Troubadours & their music: Part II continued

This week we continue with a few more of the most famous Troubadour poet/singers and their music. Part II begins here:

Bertran de Born (c. 1140–1215): de Born, both a troubadour and a nobleman, was as famous for his role in politics and warfare as for his poetry. His works often glorified conflict and the warrior's life, reflecting his personal involvement in the political struggles of his time, particularly the rebellion against King Henry II of England. Bertran's turbulent life and penchant for stirring discord earned him a mention in Dante's Inferno, where he is portrayed as a sower of strife. His poetry, however, remains a testament to the valor and complexity of medieval knighthood.

Bertran de Born in Hell, in Dante’s Inferno, an engraving by Gustave Doré

And so that you may carry news of me, know that I am Bertrand de Born,
he who gave evil counsel to the Young King.
I made the father and the son rebel against each other
—Dante’s Inferno XXVIII, 134 - 136

Bertran had a very complicated relationship with Richard. He was a supported of Henry the Young King, during Henry’s conflict with Richard, and a dispute over Bertran’s lands increased the hostility between he and Richard. Eventually they were reconciled and Bertran became a big supporter of Richard, and wrote songs in praise of him. Here’s his ode to war.

I love the spring-tide of the year
When leaves and blossoms do abound,
And well it pleases me to hear
The birds that make the woods resound
With their exulting voices.
And very well it pleases me.
Tents and pavilions pitched to see,
And oh, my heart rejoices
To see armed knights in panoply
Of war on meadow and on lea.

I like to see men put to flight
By scouts throughout the countryside,
I like to see, armed for the fight,
A host of men together ride;
And my delight’s unbounded
When castles strong I see assailed,
And outworks smashed, whose strength has failed,
And near the walls, surrounded
By moats, and by strong stakes enrailed,
The host that has the ramparts sealed.

It's actually a parody. The traditional courtly love song always begins with a praise of spring, which nature comes forth and romance blossoms. Bertran is turning that on its head. War also starts in the spring.

He was also not above bawdy irreverence. In a song after time at Henry's court:

In a courtly song Bertran says that only the conversation and beauty
of the Duchess Matilda prevented him from dying of boredom at the dull
and vulgar Norman court. ‘Her breast makes night seem day, and if you
could see further down the whole world would glow.’
— Gillingham, John. Richard I

Bertran is the one who dubbed Richard Sir Yea and Nay (Oc y Non, in Occitan)

Comtessa de Dia (late 12th century): One of the few known female troubadours, or trobairitz, Comtessa de Dia, sometimes known as Beatriz, is celebrated for her bold and eloquent expressions of love from a woman's perspective. She was married to a (not the) William of Poitiers, but apparently was in love with the troubadour Raimbaut of Orange, although scholars argue about the identity of both of these men...Her surviving works speak of unfulfilled desire and frustration, reversing the traditional roles of courtly love by placing the woman in the position of the longing lover. Her songs present her as the longing lover, demanding loyalty and affection, and ready for physical intimacy. For a medieval woman, she is quite direct:

I have been in heavy thought
over a cavalier I'd had.
I want it clear to everyone
that I've loved him to excess,
and now I see he's left me: pre-
text, I refused him my love.
I seem to be mistaken, then,
as to what was going on,
dressed or in bed.

I'd love to hold my cavalier
naked one evening in my arms,
he would think he were on fire
if I'd be his pillow then.
For I burn more for him than
Floris did for Blancheflor,
deliver him my love, my heart, my
sensuality, my eyes, my life.
— Estat ai en greu cossirier
translation Paul Blackburn, from Proensa, An Anthology of Troubadour Poetry.

Guiraut de Bornelh (c. 1138–c. 1215): Guiraut was widely admired. Petrarch dubbed him the "Master of the Troubadours." About 90 of his poems survive, mostly on typical troubadour topics of courtly love, but he also wrote a song in praise of Richard the Lionheart, and there are indications Guiraut may have gone on the Third Crusade. His most recorded song is Reis Gloria, an alba (a dawn song), full of Christian imagery but with a romance lurking in the background.

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (c. 1155–1207): Raimbaut de Vaqueiras lived the life of a true wandering troubadour, traveling from court to court across southern Europe. He started as a humble jongleur before becoming a knight and trusted advisor to Boniface I of Montferrat. His works reflect this dual identity, blending the courtly themes of love with the martial ideals of knighthood. Raimbaut's poetry often took the form of debate songs, known as tensos, and his role in the Fourth Crusade inspired some of his most well-known compositions. But my favorite is Altas Undas ("tall waves"), so much my favorite that it is in the book I am writing.

Tall waves coming over the sea,
which the wind makes sway hither and thither
do you have any news of my lover,
who crossed the sea? I can't see him coming back!
Ah, god, this love!
Sometimes it gives me joy and sometimes pain!
—Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, ca. 1200, translation via Trobar.org[1]

Performance styles, instrumentation, musical notation

While the lyrics of perhaps thousands of troubadour songs have survived, we have melodies (just the pitch) for something like 300 of them.¹ And that is virtually all we know about the music itself and how it is performed.

We do not have tempi, nor instrumentation, nor a certain indication of how they were performed and accompanied. We can draw inferences from the many medieval drawings of troubadours, but we are making deductions. As a result, there are many performance styles one may encounter for troubadour songs. Those interested in ‘historically accurate performances’ may enjoy these two articles (song, instruments) by the Benjamin Bagby, the director/founder of Sequentia, a group specializing in early music. He is frank about the difficulties of being faithful to a tradition we don’t fully understand:

However, in today’s world of medieval music one can also encounter the concert experience as pretentious pseudo-liturgy; as ironic, edgy cabaret; as ponderous mystery play or cute, costumed courtly entertainment; as ecstatic ethnic percussion session; as extravagantly-orchestrated symphonic poem; as dutiful list of dry musical examples; as SCA free-for-all, etc. For some of these performance modes, technical ability (to play an instrument well or sing in tune with a consistent production) is not considered essential. Medieval song, having no living traditions except the ones we create for it, thrives even in the harshest of environments and adapts easily to the disguises performers require it to inhabit. No other ‚historical’ music is thus fated to absorb such intense projections and fantasies from its modern performers.

Thus we may find a wealth of different performance styles:

Spoken, with accompaniment.

Striking, if very speculative:

Bagpipes! (Which do have some justification. And I love this performance!)

Ensemble Gilles Binchois: J’aim sans penser, with: fiddle, rebec, gittern, bagpipe, percussion. Early 14th century

Solo voice, ThomasBrinkley. Binkley studied the practices of Middle Eastern musicians and applied them to ancient European music.

A voice and lute, Paul Hillier

Voice and Harp:

Or, a full ensemble.

Translators and translations

The troubadours have attracted interest from a wide variety of translators. Perhaps the most well-known is the famous poet Ezra Pound, who became consumed with them, traveling Europe to read manuscripts and learn more. W. D. Snodgrass, a well-known translator, had this amusing take on the troubadours:

In addition to being lured by the formal beauty of the troubadours' works, at times he also has enjoyed using translations to help overturn accepted notions. "Our vision of the Provencal Troubadour and his songs has almost completed changed," Snodgrass observes. "Gone is the wistful figure singing sweetly ... to a far-off, idealized lady.... By now, we are almost ready to say that Troubadour songs have only two subjects: one, let's go crusading and kill lots of Moors; two, let's go get in the boss's wife" (Six Troubadour Songs).

Proensa is a widely regarded book of translations by Paul Blackburn.

Trobar.org provides a wide set of translations online, for free, a wonderful resource.

Some period ensembles that do interesting and historically informed work, who have been represented in this series: Paul Hillier, Sequentia, Martin Best Ensemble, Ensemble Tre Fontane, Ensemble Gilles Binchois, René Clemencic, Hilliard Ensemble, David Munrow’s Early Music Ensemble of London and Alla Francesca.

Next up: we’ll dig deeper in Arabic and female influences on the troubadour tradition.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadour