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CHAPTER THREE
MUSICAL FORMS IN THE TROUBADOUR REPERTOIRE
This section deals with the 50 songs that can
be considered to display some symmetry in their formal
designs at the level of phrase repetition, but that
are not in the ABAB form. The term symmetry is
employed, not without some misgiving, for lack of a
better word to convey the sense of formal patterning
and balance shown in this group of songs. Strictly
speaking, the term ought to be reserved for mirror
symmetry, as might be exemplified in the form
ABC/DD/CBA. A few songs do follow this model, but it
can also be argued that a piece of music can have only
an intellectual, not virtual, symmetry of this kind,
since the time dimension is unidirectional; to be
consistent, the term should be reserved for the visual
sphere. In the present context, therefore, it will be
used in a broader sense to distinguish those songs
with some degree of patterning in their designs from
those with irregular kinds of phrase repetition. It
must not be forgotten, however, that strong structural
patterns may be produced at the sub‑phrase
level, as was demonstrated in the section on oda continua forms.
If there is a single principle behind the
majority of the forms in this group, it might be
characterized as the repetition of phrases in pairs,
either immediately, or with intervening phrases. The
resulting designs may form links between the first and
second halves of a song, or may be restricted to one
or the other part. In a few songs, the pair is formed
by the immediate repetition of the same phrase, while
in the larger number two different phrases are paired.
There are also songs in which three and even four
phrases are repeated as a unit.
To provide a convenient overview of the musical
forms in this category, they are listed in simplified
form in the following table, grouped according to a
logical progression so that closely related forms are
adjacent. Some songs contain more than one pattern and
may be listed twice; they are placed in brackets on
their second occurrence. Where a song has been
transmitted in more than one version, with a
difference of form between versions, the manuscript
sigla of the version in question here is given in
parentheses. There are nine songs in this category
that appear in more than one manuscript. In two of
these, P‑C 70,16 and P‑C 167,32, all
versions agree in form; the others have been discussed
in previous sections (see P‑C 421,2, P‑C
70,31, P‑C 155,10, P‑C 155,22, P‑C
155,27, and P‑C 366,9).
47,4
A B B C D E E F 155,10
A B B C D E F G G
(G) 248,52
A B B A B C B D B B 364,7
A A A A B B C C D
248,19
A B C A B D E F G 30,19
A B A C A B D E C B 242,51
A B C A B D C A E F 70,31
A B C D A B E D
(G) 242,45
A B C D A B E F G H 305,10
A B C D B C E C E
421,10
A B C D E B C F 335,49
A B C A D B C E 96,2
A B A C D B A E A 248,10
A B B C B C D E 366,31
A B C A C A B 80,37
A B C D C D B C C C E 366,9
A B C B D C B E
(R) 47,11
A B C D E C D 155,27
A B C D E C D F E G
(G) [242,51
A B C A B D C A E F] 335,7
A B C A D E C A E E 70,8
A B C D E F C D 389,36
A B C D E C C D 155,22
A B C D E F C D
(G) 364,49
A B C D E F C D 392,13
A B C D E A D E 248,24
A B C D E F D F G E F H [305,10
A B C D B C E C E] 355,5
A B A C D E F B E F G 305,6
A B A A C D E D E 421,2
A B C D E F G H E G H
(G) [80,37
A B C D / C D B C C C E]
248,2
A B C A B C D E D F G 248,85
A B C A B C D E D E
F G 366,21
A B C D A B C 248,67
A B C D A B C E F G H I 47,6
A B A C B A C D 47,7
A A B C A B C A B D 392,24
A B C A D B C A A B C A 406,7
A A A A B C A B C A 406,31
A B C B / D E D F
[364,7
A A A A B B C C D] 375,14
A A A A B C A D 248,31
A A A A B C D E F 248,44
A A A A C D E [406,7
A A A A B C A B C A]
70,16
A B C D A B C D 70,25
A B C D A B C D E B C F 366,15
A B C D A B C D E F C D 248,26
A B C D A B C D E B F G C D 392,18
A B B C D E F G D E F G 167,32
A B C D A B C D E F G H I I J K 392,9
A B C D A B C D A D A D
E E A D E E A D 297,4
A B C C A B C C D E C
248,69
A B C D A C A B C D A C E C
Having mentioned the principle of repeating
phrases in pairs, it might legitimately be wondered
whether we are not dealing with variants or offshoots
of the ABAB form in this category. A form such as
ABCABDEFG (P‑C 248,19), for example, could
easily be understood in this way, and the form
ABCDABCDEFCD (P‑C 266,15) can be seen as an
expansion of the ABAB form. The connection is
especially close in the five songs with the form A A*
A A* in their first half (P‑C 406,7, P‑C
364,7, P‑C 375,14, P‑C 248,31, and P‑C
248,44). It was seen in the previous section that a
certain number of songs from the ABAB category
demonstrated a type of ouvert/clos
relationship between the A and B phrase; in the
present cases, this relationship is definitive, for it
is only the cadence which differentiates the two
phrases. The extreme is reached in P‑C 364,7, by
Peire Vidal, in which the only difference between the
first and second phrases (and the third and fourth) is
the single final pitch, which lies a tone lower in the
second phrase of the pair. This song is highly
syllabic and simple in style, and it may be noted that
the fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth, phrases
have the same ouvert/clos
formation; only the final phrase is not repeated. On
the other hand, in P‑C 248,44, Guiraut Riquier
has introduced some variation in the second phrase
along with the altered cadence, and the rest of the
song can be considered through‑composed.
A song very similar in style to P‑C 364,7
is P‑C 406,7, by Raimon de Miraval; it is
additionally distinguished as one of the most
symmetrical and regular designs in the whole
repertoire. Only three different phrases are employed
in this ten‑line song, all of them repeated in
pairs and groups of three, the latter including the
second A phrase; the correspondence between musical
form and rhyme scheme is also striking in this song.
It is reproduced in Example 32 along with the complete
graph of the form; as the form is identical in both
manuscript versions, and that of G is complicated by a
scribal error in pitch level, only the version of R is
shown.
Example
32. Raimon
de Miraval, P-C 406,7.
It will be recalled that Dante, in his
delineation of the form we have labelled the ABAB
form, allowed that cases could be found, albeit
rarely, of the first half of a song having three pedes
instead of the usual two. In fact, the only song among
those transmitted with music that can be said to have
three pedes
is P‑C 248,5, by Guiraut Riquier, which has the
form ABABABCDE. On the other hand, there are several
songs in which the pedes
consist of more than two phrases, as a glance at the
table of symmetrical forms will reveal. Two songs by
Guiraut Riquier, P‑C 248,2 and P‑C 248,85,
have three‑phrase pairs in the form ABCABC...,
which are easily understood as expansions of the ABAB
form, and the second of these also includes the
immediate repetition of two phrases as a pair, giving
the form ABCABCDEDEFG.
A further seven songs can be understood as
having pedes
of four phrases; they are P‑C 70,16, P‑C
70,25, P‑C 366,15, P‑C 167,32, P‑C
392,9, P‑C 248,26, and P‑C 297,4. One of
these, P‑C 70,16, by Bernart de Ventadorn, is
unique in the whole repertoire, in that no new phrases
follow the pair of four‑phrase pedes;
it is a symmetrical two‑part form, ABCDABCD,
with only minor changes to the cadence of the second D
phrase. The final is the same in both phrases and in
both manuscript versions, however, and the alterations
do not produce ouvert/clos
endings). The other song by Bernart, P‑C 70,25,
has 12 lines and a very regular rhyming pattern, as
the following graph of its form shows:
In this
case there is the suggestion of a potential third
repetition of the four‑phrase unit, with the
return of the B and C phrases in lines 10 and 11, but
new material is introduced in lines 9 and 12,
enlivening the three‑part form.
Two songs by Peirol and Riquier, P‑C
366,15 and P‑C 248,26 respectively, are notable
for the manner in which they reproduce a particular
sub‑group of the ABAB category, where the B
phrase is repeated at the end of the song, giving a
rounded aspect to the form. In these two songs, the C
and D phrases are repeated at the end as a pair, in a
close parallel to the overall form of the more common
type. Both songs are also composed entirely of five‑syllable
lines (with the exception of the last line of P‑C
248,26, which has three syllables). Although it would
not be correct to re‑interpret the metrical and
rhyme schemes in terms of ten‑syllable lines
with internal rhymes, in the case of Riquier's example
there is some support for a joining of the A and B
phrases and C and D phrases into longer units, which
would testify further to the derivation from the ABAB
form. The song is reproduced below in Example 33, and
it will be noticed that the A and C phrases lack the
typical cadential formations found in most phrases.
Instead, they have single pitches that ascend to the
beginning of the B and D phrases, both of which are
entirely descending; thus A and B together and C and D
together produce single phrases in the standard arch
shape that is commonly found. (For similar examples,
see P‑C 70,25 and P‑C 297,4.)
Interestingly enough, the scribe of this
manuscript appears to have believed the song was
composed of ten‑syllable lines, since he elided
the vowel at the end of line one, joining it to the
next line. The alterations to the C and D phrases at
the end of the song were clearly motivated by the
altered meter in both of the last two lines.
Example
33. Guiraut Riquier, P-C 248,26.
Another of the songs analyzed here as having
four‑line pedes
is the famous "Kalenda maya" (P‑C
392,9) by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, in which he was
supposed to have used the melody of an estampie,
an instrumental dancing form. It consists of two‑
and four‑syllable lines in a very simple,
regular, and repetitive meter, which features can also
be said to characterize its musical form and style. As
such, it bears comparison with other songs in a
syllabic style with highly repetitive musical forms,
some of which have already been alluded to in earlier
sections, and which may be linked with a lower,
popular musical style and related poetic genres.
A song by Guiraut Riquier, who was responsible
for a good deal of formal innovation, both musical and
poetic, can be interpreted as having pedes
of either four or six lines, due to the ambiguity of
its meter. It may be considered to consist entirely of
six‑syllable lines with internal rhyme, or to
have a mixture of three‑ and six‑syllable
lines. The latter interpretation allows for a clearer
representation of the musical phrase structure, and is
the one included in the catalogue of forms and
shown below with the music for this song, P-C 248,69.
Example 34.
Guiraut Riquier, P-C 248,69.
Were one to attempt a generalization about the
main kinds of symmetrical form found in the other
songs in this category, one way might be to take the
ABAB form as a reference point again, and look at how
these songs modify it or extend it. For example, some
songs repeat the AB phrase pair, but only after one or
more intervening phrases, not immediately. This is the
case in P‑C 248,19, P‑C 30,19, P‑C
70,31, and P‑C 242,45. Related to these are two
songs that repeat the three‑phrase ABC group as
a unit, which can also be related to the songs
discussed above as having pedes
of three phrases rather than two; these are P‑C
366,21 and P‑C 248,67. The former song has the
form A B C D A B C, and is thus an example of the ABA
form. In other songs it is not the first two phrases
that are repeated as a pair later, but the second and
third, or third and fourth, etc., although one of these
phrases may itself be a repetition of an earlier
phrase. These are some examples of typical forms:
A B
C D E B C F (P‑C 421,10) A B C A B D C A E F (P‑C 242,51)
A
B A C D E F B E F G (P‑C 355,5)
In some songs, the repetition of the pair of
phrases is not interrupted by intervening phrases, but
occurs immediately; this parallels the ABAB form, with
the difference that the repeated portion is found in
the middle or the end of the song instead of at the
beginning. Where the latter situation obtains, the
form may be described as an ABAB form in reverse, and
it can be seen in two songs by the Monge de Montaudo,
P‑C 305,6, and P‑C 305,10. (The latter
song uses the music of P‑C 80,37, by Bertran de
Born, but with changes to the form.) "Ara
pot ma dona saber" (P‑C 305,6) also
contains echoes of the ABAB form in its first half,
and extensive linking through motivic recall. It is
shown in Example 35. A similar formal structure, but
with units of four phrases rather than two, occurs in
P‑C 392,18, by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, with the
form A B B C D E F G D E F G.
The following are songs in which the
repetition occurs in the middle of the stanza;
included are forms with three‑phrase units,
since the formal device is the same:
A B C A C A B (P‑C 366,31)
A B A C B A C D (P‑C 47,6)
A A B C A B C A B D (P‑C
47,7)
Example 36.
Bertran de Born, P-C 80,37.
Example
37. Berenguier
de Palazol, P-C 47,7.
The rhyme
scheme can be understood as three sets of the familiar
rims crozatz
pattern, abba, which overlap, using the feminine a
rhyme as a pivot in lines 4 and 7; this repetition of
the a rhyme is matched by the musical repetition of
phrase C as part of the three‑phrase repeated
unit ABC. In addition, the sequence of rhymes internal
to the abba pattern, namely bb cc dd, is matched by
the repetition of the pair of phrases AB; the link is
further underlined by the similarity of the cadences
for both phrases, and by the assonance between the b
and c rhymes (‑is and ‑ir), which is
carried through all stanzas, since the poem is unissonans.
This concludes our survey of the category of
symmetrical song forms, which amply testifies to the
troubadours' inventiveness in designing balanced and
artful musical structures outside the relatively fixed
domain of the ABAB type. At the same time, as we have
seen, the latter seems to have inspired many of the
forms in this category, without thereby detracting
from their originality, and several of the songs have
designs that are unique in the repertoire.
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