Star-struck, lovesick, poet-musicians: Troubadours and the cultural significance of music in Medieval society

McQueen, Kelli

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Description

Title

Star-struck, lovesick, poet-musicians: Troubadours and the cultural significance of music in Medieval society

Author(s)

McQueen, Kelli

Issue Date

2024-07-09

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Stoppino, Eleonora

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Bashford, Christina

Committee Member(s)

• Silvers, Michael
• Ramírez, Carlos R

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Musicology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• troubadours
• medieval music
• medieval lyric poetry
• vielle
• medieval fiddle
• instruments
• musical cosmology
• medieval medicine

Abstract

This research investigates questions of how to understand troubadour song as music, in the absence of musical notation for most of the repertory, how troubadour song influenced social structures of music-making, and the extent to which troubadour song interacts with other aspects medieval culture. The first aspect of medieval culture that has bearing on the musical nature of troubadour song is the knowledge organizational scheme known as the seven liberal arts. The definitions of music and poetry found in treatises on the seven liberal arts show a myriad of ways that they overlap, making song a difficult genre to categorize neatly. Boethius’ influential tripartite categorization of music—musica mundana, musica humana, and musica instrumentalis—provides a useful framework for considering the role of troubadour song in other aspects of medieval culture. Musical cosmology or musica mundana, intersects with troubadour song along themes of astronomy and numerology in song structures. Musica humana draws connections between the music and the human body beneficial for the use of music in medical practice. Medical treatises and troubadour song both address symptoms and cures for lovesickness. Finally, musica instrumentalis concerns the practice of music; I survey the troubadour manuscripts for images of musical instruments and speculate about the use of instruments in accompanying troubadour song, shedding light on the changing social attitudes toward musicians in the context of feudal social networks.

Graduation Semester

2024-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125554

Copyright and License Information

copyright 2024 Kelli McQueen

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