Synopses & Reviews
Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is regarded as the greatest French poet-composer of the middle ages, as he was during his lifetime. A trained secretary, with a passion for collecting, copying and ordering his own work, the number of surviving notated musical works attributed to him far exceeds that of any of his contemporaries. All the main genres of song - lais, virelais, balades, and rondeaux - together with Machaut's motets, and his famous Mass cycle are considered here from a variety of perspectives. These incorporate the latest scholarly understanding of both Machaut's poetry and music, and the material form they take when notated in the surviving manuscripts. The book thus presents a detailed picture of the current range of interpretative approaches to Machaut's music, focusing variously on counterpoint, musica ficta, text setting, musico-poetic meanings, citation and intertextuality, tonality, and compositional method. Several of Machaut's works are discussed by a pair of contributors, who reach conclusions at times mutually reinforcing or complementary, at times contradictory and mutually exclusive. That Machaut's music thrives on such constructive debate and disagreement is a tribute to his scope as an artist, and his musico-poetic achievement. Contributors: JENNIFER BAIN, MARGARET BENT, CHRISTIAN BERGER, JACQUES BOOGAART, THOMAS BROWN, ALICE V. CLARK, JANE E. FLYNN, JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, KARL KUEGLE, ELIZABETH EVA LEACH, DANIEL LEECH-WILKINSON, ETER M. LEFFERTS, WILLIAM PETER MAHRT, KEVIN N. MOLL, VIRGINIA NEWES, YOLANDA PLUMLEY, OWEN REES, ANNE STONE. ELIZABETH EVA LEACH lectures in music at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Synopsis
Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is regarded as the greatest French poet-composer of the middle ages, as he was during his lifetime. A trained secretary, with a passion for collecting, copying and ordering his own work, the number of surviving notated musical works attributed to him far exceeds thatof any of his contemporaries. All the main genres of song - lais, virelais, balades, and rondeaux - together with Machaut's motets, and his famous I>
Synopsis
Guillaume de Machaut was the foremost poet-composer of his time. Studies look at all aspects of his prodigious output.
Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is regarded as the greatest French poet-composer of the middle ages, as he was during his lifetime. A trained secretary, with a passion for collecting, copying and ordering his own work, the numberof surviving notated musical works attributed to him far exceeds that of any of his contemporaries. All the main genres of song - lais, virelais, balades, and rondeaux - together with Machaut's motets, and his famous Masscycle are considered here from a variety of perspectives. These incorporate the latest scholarly understanding of both Machaut's poetry and music, and the material form they take when notated in the surviving manuscripts. The bookthus presents a detailed picture of the current range of interpretative approaches to Machaut's music, focusing variously on counterpoint, musica ficta, text setting, musico-poetic meanings, citation and intertextuality, tonality, and compositional method. Several of Machaut's works are discussed by a pair of contributors, who reach conclusions at times mutually reinforcing or complementary, at times contradictory and mutually exclusive. That Machaut's music thrives on such constructive debate and disagreement is a tribute to his scope as an artist, and his musico-poetic achievement.
Contributors: JENNIFER BAIN, MARGARET BENT, CHRISTIAN BERGER, JACQUES BOOGAART, THOMAS BROWN, ALICE V. CLARK, JANE E. FLYNN, JEHOASH HIRSHBERG, KARL KUEGLE, ELIZABETH EVA LEACH, DANIEL LEECH-WILKINSON, ETER M. LEFFERTS, WILLIAM PETER MAHRT, KEVIN N. MOLL, VIRGINIA NEWES, YOLANDA PLUMLEY, OWEN REES, ANNE STONE.
ELIZABETH EVA LEACH lectures in music at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Synopsis
ContentsVIRGINIA NEWES Symmetry and Dissymmetry in the Music of the Lay de Bonne Esperance (L18/13)JACQUES BOOGAART Speculum Mortis: Form and Signification in Machaut's Motet He Mors / Fine Amour / Quare non sum mortuus (M3)ALICE V. CLARK Observations on Machaut's He Mors, com tu es hale / Fine Amour, qui me vint navrer / Quare non sum mortuus (M3)THOMAS BROWN Flos / Celsa and Machaut's Motets: Emulation - and Error?KEVIN N. MOLL Texture and Counterpoint in the Four-Voice Mass Settings of Machaut and his ContemporariesMARGARET BENT The 'Harmony' of the Machaut MassOWEN REES Machaut's Mass and Sounding NumberELIZABETH EVA LEACH Singing More About Singing Less: Machaut's Pour ce que tous (B12)ANNE STONE Music Writing and Poetic Voice in Machaut: Some Remarks on B12 and R14JEHOASH HIRSHBERG A Portrayal of the Lady who Guards her Honour (B25)PETER M. LEFFERTS Machaut's B-flat Balade Honte, paour (B25)JANE E. FLYNN The Intabulation of De toutes flours (B31) in the Codex Faenza as Analytical ModelCHRISTIAN BERGER Machaut's Balade Plourez dames (B32) in the Light of Real ModalityJENNIFER BAIN Balades 32 and 33 and the 'res dalamagne'WILLIAM MAHRT Male and Female Voice in Two Virelais of Guillaume de MachautYOLANDA PLUMLEY The Marriage of Words and Music: Musique Naturele and Musique Artificiele in Machaut's Sans cuer, dolens (R4)DANIEL LEECH-WILKINSON Rose, lis RevisitedKARL KUGLE Some Observations Regarding Musico-Textual Interrelationships in Late Rondeaux by Machaut