The Troubadours
This new art of poetry and song was called “The gay science of chivalry and love-service.” Indeed many of the poems about knightly adventure were addressed to some fair lady, real or imaginary, known or unknown. Curious as it may seem, the names of most of these songs came from the Arabian, because the Europeans met them during the crusades and during the Arabs’ conquests and roamings in Europe.
The names tell you what the songs were about. Chanson and canzo both mean song, and we see these names today on our concert programs. There were story telling songs called the chansons de toile, songs of linen, which told of the lovely damsels at work weaving, of their beauty, and of their thoughts, for the women of castle and cottage alike wove the cloth out of which the clothes were made. Then, they had dramatic songs and dancing songs called estampies (from which comes our word stamping); the reverdies, or spring songs, to celebrate the Spring festivals; the pastorelles in which the heroine was always a charming shepherdess; the sera or serenade, an evening song; the nocturne, a night song, and love songs were often sung under the beloved ladies’ windows! The alba was a morning song. The sirvantes, or songs of service, sung in praise of princes or nobles, or telling of public happenings were important. These were often accompanied by drums, bells, pipes and trumpets.
We have debating societies in our schools and colleges, and questions of the day are discussed in the newspapers, but in the troubadours’ day, debates were made into songs, sung by two people, and were called tensons. Many curious and rather foolish questions were made the subjects of these songs.
Sometimes these popular songs found their way into the Church, and were made into fine church music, and sometimes a bit of melody from the Church went through the hands of a troubadour poet and was turned into a rounde, ballata, sera, or pastorella.
This poetry and song of Provence lasted until the middle of the 14th century, for in the twelve hundreds the revolts against the abuses of the Church rose to such seriousness that massacres took place, towns were destroyed and many nobles and troubadours lost their lives.
Trouvères
Shortly after the troubadours began to compose, in the north of France came the trouvères who profited much from the music and poetry of their southern brothers.
However, the trouvères did not have the warm, lovely dialect of the southern troubadours. As they were closer to the Church, their songs were more religious, had less variety of subjects, and the melodies were like Church music.
Although the troubadours did much to shape the rhyming stanzas in poetry, the trouvères helped in the gradual forming of the later French and Flemish schools of music, as you will see.