Song and Dance Music to 1300 (Chapter 4)

I. European Society, 800–1300

A. 9th-century successors to Roman Empire
1. Byzantine Empire: Asia minor and southeastern Europe
a. preserved Greek and Roman science, architecture and culture
b. Byzantine scribes responsible for preservation of ancient Greek writings
2. Arab world: strongest, rapidly expanded, vast territory
a. including modern day Pakistan through the Middle East
b. extended Greek philosophy, science, fostered trade and industry, contributed to medicine,
chemistry, technology, and mathematics
c. patrons of literature, architecture and other arts
3. western Europe
a. weakest and poorest, fragmented
b. Coronation of Charlemagne, 800
i. Charlemagne promoted learning and artistic achievement
ii. improved education, encouraged primary schools in monasteries and cathedral towns,
sponsored scholarship and the arts
iii. courts: centers for intellectual and cultural life
B. Death of Louis the Pious (r. 814–43) (Charlemagne’s son), empire divided, modern boundaries emerge
1. western part became France
a. until 1200 French king relatively weak
b. courts provided opportunities for poets and musicians
i. duchy of Aquitaine in southwestern France, home to important musical traditions
2. eastern part of empire (Holy Roman Empire)
a. German kings claimed title as Charlemagne’s successors
b. 1250 power: local princes, dukes, bishops and administrators
c. competed for prestige: hire best singers, instrumentalists, composers
C. Economic progress in western Europe
1. technological advances in agriculture, increased food supply
2. 1000 to 1300 population tripled
3. 1300 western Europe surpassed Byzantine and Islamic World in economic strength
D. Medieval economy
1. mostly agricultural, rural population
2. society organized into 3 classes (“estates”)
a. priests, nuns, monks: prayed
b. nobility and knights: controlled land, fought wars
c. commoners, vast majority of the population: worked land controlled by nobles
3. 12th century growth of towns and cities
a. independent artisans organized into guilds
b. 1300, new middle class between nobles and peasants, contributed in town governance
E. Learning and the arts
1. guilds organized apprentice systems for men and women
2. 1050–1300 cathedral schools established teaching future church officials
3. after 1200, independent schools for laymen spread rapidly, fostering of secular culture, rise of
literacy
4. 12th century on: universities founded
a. women mostly excluded
b. ancient Greek and Arabic writings translated into Latin
c. Roger Bacon and St. Thomas Aquinas make contributions to science and philosophy
d. epic, lyric, and narrative poems grew independent from ancient models

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 1 of 6
II. Latin and Vernacular Song
A. Latin song
1. versus: sacred, attached to the liturgy
a. rhymed poetry, regular pattern of accents
b. 11th to 13th centuries, monophonic versus in Aquitaine
c. influenced troubadours and Aquitanian polyphony
2. conductus: sacred or secular subject
a. 12th century northern France, serious Latin song
b. rhymed, rhythmical text
3. versus and conductus: newly composed melodies, not based on chant
4. Latin no longer native tongue, taught in schools
a. songs composed for performance outside religious contexts
b. staffless neumes; cannot be transcribed
5. goliard songs:
a. late 10th through 13th centuries
b. goliards: wandering students and clerics
c. religious and moral themes, satire, celebration of earthly pleasures
B. Vernacular song
1. most vernacular song not preserved, most medieval society was nonliterate
a. almost no descriptions of musical life in rural areas
b. few songs preserved through quotation in polyphonic music for educated audiences
2. epics: long heroic narrative
a. transmitted orally before being written down, sung to melodic formulas
b. chanson de geste (“song of deeds”)
i. epic in northern French vernacular, recounts deed of national heroes
ii. Song of Roland (ca. 1100) Charlemagne’s battle against the Muslims in Spain, most famous
iii. about 100 others exist, 12th century, little music preserved
C. Minstrels and other professional musicians
1. music not preserved in manuscripts
2. bards: poet-singers in Celtic lands
3. jongleurs: lower-class itinerant traveling musicians
4. 13th century minstrel: specialized musicians
a. many employed at court or city
b. varied backgrounds: former clerics, children of merchants, craftsmen, knights
5. 12th century guilds: legal protections, rights to perform, rules for conduct
a. musicians gained greater social acceptance
III. Troubadour and Trouvère Song
A. Aristocratic sponsorship, cultivated in courts and cities
1. 12th century French poet-composer
a. troubadours (feminine trobairitz): southern France, Occitan (langue d’oc)
b. trouvères: northern France, Old French (langue d’oïl)
2. lives recounted in fanciful biographies, vidas
a. some were nobles: Guillaume IX, Comtessa de Dia
b. some born to servants at court, e.g. Bernart de Ventadorn (?ca. 1130–ca. 1200)
i. best-known and influential troubadour
ii. entered service of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204)
iii. brought troubadour tradition to the north, inspired development of trouvère songs
3. chansonniers (song books): manuscript anthologies
a. 2,600 troubadour poems survive, one-tenth with melodies
b. 2,100 extant trouvère poems, two-thirds have music
c. variants of text and music

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 2 of 6
 i. contrafactum: new words to existing melodies
d. poems and melodies composed and transmitted orally
e. preserved retrospectively
f. performance often entrusted to jongleur or minstrel
B. Poetry
1. notable for refinement, elegance, and intricacy
2. varying subject, form, and treatment
3. most are strophic; dance songs include refrain
4. genres of the troubadours: canso (love song), alba (dawn song), balada (dance song), planh
(lament), and tenso (debate song)
5. fin’ amors (Occitan), or fine amour (French), “refined love” central theme
a. formal, idealized love (courtly love)
b. object was a real woman of noble birth
i. adored from a distance, discretion, respect, humility
ii. lady depicted was lofty and unattainable
c. style example: Can vei la lauzeta mover (NAWM 8), canso by Ventadorn
i. most widely disseminated troubadour song
ii. demonstrates refinement and eloquence, lover was himself refined
6. women poets adopted similar language
a. style example: A chantar (NAWM 9), by Comtessa de Dia, only trobairitz song to survive with
music
C. Melodies
1. strophic songs, mostly syllabic; occasional groups of notes on penultimate syllable of a line
2. narrow melodic range, within 9th
3. move mostly by step; arch-shaped phrases
4. not conceived in church modes; most fit modes 1 and 7
5. form:
a. troubadour melodies: new music for each phrase
b. AAB form in some troubadour and most trouvère melodies
6. rhythm not indicated
a. written down using chant notation
b. varying performance interpretation
c. disagreement among scholars applying meter to syllables
d. considerable variations between editions
7. accompaniment not notated
a. pictures and accounts indicate plucked or bowed string instruments
D. Musical plays
1. built around narrative pastoral songs
2. Jeu de Robin et de Marion (The Play of Robin and Marion, ca. 1284), most famous, by Adam de la
Halle
a. Adam de la Halle (cal. 1240–?1288), trouvère
i. first whose complete works collected in manuscript, held in great esteem
b. draws on tradition of pastourelle: knight seeks to seduce or abduct a shepherdess
c. style example: Robins m’aime (NAWM 10), rondeau
i. dance song with refrain in 2 phrases
ii. music also used for the verse (ABaabAB), capital letters indicate refrain
E. Dissemination
1. origins of troubadours unclear
2. possible sources or influences: Arabic songs, the versus, secular Latin songs
3. late-12th-century tradition spread north to trouvères, then England, Germany, Italy, Spain
4. 1208 Albigensian Crusade, two-decade war: aristocratic support collapsed

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 3 of 6
 5. troubadours dispersed, active in Italy until 14th century
6. trouvères in northern France through the 13th century
a. admired and preserved troubadour song
IV. Song in Other Lands
A. English song
1. French: language of kings and nobility in England after Norman Conquest of 1066
2. English held lands in France, royal house sponsored troubadours and trouvères
3. King Richard I (the Lionheart, 1157–1199) trouvère; composed songs in French
4. Middle English, language of lower and middle classes
a. few melodies for songs in Middle English survive
b. surviving poems meant to be sung
B. Minnesingers: German
1. knightly poet-musicians; troubadour model
2. flourished between 12th and 14th centuries
3. wrote in Middle High German
4. Minnelieder (love songs): emphasis on faithfulness, duty, and service
a. reflected noble’s loyalty to king, Christian loyalty to church
b. strophic; melodic form AAB (bar form)
i. Stollen (A section): each uses same poetic meter, rhyme scheme, and melody
ii. Abgesang (B section): longer, may end with all or part of the Stollen melody
c. rhythm unclear in notation
5. style example: Palästinalied (Palestine Song, NAWM 11) by Walther von der Vogelweide (?ca.
1170–?ca.1230)
C. Laude (sing. lauda): Italian
1. sacred Italian monophonic songs
2. several dozen laude melodies survive
3. composed in cities, not court
4. strophic devotional songs, often with refrains, mostly syllabic
5. sung in religious processions, gatherings for prayer
6. lauda tradition continued for several centuries
a. late 14th century, most were polyphonic
D. Cantigas: Spanish or Portuguese
1. Cantigas de Santa María, honor the Virgin Mary
a. collection of over 400 songs in Galician-Portuguese
b. prepared 1270–90 under King Alfonso el Sabio (the Wise) of Castile and León (northwestern
Spain)
c. preserved in 4 beautifully illuminated manuscripts
d. most songs relate miracles performed by the Virgin
2. form:
a. songs all have refrains; illustrations of dancers in Cantigas manuscripts
b. verses in AAB form
c. music for B section also used for refrain
d. overall form A bba A bba…A; refrain appears first
3. style example: Non sofre Santa María (NAWM 12)
V. Medieval Instruments
A. Illuminated manuscripts depict variety of medieval instruments
1. most instruments came to Europe from Asia
a. through Byzantine Empire or Arabs in North Africa and Spain
2. early history is obscure, nomenclature inconsistent
B. 13th-century miniature illustration, string instruments
1. vielle (fiddle): principal bowed instrument

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 4 of 6
 a. predecessor of Renaissance viol and modern violin
b. varied in shape and size
c. 5 strings, tuned in 4ths and 5ths
d. melody supported by drones on open strings
2. hurdy-gurdy: 3-stringed vielle
a. sounded by rotating wheel inside, turned by crank
b. levers change pitches on melody string, other strings sound drones
3. harp: type originated in British Isles
4. psaltery:
a. plucked strings attached to frame over wooden sounding board
b. remote ancestor of harpsichord and piano
C. Cantigas de Santa María miniature, wind and percussion instruments
1. transverse flute: wood or ivory, without keys
2. shawm: double reed, similar to the oboe
3. trumpet: straight, lacked valves, played harmonic series
4. pipe and tabor
a. high whistle fingered with left hand
b. right hand beat small drum with a stick
D. Other instruments
1. bagpipe: player inflated bag (animal skin or bladder)
a. air through the chanter, drone pipes, all sounded by reeds
2. bells: played in church, used as signals
3. organs:
a. 1100, monastic church, early forms of organ
b. 1300 organs common in cathedrals
c. portative organ: portable, single set of pipes
i. right hand played keys, left worked bellows
d. positive organ: played on table
i. assistant pumped the bellows
VI. Dance Music
A. Dancing accompanied by songs or instrumental music
1. usually performed from memory, few melodies survive
B. Dance songs
1. carole: 12th through 14th centuries, France
a. most popular social dance
b. circle dance accompanied by song sung by dancers
c. sometimes joined by instrumentalists
d. only 2 dozen melodies survive
C. Instrumental music
1. 13th and 14th centuries 50 instrumental dance tunes survive
a. most monophonic, some polyphonic keyboard
b. earliest notated instrumental music
c. steady beat, clear meter, repeated sections, predictable phrasing
d. melody notated, performed with improvised accompaniment
2. estampie: most common instrumental dance form
a. several sections, each played twice with 2 different endings
i. first with open (ouvert), incomplete cadence
ii. second with closed (clos), full cadence
b. triple meter, relatively short sections
c. style example: Le manuscrit du roi (The Manuscript of the King) (NAWM 13), late-13th-century
chansonnier

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 5 of 6
 3. istampita: 14th-century Italian relative
a. same form as estampie
b. duple or compound meter, longer sections, more repetition
VII. The Lover’s Complaint
A. Troubadours’ successors
1. lyric songs to this day share traits with troubadour songs
a. strophic, diatonic, primarily syllabic, stepwise, range of an octave, clear pitch center
b. short musical phrases, rising to high point, fall to a cadence
c. most common subject: pure, unattainable love
2. 18th and19th centuries, renewed interest in Middle Ages
a. collection and publication of medieval poetry
b. Adam de la Halle’s works transcribed and published, 1872

HWM10_CH4_Outline.doc Page 6 of 6