J.B. Beck, the greatest authority on the music of the troubadours,--the
music of the minnesingers has been studied very little,--says, "The
poetry of the troubadours and trouveres represents in its totality a
collection of songs which in their frequently amazing naivete and
melodiousness, their spontaneity and sound music, intimate congruity of
melody and text and extraordinary originality, have been unparalleled to
this day." All these songs are distinguished by graceful simplicity; but
the ear of the non-musician can hardly perceive the originality on which
Beck lays such stress. In any case, the music is inferior to the
frequently perfect text. This same period saw the inception of our
present system of musical notation.
The new poetry created a desire for "literature," thus giving impetus to
the already existent art of illuminated manuscripts. Every prince kept a
salaried army of copyists and illuminators, producing the manuscripts
to-day preserved and studied in our museums.
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