Polyphony, melisma, counterpoint, three words often associated with the ars nova and arguably the giant of the movement, Guillaume de Machaut. Who would have thought that medieval music could be heard in modern-day Vancouver? I certainly did not think for a second that obscure chansons from the 14th century would be performed with any sort of regularity in such a metropolis, much less, draw in a sizeable crowd. Perhaps Machaut’s works are not as obscure to the average music appreciator than I had previously imagined.
Unlike the previous performances I had attended this semester, I was particularly eager to watch Le Remede de Fortune as it is an entire work by a composer that we had actually studied in class. As such, I was on the lookout for the aforementioned musical features of the ars nova, as well as the instruments and techniques the musicians would use to recreate the characteristic sound of medieval music.
Initially I presumed that Le Remede de Fortune was one of Machaut’s sacred works given that the performance was set to take place at Christ Church Cathedral, but soon after realized the work, which is a narrative poem (“dit”), is secular in nature, telling the story of the trials and tribulations of a man in love. Interestingly, of the seven lyric poems contained in this work, several of them are written and performed in the old style of music, ars antiqua, from the 13th century. The others are written in the ars nova style and is absolutely what gives the entire work noticeably more musical texture and interest. Another point of interest is that, although I was seated behind a few towering heads, I noticed that one of the musicians on stage was playing the lute and hurdy-gurdy – authentic medieval music produced by authentic medieval instruments!
While the original work was composed entirely in Old French, the spoken parts were narrated in English and the parts that were sung were delivered in the original language but supplemented with English supertitles projected onto a screen. In terms of storyline, I found it to be quite amusing as the protagonist, the Lover, seemed to behave in what people today would consider melodramatic fashion. It certainly is a woe-is-me type story, except perhaps without nearly the degree of tragedy found in larger works of this genre, such as those in Opera Seria. At one point during the poem, the Lover is addressed for the first time by the love of his life but is overwhelmed with timidity that he runs away to a garden to sing a complainte (a song often associated with death). Here, he sings of the cruel fate that fortune has brought upon him and laments for his Lady. To my modern ears, and I think a great majority of us, I can find only humour in his response. Another interesting aspect of La Remede de Fortune is that contrary to what one might expect of gender roles during this time in Western history, the roles in this poem are in a way reversed, such that the man takes on a more cowardly demeanour, and the woman, if not a position of authority, then of poise and confidence. On top of that, the meeker role of the Lover is further accentuated by the use of a countertenor voice. Perhaps Machaut’s intent is to tell his listeners that everybody, even men (likely considered the superior gender at the time), are powerless against the whims and caprices of fortune.
Despite his exaggerated responses, and maybe because of them, Machaut’s message on courtship and the proper way in which to love someone comes across easily. Additionally, while much of the music was written in accordance with the ars nova movement and contained extensive melisma and a fair amount of polyphony, the complexity of the music when compared to the classical era and beyond is minimal. This lack of excessive instrumentation combined with a rather straight-forward plotline paint a wonderful picture of simpler times.