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• Machaut, Guillaume: 2 Rondeaux

Machaut, Guillaume: 2 Rondeaux

(Rose, liz, printemps, Tant doucement) for 4 voices or instruments.

These two rondeaux by Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377) are printed here after Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS f. frçs 1584.
Current notions on the performance of this music tend to favour keeping voices and instruments separate. The rather angular style of many of Machaut´s parts often looks very “instrumental”, but similar writing can be found on the mass and other purely vocal works. Both pieces can be performed purely instrumentally, on recorders, or bowed strings, or plucked strings, or on a mixture of these. Familiarity with the repertoire brings with it the ability to play the quaver-crotchet-quaver rhythms without undue jerkiness. One area to experiment with is that of tuning: there is some dispute as to whether the major thirds should be wide (Pythagorean) or tempered. Whatever happens, however, attention should be paid to the tuning of the fifths, which should be pure, especially on the longer notes. However these pieces are scored, the cantus should be in the foreground. A useful approach is perhaps to try the pieces without the triplum, and then this part as an added one, making sure that it does not overbalance the cantus. The original not values have been quartered. Editorial accidentals appear above the stave, applying to the one note only. I am grateful to Jeannine Alton for translating the texts of these songs.