Mort Tu As Navré De Ton Dart: A Fitting Tribute

Album: Ockeghem: Missa "De plus en plus" & Chansons
Track: "Mort Tu As Navré De Ton Dart" (Track #12)
Composer: Johannes Ockeghem
Instruments: 4 vocals
Musical Form: ballade
Year: 1460

Too often in the 21st century, we put so much emphasis on progress that we fail to properly appreciate our past. The musical world, as many others, relishes innovation, but relegates tribute to two-hour television specials and concert benefits that indulge nostalgia at the expense of inspiration. Such things belong at a funeral, not a tribute. A genuine tribute demonstrates the effect the deceased had on the world by presenting something that may itself live on for years to come. A genuine tribute is not for the mourners, but actually presents something that would have been fitting of the deceased.

Fortunately, such tributes were commonplace in the musical world of the Renaissance. In 1460, Johannes Ockeghem paid tribute to his musical mentor and predecessor, Gilles Binchois, with a ballade, "Mort Tu As Navré De Ton Dart," that incorporates elements of both his own style and that of his beloved mentor. The pathos of this music reflects a sort of simple sadness that we seldom hear in modern music. There is no existential self-reflection. There are no confused feelings of romance for the deceased brought on by the crude substitution of a commercial love song. The composer made something beautiful for this purpose alone and they wrote it not for themselves, but for the world.

When did this art form die? The next time a music legend, say Bob Dylan or Pete Townshend, dies, why don't today's indie darlings get together to record a tribute album with entirely new material inspired by the deceased. Who knows, collaborations of this sort might even inspire new ideas and new musical directions for the contributing artists. Wouldn't that be a fitting tribute?

Related links: YouTube

En Seumeillant: Recorder Heaven

Album: En Seumeillant (French Ars Subtilior)
Track: "En Seumeillant" (Track #12)
Composer: Trebor
Instruments: 3 bass recorders
Musical Form: Ballade
Year: ~1380 - 1400

There is something very haunting about old songs. When a song becomes so old that the stylistic trends that gave birth to it are no longer familiar to its listeners, it becomes stripped down to its most naked form and the emotions it evokes spring only from those facets of ourselves that are universal to all human beings. In this way, we forge a connection to a long-dead society of people, but with the context lost, we never fully grasp the message of the song. The feelings are there, but cannot be understood or explained... they are ghosts trapped in sound.

Never did I feel this haunting quality so profoundly than when listening to "En Seumeillant", a ballade in the French ars subtilior style. The piece was composed by a medieval composer who, mysteriously, is known as Trebor (a backwards anagram of "Robert"). Very little is know about him -- he appears to have had several aliases -- but he was well regarded in his time and his pieces often make references to significant historical events. I don't know anything about the meaning of the lyrics, since I could find only one recorded version and it was performed entirely with bass recorders. However, unlike for many of the other ars subitlior pieces, I suspect the ambience of "En Seumeillant" is captured best by the recorders, rather than vocal performers. I recommend playing it in a very quiet place, with all of the lights out. If you listen carefully, you might hear the ghosts.

Related Links: Trebor

En Amer a Douce Vie: A Medieval Traveling Song

Album: Machaut: Chansons
Track: "En Amer a Douce Vie" (Track #10)
Composer: Guillaume de Machaut
Instruments: 4 voices
Musical Form: Ballade
Year: ~1350

One of the difficulties with listening to new genres of music is that we need to get our bearings; that is, our minds aren't accustomed to the structure and style of the compositions we're listening to. As such, the music often sounds like a garble of phrases, perhaps with some familiar note patterns, but lacking any coherent flow. I found that I had these same difficulties with medieval music, despite the fact that the composition structure is generally simpler than that found in modern music and the sections of the composition are usually very clearly delimited. When I made an effort to look for this structure, however, the music began to feel more comfortable and listenable.

In medieval music, one of the forms with the simplest song structure is the ballade (distinct from a "ballad"). Essentially, a ballade is two verses followed by a refrain, repeated some number of times (usually three, in my experience). The length of the sections can vary from one piece to the next, but it's usually clear when they're ending because medieval composers have a tendency to establish their cadences very clearly -- the voices all sound at once and hold a sustained note. I think these rigid section endings detract from the flow of the piece, but it may be that the medieval ear would have gotten lost without them. I'm sure our music would sound like a garbled mess to them.

Anyway, one of the best ballades that I've heard is "En Amer a Douce Vie" by Guillaume de Machaut. It has a distinct rhythm that I tend to associate with some steady motion, perhaps walking or some other kind of traveling. For those trying to get their bearings, the first verse ends at 0:27 and the first refrain ends at 1:57. The verse 1-verse 2-refrain sequence appears three times in the piece. The refrain is unusually long in this ballade and I especially like how the bass line (established by the tenors) moves toward the end of that section.