Chromatic Beauty in the Late Medieval Chanson : An Interpretation of Manuscript Accidentals

This book provides an in-depth study of the late medieval chanson, from Gace Brulé through Guillaume Du Fay. It is largely concerned with interpretation of the way accidentals function, not only at the level of local detail but also as part of the overall design. Thomas Brothers thus explores the way inflections are used by the composer as an expressive tool. The background problem to which this study responds is the conceptual difficulty we have in interpreting pitch syntax in this repertory. Support for this approach comes from reference to causa pulchritudinis ('by reason of beauty'), a justification for chromatic writing first encountered at the beginning of the fourteenth century. In advancing an interpretation of the musical side of the chanson, Thomas Brothers aims to bring standards closer to what has been achieved in study of sister disciplines of art and literature. Chromatic Beauty in the Late Medieval Chanson 2 Contents 5 Preface 6 Introduction: Musica Ficta, Causa Pulchritudinis 13 Au Renovel 18 Chromaticism As Digression 23 De Plus En Plus 27 Unnotated Conventions? 33 The Cantus in a Polyphonic Chanson 56 1— Trouv[e]re Manuscript O 61 Syntactic Flexibility 69 Form 76 "Difficult" Intervals and Contours 81 Transmission 86 An Elevated Style 94 2— Machaut's Polyphonic Songs 100 Harmony 108 Biaut[e] Qui Toutes Autres Pere 120 De Toutes Flours 125 Further Notes On Style and Transmission 134 3— MSS Chantilly Mus[e]e Cond[e] 564 and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Canonici Misc. 213 148 Solage and the "Musica Ficta Essay" 150 Sharps in Med[e]e Fu 157 Fuions De Ci and Conflicting Signatures 175 Sharps versus Flats 184 4— Du Fay; Mid-Century Developments 197 Helas, Ma Dame 199 Terzfreiheit 207 Mid-Century Developments 214 Works Cited 222 1— Music Theory Treatises Cited 222 2— Literature and Editions of Music 223 Manuscript Sigla 232 Index 234 A 234 B 234 C 235 D 235 E 235 F 235 G 235 H 236 I 236 J 236 K 236 L 236 M 236 N 237 O 237 P 237 R 237 S 238 T 238 U 238 V 238 W 238 Y 238 Z 238 This book focuses on the analysis of the late medieval chansons that use chromaticism in procreative ways. Covering the period of the trouveres through the mid-fifteenth century, Thomas Brothers examines the way in which accidentals function as an expressive tool, both at the level of local detail and at the level of overall design. The book is based on a comprehensive survey of accidentals in surviving sources for the period. From the perspective of this survey, Professor Brothers brings recent advances in analysis of late medieval music to the well-known textual problems surrounding musica ficta This book provides an in-depth study of the late medieval chanson, from Gace Brul through Guillaume Du Fay. It is largely concerned with interpretation of the way accidentals function, not only at the level of local detail but also as part of the overall design, and explores the way inflections are used by the composer as an expressive tool. Support for this approach comes from reference to causa pulchritudinis ("by reason of beauty"), a justification for chromatic writing first encountered at the beginning of the fourteenth century. An in-depth study of the late medieval chanson, from Gace Brulé through Guillaume Du Fay. It is concerned with the way accidentals function, at the level of local detail and a part of the overall design, it also explores the way inflections are used by the composer as an expressive tool. This chapter is devoted mainly to the late thirteenth-century trouvere manuscript Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale MS fr. no. 846 (known by standard abbreviation as MS O and known also as the "Cange Chansonnier"), which is unusual for the large quantity of accidentals it contains. Thomas Brothers. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.