gymel – Early Music Muse

The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune (revised, with new analysis & new video)

Ian Pittaway citole, Douce Francis, English dance, estampida, estampie, gymel, historically informed performance, istanpitta, Jean de Grouchy, Johannes de Grocheio, medieval notation, stampetum, stantipede, stantipedem, stantipedis, stantipes 4th December 20244th December 2024 13 Comments

One of the earliest extant pieces of English instrumental music has survived with the 13^th–14^th century manuscript, Douce 139, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It is exciting in its musical drive and complexity, but interpretation of the neume notation has its problems, leaving us to make judgements about intention. The music is untitled, and is often named Estampie or English Dance in modern sources.

This article works through the puzzles to gain performable answers. What is an estampie? Is the Douce 139 piece an estampie? Was the estampie really a dance? How can the musical problems left by the scribe’s imperfect notation be reconciled? This article looks for historically informed solutions, with a video of the music played on citole.

This is a revised version of an article first published in February 2019, with a more detailed analysis of the music and a new performance video.

Polyphonic treasure in Lambeth Palace: three unique pieces from MS 457, c. 1200

Ian Pittaway Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars), citole, gittern, gymel, historically informed performance, Lambeth Palace Library MS 457, Mater dei (Mother of God), medieval notation, Miro genere (By a wondrous birth), Notre Dame school, polyphony, rhythmic modes 23rd November 202225th January 2023 5 Comments

Lambeth Palace Library, the national library and archive of the Church of England, has a collection of medieval and renaissance manuscripts which includes MS 457, a compilation of religious matters and, on one folio, four pieces of music from c. 1200, all unique to this source. Three are complete, and two have not been previously performed or recorded to my knowledge.

This article presents a video performance of the three complete and beautiful polyphonic pieces:

Miro genere (By a wondrous birth)
Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars)
Mater dei (Mother of God)

In the video, each piece is sung in two or three voices as in the manuscript, then played polyphonically on citole or gittern. The article then explains the principles of interpreting the medieval notation.

Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13th century song

Ian Pittaway Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, gymel, Harley 913, historically informed performance, Lollai lollai litil child, Man mai longe lives weene, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, Notre Dame school, polyphony, rhythmic modes, troubadours, Western wind, Westron wynde 12th March 201910th August 2024 6 Comments

Bibliothèque nationale de France,
Latin 1156 B, folio 4r, 15^th century.
(As with all pictures, click to see larger.)

The 13^th century song, Foweles in þe frith, is among the earliest that survive in the English language. The manuscript has two complete polyphonic voices but only one verse, and so the meaning of its nature imagery and lament for the “beste of bon and blod” has been much debated.

This article places Foweles in þe frith in the context of other surviving secular songs in English; then decodes and deciphers its words and debates its various interpretations: is it a lover’s lament; sorrow for a lost animal; or a song of religious contemplation?

The melody was written by the scribe in notation usually presumed to be non-mensural (non-rhythmic). I argue that the music shows rhythm, clearly written on the page according to medieval musical principles, performed in the video which begins the article.

Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Ian Pittaway bird on a briar, bryd one brere, church modes, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, gymel, historically informed performance, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, medieval scales, modes, Nobilis humilis, organum, polyphony 12th March 201913th October 2024 7 Comments

bryd one brere – bird on a briar – is the earliest surviving English secular love song with a complete lyric, dated c. 1290–1320. The music was written on the back of a papal bull with a poor pen, so interpreting the notation is problematic in parts. A previous article (available here) addressed interpretation of the music and the poetic meaning of the words.

This article addresses a second problem of interpretation: the song was clearly intended for two voices, but the primary voice is missing, leaving us only with the second voice, the polyphonic accompaniment. Using the principles of medieval English polyphony, author Ian Pittaway has constructed three possible versions of the lead voice, based on the gymel, contrary motion, and the mixolydian mode. While we cannot know if any one of these constructions was the intention of the composer, the exercise serves as an illustration of the principles of English polyphony at the turn of the 14^th century and an attempt to sing the song in the originally intended manner.

All three two-voice versions of bird on a briar are sung in a multi-tracked illustrative video by Ian Pittaway. In October 2019, all three versions were used in a concert performance by the early music ensemble Les Reverdies de Montréal, a video of which ends this article.

Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, Berkeley manuscript, bourdon, Cantigas de Santa María, contrary motion, devil’s interval, drones, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, fiddle tunings, fifthing, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, ground bass, Guido of Arezzo, gymel, heterophony, historically informed performance, hurdy gurdy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, kithara, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, motet, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Nobilis humilis, Notre Dame school, organistrum, organum, parallel harmonies, parallel polyphony, pes, polyphony, rota, Sancte Bonifati martyr, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, Sumer is icumen in, Summa musice, Tractatus de Musica, tritone, vielle tunings 9th August 201827th November 2024 26 Comments

Harp, vielle and citole in the
*Peterborough* *Psalter*, England, 1300-50.

The most fundamental question of all in playing early music today is: how can the music be played to reflect historical practice? This is the second of three articles looking at historically-informed ways of performing medieval music, aiming to be a practical guide, with plenty of musical examples and illustrations, and a bibliography for those who wish to delve further.

The first article focussed on historical instrument combinations, using the illustrations of two 13^th century manuscripts as representative examples. This second article distinguishes the difference between modern harmony and medieval polyphony, and the main body of the article looks at styles of medieval accompaniment by referencing historical models. For simplicity and clarity, the same passage of music is used as the basis for exploring a variety of accompaniments. Arrangements of the first section of Cantiga de Santa Maria 10 illustrate heterophony, parallel movement, fifthing, the gymel, the importance of medieval modes, drones and drone-like accompaniments, the type of organum derided by a cleric as “minstrelish little notes”, the rota and ground bass, and the motet.

For each method, there is a sound clip of a short musical performance, composed in historically informed style by Ian Pittaway, performed by Kathryn Wheeler on recorder and vielle, and by Ian Pittaway on harp, gittern and oud. There are links to 15 illustrative videos, putting the techniques in this article into practice. Finally, the question of what to do if there isn’t a tune is addressed.

The key message of this article is: once informed, be creative.

Edi beo þu heuene quene: a love song by any name

Ian Pittaway Cantigas de Santa María, church modes, Corpus Christi carol, Down In Yon Forest, Dunstaple John, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, gymel, Hill Richard, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, Monachus Guilielmus, Nobilis humilis, Virgin Mary 26th January 20186th May 2024 2 Comments

Edi beo þu heuene quene is a 13^th century English song in praise of the Virgin Mary, written in Middle English. It expresses familiarity and romantic attachment in relationship with Mary; and the two part harmony sounds remarkably sweet and modern. This article explores why this is so, placing this beautiful song in its three contexts – lyrical, musical and historical – with a video of the song sung by The Night Watch, accompanied by gittern and citole.