The Chansons of the Troubadours and Trouvères: A Study of the Melodies and Their Relationto the Poems by Hendrik van der WerfReview by: Leila BirnbaumNotes, Second Series, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Sep., 1973), pp. 44-47Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/896025 .

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a magnificent edition and explication in Professor Slim's hands, excellently support- ed by the University of Chicago Press. This work reflects the best of American musical scholarship and book publication, and every

library making any pretense at representing such scholarship on its shelves should has- ten to acquire it.

MARTIN PICKER Rutgers University

The Chansons of the Troubadours and Trouveres: A Study of the Melodies and Their Relation to the Poems. By Hendrik van der Werf. Utrecht, The Netherlands: A. Oosthoek's Uitgeversmaatschappij nv, 1972. [166 p.; $15.00]

Hendrik van der Werf's handsomely produced volume, clear in format, repre- sents at least a decade's work on secular monophony of the Middle Ages. The book is meant to replace his 1964 Columbia University dissertation and indeed does so in most respects. Preceded by a list of manuscript sources, Part I is divided into five chapters: Introduction, Written and Oral Traditions, Rhythm and Meter, Me- lodic Characteristics, and Elements of Form, each with numerous sub-titles. Part II, about equal in length to Part I, offers a selection of four troubadour and eleven trouvere chansons, complete with commen- tary, transcriptions of extant multiple ver- sions vertically aligned under a single brace to facilitate comparison, and the full text of each poem with facing translations by F. R. P. Akehurst. Part II is followed by an intelligent and useful Select Bibliog- raphy (including works quoted or referred to in the main body of the text and general works on the German stropic song con- temporary to the French chanson), a glos- sary, and an index. As a serious (and indeed the only) book-length musicological study in English of the troubadour-trouvere repertory, the book is clearly necessary for any college or University library. Although this review expresses a few criticisms, the reviewer heartily commends the book to scholars and students of medieval music.

The author states his intention of making a significant contribution to both musico- logical and philological studies (p. 13). An indication that the author is not advancing philology is his reliance on the state of research in medieval literature to confirm his own beliefs favoring an oral tradition (p. 27). While the analysis of melodic struc- ture together with an argument for an oral tradition contributes much musicologically both to our understanding of the transmis-

sion of the chansons and to our musical perception of the genre, this study would seem to offer not a philological contribution per se but, rather, a refreshing expansion of focus, for music students and musicolo- gists alike, to include the oft-neglected but important literary facet of these chansons.

The Introduction attempts to describe concisely the historical context in which these chansons were composed, performed, and preserved in manuscripts. However, brevity must be weighed against attention to detail. For example, he states that mid- thirteenth-century France had "no one of- ficial and codified language with a standard orthography. . . . Nevertheless we find just enough similarities among the pre- served literary works . . . to justify speaking of two languages: Provenpal or better, Old Provencal . . . and Old French" (p. 14)." Recent philological studies suggest that "oc- citanean" is a more adequate term than Old Provencal to designate the language of the troubadours, because Provencal was only one of many local dialects, none of which was taken over in toto into the koine (the common literary language extending from Limousin to the Mediterranean).

The author concludes that the evidence does not support a persistent theory that portrait miniatures in the chansonniers- portraying a performer with a musical in- strument-necessarily suggest instrumental accompaniment, since this theory ignores "the medieval penchant for portraying a person with the clearly recognizable attri- butes of his speciality, and it is well-known that the harp and the lyre are the age-old symbols of the poet" (p. 20). Let us hope that the worth of this observation will stim- ulate further research on the traditions of portrait miniature, illumination, and mar- ginalia, and thus provide more information about the dating of the manuscripts and

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the method of compiling the chansons. For it is well known that by the thirteenth century the demand for books was so great that copyists, illuminators, and binders could no longer enjoy with their clients that special monastic intimacy among readers and writers often capable of exchanging roles; rather, the demand prompted the creation of copy workshops that could turn out standard editions.

Since one goal of the book is to discuss the relation between text and melody, it is understandable that the author intro- duces us to the tradition of courtly love and the content of the poems. We regret, however, that he misses an opportunity for preparing the reader to accept more readily one main thrust of his book: "initially most or all chansons were transmitted in an exclusively oral tradition" (p. 28), thereby accounting for differences among multiple versions frequently attributed to scribal in- accuracy. By depending on what appears to be a subjective and "modern" interpreta- tion of poets as striving "to rise above the level of the ordinary love songs . . . [to write poetry motivated by a] fashionable attempt at being different" (p. 21), our author both distorts our view of the chan- sons' poetic construction and robs himself of literary corroboration for one of his principal arguments. Numerous studies of the medieval lyric argue convincingly for the view that, rather than giving his Lady a blind confession, the poet played with a gamut of ritualized themes crystallized into formulas inside of which the singularity of the message was unimportant. Individual variation can be understood as a clever exploitation of cliches perceived in the ar- rangement of these inherited expressive elements. Just as the poetic construction exploits certain formulas, so too might the melodies exploit certain recitation formulas (our author suggests a comparison with liturgical psalmody). Using this interpreta- tion, he need not have relied so heavily on Curt Sachs's ethnomusicological study, The Wellsprings of Music, much of whose terminology (affix, suprafix, infrafix, infix, secondal structure, etc.) van der Werf adopts to support the theory that "many one-step melodies from all over the world" (p. 49) share "concepts of melody and compositional methods of the medieval song composers" (p. 47). He might then have circumvented the hysteria of a recent

review of his book in the Times Literary Supplement: "Finding that musicological studies were of little help . . . he turned to ethnomusicology and swallowed whole a complex theory of melodic structure loaded with Teutonic terminology of doubtful derivation.. . . Ethnomusicology, though fashionable, is a blind alley."

While the author dejectedly chants that "we are unlikely ever to find the answer to the most intriguing question concerning the transmission of these chansons: which one of the preserved versions is closest to the original?" (p. 33), his theory about an originally oral transmission using melodic recitation formulas suggests that the concept of an "original" composition may be inap- plicable. This theory also calls into question the appropriateness of searching for inter- nal coherence (p. 30) and of asking whether two versions of a given melody were copied from a single model (p. 31) without first asking how we can distinguish between different versions of the same piece and different pieces.

Van der Werf favors the term "scale" rather than "mode" to describe the organiz- ing principles of melodic construction (ch. 4). While this reviewer finds his stated reason for this choice obscure-"there is only a gradual difference between the way in which scales impart structure to medieval melodies and to music of more recent centuries" (p. 58)-there is much to recom- mend it nevertheless in the author's special context. The designating of mode in plain- chant relies on the last tone of a melody in order to facilitate the selection of an appropriate psalm tone, whereas van der Werf's basis tone designates the principal structural tone, regardless of its placement in the melody. In identifying these basis tones, the author found that transpositions in multiple versions fall into two groups of three scales each: those with basis tones on G, C, and F, and those on D, A, and E. He concludes: "the distance between the basis tone and the tone a third above it is a major third in the former group and a minor third in the latter; and it appears that within each group the scales were more or less interchangeable" (p. 55).

The author overworks, perhaps, his as- sertion that "there is no ground whatsoever for the usual assumption that all [discrepancies] were caused by scribal inac- curacy and inconsistency" (p. 54) and in

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pressing the point overextends what can be fairly attributed to both scribal expertise and modern interpretation: "it is clear that the scribes of all chansonniers knew per- fectly well how to be consistent in the notation of B-flats" (p. 54). To my knowl- edge, whether the key signature should be taken at face value to indicate the modal assignment and/or the local application of fictais still open to question in both medieval and renaissance music.

In the chapter on "Rhythm and Meter," the author advocates a "free" or "declama- tory" rhythm for these chansons, which were meant to be "sung, or recited, in the rhythm in which one might declaim the poem without the music" (p. 44). After summarizing the arguments for and against the application of modal rhythm to the troubadour-trouvere repertory, he con- cludes that "the absence of free rhythm from all discussions [in medieval treatises] does not prove that free rhythm did not exist in the Middle Ages" (p. 39). To clarify this well-taken point, he distinguishes be- tween the terms "music" and "Musica"-the latter being used by theorists to designate speculative discussion of numerical law, thereby apparently excluding unmeasured music. His observation that the repertory under discussion is fairly homogeneous in style leads him to conjecture that, because modal rhythm probably did not exist con- temporary with the earliest extant melo- dies, it was probably not used by the later poet-composers either, since "it seems likely that introduction of modal rhythm would have had a profound effect upon the me- lodic contour" (p. 44). Those who argue for a free rhythm in the dupla for melis- matic sections of organa might point out that the energetic rhythms of later clausulae do not seem to change the melodic contour of the cupla.

This reviewer welcomes van der Werf's brief but tantalizing comparison of formal designs used by the troubadours and trouveres with later refrain forms (ch. 5). He rightly points out that the rondeau, virelai, and ballade forms sorely need fur- ther study and re-evaluation. Incidentally, while the word "rondel" is asterisked to indicate an entry in the glossary, the word is not found there; rather, it is explained under the entry "refrain."

One cannot but wonder whether some division of labor obtained in the choice of

the eighteen entries for the glossary. Some are very basic (like "syllabic," "major- minor," and "ritardando"), but others are less so (like "cantus coronatus" and "envoy"). The choice of entries symbolizes a pervasive ambivalence regarding for whom the book is intended. For instance, although the glossary has no entry for "Mode" or "Church Modes," the author does not hesitate to rehearse others' reasons for calling melodies with basis tones on C and A transposed Mixolydian and Dorian, respectively (p. 54). Such misjudgment in the words singled out for further explana- tion raises the more serious question of the intended readership. Baldly stated, while this book should appeal to "both teachers and students of medieval literature and music alike," as the dust jacket says, I daresay no one unacquainted with the terms "syllabic," "major-minor," and "ritardando" can understand this book, glossary or no. For example, a sentence in the introductory chapter assumes a fact that a neophyte could not possibly know. There, the author in- forms us that manuscript W is devoted to the works of Adam de la Halle (p. 16), but unless one knows that Adam was a trouvere and not a troubadour, one would not know which of the two manuscripts called W (25566 or 20050) is meant. Yet van der Werf does not seem reconciled to the necessity that his audience have some sophistication. When discussing the bibliog- raphies of Raynaud-Spanke and Pillet-Car- stens (p. 15), whose standard numberings he wishes to adopt, he apologizes conde- scendingly for appearing to "bring down a chanson's identity to a mere number," as if to make explicit that the call numbers do not reflect a less than reverent attitude toward Song. Some ambiguous usages will be taken in one way by a sophisticate and in another by a beginner. In the opening paragraph of the book, he refers to some highly romanticized representation of troubadours and trouveres as "perpetually enamoured young men who performed songs . . . while accompanying themselves on the lute or other esoteric instrument." The force of "esoteric" is in question here. Is it used facetiously to amuse the initiated? Or is it genuinely intended to be taken at face value, drawing closer the wondering faces of the young? While many sections of the book are rich in detail, the author's ambivalence regarding audience hinders

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one in evaluating those sections that offer somewhat less. One does not know whether he is addressing beginners and is showing only the bold outline, or whether he is addressing experts and is assuming that the reader knows (or has access to) the details. May one not justly ask if such ambivalence

is fair? However one answers, this much- needed book is nonetheless a welcome con- tribution and deserves to become a standard classroom text.

LEILA BIRNBAUM Reed College

Music in the Service of the King; France in the Seventeenth Century. By Robert M. Isherwood. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, r19731. rxiv. 422 D: $17.50]

This book "attempts to bring music into the mainstream of general history," accord- ing to its author. Historian Robert Isher- wood describes in illuminating detail the uses and functions of music and related arts in the French court of Louis XIV. The idea that music was used to enhance the King's local and foreign prestige, as well as to keep the nobles out of political mis- chief, is well known to students of this period. What is new here is a wealth of detailed descriptions of the music used for particular occasions-parades, balls, cere- monies, entertainments, operas and ballets, religious observances, military celebrations, and walks in the park. The reader discovers how, where, and for whom the music was performed, and, more important, why.

Politics is the answer to "why," according to Isherwood. The Platonic idea of music as an effective conveyor of propaganda (beguiling the emotions and thus bypassing the rational mind) is seen as the major reason for Louis XIV's lavish support of music throughout the activities of his reign. Lully's operas, for example, helped to mold the public image of the King by presenting him allegorically as valiant soldier, noble peacemaker, and righteous leader of France. A supplementary reason for spon- soring music was to establish France as the leader in that field, in pursuance of Col- bert's policies of mercantilism, emphasizing centralization, self-sufficiency, and national superiority in all areas of endeavor.

The opening chapter consists of a careful summary of the history of aesthetics as it relates to music, from Plato to the late seventeenth century. It is a formidable 54-page beginning, interesting and de- tailed, but will probably be skipped over by readers not well grounded in philo- sophical thinking. It is not essential to an understanding of the rest of the book, and

no evidence is presented which proves that Louis XIV was influenced by the ideas of the writers discussed. However, the chapter does help make the reader aware that seventeenth-century views of man and the universe were quite different from our own. Chapter two surveys the musical events under the French rulers immediately pre- ceeding Louis XIV. Much of the material is drawn from secondary sources such as Yates's The French Academies of the Sixteenth Century and Prunieres's Le Ballet de Cour en France avant Benserade et Lully, but it is illuminating to have it all put into a consis- tent narrative. The remaining two-thirds of the book describes music from the point of view of politics under Louis XIV, cover- ing the King's youth, the centralization of music and dance in the academies, the operas of Lully, the Divertissements, the religious and military observances, and the latter years of the reign. The approach is more descriptive than analytical, more a story of what happened than a tightly or- ganized essay. The scholarship is sound, and one is consistently pleased with the careful attention to supporting information in the form of ample, accurate footnotes and bibliography, as well as beautifully reproduced engravings and drawings.

Does this book put music back into its original context? It does reunite music with politics, but at the same time the author soft-pedals music's function as art, resulting in an incomplete picture. We should never underestimate the "pleasure principle" in the French court-Louis XIV had music performed not only because it was useful for the state and for his public image, but also because he enjoyed hearing it and himself had a highly devoted sensitivity to its subtle charms. The music of his court represents a high artistic achievement, eminently worthy of being recreated and

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