Ars Subtilior: Subtle Art

Album: Codex Chantilly (Ballades & Rondeaux)
Year: ~1350 - 1400

This music really floored me. My reaction upon first listening to pieces from the ars subtilior was akin to a dog's ears perking up at the arrival of its master. Music like this was the reason I originally set out on my Hopeless Journey -- I craved something that was new... and yet also very old. I wanted to hear something that stimulated the ears of many great musicians but also something that was virtually unknown in the 21st century. I wanted to be challenged by something more than a placebo effect.

And so I was. These are not songs you can hum along to after one listen... or perhaps even ten listenings. They explore the musical space in a way that's both exciting and new. At first, they may sound as if the composers randomly chose notes to splotch together, like a child fingerpainting for an exhibit of abstract art. Eventually, however, the tunes will come together, and begin to sound energizing, somber, or perhaps even catchy.

The origins of this music are in the French ars nova movement, which was the first to challenge established polyphonic traditions in Western Europe. The music of the ars nova was still generally accessible to the casual listener; it was different, but not too different. Ars subtilior, however, took things to the next level -- it was music written for the musician or connoisseur, it was experimental, and it was challenging. Not until the 20th century would experimental music again attain such a prominent position in the musical world.

For the modern listener, this music is a special treat because it explores realms of musical space that are sparsely sampled by most composers, even in the six centuries that followed. It doesn't always contain the same tired cadences and chord structures that litter medieval music and which led to the standard musical practices that are so familiar today. It's true that some of the experiments carried out in this movement were influential on later composers, but the majority of what you hear will be fresh for most any listener. My first exposure to ars subtilior was in En seumeillant, in which the pieces are performed with recorders (simple wind instruments with that create very pure tones). This may have been a good jumping-off point because every note came through very clearly, but ultimately the pieces sound best performed vocally. Such recordings hard to come by, as ars subtilior pieces are notoriously difficult to perform. The collection linked above, Codex Chantilly (Ballades & Rondeaux), is the only pure ars subtilior vocal recording that I have been able to find. I strongly recommend it.

Related Links: Ars Subtilior