Section 1: define lyric
When you hear the word ‘lyric’ what
comes to mind? In our modern interpretation we tend to think of lyric in the
form of music that we listen to, typically in private on our personal devices.
There are times when we enjoy music as a group, for example, during a concert
or hanging out with friend or family. There are also specific times of the year
that we like to listen to certain types of music. The most musical holiday of
the Christian faith being Christmas and all the carols that are redone by
different artists year after year. When we view lyrics from modern songs, we
often do not thing of them as a type of poetry but as a song. It is a strange
disconnect that has been occurring as we develop easier ways to access music.
In the Medieval era, music was not as accessible as it is today. Many people
either heard songs during church or have a few local songs that may have been
sung in the community.
The term
lyric is a modern term that is being applied to the medieval work and short
verse, “The modern lyric came into being when readers decided they wanted to
read poems as lyrics” (Butterfield 323). [cbl1] Lyrics are traditionally hand written and
were meant to be heard and not read. However, many of the medieval lyrics exist
only in textual form and cannot be accompanied by the music that they had
originally been performed with to an audience.
Section 2: History of the Medieval Lyric
The beginning
of the lyric tradition begins with the Troubadours and Trouvères
poetic practices in France. The Troubadours were situated in southern France in
the 11th century and spoke in the Provencal language or langue d’oc.
The Trouvères were situation in northern France in the 12th century
and spoke a variation root of modern French, also known as langue d’oil. During
the 11th century in France, many nobles were leading a life of
leisure as many of the battles of previous times were non-existent. This lead
to the rise in leisure activities that would include special attention to the
lavish details of life. These pastimes includes “the art of the troubadour”
which would “soon take high place, for, within this new framework, the achievements
of a noble musician-poet could give him the same high reputation that a
preeminence in battle could have given in previous times” (Seay 62). The main
topic for troubadour poets to focus on was the genre of love. The troubadour way
of poetry disappear around the beginning of the 13th century with destruction
of the Provencal civilization due to the crusades.
The
Trouveres would become the imitators of their predecessors from the south.
Section 3: Lyric types
Secular vs.
religious
Regional differences
(?) [France, Germany, England]
[This might
be where I compare it to carols and look at carols as well/ the lullabies from my one source]
Section 4: Performance of a Lyric
The typical
feel of a performance
What the
audience would look like
Maybe a
popular lyric or two of each sect (?)
Secular performance
vs religious performance
Section 5: Modern example
Dirty Paws
by Of Monsters and Men
Possibly
also take a look at how the carols have developed in this section (?)
Section 6: a conclusion of sorts
I have found it helpful to break my essay into sections I want to address and make sure that information is included. So far I have only used two sources within the first two sections that I have started but I have to revisit some of the pieces I pulled for the essay due to the fact that I have not looked at them in awhile. As I go along, though, I have found that the essay will pretty much write itself once I have all the research organized to the sections I want to address, its just pulling all that together into a cohesive essay will be the challenge.
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