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Woman‘s songs, embodying mostly love lyrics, were found throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and reflect a more popular character. The language in these poems tends
to be simple and direct. The songs often incorporate aspects of nature. Other prevailing themes may involve the conflict between the upper and lower classes, strife among married couples, dissension between mothers and daughters, as well as depicting various relationships among sisters.
Medieval woman‘s song consists of lyrics not necessarily written by women, but rather in the female voice – songs seen through the eyes of a woman, spoken by a female speaker. Such songs do not depict the typical male devotion to the lady and do not emphasize the high courtly love tradition of the unattainable lady, but rather they tell more seemingly personal, yet also archetypal stories of the wishes, desires, sorrows, and disappointments of young women. Mainly written by male composers – although many have been transmitted anonymously – woman’s songs perhaps reflect the male desire and fantasy about women and the male perception of the female stereotype during the Middle Ages, as well as providing a diversion for an audience more sophisticated than the characters represented in the songs themselves.
Woman‘s songs are found in a variety of genres from strophic refrain songs and dance songs, to ballads and laments (which form one of the most significant genres in the entire history of music). In this course we will look at a variety of examples from different European regions and language areas, including: the Galician-Portuguese cantigas de amigo, with their roots in oral folk tradition and most likely derived from, or at least related to the Mozarabic jarchas; the northern French chanson de toile (sewing or spinning songs), as well as the chanson de malmariée (songs about an unhappily married young woman); mother-daughter dialogue songs, found in both romance languages and Middle High German lyrics, to name a few.
Through analyzing various medieval woman’s songs from different perspectives, including manuscript traditions, performance traditions, artwork, historical and cultural context, as well as delving into the original texts (and using English translations) with their accompanying music using visual and listening examples, we will attempt to bring these old songs to life, making them more meaningful and comprehensible to our modern eyes and ears. We will also touch upon aspects of medievalism and modern performance practice of medieval vernacular song repertoire.
This class will be taught in English. There are no other language requirements, but a minimal knowledge of French, Spanish (and/or Portuguese), German, and Latin is certainly helpful, but by NO means a prerequisite ( there will always be English translations available of all lyrics). This course will also include musical examples, but literacy in reading music is also NOT a prerequisite.
Class requirements include a short oral presentation and class participation. Any students whose course requirements include a written paper may extend their oral presentation into an appropriate written version after consulting the lecturer. |
