Manscript of Motet “Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde,” Taken from William of Machaut, Poems: Judgment of the King of Bohemia, called Judgment of the King of Behaigne (1-22v), Remedy of Fortune (23-58v), said of Alerion (59-92v), Dit du Verger (93- 102v), Dit du Lion (103-120v), Praise of the Ladies (120v-148v), Lais, motets, ballads, rondeaux and virelais (148v-225), Written by Guillaume de Machaut, Ca. 1350-1355, Paris, France, French and Latin, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Identifiant: ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q/f325.item Background A large subset of literacy during the High Middle Ages was the development of musical literacy and musical notation. During the High Middle Ages, it became common for clergy and minstrels to become literate in the sense that they could read both musical notation and lyrics (which were often times poems set to music.) These elements are the basis for modern musical literacy today. Poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut wrote the above artifact in the 14th century. Machaut was famous for his motets and ballads, which told both religious and secular stories in his French vernacular. This particular motet, however, was a love song/poem written in three parts. The lyrics of two of these parts are written in French, and the third part is written in Latin. This mixture of vernacular and Latin poetry included in this work signifies the transition towards vernacularism during the Middle Ages while maintaining elements of the old Roman foundations of medieval society. This artifact also presents a new facet of secular medieval literacy, which would be the love song. To hear a recording of the song, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77t_bjYSDKA More Information: Medieval Music and Literacy The first version of medieval musical literacy, and the predecessor to the notation used in Machaut's motets, was the Gregorian chant. This type of monastic music developed during the Carolingian Renaissance, around the same time as Carolingian minuscule. Prior to this development, music had been passed down orally and by memory. By creating the first basic musical notation, monks were able to streamline the learning of music by writing down exact notes and rhythms. By combining orality with written literacy, monks were able to learn and share music in a uniform way for the first time. Gregorian chants were monophonic, meaning that there was only one melody and one voice part. The content of these chants was purely religious, as they were sung by monks as a part of their worship. Taking all of this into consideration, an examination of Machaut's motet, "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde,” shows us just how drastically music and musical notation evolved from the Early Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages. The motet was a genre of music that developed in the 14th century. Unlike Gregorian chants, motets were written in many different parts with their own distinct melodies (making them polyphonic.) As mentioned above, the motet built upon Gregorian chant notation to bring about musical notation that much resembles the way people write and read music today. The genre of the motet introduced the idea of written-down (instead of improvised) harmonies; having three or more harmonizing lines changed the way in which people went about reading a new piece of music and expanded the possibilities of musical composition. Machaut was a champion of the motet, writing 23 of them himself. Although most of his motets (17) were written French, and four were written entirely in Latin, two were written in a mix of both languages. The above artifact is one of the two mixed motets, and it truly exemplifies Machaut's literary genius, as well as his willingness to go against typical conventions of medieval literature. The biggest thing distinguishing a motet from the music of the Early Middle Ages is its secular content. As we saw in the Prose Lancelot Grail section of the exhibit, a new branch of literacy developed during the Late Middle Ages that was secular, imaginative, and written in the vernacular. Both Machaut's poems and his music fit into this new subset of medieval literature. Most of his compositions focused on courtly love instead of religious themes; the fact that his music was still read, sung, and admired (although it did not directly praise God) is demonstrative of a shift in the value people placed upon secular, non-Latin texts towards the end of the medieval era. Machaut, with his combination of French prose, Latin chants, and secular themes, helped to create an entirely new genre of music. Motets, and secular love ballads in general, remained popular throughout the Renaissance. As seen in the past artifacts from the Late Middle Ages as well, new genres of poetry, prose, and music began to pop up and really take hold. Machaut, and authors/composers like him, greatly contributed to this literary revolution. Their secular, vernacular literature made the act of reading more enjoyable, personal, and accessible for wider audiences. Bibliography "Guillaume De Machaut." Encyclopædia Britannica. March 22, 2016. Accessed June 19, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-de-Machaut. "Guillaume De Machaut, Poésies: Jugement Du Roi De Bohème, Dit Jugement Du Roi De Behaigne (1-22v), Remède De Fortune (23-58v), Dit De L'Alérion (59-92v), Dit Du Verger (93-102v), Dit Du Lion (103-120v), Louange Des Dames (120v-148v), Lais, Motets, Ballades, Rondeaux Et Virelais (148v-225)." Gallica. Accessed June 19, 2018. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449043q/f325.item. Leone, F. D. "Machaut's Messe De Nostre Dame : An Overview." Musica Kaleidoskopea. March 03, 2017. Accessed June 19, 2018. https://fdleone.com/2015/11/20/machauts-messe-de-notre-dame-an-overview/. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Carolingian Renaissance." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 105. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014. Rosenwein, Barbara H. "The Motet." In A Short History of the Middle Ages, 268. 4th ed. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014.
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