LOS MOTZ EL SO - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Library ...

Chapter 1. Introduction
The troubadours produced the first large repertory of vernacular songs with attributions
to specific composers during the Middle Ages. Troubadour poetry is by definition written in Old
Occitan or Provençal (both terms in common use, although Occitan is preferred) during the
period from the end of the eleventh century through the beginning of the fourteenth century.
Songs in Old Occitan were composed by poets living not only within the geographical area of
Provence, but also by poets born and living in the rest of the south of France, Spain, Italy, and
the north of France. 1
The repertory is one of song, consisting mostly of strophic poems to be sung to particular
melodies. It is thus not only the earliest large collection of vernacular poetry, but also of secular
melodies. 2 Although only four of the forty-one main surviving manuscripts containing
troubadour poetry provide their musical settings, these four do indicate that the works were
originally songs. 3 In addition, Arnaut Daniel and other poets allude to making the words
harmonize with the sounds. 4 The songs are usually attributed to particular individuals; some
manuscripts include short biographies of the composers (vidas) and short explanations of
individual songs (razos).
1 To avoid confusion, the geographic terms I use in the dissertation refer to the modern
political entities because there are no real medieval equivalents.
2 Discussed in most introductory works, most concisely, Rosenberg, “Introduction,” 1.
3 The standard reference for manuscript descriptions and locations of troubadour songs
within them is: Pillet and Carstens, Bibliographie der Troubadours. The revisions to the
manuscript list proposed by Zufferey, Recherches linguistiques, are not universally accepted.
4 “qui.ls motz ab lo son acorda,” line 9 in “Autet e bas entre.ls prims fuoills,” Riquer, Los
Trovadores, 621. Aubrey discusses many more such references in “References to Music.”
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