medieval.org
Nimbus SAM 45008 (LP, 45 rpm - 30cm, Ambisonic UHJ Stero Compatible), 1981
Nimbus NI 5261, 1991
medieval.org
Nimbus SAM 45008 (LP, 45 rpm - 30cm, Ambisonic UHJ Stero Compatible), 1981
Nimbus NI 5261, 1991
SIDE ONE (21.50)
1a. The sack of Beziers [1:14]
1b. Rassa tan creis [1:58]
2. No·m say d'amour [4:18]
3a. La segonda retroencha [1:29]
3b. Planh for the Lord of Narbonne [4:00]
4a. Au temps d'auost [1:04]
4b. Cantiga [1:37]
CSM 100
5. Fid e verays [4:02]
6. Maravillosos et piadosos [2:08]
CSM 139
SIDE TWO (20.15)
1. La Redonda [2:47]
2. Mais non faz [2:19]
CSM 3
3. La Premieyra retroencha [3:42]
4a. Jesu Crist [1:36]
4b. Rossinyol [0:38]
4c. Los Esclops [1:08]
5. Ja mais non er [3:39]
6a. Vers: Be·m clegra (Melody and English text) [2:11]
6b. from 'La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise' [0:46]
6c. Melody: Si tot me sui a tart apperceubutz [1:27]
MARTIN BEST—Voice, lute, oud, psaltery.
JEREMY BARLOW—Recorders and pipes.
DAVID CORKHILL—Nakers, hammer dulcimer, tabors, drums, bells and timbrel.
ALASTAIR McLACHLAN—Rebecs and fidele.
Recorded, Mastered and Manufactured by Nimbus Records Ltd.,
Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, Great Britain.
Recorded at Nimbus Records Studios, Monmouth, 6th-7th January 1981
Photograph of Martin Best: Tony Russell
Sleeve photograph: Gerald Reynolds
Design: Acrobat Design
Guiraut
Riquier is the last known exemplar of the long tradition of sung poetry
which began in South West France at the end of the 11th century.
Guilhelm, ninth Duke of Aquitaine, was the first, and both had unique
qualities. Guilhelm burst onto the scene with a voice almost frightening
in its implications: sexual chaos, individual soul-searching, a
love-ethic which embraced crude physical imagery, a passionate awareness
of nature and an honesty in desire. He was new to his time, and
shocking too. He started something which was to challenge feudal and
church authority on a number of fundamental levels, but the troubadours
of Occitania became too involved with the art which resulted and the
sheer joy of self-expression to worry about the consequences. Come they
did, however, in 1209, in the shape of the Albigensian crusades. These
were proclaimed by Pope Innocent III to crush a widespread heresy
centered on Albi which had attempted, in the hands of the Cathars, to
withdraw from a corrupt orthodoxy into a simple black-and-white
emulation of early Christianity. As was the nature of the times, all
sorts were to clamber onto the band-wagon of the crusades and the
political effects were profound. France regained feudal control of the
county of Toulouse, centre of the South. A million people died in 35
years of war, and with it the vibrant culture which gave chivalry, and
especially Love, a voice that reverberates today. The heresy never quite
died, in spite of the vicious efforts of St. Dominic. It surfaced in
Luther. But Occitania, Provence, in effect vanished.
This record
begins with an evocation of the start of the Albigensian wars. Simon IV
de Montfort led an army of French, Burgundians, Flemish and Normans (and
some renegade knights from Languedoc) into Beziers, which they sacked
on 22nd July 1209, ironically the feast of St. Mary.
Riquier was
born about 20 years after this event, but his work is tinged with its
effects. He believes in the old ways of troubadour art, the old values
it represents, and he needs a patron. This record traces his wanderings
in search of recognition. From about 1254 he remained in Narbonne,
leaving in 1270 for the Court of Alfonso X of Castile, where he stayed
until 1280; he spent the last 12 years of creative life at the Court of
Henry II of Rodez. As he wandered, so he turned out regular quantities
of song, dating each with a considered efficiency. His verse never quite
gets off the ground, but when combined with his wide-ranging melodies
its evocation of a dying culture is as powerful as Guilhelm the IX's is
of one being born. Indeed, in these two men we have both the beginning
and the end of the story.
Riquier's surviving melodies number 48.
The selections on this record are approached with regard to both main
rhythmic theories of transcription. This means, quite simply, that some
songs are given with a rhythm which conforms to one of the six medieval
options, and some are not. The choice is governed by the spirit of the
song concerned, and by what can best be described as an informed
instinct. This is manifestly the only course open to a 20th century
performer, and it is also taken with regard to the accompaniment. The
attempt is made to create an authentic 13th century atmosphere, using
instruments of the period in a way which gives the overall performance
unity. The hope is that the attempt is authentic for today.
© Martin Best, 1981
SIDE ONE
1a. The sack of Beziers and the siege of Carcassonne, 1209 [1:15]
spoken English text
From Adam John Munthe's book "A note that breaks the silence". (Bodley Head, 1977).
1b. Rassa tan creis [1:59]
Bertran de BORN,
melody only
RIQUIER AT NARBONNE, 1254—1270.
2. No·m say d'amor [4:11]
Guiraut RIQUIER, The 7th canso, 1259
— voice, oud, dulcimer, tenor recorder, rebec, fidele
In
this canso, or love song, Riquier is playing a studious game with the
refrain-words which close the eight lines of each stanza. He even
manages to squeeze them all into the three-line tornada at the end. His
desire for patronage from Almeric IV obliges him to flatter the Viscount
while maintaining his word scheme. The images of love are conventional,
but the melody is not, and the result is — despite the artifice —
highly individual.
3a. La segonda retroencha [3:59]
Guiraut RIQUIER, 1265
— oud, rebec, pipe, pottery nakers
This song is played as a dance, on instruments only.
The retroencha is a strophic form with a refrain at the end of each stanza.
3b. Ples de tristor, marritz e dolorois [1:26]
Guiraut RIQUIER, planh for the Lord of Narbonne, 1270
— voice, oud, dulcimer
The
Planh, or lament for a dead leader, was a standard genre of the
troubadours, and one of the fundamental expressions of chivalry. This is
a fine example, in spite of the endless trouble taken by Riquier to
maintain his rhyme scheme, and his pivoting of each stanza round the
word "Narbona".
4a. Dance—song “Au temps d'auost” [1:02]
anonymous, French, 13th century.
— lute, pipe, rebec, drums
4b. Cantiga [1:37]
anonymous, Spanish, 13th century
CSM 100
— lute, recorder, fidele, dulcimer, bells
Both
of these instrumental pieces are popular in character and duple in
meter. The first celebrates the month of August, the second praises the
Virgin. The movement towards worship of Mary began in Cluny in the 12th
century and found its flowering throughout Christendom in the ensuing
150 years. Riquier would have known such pieces and was himself to adopt
the cult of the Virgin both openly and in his love songs. The Cantigas
were songs collected and composed by Alfonso X el Sabio of Castile, and
the inclusion of one at this point marks Riquier's departure from
Narbonne, following the death of Almaric IV, and his journey to Castile
to seek Alfonso's patronage.
AT THE COURT OF ALFONSO X, THE WISE, KING OF CASTILE.
5. Fis e verays [3:56]
Guiraut RIQUIER, canso, 1265
— voice, psaltery, plucked fidele, recorder, pottery nakers
Riquier
here adopts a rhyme pattern abbcdde, which alternates stanza by stanza
with its own inversion. It seems that all is subservient to this purely
technical exercise, but the melody gives Riquier's musings an effect of
contemplation, as much as Machaut's lais were to do a hundred years
later. In this song Belh Deport makes one of her many appearances. Some
authorities maintain that she was Philippa d'Anduza, Viscountess of
Narbonne, to whom Riquier is either expressing passion or addressing a
need for patronage; others say that the senhal Belh Deport was a
pseudonym for a love of the Virgin Mary. In any event, her qualities are
always ideal, almost mystical, and in the face of them Riquier insists
on his worthlessness. The deep connection between an idealised love of
Woman and adoration of the Virgin should not surprise us: it was part of
the whole thrust of medieval thought and remains today in many parts of
the world.
6. Maravillosos et piadosos [1:59]
13th century,
from the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso the Wise (or learned)
CSM 139
— voice, lute, pipe, rebec, timbrel
Alfonso
X of Castile is famous for his collection of cantigas, or popular songs
in praise of the miracles of the Virgin, of which this is one. The
collection of 450 songs is lavishly illustrated in vivid colour, and
yields vital information on some 30 instruments in use at the time. This
song follows the form of the French virelai, (refrain, verse, refrain)
as do the majority of the cantigas, and give further indication of the
universal nature of Christendom's developing devotion to the Virgin as
the bearer of personal prayers to a newly accessible God.
SIDE TWO
1. La Redonda [2:50]
Guiraut RIQUIER, canso, 1270
— voice, lute, pottery nakers
In
his exhaustive work on Riquier, Joseph Anglade identifies his essential
quality as effortless facility. While this may not always be born out
by results, Riquier, in "La Redonda", brings off a fascinating sound
pattern based on three distinct
rhyme endings in each 12 line stanza,
which alternate within 4-line sections. The effect, when combined with
his flowing melody, is an enchantment of repeated yet subtly different
sounds. Hence the song's title of Redonda, or "round and round" song. It
is addressed to Belh Deport, to knowledgeable poets, and to Alfonso the
Wise, and is one of the finest cansos in the troubadour repertory.
2. Mais non faz [2:16]
Villancico (13th century),
from las Cantigas de Alfonso el Sabio
CSM 3
— voice, oud, tambourine, bells, rebec, recorder
"Villancico"
is a little song on a religious theme, and follows the French virelai
form. This example has been transcribed into duple time, and is in the
Galician dialect of Santiago de Compostela.
3. La Premieyra retroencha [3:38]
Guiraut RIQUIER, 1270: In praise of the Catalans
— voice, psaltery, rebec, dulcimer, finger cymbals
A
retroencha, like the French routrouenge, is a song with a refrain.
Riquier is one of several troubadours who praise Catalonia, but this
complete eulogy is unique. Behind it lies, possibly, Riquier's endless
search for patronage and recognition. In 1270 several courses had been
possible for him, one of which was in the direction of a Catalan court,
perhaps that of the Viscount of Cardone. Its rhyme scheme of alternating
line endings and its lilting melody give it an atmosphere of simplicity
and charm.
In Riquier's imagery there are, consciously or otherwise,
echoes of the great 12th century troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn.
Knowing nothing about the ways of love, the seeking of the path of real,
or pure, love, and the whole sense of departure are all features of
Bernart's famous song "Can vei la lauzeta".
IN RODEZ, AT THE COURT OF COUNT HENRY II, 1280—1292.
Riquier's
hopes of patronage and recognition from Alfonso X of Castille were, by
1279, obviously to remain unfulfilled. The king was preoccupied with
domestic political problems, and after nine years Riquier was
disillusioned. He left Spain in 1279, travelling back to France along
the pilgrim route. The new Viscount of Narbonne, Almeric V, was not
particularly involved with Provençal poetry, and most of Riquier's
friends and colleagues were dead or very old. He offered his services to
Henry II of Rodez, one of the most enlightened rulers of the time.
4a. Jesu Crist [1:38]
Guiraut RIQUIER, vers, 1275
— solo voice
A
vers is simply a poem or song, as opposed to the love-song or canso.
Riquier began to compose religious songs in 1263. They were all couched
in terms which enabled his mystical love for Belh Deport to be
transformed into his adoration of the Virgin. "Jesu Crist" is the first
of his songs addressed directly to Christ, and marks the beginning of
his last creative period, hence its move to this point from 4 years
before his arrival in Rodez. The moral tone of the song is
characteristic of Riquier at this stage of his life, as it was in that
of the so-called first troubadour, Guilhelm IX of Aquitaine. Ambition
and love are embers, preparing for heaven is now the proper medieval
preoccupation.
4b. Rossinyol [0:37] trad. Catalonia
— solo pipe
This
traditional air from Catalonia seems apt for this moment in the
programme: its original text asks the nightingale to fly to France and
carry home news of the exile.
4c. Los Esclops [1:05] trad. Languedoc
— lute, rebec, tabor, pipe
A
traditional dance from Languedoc, in the centre of which Rodez lies.
Its quick 6/8 rhythm is characteristically medieval, though it was
collected in the 1950's. "Esclops" is the occitan word for "shoes".
5. Ja mais non er [3:32]
Guiraut RIQUIER, vers, 1286
— voice, psaltery, dulcimer, rebec, recorder
Moral
and satirical songs form an important part of the troubadour repertory.
From the mid 12th century, they warn against breaking the feudal code,
attack the wealth and vices of the clergy, and exhort knights to go on
crusade. In this vers Riquier begins to admit not merely his own
failure, but that of the whole troubadour tradition to preserve itself
through the Albigensian wars. He blames "evil", but in truth the song is
a lament for what, in the midst of all his efforts, he genuinely loves.
Unwittingly, this makes the song original, and its effect is once again
heightened by an unusual melody, not unreminiscent of Lennon and
McCartney's "Norwegian Wood". It is Riquier's last surviving music.
6a. Be·m clegra de chantar tener [2:10]
Guiraut RIQUIER, vers, 1284; melody only
— voice, pipe, psaltery, rebec
Spoken text translated by Jack Lindsay.
6b. from 'La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise' [0:46] spoken English text
Attack on Simon IV of Montfort, leader of the French forces in the wars against the South until 1218.
6c. Si tot me sui a tart aperceubutz [1:32]
melody by Folquet de MARSELHA
— lute, pipe, drum, rebec, bells
Folquet de Marselha (1160-1231), Bishop of Toulouse and a one-time
troubadour, he became a leading supporter of Simon de Montfort and a
vicious protagonist in the Albigensian Crusade.
Nimbus NI 5261, 1991
[liner notes from
A MEDIEVAL BANQUET, NI 1753, DISC SIX]
The Last of the Troubadours
Guiraut
Riquier is the last known exemplar of the long tradition of sung poetry
which began in South West France at the end of the 11th century.
Despite the fact he was born 20 years afterwards, his work was clearly
overshadowed by the 35 year long war between Pope Innocent II and the
Cathars who had rejected corrupt orthodox religion in favour of simple,
early Christianity. Riquier's art, in the wake of the bitter war, showed
a similar nostalgic yearning for the simple pleasures of bygone,
pre-war days.
This collection is structured around Riquier 's
life, offering works from each period selected from the 48 melodies that
survive. Riquier spent the years 1254-70 at Narbonne, and it was here
that he composed No·m say d'amor (1259). In this canso,
conventional images of love are contradicted by an unusual melody and
innovative word scheme in which each stanza ends with the same word 'escorja'. La segonda retroencha
(1265) in strophic form (in which there is a refrain at the end of each
stanza) is played here as a dance, on instruments only. There follows
an example of the plahn, a genre in which the death of a leader,
in this case the Lord of Narbonne, is lamented, grief being a
fundamental expression of chivalry. In this form, as in others, there is
a self-referential element despite the fact that the song is dedicated
to the glory of another. Riquier makes it known that it had been 'for
the sake of justice [his words] were made'.
Two instrumental
pieces follow, the first celebrates the month of August, and the second,
an anonymous Spanish Cantiga (see NI 5081) is dedicated to the Virgin
Mary who became something of a cult during the 13th century. Riquier,
who resided at the Court of Alfonso X for ten years (1270-80) openly
adopted this gentle, feminine face of Christianity and worshipped her in
his own songs. Fid e verays, (1275) is devoted to the
'Belh of Deport' thought to be a pseudonym for Philippa d'Anduza,
Viscountess of Narbonne, although it has been suggested that it is a
name for the Virgin Mary. Songs dedicated to a goddess-like and
therefore 'super-human' female often assumed a similarly ambiguous
nature, whereby religious and earthly love are inextricably linked. Maravillosos et piadosos is another cantiga belonging to Alfonso X's extensive collection in which the Virgin represents a newly accessible God.
In La Redonda
(round and round) (1270), Riquier successfully coordinates a
fascinating sound pattern based on three distinct rhyme endings which
alternate within four-line sections in each stanza. The effect, when
combined with the sweeping melody line, is an enchanting mixture of
repeated and yet subtly different sounds. Mais non faz, a
Spanish Cantiga transcribed into duple time is a short dedication to the
Virgin in the Galician dialect of Santiago di [sic] Compostela. La premieyra retroencha, the retroencha
being a form which, like the French routrouenge incorporates a refrain,
is a eulogy of Catalonia, where Riquier says he will take refuge since
he is unable to please his lady. It has been suggested that Riquier's
unfulfilled quest for love reflected his need for official recognition
in the form of a patron, to which Alfonso X did not respond. He left
Spain in 1279 and returned to France where the new Viscount of Narbonne,
Almeric V showed no particular interest in Provençal poetry and music,
and so he offered his services to Henry II of Rodez.
Jesu Crist
was the first of Riquier's religious songs to address Christ directly
and marks the beginning of his last creative period in which religion
began to play an increasingly prominent role. The moral tone of this
self-denigrating poem which is set in the vers form (simply a
poem or song, as opposed to a love-song) is typical of Riquier during
the latter years of his life which he intended to 'live only to please'
God. Two traditional instrumental pieces follow, the first, a Catalonian
air for solo pipe is followed by Los Esclops (lit. 'shoes'), a dance from the region Languedoc, where Rodez is centrally situated. Ja mais non er,
(1286) is Riquier's last surviving piece in which the death of the
troubadour tradition is bitterly lamented. He is deeply despondent at
how 'far into the depths the world has sunk', and become a place where
'Evil's so proud, they've put good up for sale'. The world of Riquier's
old age 'no longer' welcomes 'lovely words and pleasing sounds' as it
once did in days gone by.
© 1999 Martin Best/Nimbus Records
℗ 1981 Nimbus Communication International Limited