french ars nova

New researches have increased our knowledge of the recension of the 14th century Roman de Fauvel, BNF fr. 146. Political satires and allegories of historical events play a key role in the Roman, and reversals are an essential part of the text and of the manuscript. In the Roman, we find the earliest examples of red notes used to signify changing rhythmic modus. Why did the notator introduce such a device?

A Prolation Canon for three voices by Johannes Ciconia (c. 1370 – 1412). this piece is a unique example of irregular prolation from the French Ars Subtilior. Utilizing a 4:3:1 proportion, this piece creates an interesting rhythmic phasing effect between the triplum and the cantus (top two voices) nearly 600  years before the 20th century composer Steve Reich popularized such musical textures. Check out the score in motion at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrOEOuwYy3M

A transcription of Machaut's Rondeau 14, "Ma fin est ma commencement" ("my end is my beginning"). The score is rendered to be read both forwards and backwards as necessitated by the music. For an animated video of the score with a performance visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcfPr4IN2MM

Performance score of Francesco Landini's madrigal, " Musica Son - Già Furon - Ciascun Vuol" transcribed from the Squarcialupi Codex (121v-122r). For a video of the score with a performance see the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNcfZSBF9ow

This is a threefold transcription of Baude Cordier's "circle canon," two versions in rondeau form and one in perpetual canon. Included with the music transcriptions are full translations from Medieval French to English of all the accompanying texts as well as an English text underlay for the music.

Also included is a full explanation of the various mensurations and colorations that appear in the piece.

The design of the scores attempts to illustrate the rondeau form overlaying the canonic conceit.

For a score animation with the transcription and original manuscript, see this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaeOWdXM4Pg

This is a performance edition of Gherardello da Firenze's (c. 1350) caccia, "Tosto che l'alba." This edition is a combination of the three available sources for this piece, selecting those options which are optimal when differences arise between the manuscripts. If one desires to see the other available options in each source, please refer to the related title under "comparative manuscript edition". The complete text of the piece is provided with a translation at the end of the score.

For a recording and video of the score see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok4VOFvLE2Y

For an audio-video animation of the manuscript with the modern transcription see the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO56v7qltNo

An edition of the anonymous labyrinthine ballade on three canons, "En la maison Dedalus" (In the House of Dedalus) from the Berkeley Manuscript.

This edition includes a modern transcription of the music, the original manuscript excerpted, poetic and literal translations of the text, reconstruction of the 11-tier labyrinth upon which the music is overlain, and pedagogical materials/explanations of the musical and poetic medieval Ballade forme-fixe.

Edition of Lorenzo da Firenze's caccia, "A poste messe" with english lyrical text underlay. For a video-score of this edition with a recording see the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1dFq0jK-U

Transcribed from the Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana [I-Fl], MS Mediceo Palatino 87, “Codex Squarcialupi”, fol 25v-26r and the
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Florence (Firenze), Italy [I-Fn], MS Panciatichiano 26, "Panciatichi", fol. 76v-77r.

The form of this piece is canonic with monophonic (?) ritornello. As indicated in the codices, the first part of the piece is clearly a canon for ether two or three voices. The second part, however, gives no sign that it should be performed canonically. Furthermore, there seems to be no reasonable way to render the second half of this piece as a canon without numerous and egregious counterpoint errors. Thus, it is generally accepted that the Ritornello is not a canon like the first part.

The second part can be performed monophonically or by many voices in octaves. However, many recordings have taken the liberty to arrange polyphonic parts to fit with the given monophonic line. Most such arrangements borrow material from the monophonic line, parts of which work contrapuntally well together when isolated and extracted arbitrarily.

A transcription of French 14th century Ars Nova Chace, "Se je chant," from the Ivrea Codex, B.C. 115 fol. 52v possibly by Denis le Grant (died 1352). Watch the score with a rare virtuosic recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Yn9y0BjR8

“Clap, clap, par un matin – Sus Robin.” is a motet of unique quality with an intriguing text. The medieval motet originated as highly embellished liturgical music during the 12th and 13th centuries, but by the late 13th and 14th century had evolved into the most popular form of secular art music. “Clap, clap” is one of, if not the most, bawdy piece in the Ivrea Codex. The piece features two corresponding poems, which tell two accounts of a raunchy and probably adulterous sexual encounter between a man, Robin, and an unnamed woman, who appears to be married to a man named Guerin, with whom she is sexually frustrated. Both texts are provided in English translation as subtitles in the above video and as verse below. To view the score with a recording visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtDOHvTTb2k

The phraseological stratification and superimposed rondo form present in the Ars Antiqua motet, "Clap, clap, par un matin - Sus robin" seem reminiscent of the effects engendered by isorhythm. The tenor’s regularized pattern in this motet is a 7-part rondo AB-AB-AB-A Due to this regular phraseological structure of the tenor, one might naturally expect that at the end of each A and B phrase both of the above parts would also come to some cadence, giving the whole piece the same clear phrase as the tenor. Intriguingly, this is not the case in “clap, clap." The layering of phrases of unequal length and the evasion of correspondence between voices until the end of the piece is similar to the effect created by isorhythm with large least common multiples between the color and talea. This Ars Antiqua motet foreshadows the isorhythmic innovations and aesthetics of the ars nova.