Singers and Heretics

In this post I will try to give a short synopsis of a little booklet published in Holland (Zangers en Ketters by W.F.Veltman) in 1981.
After reading many scholary works, it is sometimes helpful to go back and study a small book, which gives an overview of the many cultural factors which played a role. in the Occitan society

Introduction;

To understand the rise of Catharism and the Troubadour culture, many researchers have admitted that there are secret streams or under-currants in history and those claims can be serious and well researched or they can go to a very one-sided direction and lead to all kinds of nonsense.
Many researchers connect the events with the Grail, Manicheism etc.

Both the School of Chartres and according to him also the Troubadour culture (and according to me only the Cathar culture) were waning. For the word "waning" the Dutch use the word  "Herfsttij" which literally means "time of autumn", which is a very nice term. Because it means that by waning or diminishing, it also has its fruit. And according to me the troubadour culture was only a seed for further development.
Both streams had to give way to Scholasticism.  Alanus ab Insulis of the the School of Chartres experienced the changeover from Platonism to Aristotelianism and took part in the prosecution of the heretics.
However the fruits were the rich literature and music which spread all over Europe.
And the relation to love changed. The experience of minor and major in music developed and also a wide range on instruments came into use..

He mention the enormous interest there is of the culture (in 1980!) and ask himself what can the importance be?

Troubadours Art Ensemble in Stanford

I came to know the 'Troubadours Art Ensemble' fairly soon after we arrived in France.
I had heard about the Troubadours when I was young, so now was the opportunity to become more acquainted with it. So I bought several CD's and one was from a local group under the name of Gerard Zuchetto. The other CD's were beautiful, but with Gerard Zuchetto I came to difficulties. I had to stop whatever I was doing and had to concentrate and listen several times to the same song before I could discover the many dimensions of the song. As with other songs, it repeats melodies, but with Gerard Zuchetto they did sound different, because he did not want to sing just a nice song, but to express the meaning of the song. Each word was very clearly sung, sometimes half spoken. The instrumental music was not for accompaniment, but to help to bring over the whole meaning of the song. It was as if the troubadour was standing in my room.
I have now been to several performances and also Sandra-Hurtado-Ros has the ability to give all her energy in bringing over that special element of the Troubadour music, but then in her own individual way.
The first clip is an introduction,the second a concert.



The Troubadours Art Ensemble performs Occitan troubadour lyric of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a lyric known as the foundation of European vernacular poetry. They visited Stanford in early March 2010 and the video clips are from there.

Introduction to Occitan Society during the Troubadours (by L. Patterson)

With this post I would like to give an introduction to the Troubadour Culture with the help of a short article.
The Occitan society during the time of the Troubadours from the the book 'The world of the Troubadours" by Linda Paterson.

"At the time of the troubadours, Occitan society is remarkable for its diversity as much as for its distinctive traits. At all levels it manifests a multiplicity of social groups, in variety of regions and geographical environments. But at the risk of over-simplifying, it is perhaps possible to identify certain salient features. One is a relative openness to exchange with foreigners and those of other cultures and faiths. A second is a relative absence of personal subjection. This applies to relations not only between aristocrats, but also between lords and ordinary knights who seem more likely to be waged than bound by vassalic obligations; even for peasants, burdened by taxes but rarely labour services, subjection may seem less immediate than elsewhere. An expanding mercantile economy touches social relations at all levels, producing opportunities for social mobility, and creating new oligarchies and economic casualties, though relatively few violent upheavals. Emphasis lies on practical rather than theoretical concern, whether in warfare, law or medicine. Woman, as elsewhere face misogyny, exclusion and coercion; but in Occitania they have some power and influence, a voice, albeit problematic, and social freedoms less accepted in other parts of Europe. In this courtly rather than chivalrous society, despite some signs of hostility to parvenus, knights show little sign of forming closed socio-juridical class. Taken together with a tolerance of dissident religious opinion, this suggests that Occitan society, rather than being "fractured' , was not subject to serious tensions that provoke the creation of social scapegoats. The most difficult fault line, the crack between clergy and laity, seems to have resulted from the inept authoritarian intrusion of the Gregorian 'Reform'. Occitonia was not Utopia, nor was it free from Original Sin.
But is was the first spectacular causality of the 'formation of a persecuting society', the victim of a desire on the part of outsiders to dominate and control"

It show that a strict feudal system was not present yet and was a product of Northern France.

Gerard Zuchetto and Toubadours Arts Ensemble;The Recordings

1) Gerard Zuchetto

Les Troubadours XII et XIII siecles  volume 1; 1988  Gallo *****
Les Troubadours XII et XIII siecles  volume 2; 1992  Gallo *****
Tensons e partiment de Trobairitz 1993   Gallo **
Manuscript du Roi (with Ensemble Perceval) 1993 Arion *****
Trobar et Tarab 1995  Galllo ****
Le Troubadour Guiraut Riquier (with Ensemble Perceval) 1995 Arion ****
Canso Viva Troubadours d'Italie 1996 ****
La Primavera d'amore l trovatori XII-XIII sec 1997 *****

2) Troubadours Art Ensemble

Trobart Concept 1  2000 Alienor *****
Occitan Trobart Concept 1 2002 Troba Vox
Occitan Trobart Concept 2  2001 Troba Vox ***
Occitan Trobart Concept 3 (Guiraut Riquier) 2001 Troba Vox ****
Occitan Trobart Concept 4 Milgrana Clausa 2002 ??
Occitan Trobart Concept 5 Flamenca 2002 *****
Occitan Trobart Concept 6 Florilege 2003 ***** all songs sung by Sandra Hurtado Ros
Troubadours Songs (Live in Estonia) 2005 *****

La Troba

This is an ambitious program to record and publish all the songs, which have the notation documented. There are now more singers engaged and to judge the performance is now more difficult. A lot of the performances are more difficult to enjoy at the first listening, whoever one can find many jewels in between. Also your own taste is a factor what plays a role.

La Troba Anthologie chantee des Troubadours Volume 1 2007
La Troba Anthologie chantee des Troubadours Volume 2 2008
La Troba Anthologie chantee des Troubadours Volume 3 2009
La Troba Anthologie chantee des Troubadours Volume 4 2010
La Troba Anthologie chantee des Troubadours Volume 5 2011

Looking forwards to the next issue!

How I discovered Gerard Zuchetto

When we moved to France in 2003 and as I was already interested in Troubadour culture I bought some CD's and my choice was Thomas Binkley (seems to have a good reputation!) then a German edition and then I saw the cover of Gerard Zuchetto with the background of Carcassonne on a CD, so this should be a local lad, so that might be interesting, but perhaps not professional!
When they arrived I put them on when I was doing the dish washing, and the first two were very nice and beautiful to listen to and then I put on Gerard Zuchetto and I had to stop the washing up, because this kind of sound I never heard before. I had to put some effort in to listen. This was different. He sang each word clearly and it was sung by a real man, not just by somebody, who had a beautiful voice. The music kept you on your toes, awake and he conveyed the emotions and meanings (What ever that was!) and this was not just only singing beautiful melodies or tunes. The recording was excellent, as it was done in a church with good acoustics and not in a studio. He also does not sing each couplet (stanza) the same way, because he expresses the meaning of the words, so you don't feel the repetitions, which can put you to sleep. It is a real pity the recordings are not more well known, but perhaps people are too lazy to listen properly and just want to hear music for easy pleasure.
Since then I try to see them every time they are around.

Troubadours Art Ensemble

First he started working with the Perceval Ensemble (Katia Care) and then also with Gisela Bellsola, who sang on some of his CD's. 

When later he worked with Sandra Hurtado-Ros, I was at first disappointed, as she seems to me to put more accent on the singing, that is; put a lot of accent on the melody and tune and it is much more difficult to hear the words. And her voice can sometimes be quit thin and after a few songs can become boring. However when I saw her perform then I noticed she is as much engaged in bringing over emotions and meaning as Gerard, but in her own way. Also here you have to listen attentively.
Her most interesting pieces are where either the music is beautiful and gentle or where there are strong emotions (She is after all Spanish!)
Then we should not forget the musicians; they are fantasic and many worked with Gerard Zuchetto for a long time.