historically informed performance

Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.

Ian Pittaway Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars), Cantigas de Santa María, cetra, cithara, citole, ductia, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, Francesco da Milano, gittern, historically informed performance, iconography, kithara, lute, lute manuscripts and books, Mater dei (Mother of God), Milano Francesco da, Miro genere (By a wondrous birth), plectra, plectrum, plectrums, polyphony, psaltery, septime estampie Real, Stella splendens, Stuttgart Psalter, Uitime estampie Real 4 Comments

Part 1 brought together the written, iconographical and material evidence for the characteristics of plectrums used to play the gittern, lute, psaltery, citole and cetra, made from quills, gut strings, metal, bone, and ivory.

In part 2 we examine the practical evidence for medieval plectrum technique. Iconography is presented to demonstrate medieval ways of holding a plectrum; suggestions are made for easy accompaniment of monophonic melodies; the myth that plectrum instruments could not play polyphony is disproven; and evidence is presented for an intermediate stage in the 15th century between playing with a plectrum and playing with fingertips, using both simultaneously. Finally, we answer the question: were plectrums always used to play medieval plucked chordophones?

This article includes 7 videos to illustrate medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique, beginning with citole and gittern playing an untitled polyphonic instrumental – probably a ductia – from British Library Harley 978, folio 8v-9r, c. 1261–65. 

This is a revised version of the article originally published in January 2023, now with additional information, more examples of iconography, and a new illustrative video.

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Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 1/2: Medieval plectrum materials and manufacture.

Ian Pittaway Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars), cetra, cithara, citole, estampie, gittern, historically informed performance, kithara, lute, lyre, Mater dei (Mother of God), Miro genere (By a wondrous birth), plectra, plectrum, psaltery, septime estampie Real, Stuttgart Psalter, Uitime estampie Real 5 Comments

Studies of medieval musical instruments draw upon written testimony, iconography (manuscript art, painting, drawing, sculpture and stained glass windows) and surviving instruments to describe their characteristics and the way they developed over time. In my search for evidence about medieval plectrums, I was surprised to find not one dedicated paper, book chapter or webpage. This article is an attempt to bring the written, iconographical and material evidence together and present some new research, focussing on the characteristics of plectrums used to play the gittern, lute, psaltery, citole and cetra, made from quills, gut strings, metal, bone, and ivory.

This is a revised version of the article originally published in January 2023, now with more information, extra illustrations, and a new illustrative video: La Uitime estampie Real (The Eighth Royal estampie), c. 1300, played on citole and gittern with plectrums of antler, horn and gut string.

In the second article, we survey the evidence for plectrum playing technique, with practical applications for modern players of medieval music; and evaluate whether all medieval plucked instruments were played with plectrums.   

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The complete French estampies of c. 1300: music, analysis, performance

Ian Pittaway Ars musice, Chansonnier du Roi, chant, church modes, citole, contrary motion, Doctrina de compondre dictates, drones, ecclesiastical chant, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, estampida, estampie, estanpie, fiddle, gittern, harp, heterophony, historically informed performance, istanpitta, Johannes de Grocheio, Manuscrit du Roi, medieval fiddle, medieval harp, modes, monophony, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Notre Dame school, organum, parallel harmonies, parallel polyphony, polyphony, postlude, prelude, prime Estampie Royal, quarte Estampie Royal, quinte estampie Real, rhythmic modes, Roman de Horn, seconde Estampie Royal, septime estampie Real, Sexte estampie Real, stampen, stampita, stantipede, stantipedem, stantipedis, stantipes, tierce Estampie Roial, Uitime estampie Real, viella, vielle 0 Comment

Among the treasures of surviving medieval instrumental music are eight French royal estampies in the Manuscrit or Chansonnier du roi, c. 1300. This article includes:

• an outline of the manuscript, putting the estampies in context;
• a description of the estampie form from a contemporaneous French source, Ars musice by Johannes de Grocheio, c. 1300;
• a video of each of the eight royal estampies performed on either gittern, citole or medieval harp;
• the music for all the royal estampies in the original neume notation and in modern notation;
• music analysis and historically-informed performance suggestions, looking at a different aspect of performance for each estampie.

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Rediscovering the vitality of medieval chant: an interview with Bruno de Labriolle

Ian Pittaway bourdon, chant, church modes, contrary motion, ecclesiastical chant, Gregorian chant, historically informed performance, Jerome of Moravia, Labriolle Bruno de, modes, Notre Dame school, ornamentation, Pérès Marcel, rhythmic modes, Solesmes Abbey 3 Comments

This interview with Bruno de Labriolle, Gregorian choir leader in Lyon, discusses why historically informed performance of medieval ecclesiastical chant has proved controversial. In this wide-ranging interview, Bruno discusses:

• how very recent changes in chant are wrongly considered to be the way things have always been;
• how and why the work of the Abbey of Solesmes in the 19th century standardised previously diverse, varied and rich traditions of singing;
• the plainness of modern chant compared to the emotional vitality of medieval singing;
• ways to make sense rhythmically of chant written non-mensurally (without signs for rhythm);
• historical evidence for ornamentation in medieval chant.

The article begins with a recording of Bruno and his singers of Saint-Bruno-des-Chartreux, and includes further videos of Lycourgos Angelopoulos leading the Greek Byzantine Choir, Marcel Pérès leading Ensemble Organum, and soundfiles of Bruno demonstrating singing technique.

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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 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.

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The citole: from confusion to clarity. Part 2/2: playing style and repertoire

Ian Pittaway Appalachian dulcimer, citole, dance, dulcimer, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, fiddle, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, historically informed performance, jongleurs, kithara, lap dulcimer, medieval fiddle, minstrels, polyphony, scheitholt, septime estampie Real, Stella splendens, troubadours, trouvères 3 Comments

Following on from the first article outlining the evidence for the citole’s multiple physical forms, string material and tuning, this second article examines the evidence for the citole’s playing style, repertoire, and the social contexts in which it was played. We examine the reliability of playing positions in iconography; overturn the modern myth that the thumb-hole restricts the fretting hand; show that the citole is easily capable of playing two voice polyphony; and give evidence for the musical genres citole players engaged in, including songs, jongleur (minstrel), troubadour and trouvère material, religious repertoire and dance music.

We begin this article with a video of La septime estampie Real – The seventh Royal estampie, c. 1300, played on a copy of the surviving British Museum citole.

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The medieval harp (3/3): performance practice

Ian Pittaway Agricola Martin, Berkeley manuscript, bourdon, estampie, harp, historically informed performance, lai, lay, lute, medieval harp, minstrel schools, minstrels, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, organistrum, postlude, prelude, psaltery, quinte estampie Real, Roman de Horn, scordatura, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, vihuela, Virdung Sebastian 0 Comment
Psalter, England, c. 1225 (The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, MS G.25, folio 3v).

This is the third of three articles about the medieval harp. Having outlined harp history from the earliest evidence in Egypt to the end of the medieval period in the first article, and used medieval art and written witnesses to illustrate harp symbolism in the second, this final piece lays out the evidence for questions of harp performance.  

The basis of this article is a description by the author Thomas of the playing of a harper-hero named Horn, written c. 1170, combined with other sources to built up a picture of medieval harp practice. This includes: harp tuning as a performance; the training of musicians; the various ways in which medieval harps were tuned and the musical reasons for these tunings; harp repertoire; preludes and postludes; and medieval methods of polyphonic accompaniment.

Each of these three articles begins with a performance on medieval harp of a different French estampie from c. 1300, arranged to the historically attested performance principles set out in this article. This article begins with La quinte estampie Real – The fifth Royal estampie.   

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La prime Estampie Royal: completing the fragment of a medieval melody

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, carolling, carols, Chansonnier du Roi, church modes, dance, estampida, estampie, gittern, Grocheio, historically informed performance, istampitta, istanpitta, Jean de Grouchy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, Manuscrit du Roi, mediaeval, medieval, medieval dance, medieval modes, medieval scales, modes, prime Estampie Royal, rhythmic modes, stampita, stantipes, Summa musice, Tractatus de Musica 5 Comments

The estampie was an internationally popular musical form of the late middle ages. Eight beautiful French estampies from circa 1300 are written in the Manuscrit du Roi, seven of which are complete. The first estampie is a fragment, due to the top half of the page being torn to remove illuminated letters, seen on the right.

After examining what we know about the estampie and the particular characteristics of French estampies, this article searches for historical principles upon which the fragment of La prime Estampie Royal can be made whole again.

The article begins with a video performance of the finished piece played on gittern, then explains the process of historically-informed construction, and ends with the completed music in modern notation.

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Music for a plague: an interview with Falsobordone

Ian Pittaway Ask-Upmark Erik, Black Death, bubonic plague, Falsobordone, Guillaume de Machaut, historically informed performance, Machaut Guillaume de, Petrarch Francesco, plague, Rynefors Anna 0 Comment

Falsobordone are a Swedish early music duo consisting of Erik Ask-Upmark (harp, bagpipes, organetto, symphony, trumpet, shawm, recorders, flute, rauschpfeife, citole, bells, voice) and Anna Rynefors (rebec, bagpipes, percussion, voice). Their latest album, 1350, is a beautifully presented collection of medieval music based around the 14th century bubonic plague or Black Death or, as it was then known, the pestilence. After well over a year of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions, there are clear thematic links with the present.

When Erik asked me if I’d like to review their very enjoyable, superbly produced album, I wanted to do something better. A review is one just person’s opinion, and it always boils down in essence to a single point: I like it or I don’t like it. Since making an album is a creative, collaborative process, surely discussing an album merits a similar creative and collaborative process, and the musicians who did all the hard work deserve a right of reply. So I asked Erik and Anna for an interview, and was delighted when they agreed.

In June 2021 we discussed: their musical origins in early music and folk music and how that affects their playing now; the conception of 1350 as an album and a multi-media performance; how historical music knowledge is both essential and problematic; and the importance of engaging with a modern audience, giving them a whole experience not just of medieval music but of the times in which it arose.

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

The 13th 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.

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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 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 14th 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.

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The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune

Ian Pittaway Ars cantus mensurabilis, citole, Douce Francis, English dance, estampida, estampie, Franco of Cologne, historically informed performance, istampitta, istanpitta, Jean de Grouchy, Johannes de Grocheio, Lambertus, Magister Lambertus, mediaeval, medieval, medieval notation, stampita, stantipes 13 Comments

One of the earliest surviving pieces of English instrumental music has survived with the 13th–14th 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 in order to gain some performable answers. What is an estampie? Is the Douce 139 piece an estampie? How can the musical problems left by the scribe’s imperfect notation be reconciled? Drawing on music theorist, Johannes de Grocheio, writing in c. 1300, this article looks for solutions, with a video of the music played on citole.

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Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English (revised and updated)

Ian Pittaway church modes, feudal system, harp, historically informed performance, mediaeval, medieval, medieval harp, medieval modes, medieval notation, Middle English, Miri it is, Mirie it is while sumer ilast, modes 32 Comments

Mirie it is while sumer ilast, dated to the first half of the 13th century, is the earliest surviving secular song that is both English and in the English language, preserved only by the good luck of being written on a piece of paper kept with an unrelated book. We have the music and a single verse. This may be a fragment, but its wonderful melody and poignant lyric embody in microcosm the medieval struggle to get through the winter, nature’s most cruel and barren season.

This article examines the original manuscript, showing that the now-standard version of the song performed by early music revival players is not a true representation of the text and music, but the music itself poses many problems of interpretation. We begin with a translation of the Middle English words into modern English, continuing with a short survey of the social background and a step by step reconstruction of the music. Originally published in February 2016, this is a completely revised account, with a reworked rendering of the melody and a new performance video of Mirie, arranged for voice and medieval harp.  Read more

Performing medieval music. Part 3/3: The medieval style

Ian Pittaway Alfonso X, Angelus ad virginem, Ar ne kuth ich sorghe non, Ars musicae, Cantigas de Santa María, carols, Carthy Martin, folk music, historically informed performance, Johannes de Grocheio, mediaeval, medieval, medieval notation, medieval singing styles, rhetoric, Summa musice, traditional music, troubadours 2 Comments

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 third of three articles on this topic for medieval music, aiming to be practical guides with plenty of musical examples and illustrations, and a bibliography for those who wish to delve further.

The first article discussed historical instrument combinations and the second how to create polyphonic accompaniments for music written monophonically. This third and last article discusses a wide variety of questions of style: the performance of the non-mensural (non-rhythmic) notation of the troubadours; the role of the voice and instruments; ornamentation; questions of intelligibility, language and sung translations; musical preludes and postludes; and the effect of the various functions of music on the way it is performed.

This article features a video of Martin Carthy singing a traditional English song on the basis that his free style, with the voice leading and guitar following, each verse phrased differently, so free that it is mensurally unwritable, may have something important to tell us about the historical performance of troubadour songs.

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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 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 13th 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.

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Performing medieval music. Part 1/3: Instrumentation

Ian Pittaway Beverley Minster, Cantigas de Santa María, carols, citole, fiddle, gittern, harp, historically informed performance, mediaeval, medieval, medieval fiddle, medieval harp, monophony, recorder, rota, tabulae, vielle 17 Comments

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 first 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.

This first article discusses the use of instruments and instrument combinations in medieval music. The illustrations in two manuscripts are used as typical representative examples: the 13th century Iberian Cantigas de Santa Maria and the 14th century English Queen Mary Psalter. The second article gives practical methods for making arrangements of medieval monophonic music according to historical principles, with an example to illustrate each method; and the third article discusses questions of style, including the performance of the non-mensural (non-rhythmic) music of the troubadours, ornamentation, and the medieval voice. Read more

The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

Ian Pittaway clavicembalum, clavicimbalum, clavicytherium, Guido of Arezzo, harpsichord, historically informed performance, mediaeval, medieval, Medieval Music Besalú, medieval notation, organ, organetto, organino, portative organ, positive organ, Raurich Cristina Alís, renaissance 8 Comments

Cristina Alís Raurich is a historical musician and researcher who specialises in keyboards of the middle ages and early renaissance: portative organ, positive organ, clavicimbalum, and clavicytherium. Not only is Cristina a musician of consummate skill, her love for her instruments and specialism is obvious and infectious: rarely have I seen anyone play and talk about music with such transparent joy. This I discovered when we met at Bolton Castle, Wensleydale, England, in 2017, where she gave a presentation on the history of the portative organ; performed in the duo, Sonus Hyspaniae, on portative organ and percussion, with Raúl Lacilla on musa (medieval bagpipe) and frestel (medieval Pan pipe); and kindly agreed to the following interview for Early Music Muse.

Cristina performs internationally solo and with medieval music groups Magister Petrus, La Douce Semblance, Le Souvenir, Carmina Harmonica, Sonus Hyspaniae and Hamelin Consort; and gives courses and master classes on medieval music and medieval keyboards around Europe. She is assistant director and faculty member of Medieval Music Besalú, the international course on medieval music performance in Besalú, Catalonia, a teacher at the Centre International de Musiques Médiévales de Montpellier, France, and currently a doctoral student at the University of Würzburg, Germany.

In this interview, Cristina discusses how she discovered medieval keyboards; her research into the portative organ and her commissioning of the only 13th century reconstruction; its playing techniques within the framework of medieval musical styles; its performance context in the middle ages; and performance presentation to a modern audience.

This article includes three videos of Cristina playing: table organ, clavicytherium, and portative organ.

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Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

Ian Pittaway ars antiqua, estampie, folk music, historically informed performance, Jean de Grouchy, Johannes de Grocheio, Kalenda maya, medieval, medieval notation, Notre Dame school, O'Neill's Music of Ireland, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, rhythmic modes, Souvent souspire mon cuer, traditional music, troubadours, trouvères 6 Comments
BnFms854f.75vRaimbautdeVaqueiras
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras as depicted
in a 14th century French manuscript
(Bibliothèque nationale de France ms. 854, folio 75v).

Kalenda maya is a 12th century song by troubadour, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, one of the Occitanian (later southern French) poets and singers who developed the musical tradition of fin’amor, refined or perfect love. Via Roman fertility festivals and Irish fiddle tunes, this article discusses the poetic content of the song and the problems of interpreting the musical notation of Kalenda maya, penned when written music was still developing in medieval Europe. Can there be a definitive version when there are textual variants of the same song or melody? How credible are renditions of Kalenda maya that impose a musical rhythm not present on the original page?

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras based the melody of Kalenda maya on an estampie he heard at court in Italy. Using principles written in 1300, I attempted to reverse engineer the sung estampie back into the tune it originally was. The reasons this proved impossible tell us something important about medieval music and the continuance of the spirit in which it was played.

We begin with a video of two interpretations of the melody played on gittern.

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Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement

Ian Pittaway bird on a briar, bourdon, bryd one brere, Chaucer Geoffrey, early instruments, early music, Gothic harp, harp, historically informed performance, Lambertus, Langland William, Magister Lambertus, mediaeval, medieval, medieval notation, rhythmic modes, square notation, troubadours, trouvères 7 Comments

bird14thcenturyThe aim of this article is to arrive at a performable and historically justifiable arrangement of the problematic song, bryd one brere, c. 1290–1320. This is the oldest surviving secular love song in the English language with a complete lyric and so it is early music gold-dust, but it does have some severe holes: it is for two voices, but one voice is missing; and some of the roughly-written notation is difficult to decipher. What follows is not the only possible musical solution; but on this journey I’ll take you through the process step by step, so you can decide for yourself if you’re convinced. I’ll also delve a little into the background of the song, arguing that it is clearly influenced by the troubadour and trouvère tradition of fin’amor – refined or perfect love. The article starts with a video performance on voice and medieval harp.

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