1. Chapter 5 The Middle Ages
Music at Court

2. Key Terms Troubadours Trouvères Minnesingers alba pastourelle
Strophic form
Estampies

3. Music at Court Troubadour and Trouvère Songs
Noble French poet-composers—knights, princes, and kings
Troubadours from the south, trouvères from the north (Minnesingers in Germany)
First large body of notated secular songs
Songs about women, love, seduction, chivalry, death, the crusades, etc.

4. Bernart de Ventadorn Lived c. 1135-1194
One of the finest troubadour poets
His songs influenced other troubadours and trouvères
Humble background, but came to serve Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine when she was married to England’s King Henry II

5. Bernart, “La dousa votz”
Legato melody moves mostly by step
Based on a medieval mode (Mixolydian)
Metrical: feel of duple meter
Simple rhythms at moderate tempo
Homophonic: melody and accompaniment
Solo tenor voice and plucked string instrument
Words express joys and sorrows of earthly love

6. Bernart, “La dousa votz”
Strophic form: same music for each stanza
a a’ b pattern used within each stanza

7. How Did Early Music Sound?
Medieval notation indicated only pitches and (after c. 1200) rhythms
It did not indicate tempo, instrumentation, tone quality, dynamics, and so on
Early music performance has become an important area for scholarly research
Based on careful study of performance practices, modern performers make well-educated guesses how a work might have been performed

8. How Did Early Music Sound?
Score for “La dousa votz” provides pitches only for the melody; it does not provide rhythm or accompaniment
Where does the plucked string instrument come from?
Medieval art shows troubadours singing with instruments, so our performers created a plausible accompaniment based on old folk music practices

9. How Did Early Music Sound?
Did the singer really sound that way?
Did they perform the rhythms the way our singer did?
Did they use accompaniment for this song?
There were no recordings in 1190
We’ll never know for sure!