Nesles Antilopes

Love variations: The variant, and its corollary the variation, inseparable from the Middle Ages, have established themselves, particularly since Eloge de la variante (In praise of the variant) by Bernard Cerquiglini and the term of “mouvance” (mobility) inaugurated by Paul Zumthor, as genuine writing processes. Extending them to the musical field sounds quite obvious, and allows us furthermore to apprehend the modes of transmission and circulation of the medieval melodic repertoires.

The reign of Philippe IV the Fair of France, from the late thirteenth through the early fourteenth centuries, was marked by prosperity and a flourishing of the arts. During Philippe's reign, several important collections of music were copied, including the Montpellier Codex, the Chansonnier Cangé, and the Robertsbridge Codex, which remain the most significant sources of music of the era. The selections from those manuscripts recorded here are delightfully diverse: estampies – perky folk-like dances, polyphonic secular motets, and soulful Trouvère love songs. The music has a rough-hewn quality to it – it was written well before the conventions of western classical music had fallen into place, and it follows a logic that's foreign to modern sensibilities accustomed to music from the Renaissance to the Contemporary periods.