c. 1350
Goin' a little old-school for this one. Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377) was a Medieval French composer and was generally acknowledged to be the "go-to guy" when it came to music in the 14th century. Reasons he was awesome:
1. He set his own poems to music, and was renowned as a great poet as well as a great composer.
2. He wrote the earliest Mass on record, the Messe de Nostre Dame (which is totally stunning).
3. His music is almost always beautiful while remaining extremely prickly. To my knowledge, only Machaut and Bach could write music as aesthetically pleasing as it is intricate.
I wish I could ramble on forever about the brilliant complexity of this piece. I wish I could, but I can't - mainly due to the fact that I have no idea what's going on musically. I ain't a slouch when it comes to music theory, but medieval theory is utterly beyond me. So, if anyone wants to give me a hand with hexachords, Guidonian hands, and musica ficta, well, you know where to find me. Anyway . . .
This rondeau in particular struck me immediately with that terrific lilting melody that kicks it off. The 4 voices criss-cross like crazy, singing countermelodies and counter-countermelodies . . . ah, my brain hurts just thinking about it. But it's beautiful! That's the crazy thing. Once you get those funky Middle Age harmonies in your ear, you realize just how lush and haunting and glorious the sound really is.
And the lyrics are perfect - simple and lovely, having aged stunningly well. Here's a translation:
Rose, liz, printemps, verdure.
Fleur, baume et tres douce odour. Belle, passes en doucour.
Et tous les biens de Nature
Avez, dont je vous aour.
Rose, liz, printemps, verdure.
Fleur, baume et tres douce odour;
Et quant toute creature
Seurmonte vostre valour.
Bien puis dire et par honnour:
Rose, liz, printemps, verdure.
Fleur, baume et tres douce odour.
Belle, passes en doucour.
Rose, lily, spring, greenery.
Flower, balm and sweetest perfume
Beauty, you surpass them in sweetness.
And all the gifts of nature
You have, for which I adore you.
Rose, lily, spring, greenery.
Flower, balm and sweetest perfume
And since all creatures
You surpass in worth
I must say in all honor:
Rose, lily, spring, greenery.
Flower, balm and sweetest perfume
Beauty, you surpass them in sweetness.
I think Guillaume must have been getting all the 14th century honeys with stuff like that.
1 comment:
I've been a fan of this song since I first heard it in 1975. And I remember where I was, what day it was, and where the music was coming from. It's always that way with me and great music, art, and poetry: I look back and see my life as the lines drawn to connect the dots, and each dot is some incredible aesthetic experience: a song by Machaut or Dylan, a painting by Murillo or an anonymous medieval sculpture; the first time I read Sir Thomas Wyatt's "They Flee from Me" or the first time I finished Joyce's Ulysses.
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