CHAPTER FIVE

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

            One of the aims of the preceding study was to lay the groundwork for an eventual codification of musical form and style in the troubadour songs, and to that end it has focussed on two of the broadest musical parameters, tonal structure and form. Especially with regard to the latter, it is hoped that the significance and prominence of this formal aspect have been made sufficiently clear; if there is any single overiding conclusion that may be drawn from the investigation, it must be that the troubadours as composers were every bit the match for the troubadours as poetic artisans. Indeed, given the intimate and dynamic interaction we have observed between musical and poetic forms in the repertoire, it is all the more regrettable that only ten percent of the transmitted poems are preserved with music, for this was a dual art composed of equally important partners. Although only a portion of the surviving songs with music was discussed in the examples, the richness and invention displayed in the troubadours' musical forms should be evident by now.

            Notwithstanding the importance of the element of form for an appreciation of the troubadours' art, however, there is still much that remains to be learned about their musical practice. At this juncture, therefore, it may be fitting to suggest some of these other avenues that remain to be explored. Stylistic features that might be tangibly codified include melodic shape or contour, the use of characteristic interval formations, register and ambitus, transposition, sequences and melodic variation, the distribution of pitches over syllables, the placement of compound neumes or melismas, declamation, and the use of melodic formulas. These features could be considered, along with the formal and tonal aspects already studied, in relation to poetic style, genre and register, time period, individual composers, and the general musical style within the repertoire as a whole. Further research along these lines would also permit the study of the possible interrelationships or borrowings among songs and composers, a question which would entail the consideration of texts and forms (both musical and poetic) as well as style.

            Beyond the internal study of the repertoire's musical features, there is another task still waiting to be done, and that is the comparison with other relevant repertoires. The situation here facing the musical scholar is similar to that familiar to the literary scholar, in that the troubadour tradition seems to have no obvious forerunners, and the resulting void has spawned a host of theories regarding origins. The musical art of the troubadours and trouvères can furthermore be characterized as having no true successors, given the rise of polyphonic forms and the separation of music and poetry by the fourteenth century. Nevertheless, the systematic comparison of related repertoires promises to clarify a number of issues that have risen over the years. One is the relation between the troubadour and trouvère repertoires; the two are often lumped together as if there were little to differentiate them, and a thoroughgoing comparison of musical practice between the northern and southern poets is long overdue.^[1] An extension of the present study would also facilitate comparison with earlier repertoires such as the para‑liturgical, rhyming versus associated with St. Martial in Limoges (as represented in B.N. lat. 1139), or the Spanish cantigas and the handful of Gallego‑Portuguese songs by Martin Codax.

 

  «  Chapter IV                        Contents                    Appendix I  »