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Welcome to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

When I say the word “troubadour,” what image comes to mind? Many picture a poor wandering bard carrying a lute, harp, or medieval bowed instrument. This romanticized image is fun, but it isn't completely correct: it more closely resembles the musicians-for-hire who were called jongleurs or joglars. The troubadours, on the other hand, came mostly from the aristocracy, and not all of them wandered, by any means, although many of them did play instruments. Their poetry and music were court entertainment, performed for an educated and fairly sophisticated audience. And, as we’ll discover this hour on Harmonia--not all of them were men.

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MUSIC TRACK
Estampies and Danses Royales: Le Manuscrit du Roi, ca. 1270–1320
Hespèrion XXI & Jordi Savall
Alia Vox | 884385212209 (2007)
Tr. 7 Anonymous: La quarte estampie royal (4:46)

We heard Hespèrion XXI and Jordi Savall-- “La quarte estampie royal,” a dance tune from the Manuscrit du Roi, a collection of over 600 songs and dances from the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

Now we have come to the winter—Frost, snow, wind...The birds are quiet; they do not wish to sing. The branches are brown; the leaves and flowers do not grow. The nightingale who wakes me when the Month of May is here, sings no more.

These are the words of Azalais de Porcairagues, who lived in Provence during the 12th century, and it’s among the poems known to have issued from the pen, or the mouth, of a woman troubadour, or trobairitz--t-r-o-b-a-i-r-i-t-z.

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Troubadour and trobairitz are the labels historians use for elite poet-musicians who worked in what is now Southern France during the late 11th and 12th centuries, in the literary language of Old Occitan. (Trouvère is the analogous term that came to be used in Old French dialects as these practices spread North in the 12th and 13th centuries.) Troubadours and trouvères are associated with lyric poetry on the subject of fin amors or courtly love; the distant, unrequited devotion to an idealized noble lady. Trobairitz poets sometimes kept the same narrative perspective, but others responded from their positions as the subject of idealized love, commenting on the inadequacy of the relationships imagined by male troubadours.

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Like most poet-musicians of her time, very little of Azalais’ work was recorded in writing; in fact, [Ar ehm el frech temps vengüt], “Now we have come to the winter,” is her only surviving poem, and it does not include musical notation. Let’s hear a new setting created by Seán Dagher, whom some of you may know as a folk musician, singer of sea chanteys, and composer and singer heard sometimes in the video game Assassin’s Creed. This is from a 2013 collaboration with the early music ensemble La Nef, with soprano Shannon Mercer.

MUSIC TRACK
Trobairitz: Poems of Women Troubadours
La Nef & Shannon Mercer
Analekta | AN29846 (2013)
Seán Dagher/Azalais de Porcairages
Tr. 5 Ar em al freg temps vengut (Nous voici parvenus a la froidure, Now We Have Come to the Winter) (5:56)

Soprano Shannon Mercer and La Nef performing the poem [Ar ehm el frech temps vengüt] “Ar em al freg temps vengut,” “Now we have come to the winter,” by trobairitz Azalais de Porcairages, in a 2013 setting by folk music performer and composer Seán Dagher.

The tenso is a type of debate poem common in troubadour poetry, either an exchange between two poets or an imaginary dialogue by a single poet. This next one is attributed to trobairitz Garsenda, Countess of Provence and wife of the king’s brother, and troubadour Guy de Cavaillon, whose vida, or biography, says he was in love with her. 

This scenario is typical of the courtly love trope - an idealized noble Lady, usually the wife of the troubadour’s patron or employer, put on a pedestal, with the lover swearing to serve her faithfully, whether or not she returned this love. It was enough to have " her favor" – and in fact, the unrequited or in some way forbidden aspect of this love was one of its most important components. The lover was spiritually ennobled through this love that had no expectation of fulfillment.

In this dialogue, Garsenda says hey, Guy, you seem very well-suited as a lover, what are you waiting for? Speak up! ...and he replies that he doesn’t feel that he can speak up, because of her social rank, but his good deeds on her behalf should tell her as much as words would. The melody to this song is not extant; for this arrangement the words were set to a melody by troubadour Gaucelm Faidit.

MUSIC TRACK
España Eterna: Five Centuries of Music from Spain, 1200–1700
Jordi Savall
Warner Classics | 190295690724 (2018)
Gaucelm Faidit
Tr. 1 Vos que'm semblatz (3:55)

A recent re-release of Hespèrion XX’s recording of “Vos que'm semblatz des corals,” a tenso between Garsenda and Guy de Cavaillion to a melody by Gaucelm Faidit, sung by the late Montserrat Figueras and Joseph Benet.

You might think that a society taken with the idea of courtly love would be a relatively good place to be a woman, at least for the Middle Ages. Yes, women in Provence had the right to own land, and to inherit – most unusual for medieval Europe. And yes, the Cathar religion, widespread in Southern France until the Albigensian Crusade, was a dualist variation of Christianity in which women and men were spiritual equals and women could preach and attain equal rank in the church. But upper-class marriages were still arranged for financial and political advantages, and women of lower social classes certainly weren’t subject to the same idealization. These courtly love narratives were generally confined to poetry rather than acted upon in real life.

The language of the trobairitz reflects some of this reality, with text more direct and exposed in its feeling, often speaking of sadness, hypocrisy, and betrayal, sometimes from the very men who were giving lip-service to eternal loyalty and devotion in their own poetry. This canso, by Beatriz, Countess of Dia, is the only example of trobairitz poetry that has survived with its music notated. Her text reads: I sing, although I don't want to, so upset I am with this one whom I thought was my friend. My beauty, worth, and intelligence are all in vain, with him; I've been cast out as though I were worthless.

MUSIC TRACK
Mediterranea
Alla Francesca
Zig-Zag Territoires | ZZT090402 (2020)
Beatriz de Dia
Tr. 8 A chantar m'er de so qu'eu no volria (7:16)

Trobairitz Beatriz Comtessa de Dia’s “A chantar m'er de so qu'eu no volria” sung by Brigitte Lesne with Alla Francesca.

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Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

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MUSIC TRACK
Making Merrye: Joyful Medieval Songs and Dances
Sirinu
The Gift of Music | CCLCDG1062 (2003)
Anonymous
Tr. 8 Ductia No. 4

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Welcome back…we’re exploring the music of women troubadours this hour on Harmonia.

Only one song by the trobairitz survived with its melody. So, today’s performers are faced with a problem: you have to either create a new melody or borrow another that fits the poem. But medieval poet-musicians themselves used a similar process. Another canso by Beatriz de Dia, "Estat ai en gran cossirer,” shows up with a melody by troubadour Raimon de Miraval. In this text, Beatriz says she’s been deep in thought lately over a knight who once was hers. She wants everyone to know, now, how much she loved him, and she regrets deeply that she didn't, to put it politely, sleep with him. In the verse that follows, she wishes frankly for another chance. She ends by saying that she'd give almost anything to have him in place of that husband of hers. We’ll hear two performances that take Raimon de Miraval’s melody for Beatriz’s poem as their starting point.

MUSIC TRACK
España Eterna: Five Centuries of Music from Spain, 1200–1700
Jordi Savall
Warner Classics | 190295690724 (2018)
Raimon de Miraval
Tr. 2 Estat ai en greu cossirier (6:10)

MUSIC TRACK
Unsung Heroine: The Imagined Life and Love of Beatriz de Dia
The Telling
First Hand Records | FHR123 (2021)
Raimon de Miraval
Tr. 14 Estat ai en greu cossirier (4:30)

Two performances based on Raimon de Miraval’s melody for Beatriz’s de Dia’s poem "Estat ai en gran cossirer.” We just heard an arrangement by The Telling, and before that, Monserrat Figueras and Hesperion XX.

Earlier in the program we heard the tenso “Vos que'm semblatz,” a dialogue between a troubadour and trobairitz. Now, we’ll hear a conversation between three women: Carenza, Alais, and Iselda. Alais and Iselda are asking Carenza for advice: should they marry or remain virgins? They express their reservations about troublesome husbands and childbearing. Carenza responds by advising them to marry a man who is [quote] "crowned with wisdom, by whom you will be fruitful of a glorious Son; she who espouses Him remains a virgin." In other words, to quote Hamlet, “get thee to a nunnery.”

MUSIC TRACK
The Sweet Look and the Loving Manner
Sinfonye
Hyperion CDA66625 (1993)
Tr. 1 Carenza, Alais, Iselda: Na Carenza (7:08)

(The ensemble) Sinfonye performed a tenso between three trobairitz: Carenza, Alais, and Iselda. Sung by Vivien Ellis with percussionist Jim Denley, Paula Chateauneuf, oud, and director Stevie Wishart on vielle. 

Our featured recording this hour is devoted to Spanish organist Francisco Correa de Arauxo, a 4-volume collection released on Ricercar in April 2020. Bernard Foccroulle and InAlto combine tracks from Francisco’s 1626 Libro de Tientos, an expansive organ and theory treatise, with his own polyphonic works and those of his influences and contemporaries. We’ll start with one of these tientos or organ fantasias.

MUSIC TRACK
Francisco Correa de Arauxo: Libro de tientos
InAlto
Ricercar 2022 | RIC435
Francisco Correa de Arauxo
D.1 Tr. 10 No. 35. Sexto tiento de medio registro de baxon de primero tono (3:31)

Francisco Correa de Arauxo’s Sexto tiento de medio registro de baxon de primero tono performed by organist Bernard Foccroulle on this hour’s featured release, Correa de Arauxo’s Libro de tientos.

Foccroulle and the singers and wind band of InAlto intersperse motets and chansons by Josquin, Cabezón, Gombert and La Rue, some of which served as source material for Correa de Arauxo’s tientos.

MUSIC TRACK
Francisco Correa de Arauxo: Libro de tientos
InAlto
Ricercar 2022 | RIC435
Josquin des Prez
D.3 Tr. 3 Ave Maria (3:39)

Bernard Foccroulle leads InAlto on an Ave Maria by Josquin des Prez, part of their April 2022 Ricercar release Francisco Correa de Arauxo: Libro de tientos.

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Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.
Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The writers for this edition of Harmonia were Angela Mariani and Chelsey Belt.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Wendy Gillespie, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

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