egabriel's blog

Extremely rare medieval manuscript

In the end of the 14th century a new musical style emerged. Specialists call it ars subtilior. It is of extremely complex and experimental nature, hard to sing and produce and with super refined musical notation. Obviously, only a small circle of true composers and music lovers could enjoy this musical style. Overall, it was the avant-garde music of the late medieval period. However, as a specialist and web analyst I find some controversy in this issue. Even though the ars subtilior music is highly refined, it was not merely a dead-end artistic movement.  Even more, it seems that some of ars subtilior music was widely known and distributed because many of the devices first used by its composers became standard compositional techniques in the Renaissance.

The center of ars subtilior was Avignon when it was a residence of a Pope who was fighting the opposing fraction in Rome headed by another Pope. From Avignon this musical style spread to Southern France, Paris and Northern Spain.  In the beginning of the 15th century it reached England and established itself there too. Ars subtilior music was exclusively secular. Its songs were telling of courtly love, war, chivalry and even praise of public figures.

The majority of what we know about ars subtilior French composers comes from a single invaluable and extremely rare medieval manuscript the Chantilly Codex.  It is the most important source of information, because we don’t know anything else about many of these music creators, including their biographies, dates of life and death. Brief texts that accompany the music and some of its lyrics allowed us to discover great composers of that time like Solage, Borlet, Grimace, Trebor, Senleches and others. The Chantilly Codex contains 112 polyphonic pieces, mostly ballads, motets, and rondeaus, that represent the most popular courtly dance styles of its time.

Music Teacher of English Kings

There is not much to say about English Renaissance composer Christopher Tye. This is what I found about him during my web research. As the latter, Christopher Tye was an English composer and organist. He studied at Cambridge University and became a Doctor of Music both there and at Oxford in 1545. Tye’s Latin church music includes masses and psalm settings. He also composed works in English for the Church of England, including services and anthems, and pieces for consorts of viols.

He was born approximately in 1505, was choirmaster of Ely Cathedral from about 1543 and also organist there from 1559. It is highly likely that he was a music teacher to young King Edward VI appointed by Henry VIII, who obviously admired Tye’s skills in music harmony. After the death of King Edward, Doctor Tye remained at Ely under the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary despite his apparent Protestant beliefs.  Only In 1560 he resigned his post at Ely and took holy orders, becoming Rector of Doddington, Cambridgeshire. He was still active under the rule of Queen Elizabeth and died in 1572 or 1573.

Unhappy Love of a Female Troubadour

I am very interested in the biographies of Early Medieval female composers, who created music, wrote poetry and were famous for their singing in the noble courts. You will find more about these talented women in my future blog entries, so read on.

In the 12th century and even the 13th century Occitan women troubadours became extremely famous in Europe. They were called the trobairitz. One of those most prominent musicians, singers and composers was Azalais de Porcairagues, also called in the sources as Azalaïs. She was composing in Occitan in the late 12th century. Nothing is known of the dates of Azalais’s birth and death.

In the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a short prose biography, that is called “vida”. Well, the sole source for Azalais’s life is her vida, which tells us that she came from the country round Montpellier, she was educated and a gentlewoman. The compiler of the collection mentions that Azalais loved an aristocrat Gui Guerrejat, and made many good songs about him. This means that, probably, the one poem of hers known to the compiler had been addressed to Gui.

From what we know, Gui was perhaps born around 1135, he fell ill early in 1178, became a monk, and died later in that year. From her name, and her vida, it can be concluded that she came from the village of Portiragnes, several miles south of Montpellier, close to the territories that belonged to Gui and to his brothers. There are theories that she is the mysterious joglar (”jongleur”) addressed in several poems by Raimbaut of Orange, who was a neighbour, and a cousin of Gui Guerrejat.

One poem attributed to Azalais, classically simple and emotional, survives today. As usually printed it has 52 lines, but the text varies considerably between manuscripts, suggesting that it was not written down immediately on its composition. No music is attached to it. The poem alludes to the death in 1173 of Raimbaut of Orange. It was possibly first composed before that date and emended afterwards. The poem’s envoi seems to mention Ermengarde of Narbonne, a well known patroness of troubadour poetry.

Renaissance Men of Middle Ages

Notker of Saint Gall and Saint Tuotilo were friends and studied together at Saint Gall’s monastic school, taught by Iso, and Moengall. Notker was born around 840, to a distinguished family in the modern canton of Saint Gall in Switzerland. He became a monk there and was chiefly active as a teacher, and displayed refinement of taste as poet and author. He died in 912 and was beatified by Catholic church in 1512. Notker completed Erchanbert’s chronicle, arranged a martyrology, composed a metrical biography of Saint Gall, and authored other works. The number of works ascribed to him is constantly increasing.  His early collection of Sequences, which he called “hymns”,  are, in fact, mnemonic poems for remembering the series of pitches sung during a melisma in plainchant, especially in the Alleluia. It is unknown how many or which of the works contained in the collection are his.

Saint Tuotilo was a medieval monk and composer, born in Ireland around 850. His feast day is celebrated on March 28. According to contemporaries, he was a large and powerfully built man. As Notker, he was educated at St. Gall and remained to become a monk there. Despite certain anachronism, historians state that Tuotilo could be called a renaissance man: he was a speaker, poet, hymnist, architect, painter, sculptor, metal worker, and mechanic. Tuotilo was buried at a chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine in St. Gall, which was later renamed for him.

Heavenly Music of the Organ

The musical instrument organ brings to my mind the scenes from the movies about the Dark Ages, churches and temples. Its sound impressed people from Middle Ages who wanted to get to heaven as close as possible. Every important event like funeral and wedding was accompanied at those times by organ's music.

Yet, in fact, an organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. It uses wind moving through metal or wood pipes and uses sampled organ sounds or oscillators to produce sound, which remains constant while a key is depressed. Its sounds vary widely in timbre and volume. They are divided according to ranks and controlled by the use of stops. Organs vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic yard to a height reaching five floors, and are located primarily in churches, concert halls, and homes. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the Western musical tradition, and carries a rich history connected with Christian liturgy and civic ceremony.

My favorite things

I like many unusual things.
For example, I adore serious classical music, especially for musical instrument - organ. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but that music is deep, powerful and so beautiful! It touches my soul, my heart, my feelings.
Since I work for Web Analytics Company AFG Solutions, I am listening to many organ works of German composer and organist Johann Sebastian Bach, and I know some stuff  about his life.
He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, an organist at St. George's Church. His father taught him to play violin. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach was proud of his family's musical achievements, and he drafted a genealogy, "Origin of the musical Bach family".
Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in the free genres such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas. High demand for religious music of his times placed sacred music at the centre of his repertory.
During his life he composed more than 1,000 works. Bach died "from the unhappy consequences of the very unsuccessful eye operation" at the age of 65.
Bach is now considered one of the most famous composers of all time.