Medieval-Renaissance History 12 September 2016

Secular music: troubadours, goliards and trobairitz

Stolba, pp. 93-101
Troubadours
Where did they come from?
Occitania, LOccitane
Troubadours s france
Trouveres n france
Who were they?
Aristocrats, composers and performers, poets

What did they do?

Wrote and performed music and poetry
Stay in one place, working for a family, maybe going to a different every so
often
Trobar to compose/invent

What is the female version called?

trobairitz
We know about 20 trobairitz and about 20-30 pieces of literature by them,
mostly poetry
Example- (only one w both petry and music) comtessa beatriz de dia
What are the rough dates of the troubadour Classical period?
Troubadours are 100-1350
Classical period 1170 1215
Which other geographical areas developed troubadour-like performers?
Minnesingers Germany
Trovadorismo Portugal

What is courtly love?

Concept of illicit, uncontinented, unattainable love. Example someone of

court is in love w a woman who is married. Necessitates need for exile. Need
to gain spiritual edification to become worthy of this persons love.
Genres, forms and styles of troubadour songs
Style of poetry 3 categories:
trobar leu light ; ordinary, easy to
understand
Trobar ric rich ; ornate, more serious
Trobar clus closed ; esoteric, mysterious,
intellectual
Main forms canso = song 5 or 6 stanzas (love)
Dansa/ballada lively ; refrain
Crusade songs
Sirventes political, narrator is often soldier
Tenso political dialogue
Surviving literature
~2600 poems
Volumes called chansonnieres

Three famous troubadours

1. Duke William IX of Aquitaine earliest troubadour that we know about;
his father was active in crusades and politics and he brought back a
number of musicians as prisoners from his crusades, so IX is thought
to be influenced by them
2. Bernard de Ventadorn 1145 1175
3. Bortran de born 1140 - 1215
What is the difference between a troubadour and a joglar?
Troubadour wrote and performed their own songs
Joglars only performers.

What was the relationship between these two types of musician like?
Troubadours looked down upon joglars but also sort of respected because the
joglars are the only ones that could like taint the troubadours work. Some
troubadours ahd specific joglars for their works

Goliards

What is a goliard?
Expressed dissatisfaction w church, educated, no religious conviction

What did they write about?

The church itself and its problems.

How did they often structure their writings?

Satirical, used liturgy as their basis

Two famous works by Goliards:

Drinkers Mass
Gamblers Mass

A famous collection of Goliard work:

Carmina Burana

Which composer famously used this collection in his own work?

Orff