-Peter C.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Crusades Songs and Troubadours
After reading The Song of Roland, I was interested in the kind of music that was popular during the time of the Crusades. As it turns out, the crusades were actually seen as a catalyst for music in Europe, partially because it increased contact with Islamic culture and music which influenced European artists, but mostly because of the rise of the troubadours. Before the crusades, the most common form of music was church-related, either being Gregorian Chant, a Sequentia or other similar forms. About the time of the Crusades, however, individual musicians began to rise. Many journeyed with the crusaders and wrote of their adventures, while more remained behind either in the service or a lord or as travelers. With the rise of chivalry, tales of honor, love and courage became very popular.
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This is an interesting website. Since the music of Europe was influenced significantly by the crusades and the Arabic influences, I wonder if the cultural diffusion worked both ways. I would be really cool to see a website chronicling the change in Arabian culture due to the crusades and European influence.
ReplyDeleteI read through the website and found some interesting information about the Troubadour songs. Apparently, the majority of the songs were recorded as poetry and started a trend of Western lyrical poetry. It would have been interesting if the music had been preserved through the ages so that historians could study the melodies and harmonies along with the lyrics to understand the full meaning of the songs.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea, Louis, and, to be honest, I've only ever read about the influence going in one direction. This is a really cool site, though, and a great discovery!
ReplyDeleteI'm also not sure what records exist for the actual melodies. My understanding is that much of the music we have, even encompassing troubadour and trouvere output, derives from manuscripts most often redacted to the 14th century--even for 12th-century songs. Not the case with liturgical music, of course, but "secular" music has a much more uncertain provenance (provenance being all the information about a given manuscript, including where it was written, where and how it circulated, and who actually owned the manuscript in question).
I took a look at the website and found it interesting to read about Eastern influence on European music. The description and depiction of the instruments used is also pretty interesting; our instruments have definitely developed since then. Actually, I also ran across an internet article over the summer about European influence on Arabic music . Strangely enough, Western music has only recently been introduced into the Arab world. The result is a mix of traditional Arabic vocals and beats fused with elements of Western music, such as keyboard lines and harmonized vocals. Some famous Arabic singers of this style are Cheb Khaled and Amr Diab. Check it out!
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