The Spirits of England & France 2: Songs of the Trouvères

Trouvère is the monophonic courtly song tradition of northern France in the High Middle Ages. Written in Old French (langue d’oïl), its repertory centers on refined lyrical poetry about love, chivalry, crusade, debate, and pastoral scenes. Songs are primarily strophic and syllabic, designed so that the natural accents of the text shape the melodic line. While notated as single vocal lines, performance often featured a solo singer with optional accompaniment—vielle (fiddle), harp, psaltery, or flute—adding drones, simple borduns, or heterophonic doubling. Trouvère practice codified genres such as the chanson courtoise (courtly love song), pastourelle, chanson de croisade, jeu-parti (debate song), and serventois. Its melodic style draws on medieval modal practice and poetic meter rather than strict measured rhythm, though later pieces show awareness of rhythmic modes.