Le Jeu de Robin et Marion
I was thinking about what to write today and then I remembered an essay I wrote for music history class last semester. I thought of publishing it here because it was quite an interesting subject, but since it was music, I thought of searching youtube to see what I got as example.
Then I came across this marvelous video of some TV show called Robin and Marian, which I did not know until that very moment. Check it out below (and read the essay, if you feel like it). I am seriously thinking of making a cover of this song with my acoustic guitar - it's a piece of poetry!
“Le Jeu de Robin et Marion” is perhaps the earliest secular musical drama known to history. Written in the latter part of the 13th century (around 1283 or 1284), the work was composed for the entertainment of the court of Robert II, count of Artois. It consists of a dramatized pastorelle (a lyric depicting an amorous encounter between a shepherdess and a roving knight)1 and a dramatized bergerie (a lyric describing the songs, dances and games of a group of shepherds)2, and was composed by Adam de la Halle, one of the most versatile trouveurs of the 13th century.
Adam de la Halle, also known as Adam le Bossu or Adam d'Arras, lived from around 1235 until his death likely to be between 1286 and 1306. He was born in Arras, studied in Paris, and served in the court of Robert II d'Artois in both France and Italy. He is one of the few composers of the time that can be credited for both monophonic and polyphonic pieces. His work encompasses most of the genres that existed in the late 13th century music.
“Le Jeu de Robin et Marion” is believed to have been written while de la Halle accompanied the court of Robert II in the south of Italy. The work was preserved in three manuscripts: two containing the music, and a third one containing only words and empty staves. Although the play's subject matter is light—as is the case for most pastorelles and bergeries—its artistic quality is remarkable. Adam de la Halle cannot be credited for the all of the 16 melody lines spread throughout the play; most of them were traditional tunes known as refrains3. In fact, lyrics and melodies belonged in the public domain in that period and can be found in other motets and narrative poems. Adam de la Halle's great accomplishment, however, lies firstly in the blend of those refrains to form the musical comedy, and secondly in arranging some of those melodies polyphonically4.
In Robin et Marion, Adam de la Halle follows most of the courtly characteristics of the time: melodies are rhythmical, short, syllabic and metrically independent from the context. The aristocracy's stylized view of the country life is portrayed by the lyrics and by the bagpipe and horn instrumentation. The play achieved great success in its time due to its unusual treatment of its characters and subversive plot. It is in fact a parody of the pastorelle, with plot twists only resembling the standard of the genre. The work is anticlimactic, however, because the peasant characters behave counter to genre conventions at every turn: Marion spurns the knight's advances because she already has Robin as a lover, Robin runs away and hides instead of protecting her honour against the knight, Marion is left to defend herself alone, and Marion does so successfully and admirably.“Le Jeu de Robin et Marion” set a precedent in musical drama. It did not, however, directly influence future developments in the genre, and instead remained isolated in musical history. Although the play was ahead of its time, and a great success, other composers and playwrights of the period did not follow de la Halle's example, preferring to stay within more established boundaries. It is only through the lens of history that we can today see its innovative literary and musical value.
Bibliography
Axton, Richard, and John E. Stevens: Medieval French Plays. Oxford: B. Blackwell; New York: Barnes and Noble, 1971.
Falck, Robert: 'Adam de la Halle', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 19/03/2008),<http://www.
Grout, D.J and Palisca, Claude V.: 'Teoria e práticas musicais na Idade Média', Historia da Música Ocidental. Ed. Gradiva, 1988.
Halle, Adam de la : Le Jeu de Robin et Marion. Bibliothèque Mejanes Ms. 166 (Rés Ms 14) Aix-en-Provence (Accessed 19/03/2008) <http://toisondor.byu.edu/
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