2 | 2020 – Varia

ARTICLES

Epic Caesura as Lyrical Problem
By Fabio Sangiovanni
This paper is meant to analyze the epic caesuras in the Old-French lyric poems with melody, according to those reported by Mölk and Wolfzettel’s Répertoire métrique. From a methodological point of view the relationship between editorial attitudes and musicology will be studied in the face of the problem of keeping or eliminating this kind of caesura. From the practical side the aim is to verify if the preserved melodies can give evidence on the authorial and not accidental nature of these supernumerary syllables: a sequence of promising phenomena observed in the first part of the paper is then refuted by another sequence of more aleatory data in the second part.

On the Attribution of Compains Jehan, un gieu vous voel partir (Lkr 1,9)
By Gianluca Bocchino and Luca Gatti
The essay discusses, from a textual and a musical point of view, the contested authorship of Compains Jehan, un gieu vous voel partir (Lkr 1,9), a jeu-parti assigned to Adam de Givenci by chansonniers MT and to Adam de la Halle by QW. A new critical edition is proposed; a melodic analysis, also extended to the corpus of jeux-partis, is offered in order to demonstrate the paternity of this text.

Carmina Burana versus Notre-Dame: on the Manuscript Tradition of Some Conductus
By Christelle Cazaux and Anne-Zoé Rillon-Marne
This study deals with seven Latin conductus transmitted in thirteenth-century sources, among others in the Codex Buranus (D-Mbs Clm. 4660) and in the manuscript F (I-Fl Plut. 29.1). It aims to take a closer look at these pieces, which are written down either in monophonic form and adiastematic neumes, either in monophonic or polyphonic form and square notation. Melodic comparisons highlight some variants, suggesting a plurality of traditions within the repertoire of the conductus and questioning the common idea that the pieces copied in the Codex Buranus are monophonic “reductions” of polyphonic compositions transmitted by the sources of Notre Dame. Like other genres of the Latin or vernacular poetry, conductus are subject to textual and melodic mouvance. Is it due to a corrupted or impoverished tradition? Or is it the result of a conscious reworking, adapting, or even recomposing process? In light of this study, it seems necessary to reconsider the tradition of the Latin conductus, confronting the manuscripts usually associated with Notre Dame to a wider range of other sources.

The Role of Rhythm in Medieval Monody. The Case of Fortz cauza es
By Davide Daolmi
Based on the study of Fortz cauza es (BdT 167.22) and the contrafactum E serventois arriere (RS 381), this article reconsiders the role of music in relation to the prosody of the text. Musical rhythm is looked at as the overarching metrical component of the verse so as to preserve melodic accents at once with the correct distribution of the accents in the text. The study takes into account performance practice (both ancient and modern), distinguishes between oral and written transmissions, and proposes editing solutions that involve the music.

«La Chanson un peu particulière de Richard Cœur de Lion». The Role of Music for the Definition of the Rotrouenge
By Stefano Milonia
«[...] et la chanson un peu particulière de Richard Cœur de Lion». With these words Pierre Bec ends his list of the songs that constitute the elusive genre of the rotrouenge. Indeed, the features of the rotrouenge are not clearly defined: the most authoritative scholar who established the corpus of Old French lyrics included in this genre is Friedrich Gennrich, who argued that the essence of the rotrouenge had to be found in its music. However, a fundamental characteristic of medieval music is variance, and errors may occur along the process of transmission. This essay will trace back the steps of Richard Lionheart’s Ja nus hons pris ne dira sa raison, from its manuscripts to its editions, and try to ascertain – if an error has been committed – who is to blame: the Ancients or the Moderns.

NOTES

New Traces of Ars Nova from the Fondo Datini: the Oldest Datable Attestation of Francesco degli Organi’s (Landini) Works
By Antonio Calvia
New literary evidence of five Italian Ars Nova ballatas has emerged from the Datini fund of the State Archives of Prato. The analysis shows how the ballatas – four set to music by Francesco degli Organi (Landini) and one by Guglielmo di Francia – were transcribed directly from a musical manuscript. Additional investigations on identifying the hand responsible for writing the ballatas will confirm the new witness’s dating to 1396-1397, making this the oldest dated witness of Landini’s work. Further evidence, datable shortly after, comes from a writing exercise preserved in another document within the Datini collection. A hand, probably identifiable with that of the «fanciullo» Piero di Lapo Mazzei, entered nineteen times a portion of the ripresa of the ballata Fortuna ria set to music by Francesco Landini.

Gregorian without Errors? Restoration Issues
By Damien Poisblaud
It seems natural to us to search for the authentic form of Gregorian chant, as it is thought to have become corrupted over the centuries. But can restoring the melodies of this corpus be reduced to finding its original form free of all error? Indeed, what can we know about melodies that have been written only after several centuries of practice? How can we detect the original version when we know that there was no “composition” in the modern sense? A set of traditional vocal practices constitutes the cradle of Gregorian chant, and a return to these vocal practices may well be the key to rediscovering this chant in all its original purity and strength.