Andrieu Contredit d'Arras

(d Arras, 1248). French trouvère. French royal accounts for 1239 mention Andreas Contredit, knight and minstrel, who had vowed to join the crusade led that year by Thibaut IV, Count of Champagne and Brie, King of Navarre. ‘Contredit’ is probably a sobriquet. It is possible that Andrieu was in the service of King Louis IX as a minstrel; Au mois d'avril is addressed to ‘the king’. He was a member of the Arras puy and addressed Ja pour nul mal to this group. The register that indicates his date of death mentions the death of his wife in 1225, suggesting that he may have been born in about 1200 or earlier. He participated in a jeu-parti with Guillaume li Vinier (R.1520), and addressed Bone, bele et avenans to ‘Marote’, probably the poet Maroie de Diergnau of Lille. He referred affectionately to his native city Arras in L'autrier quant je chevauchoie.

Andrieu named himself in 14 of his 20 works, which include a pastourelle, a lai and a jeu-parti in addition to chansons courtoises. He lacked technical imagination. Except for the lai, all strophes are isometric, most are decasyllabic, four are heptasyllabic and three octosyllabic. 19 works begin with the customary abab rhyme pattern, and all but four continue baab (two continuing bab and two ccbb).

The melodies – all in bar form – show greater variety of construction. However, in some the repetition of the initial pes is strict, in others the second element is varied, and in three new material is introduced. In most the concluding section is non-repetitive, but motivic references and varied repetition of phrases are both found. In Au mois d'avril, the last two phrases (eighth and ninth) are variations of the fifth and sixth. Three melodies have a range of an 11th, combining plagal and authentic ranges, and the Noailles Chansonnier's version of Quant voi partir has the exceptional ambitus of a 13th (the last two phrases here may be written a 5th higher than was originally intended). In all but five melodies there is a strong sense of tonal centre. The rhythmic constructions range from the rather florid Pré ne vert bois to the simple L'autrier quant je chevauchoie. No readings are given in mensural notation, but the ligature disposition in phrases of Au tens que je voi, Iriez, pensis chanterai and Mout m'est bel suggests regular rhythmic patterning.

WORKS

Editions: The Songs Attributed to Andrieu Contredit d'Arras, ed. and trans. D.H. Nelson, music ed. H. van der Werf (Amsterdam, 1992)Trouvère Lyrics with Melodies: Complete and Comparative Edition, ed. H. Tischler, CMM, cvii (1997)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

R. Schmidt: Die Lieder des Andrieu Contredit d'Arras (Halle, 1903)

A. Långfors, A. Jeanroy and L. Brandin, eds.: Recueil général des jeux-partis français (Paris, 1926)

R. Dragonetti: La technique poétique des trouvères dans la chanson courtoise (Bruges, 1960/R)

For further bibliography see Troubadours, trouvères.

THEODORE KARP