The Malmariée in the Thirteenth-Century Motet

by Dolores Pesce

Overview

This monograph offers a comprehensive study of the topos of the malmariée or the unhappily married woman within the thirteenth-century motet repertory, a vocal genre characterized by several different texts sounding simultaneously over a foundational Latin chant. Part I examines the malmariée motets from three vantage points: (1) in light of contemporaneous canonist views on marriage; (2) to what degree the French malmariée texts in the upper voices treat the messages inherent in the underlying Latin chant through parody and/or allegory; and (3) interactions among upper-voice texts that invite additional interpretations focused on gender issues.

Part II investigates the transmission profile of the motets, as well as of their refrains, revealing not only intertextual refrain usage between the motets and other genres, but also a significant number of shared refrains between malmariée motets and other motets. Part II furthermore offers insights on the chronology of composition within a given intertextual refrain nexus, and examines how a refrain’s meaning can change in a new context. Finally, based on the transmission profile, Part II argues for a lively interest in the topos in the 1270s and 1280s, both through composition of new motets and compilation of earlier ones, with Paris and Arras playing a prominent role.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032371207
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/08/2023
Series:	Royal Musical Association Monographs
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dolores Pesce is Avis Blewett Professor of Music at Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in music of the Middle Ages and the late nineteenth century. Her books include The Affinities and Medieval Transposition; Hearing the Motet: Essays on the Motet of the Middle Ages and Renaissance; Guido d’Arezzo’s Regule rithmice, Prologus in antiphonarium, and Epistola ad Michahelem: A Critical Text and Translation; and Liszt’s Final Decade.

Table of Contents

List of Music Examples

List of Manuscripts

List of Abbreviations

Manscripts

Other Abbreviations

Introduction

Marriage: Mutual Consent and Marital Debt

Portrayals of Marriage in Literature and Song

Part I. Malmariée Motets in Relationship to Their Tenors

1 Paschal Season Liturgy

2 Assumption Liturgy

3 Other Liturgical Tenors

4 French Tenors and French Text Only

Part II. Malmariée Motet Refrains within an Intertextual Nexus

5 Motet Refrains Shared with Other Genres

With a Song and a Romance or Narrative Poem

With One or More Songs

With a Narrative Poem

Concluding Remarks

6 Motet Refrains Shared with Other Motets

Mo 6, 233

Mo 5, 148

Mo 2, 23 and Mo 5, 142

Mo 2, 30

Conclusion

Contents

Transmission and Intertextuality

Appendix A: Tables 1–7

Appendix B: Texts and Translations of Motets 60, 62, and 67 from MS N(mo)

Bibliography

Index of Compositions

General Index