par exemple, laclassique chanson de troubadour Can vei la lauzeta moverbn(Bernart de Ventadorn) avec la voix de motet dont le texte reposeinitialement sur cette chanson bo : l o Bernart est expansif etsrieux, la voix de motet est lgre et primesautire. Rien,absolument rien dans les sources du XIIIe sicle nindique queles musiciens dalors regardaient la grande chanson mono-

phonique des troubadours et des trouvres comme une formefaible compar au motet polyphonique ; au contraire, les chan-sons de trouvres du meilleur style furent de plus en plusassocies, au XIIIe sicle, au souvenir des trouvres aristocratesde la premire gnration (ainsi Gace Brul ou Gautier de

Dargies); notre tmoin parisien en matire de motet, Johannesde Grocheio, stipule que les chansons de trouvres doivent treinterprtes devant un auditoire royal et princier. Conformment la comprhension de la chanson vernaculaire qui sedveloppa aux XIIe et XIIIe sicles, les motets vernaculaires,avec leur propension des modles mlodiques restreints et,entre autres, des rimes guillerettes furent intrinsquementlgers et frivoles; le paradoxe plaisant venait de ce que leur

jeu tait mari une technique musicale des plussrieuses.CHRISTOPHER PAGE 1990

Traduction HYPERION 2007

Remerciements particuliers Ann Lewis et Mark Everist, quimont beaucoup aid et conseill, ainsi qu Duane Lakin-Thomas et Rgine Page.

If you have enjoyed this recording perhaps you would like a catalogue listing the many others available on the Hyperion and Helios labels. If so, pleasewrite to Hyperion Records Ltd, PO Box 25, London SE9 1AX, England, or email us at [email protected], and we will be pleased to post youone free of charge.

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Le catalogue Hyprion est galement accessible sur Internet: www.hyperion-records.co.uk


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CDH55273

THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELLMotets and songs from thirteenth-century France

1 Je ne chant pas / Talens mest pris / APTATUR/ OMNES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a b d e [2'19]2 Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs / PERLUSTRAVIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d e [2'11]3 BLONDEL DE NESLE (fl11801200) En tous tans que vente bise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a [2'50]4 Plus bele que flors / Quant revient / Lautrier jouer / FLOS FILIUS EIUS . . . . . . . a b c d [1'15]5 Par un matinet / H, sire! / H, bergier! / EIUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d e [4'37]6 De la virge Katerine / Quant froidure / Agmina milicie / AGMINA . . . . . . . . . . . . a b c e [2'15]

7 COLIN MUSET (fl c12001250) Trop volentiers chanteroie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a [3'44]8 Ave parens / Ad gratie / AVE MARIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a b d [1'35]9 Super te Jerusalem / Sed fulsit virginitas / PRIMUS TENOR/ DOMINUS . . . . . . . a b c d [1'10]bl A vous douce debonnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b [3'08]bm Mout souvent / Mout ai est en dolour / MULIERUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d [2'50]bn BERNART DE VENTADORN (11251195) Can vei la lauzeta mover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d [3'43]

bo Quant voi laloete / Diex! je ne men partir ja / NEUMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d [1'52]bp En non Dieu / Quant voi la rose / NOBIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d [2'41]bq GAUTIER DE DARGIES (c1165 after 1236) Autres que je ne sueill fas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b [4'01]br Je men vois / Tels a mout / OMNES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a b f [2'40]bs Festa januaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b c d [2'18]

GOTHIC VOICESMARGARET PHILPOT alto (a)ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP tenor (b)

NOTES EN FRANAIS


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THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELLMotets and songs from thirteenth-century France

1 Je ne chant pas / Talens mest pris / APTATUR/ OMNES [2'19]2 Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs / Trois sereurs / PERLUSTRAVIT [2'11]3 BLONDEL DE NESLE En tous tans que vente bise [2'50]4 Plus bele que flors / Quant revient / Lautrier jouer / FLOS FILIUS EIUS [1'15]5 Par un matinet / H, sire ! / H, bergier! / EIUS [4'37]6 De la virge Katerine / Quant froidure / Agmina milicie / AGMINA [2'15]7 COLIN MUSET Trop volentiers chanteroie [3'44]8 Ave parens / Ad gratie / AVE MARIA [1'35]9 Super te Jerusalem / Sed fulsit virginitas / PRIMUS TENOR/ DOMINUS [1'10]bl A vous douce debonnaire [3'08]bm Mout souvent / Mout ai est en dolour / MULIERUM [2'50]bn BERNART DE VENTADORN Can vei la lauzeta mover [3'43]bo Quant voi laloete / Diex! je ne men partir ja / NEUMA [1'52]bp En non Dieu / Quant voi la rose / NOBIS [2'41]

bq GAUTIER DE DARGIES Autres que je ne sueill fas [4'01]br Je men vois / Tels a mout / OMNES [2'40]bs Festa januaria [2'18]

GOTHIC VOICES

CHRISTOPHER PAGE director

MADE IN ENGLAND

CDH55273

Duration 46'26

A HYPERION RECORDING

DDD

Recorded on 2123 March 1990Recording Engineer TONY FAULKNER

Recording Producer MARTIN COMPTONExecutive Producers CECILE KELLY, EDWARD PERRY

P Hyperion Records Limited, London, 1990C Hyperion Records Limited, London, 2007

(Originally issued on Hyperion CDA66423)

The front illustration is taken from a Bible illuminated in Paris c1250London, British Library, MS Harley 1526, f.31r

A wonderful collection. Lusciously sung sensuous music a remarkableaddition to the distinguished series of records from Gothic Voices (Gramophone)A compelling musical experience and a provocative intellectual one(The Good CD Guide)

gothic voices - the marriage of heaven and hell.pdf

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