En doulz chastel de Pavie/ Ferrara Ensemble Chansons à la cour des Visconti, 1400 |
medieval.org
Harmonia Mundi "Documenta" 905241
junio de 1997
église catholique de Seewen, CH
01 - Philipoctus de CASERTA. De ma doulour [8:41]
Mod., f.26v
02 - Johannes CICONIA. La fiamma del to amor (instrumental) [2:31]
Lucca, f.54v
03 - Jacob SENLECHES. La harpe de mélodie [4:12]
Chic., f.10
04 - Istanpitta Isabella (instrumental) [7:19]
Lo., f.56v-57
05 - Philipoctus de CASERTA. En remirant [10:53]
Mod., f.34v-35
06 - Johannes CICONIA. Le ray au soleyl [1:30]
Perugia, f.83
07 - Chançoneta tedescha (instrumental) [2:25]
Lo., f.74 (tenor; superius, R. Cook)
08 - Johannes CICONIA. Sus une fontayne [8:15]
Mod., f.27v-28
09 - Constantia (instrumental) [3:18]
Fa., f.62v-63
10 - Chançoneta tedescha (instrumental) [2:20]
Lo., f.74 (tenor; superius, C. Young)
11 - Philipoctus de CASERTA. En attendant souffrir [9:10]
Mod., f.20
fuentes:
#1, 5, 8, 11: Modena, Biblioteca Estense, MS a. M. 5. 24
#2: Lucca, Archivio di Stato, MS 184
#3: Chicago, Newberry Library, MS 54.1
#4, 7, 10: London, British Library, MS Add. 29987
#6: Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale "Augusta", MS 3065
#9: Faenza, Biblioteca Comunale, MS 117.
FERRARA ENSEMBLE
Crawford Young
Lena Susanne Norin, alto
Eric Mentzel, tenor
Stephen Grant, baryton
Randall Cook, viola d'arco
Crawford Young, guiterne
Marion Fourquier, harp
· · ·
discografí del Ferrara Ensemble
The
music from the milieu of the Visconti residences, one of which - Pavia
- was flatteringly described by Eustache Deschamps in 1391 as a"sweet
castle", is molded by the style of the late fourteenth century, a style
which skillfully and calculatedly attempted to surpass that of the last
great poet-musician Guillaume de Machaut (d.1377). The Italian
composers of this ars subtilior indulged in a virtuoso manner
in both the Italian and French musical styles and languages. The
subject of the songs of praise which comprise the greater part of the
present program was Giangaleazzo Visconti, the famous "Count of Virtu
(Virtue)". His father Galeazzo II built the "sweet castle" of Pavia
when Giangaleazzo, knighted at age four, was still a boy. In 1385
Giangaleazzo became the sole ruler of the powerful and ambitious
archduchy of Milan. He was not only interested in furthering his power,
but also in literature and the fine arts, as his significant library
attests to. In the radiance of Giangaleazzo's heraldic sun (of
patronage) basked numerous composers and poets, and the ruler also
commissioned precious manuscripts.
It may be assumed that Philopoctus de Caserta resided from time to time at the Pavian court during the 1370s and 1380s. The first line of the ballade En attendant souffrir m'estuet contains the motto of Giangaleazzo's uncle, Bernabo Visconti (souffrir m'estuet "I must suffer"), who was poisoned in 1385. The Northerner Johannes Ciconia apparently knew Philipoctus' songs praising the Visconti, for his virelai Sus une fontaine, containing musical-poetical quotations from the ballades En remirant, En attendant souffrir and De ma doulour, can be understood as honoring the works of his older colleague. The canon Le ray au soleyl uses both of the heraldic devices of Giangaleazzo, a sun and a turtledove, as well as his motto a bon droyt ("by right", "with good reason"). The unique manuscript source for this work has the word Tortorelle
(turtledove) set off with a capital initial letter, which can be
understood as a subtle allusion to Giangaleazzo. All of the present
recording's vocally-performed works, with the exception of La harpe de mélodie,
make more or less direct reference in their texts to the Visconti. To a
certain extent, they exhibit common musical material. Including the
numerous references to the ducal house, the texts of these songs
employ constructs well-known to the fourteenth century. Just how deep
this ars subtilior is anchored in the subtle art of the previous generation is demonstrated with the images of the mirroring fountain in Sus une fontaine (recalling the Narcissus scene from the Romance of the Rose) or the lyric formulations of En remirant vo douce pourtraiture (echoing the "Pygmalion Ballade" of Machaut). Allegorical figures such as Bel Acueil (Fair Welcome), Dous Regart (Sweet Glance) or Deport (Delight) are found here, as well as the formal elegance and word play of the amour courtois lyric.
As an example, De ma doulour of Philipoctus may be considered. If the first line of each strophe is read consecutively, a coherent formulation is produced:
De ma doulour ne puis trouver confort
Hé, dous Regart, tu m'as mis a mort
Or n'est-il nulz, hélas, qui me confort
(I can find no relief for my suffering
O, Sweet Glance, you have killed me
Alas, there is nothing that soothes me).
Correspondingly, each fourth line, taken together, reads:
Qu'a mon vouloir ne m'en puis pas retrayre
Hélas, ne scay, certes, que doye feyre
Car il n'est riens, certes, qui me puist plaire
(As I am not able to obey my own will,
woe! I know not what 1 should do,
for there is surely nothing which can please me).
Here it is worth mentioning that in the first example there is a repetition of the word confort, and in the second the word certes
is repeated. The lines which occur at the same metrical points within
the different strophes thus consciously form a connection with each
other. The middle line of the second strophe expresses the helplessness
of the poet regarding the situation that he is facing. All forces are
revealed as enemies, especially Fortune, as is shown in the first two
lines of each of the first two strophes. The unfortunate predicament is
highlighted, in a manner approaching satire, by the use of the verbs crier and braire (Strophe III, Line 5). Braire
in modern French refers to the braying of a donkey, whereas in older
usage it refers to loud screeching or screaming which could come from a
person, a roaring lion, or a sqeaky wagon wheel. In the golden age of amour courtois, other verbs might well have been chosen, however this exaggerated use of amour courtois clichés is typical for the lyric poetry of the fifteenth century. In the poetry of the ars subtilior,
the use of this poetic device defines a phase of evolution. On the one
hand, the ars subtilior poems are bound to the images and ideals of the
past (Narcissus, Pygmalion, the world of allegory, the negative
personification of fortune: images which assume a central position in
the works of Machaut), while on the other hand they look ahead, citing
the ideals of amour courtois with a wry wink of the eye. Even
in grand songs of praise, such a subtle wink may be present. Ciconia's
position concerning the Visconti, for example, is extremely ambiguous,
and thus praise may also be read as bitter opposition, according to the
interpretation.
The canonic virelai La harpe de mélodie
of Jacob Senleches was known in Italy among circles of educated
listeners and mentioned in this context by Simone Prudenzani in his Saporetto
of 1420. This work shows a concrete connection to the Visconti court
inasmuch as it is known from two sources (the Italian manuscript
Chantilly and Chicago, Newberry Library MS 54.1), one of which, a
theory manuscript now in the Newberry Library, was copied at least
partially in Pavia. In addition, the works of Senleches appear in other
italian manuscripts of the early fifteenth century which come from the
same cultural environment. As a footnote to this work, Giangaleazzo's
daughter Valentina was an accomplished harp player, and court poet
Francesco di Vannozzo praised this instrument in a sonnet of 1389. In
the Chicago manuscript, La harpe de mélodie is notated in the
form of a harp, with performance instructions in the form of a rondeau
given on a cloth band wound around the front pillar of the instrument.
A tuning key (a piece of wood carved in the form of a hand holding a
tuning key) is tied with a string to the harp. The realistically
depicted harp contains the notation of the piece 'within it' (upon its
strings) and this in itself corresponds to the text of the virelai. The
fifth line talks about, among other things, "seeing" the harmony, and a
bit later the poet remarks that he will complete the song "dedans li"
within the harp, a formulation which has a decided spatial character to
it. All of the notes are written on staves of nine or ten lines (= harp
strings); none are written on the spaces between the lines / strings
(and thus a kind of harp tablature is presented).
Despite the obvious connection of the virelai with the harp, Prudenzani mentions a performance of La harpe de mélodie
on the organetto, thus indicating the possibility of instrumental
performance of a vocal piece with relative freedom in the choice of
instruments. La fiamma del to amor of Ciconia is performed instrumentally, in similar spirit, on the present recording. Pieces such as Constantia from the Faenza Codex or the istampita Isabella
(possibly to be associated with the wedding of Giangaleazzo Visconti
and Isabelle de France) are surely to be understood as instrumental
works, as are the two Chansoneta tedescha tenore with their similarity to the later bassadanza. Here the term tedescha may perhaps be taken as a hint that German instrumentalists, especially wind players, were performing this style of early bassadanza in the later fourteenth century.
NICOLETTA GOSSEN / CRAWFORD YOUNG
Unas palabras de ánimo de medieval.org:
This
program consists of works connected to the Visconti court in Pavia. It
is particularly well-suited as an introduction to the Ars Subtilior
repertory for those who might otherwise be intimidated by it, as the
program is not too dense and the interpretations are relatively
straight-forward.