34
Robin. The titular characters
perform the bulk of the music, in
monophonic songs that de la Halle
created by setting his own lyrics
to tunes in a popular style.
Some have called it the “first
comic opera,” although modern
audiences might more readilySECULAR MEDIEVAL MUSIC
Henry of Meissen performs at court
in the Codex Manesse (1300). The
musician was called Frauenlob (“praise
of women”) for his chivalric songs.identify the piece as pantomime
(drama of spoken text with songs).
Halle’s comedy knew no limits—he
poked fun at the church and its
corrupt clerics, at the people of
Arras, where he lived and worked,
and even his own family and life.Chivalric tales
The songs of both trobadors and
trouvères—have their roots in the
medieval culture of fi n’a mor (courtly
love)—the chivalric code ofetiquette between a knight and
an idealized lady, based on the
principles of allegiance and fealty
that defined a noble life. De la
Halle’s Robin and Marion played to
this idea, as a depiction of a knight
trying to woo his love, but was
also influenced by the French
pastoral storytelling tradition.
Trobador verse has survived
well: there are more than 2,000
extant poems composed by more
than 450 known poets. However,
transmission of the musical
accompaniment for these songs is
patchy, with barely 10 percent of
the poems having their associated
melodies relayed in notation.
Trouvère activity in northern
France began with the 13th-century
poet Chrétien de Troyes, about 70
years after the first trobador in the
south. The number of surviving
trouvère songs is similar to that of
the southern corpus, but more than
60 percent of trouvère songs have
music—albeit without precise
information concerning rhythm.Southern Europe
While trobadors and trouvères were
a distinct group of courtly poets
writing in specific poetic genres,When I see the lark
Set flight for joy
toward the sun ...
It’s a marvel that my heart
Does not melt with
longing at the sight.
Bernart de VentadornUS_032-035_Adam_de_la_Halle.indd 34 26/03/18 1:00 PM