The Way of Inner Alchemy
Psychology | Cosmology | Music | Sacred Dance | People | Books | Meetings | Links | Contact | Contextual Studies | FAQ | Site Map
Fourth Way Contextual Studies
Troubadours and Trouveres
Troubadours and Trouveres were known as 'wandering minstrels', although the exact meaning of the words is the same in each case ....finder or seeker.
The history of music describes 'Jungleurs des gestes' or 'chanson de geste' of the 10th century, as play-acting, tumbling and conjuring jongleurs. They performed both in monasteries and castles, although they were often condemned by the church for their treatment of long traditional and original narrative poems which recounted the deeds of national heroes.
By the 14th century a 'higher' class of minstrel emerged........ that of the Menestrier (akin to 'minister', and thought to allude to the duty of a musician attending on the Troubadours with instrumental accompaniment).
The distinction between a Troubadour and a Trouveres is one of language and locality. The movement lasted a very short time; between 1125 and 1250.
The Troubadours lived in the South of France using the language of Provençal and this overflowed into Northern Spain and Italy. Richard The Lionheart of England, who was partly Provençal through his mother, was an example of a gifted member of the nobility who participated in the Troubadour movement.
The art of the Troubadour descended from the liturgical chant and preserved the Gregorian Chant. eg. In the chanson of Sainte Foi d'Agen it is stated that the song was 'guided by the first note' (guidal primers tone) which means that it evolved in the first Gregorian tone or scale. The carefree, wandering minstrels sang of the principles of Love and Service, and there was nothing more learned and involved than the music and lyrics of the noble-man musician-poet who practiced 'trobar clus' (closed poetry) .. that is a form of art not accessible to the uninitiated. Albi, the north-east of Toulouse attracted large groups of Troubadours ....and this region has had reference made to it as a place of heretics!.
The Trouveres originated from the region of central and northern France, and spoke in the French tongue but had Latin influences in their lyrics. They arose at about the same time and in the same part of France as the Notre Dame School. A Trouvere by the name of Adam de la Halle composed a play by the name of 'Robin and Marion'. However, the emphasis on the subjects of Love and the Female principles can be attributed to a higher form - that of Love of the Sacred and in praise of the Virgin Mary, - devotional concepts set to modal and rhythmic music.
It is interesting to note that the Troubadours and Trouveres arose at a time in history when the Crusades Holy War gave an opening to the East and brought back influences to the West. By comparison, Gurdjieff traveled from the East to the West bringing with him in his music the embodiment of his experiences from temples and esoteric schools, and at a time in history of great wars, World Wars 1 and 2 . Gurdjieff was indeed a modern Troubadour and a Trouvere (carrier of secrets).
In his book Teachings of Gurdjieff, a Pupil's Journal by C.S. Nott he describes the impact of seeing Gurdjieff's Sacred Dances and Music for the first time in a Demonstration given in America in 1923. The music and ritual dances were attributed to Turkestan, Tibet, Afghanistan, Kafiristan and the Chitral. Nott says the pieces he saw had deep significance and he understood perhaps for the first time that ancient sacred dance was like a book or script containing definite knowledge which could only be understood by an initiate.
Bibliography
Percy A. Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford University Press, London, 1944
Hartman and Mellers, Man and his Music, Barrie & Rockcliff, London, 1944
Prof. Paul Henry Lang, Music in Western Civilisation, J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1963
C.S. Nott, Teachings of Gurdjieff
Toubadours and Trouveres compiled by JEB