Micrologus; Guillaume de Machaut

81-07 GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT

On today's show we listen to the music of the great French 14th-century poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut. He was born about the year 1300 and died in 1377, and as a young man he took minor orders, which just means that he took the first steps in becoming a priest, a rank which he never did attain in his long life. Around 1330, we find him as personal secretary to the Count of Luxemburg, who was also King of Bohemia and known as John the Blind. John the Blind was one of the great chivalric warriors of the Middle Ages. He got his blindness not by any accident or illness, but rather by virtue of the fact that he loved to fight. He travelled all around Europe, presumably taking Machaut with him, and sought out tournaments and whatever battles happened to be raging at the time. The last battle which he found was Crécy in 1346, when he and an astonishing number of French nobles met their ends at the hands of the English longbowmen. After that, Machaut seems to have settled down in the town of Rheims as a canon in the cathedral there. The cathedral at Rheims was a very imposing structure, finished just about the time Machaut was born, and must have been tremendously inspiring. It also had great prestige as a site of the coronation of the kings of France.

Among Machaut's works is a single Mass, La Messe de Notre Dame, presumably dedicated to the cathedral. This may not sound like much, especially in the light of work of later composers, such as Palestrina, who wrote about 150 Masses [actually 104], but, in fact, it is the earliest Mass we have preserved, which seems to have been composed as a single unit. So it is very important in the history of music. It has been conjectured that Machaut wrote the Mass in the winter of 1359–1360, when the town of Rheims was under siege by the forces of the English under King Edward III. This conjecture is based on the fact that Machaut seems to give emphasis to the words: “Et in terra pax" (and on earth peace), which occur at the beginning of the Gloria movement. We will hear a performance of this movement now by the Capella Antiqua of Munich, under the direction of Konrad Ruhland.

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A number of other movements of the Mass are written using the technique known as isorhythm, the technique that was used for the motet form which, by the time of Machaut, was a good hundred years old. Essentially, isorhythm involves subjecting the slow moving melody in the lowest voice to a repeated rhythmic pattern. It is not the kind of thing that is easily heard in performance, but that is the way the composer put the piece together.

A special type of motet, one written for instruments alone—rather than for voices and instruments, which was much more common—is known as the hocket. Machaut wrote a piece in this form and called it "The David Hocket," because the melody that he used for that slow-moving voice was from a fragment of a chant which had the text "David." The word hocket in old French means "hiccup," and when you listen to the piece, you will hear why that term is very appropriate. The performance is by the Early Music Quartet, directed by Thomas Binkley.

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Among Machaut's most forward-looking compositions are his pieces in so-called "fixed forms": virelai, rondeau, and ballade. We will listen to a sample of each one of these types, beginning with a virelai. The word virelai means something like "turning song," implying that it is a song to be sung while dancing. It is interesting that the Italian composition from the same period—that is, the 14th century—which has the same musical form as the virelai is known as the ballata, and, of course, that has some relation to the dance as well. Most of Machaut's virelais are monophonic—that is, Machaut wrote only one line of music. Of course, performers might have added to that texture with drones, or improvised counterpoint, or something of that sort. We will listen to Machaut's most famous virelai, "Douce dame jolie" (Fair and gentle lady, please believe, I beg of you, that.you alone rule my heart). The performance is by the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow.

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The second fixed form which I mentioned was the rondeau. The romantic English poet, Austin Dobson, wrote a number of verses in imitation of old French forms, medieval French forms, among them a rondeau ·entitled "The Kiss." I thought I would read it to you because it gives a good idea of how the text of the refrain, which recurs throughout the poem, can sometimes contribute to the overall meaning of the work.

Rose kissed me today.

Will she kiss me tomorrow?

Let it be as it may,

Rose kissed me today,

But the pleasure gives way

to a saver of sorrow;—

Rose kissed me today,—

Will she kiss me tomorrow?

We will hear what is apparently Machaut's earliest rondeau, "Doulz viaire gracieux" (Sweet gracious countenance). The performance is by the Early Music Quartet, directed by Thomas Binkley.

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Around the year 1362, Machaut, ailing and aging, and a canon in the Cathedral of Rheims, began a liaison with a penpal, a very young woman who took the name Péronne. She might have been Agnes of Navarre in real life. Agnes of Navarre was sister of Charles of Navarre, subtitled "Charles the Bad." At any rate, it seems to have been a rather tacky affair. She led him on and teased him, and even sent him the key to her chastity belt, but it inspired him to a voluminous correspondence, and they exchanged a number of poems. At her special request, he even sent some musical compositions. Among these is a double ballade "Quant Théseus/Ne quier voir." lt ranks, in my opinion, as one of his most beautiful works. Perhaps surprising, for the 14th century, are the classical references laid over the tradition of courtly love. The first voice sings:

“When Theseus, Hercules, and Jason roamed over land and sea to enhance their reputations and view for themselves the wonders of the world, they proved worthy of our respect, but I am well satisfied just to see beauty's humble flower, for the sight of my lady fulfills all my desires."

and the second voice sings:

“I have no wish to see how handsome Absalom is, nor how wise and eloquent Ulysses, nor to learn of Samson's strength and see Dalilah shear his locks. I care not one wit for Argus' eyes, nor any greater joy. My pleasure is a simple one, for the sight of my lady fulfills al I my desires.”

The performance, again, is by the Early Music Quartet, directed by Thomas Binkley.

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It is amusing to encounter specialists in 14th-century French poetry, because, for the most part, they are not aware of how prominent Machaut was as a composer in the 14th century; and, of course, it works in the opposite direction, too: musicians do not realize what a prominent poet Machaut was. After his death in 1377, his pupil Eustache Deschamps wrote a tribute which paid homage to both those aspects of Machaut's art:

“Men of arms, lovers, ladies and their knights, clerks, musicians, and all those who write in French, all thinkers, poets and all you who sing harmoniously with tuneful voice and hold dear the sweet art of music, give full feeling to your rightful grief and lament the death of Machaut, the noblest bard.”

You have been listening to a program of music by the great 14th-century French poet and composer, Guillaume de Machaut.