Josquin des Prez: Comment peult avoir joye a 4 (c.1490)
Comment peult avoir joye 0:06 Original chanson (soprano, 2 tenors, baritone) 2:08 Instrumental arrangement for cornetti, viol and trombone This Josquin chanson for 4 parts may have been written for 2 voices and 2 instruments since the alto and bass parts in all modern editions have absent text for those parts. Moreover, the alto and bass lines have more intricate divisions that perhaps were better suited for instrumentalists than singers. The cantus and tenor parts are sung mostly in canon, and each carries a beautiful melody. The song text, like most other secular French pieces of this era, revolves around a courtly love theme and compares the lover to a solitary bird search far and wide for his perfect mate. The vocal parts were simulated using the MAIKA Spanish language voice bank and the Vocaloid 4 vocal encoder. In this latest incarnation, I have added in some legato for the faster notes and improved articulation of strong syllables. I have also added the two additional missing text lines (alto and baritone). As far as I can tell, this may be the first recording with all 4 vocal parts sung in ensemble. Previous recordings have been cantus only, tenor only or cantus and tenor without alto and baritone. The sound of the viol, trombones and cornetti were generated on the iPhone app MusicStudio2. Text: Comment peult avoir joye, Qui Fortune contraint? L’oysiau qui pert sa proye De riens ne lui souvient : Au boys sur la verdure N’a point tout son desir : De chanter il n’a cure Qui vit en desplaisir. Translation: How can he have joy, whom Fortune constrains? The bird which loses its prey thinks nothing of it: in the woods on the green it has not a desire. He does not care to sing He, who lives in sorrow. Description of photos: 1. "Comment peult" Cantus and Tenor lines, Josquin des Prez, publ. by O. Petrucci, Canti B, 1502 2. Bird of Paradise, Farnese Hours, Julije Klovicin, 1546 3. Three women and a suitor at the Castle of Love, Anon. Flemish, c1500 4. Dance in the Garden, Roman de la Rose, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Harley 4425, c1490 5. "Comment peult" Altus and Bassus lines, Josquin des Prez, publ. by O. Petrucci, Canti B, 1502 6. Angels playing brass instruments, detail from fresco, Domenico Brusasorzi, San Stefano Church, Verona, c1552 7. Pastoral concert with female singer and cornetto player, Bonifazio Veronese, c1530 8. Angel playing cornetti, details from Glory of Angels, in Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Saronno, Gaudenzio Ferrari, c1535
Comment peult avoir joye 0:06 Original chanson (soprano, 2 tenors, baritone) 2:08 Instrumental arrangement for cornetti, viol and trombone This Josquin chanson for 4 parts may have been written for 2 voices and 2 instruments since the alto and bass parts in all modern editions have absent text for those parts. Moreover, the alto and bass lines have more intricate divisions that perhaps were better suited for instrumentalists than singers. The cantus and tenor parts are sung mostly in canon, and each carries a beautiful melody. The song text, like most other secular French pieces of this era, revolves around a courtly love theme and compares the lover to a solitary bird search far and wide for his perfect mate. The vocal parts were simulated using the MAIKA Spanish language voice bank and the Vocaloid 4 vocal encoder. In this latest incarnation, I have added in some legato for the faster notes and improved articulation of strong syllables. I have also added the two additional missing text lines (alto and baritone). As far as I can tell, this may be the first recording with all 4 vocal parts sung in ensemble. Previous recordings have been cantus only, tenor only or cantus and tenor without alto and baritone. The sound of the viol, trombones and cornetti were generated on the iPhone app MusicStudio2. Text: Comment peult avoir joye, Qui Fortune contraint? L’oysiau qui pert sa proye De riens ne lui souvient : Au boys sur la verdure N’a point tout son desir : De chanter il n’a cure Qui vit en desplaisir. Translation: How can he have joy, whom Fortune constrains? The bird which loses its prey thinks nothing of it: in the woods on the green it has not a desire. He does not care to sing He, who lives in sorrow. Description of photos: 1. "Comment peult" Cantus and Tenor lines, Josquin des Prez, publ. by O. Petrucci, Canti B, 1502 2. Bird of Paradise, Farnese Hours, Julije Klovicin, 1546 3. Three women and a suitor at the Castle of Love, Anon. Flemish, c1500 4. Dance in the Garden, Roman de la Rose, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Harley 4425, c1490 5. "Comment peult" Altus and Bassus lines, Josquin des Prez, publ. by O. Petrucci, Canti B, 1502 6. Angels playing brass instruments, detail from fresco, Domenico Brusasorzi, San Stefano Church, Verona, c1552 7. Pastoral concert with female singer and cornetto player, Bonifazio Veronese, c1530 8. Angel playing cornetti, details from Glory of Angels, in Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Saronno, Gaudenzio Ferrari, c1535