Courtly love songs of medieval France
Subtitle: transmission and style in the trouvre repertoirez
By: Mary O'Neill.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 226
Subjects: Trouvère songs -- History and criticism; Music and literature -- History -- To 1500
Description: "This is the first full-length study of the courtly love songs of the trouvere to address the central musical problems of the repertoire as a whole, embracing source studies, interpretation, historiography, and analysis. The argument of the book revolves around three axes, each of which is essential to the appreciation of the others: problems concerning the extant manuscript tradition, the crucial role of orality, and stylistic changes and plurality in the reperotire."

"A full overview of the musical sources and notation is undertaken. This reveals the idiosyncrasies of individual manuscripts but, more importantly, it identifies two basic phases in the manuscript tradition. The study of melodic variants reveals the performance art that lies at the heart of the courtly grand chant. Individual songs are analysed, and processes and techniques of variation are examined, bringing us to a closer understanding of the tenets of the melodic art of the early trouveres."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical note (p.   ) and index.
Table of contents: title: The grand chant of the trouvres : an introduction; title: The manuscript tradition : sources and notation; title: The melodic art of the trouvres : orality and the question of melodic variants; title: The lyric art of the trouvres : the courtly chansons of Gautier de Dargies; title: The later trouvre tradition : continuation and innovation; title: The interaction of oral, written, and literate processes.