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The estampie (French: estampie, Occitan and Catalan: estampida, Italian: istampitte) is a medieval dance and musical form which was a popular instrumental and vocal form in the 13th and 14th centuries. The name was also applied to poetry.[1]
Musical form
editThe estampie is similar in form to the lai, consisting of a succession of repeated sections.[1] According to Johannes de Grocheio, there were both vocal and instrumental estampies (for which he used the Latin calque "stantipes"), which differed somewhat in form, in that the vocal estampie begins with a refrain, which is repeated at the end of each verse.[2] Also according to Grocheio, the repeating sections in both the vocal and instrumental estampie were called puncta (singular punctus),[3] in the form:
- aa, bb, cc, etc..
The two statements of each punctus differ only in their endings, described as apertum ("open") and clausum ("closed") by Grocheio, who believed that six puncta were standard for the stantipes (his term for the estampie), though he was aware of stantipes with seven puncta.[3] The structure can therefore be diagrammed as:
- a+x, a+y; b+w, b+z; etc..
Sometimes the same two endings are used for all the puncta, producing the structure
- a+x, a+y; b+x, b+y, c+x, c+y, etc..[4]
A similar structure was shared with the saltarello, another medieval dance.
The earliest reported example of this musical form is the song "Kalenda maya", written by the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (1180–1207) to the melody of an estampida played by French jongleurs.[5][failed verification]. "Two poetry treatises describe the estampie as a poetic and musical form, and a music treatise provides details about it as both a vocal form and an instrumental dance".[5] Fourteenth-century examples include estampies with subtitles such as "Isabella" and "Tre fontane".[6]: 8–15 Non-estampie dances found in Br. Lib. Add 29987 include dance pairs such as "Lamento di Tristano" and "La Manfredina" (each paired with a following "rotta"), and Dança amorosa (paired with a following "troto").[6]: 15
Though the estampie is generally monophonic, there are also two-voice compositions in the form of an estampie, such as the three for keyboard in the Robertsbridge Fragment.[citation needed]
According to Grocheio, the fiddle was the supreme instrument of the period, and the stantipes, together with the cantus coronatus and ductia, were the principal forms played on fiddles before the wealthy in their celebration.[2]
The estampie is the first known genre of medieval era dance music which continues to exist today. The estampie can be monophonic (a single musical line) or polyphonic (producing many sounds). The melody is monophonic and is heard as the most prominent melody. However, the melody becomes polyphonic when accompanied by instrumentalists around the one written melody.[7] The estampie was performed in a lively triple meter, a primary division of three beats to the bar. During polyphonic arrangements, the lines do not cross one another. The top line is in the soprano/alto range, using an instrument such as a recorder. The bottom line is in the tenor range using an instrument such as the crumhorn.[5] According to Parisian musical theorist Johannes de Grocheio, when estampies were played as entertainment for the wealthy during their feasts, only the greatest vielle players performed. Grocheio explains the difference between a vocal and instrumental estampie is in the refrain (to repeat). Refrains within the instrumental estampie are the notes that are automatically repeated with each puntum (section). In a vocal estampie, the words carry the refrain and do not repeat, therefore, the last punctum is sung twice.[5] Grocheio has described the differing lengths of puncta as irregular and complicated. He further states that this difficulty captivates the attention of both the players and listeners and diverts the minds of the rich from wicked thoughts.[2] These differences in puncta, i.e. different phrase lengths, lack percussive measure relating to the rhythmic sounds common to all the instruments. The length of percussive measure is equal in a ductia, however is unequal in length in the estampie.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Bellingham, Jane (2002). "Estampie". The Oxford companion to music. Latham, Alison. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198662122. OCLC 59376677.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Page, Christopher (2001). "Grocheio [Grocheo], Johannes de". The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. Sadie, Stanley., Tyrrell, John, 1942- (2nd ed ed.). New York: Grove. ISBN 1561592390. OCLC 44391762.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Hiley, David (2001). "Punctum". The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. Sadie, Stanley., Tyrrell, John, 1942- (2nd ed ed.). New York: Grove. ISBN 1561592390. OCLC 44391762.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Wolf, Johannes (1899–1900). "Die Musiklehre des Johannes de Grocheo". Sammelbande der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft. 1: 69–120.
Punctus autem est ordinata aggregatio concordantiarum harmoniam facientium ascendendo et descendendo duas habens partes in principio similes, in fine differentes, qui clausum et apertum communiter appellantur.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ a b c d e McGee, Timothy J. (2001). Estampie. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09012.
- ^ a b Medieval instrumental dances. McGee, Timothy J. (Timothy James), 1936-. Bloomington, Ind. ISBN 9780253013149. OCLC 870994418.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393090906.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- Willi Apel. Harvard Dictionary of Music (1970) Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
- Pierre Aubry. Estampies et danses royales (1906) ISBN 2-8266-0603-4.[full citation needed]
- L. Hibberd. "Estampie and Stantipes". Speculum XIX, 1944, 222 ff.[page needed]
- C. Schima. Die Estampie (1995) ISBN 90-5170-363-5. See also Estampie Schima
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Estampie.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/estampie.
- Jeffreys, Catherine. "Johannes de Grocheio, the Ars musice and the Transformation of Chant Theory in the Late Thirteenth Century." Journal of Music Research Online 9 (2018).
- Hoppin, Richard. Medieval Music. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1978.