Gautier de Dargies

(b c1165; d after 1236).French trouvère. His forebears had participated in the First Crusade in 1099, and he himself took part in the Third Crusade (1189). His name appears as witness or principal in documents of 1195, 1201, 1206 and 1236. These mention also a wife named Agnes and three brothers, Rainaut, Drogo and Villardus. Gautier's father, Sagalo de Dargies, was either a younger son or a descendant of a younger son. Thus the trouvère's arms, shown in miniatures in the Manuscrit du Roi (F-Pn fr.844) and the Chansonnier d'Arras (F-AS 657: see illustration), display martlets of gules rather than of sable, the latter colouring being indicative of the main branch of the family. The hamlet of Dargies is in the département of Oise, Beauvais arrondissement.

The chansons Ainc mais ne fis chançon and Desque ci ai tous jours chanté are dedicated to Gace Brule, mentioned also in Or chant novel. A vous, messire Gautier is a tenso addressed to Gautier de Dargies by a certain Richart, while Amis Richart is one addressed to Richart de Fournival by a certain Gautier; presumably the same pair of participants is involved in both. It is possible that Gautier was also acquainted with other trouvères active in the third crusade, including the Chastelain de Couci, Conon de Béthune, and Hugues de Berzé.

In addition to the customary chansons courtoises and the two tensos, Gautier de Dargies wrote three descorts (De celi me plaing, J'ai par maintes fois and La douce pensee), the earliest known works of this genre. His themes and imagery derive for the most part from the fashionable stock of his time, but these materials are handled very skilfully. Greater originality is evident in the treatment of poetic form; several works depart from the average by virtue either of asymmetrical design (Chançon ferai, Desque ci ai, Maintes fois) or of greater than normal length of strophe (Autres que je ne suel fas, Bien me cuidai, En icel tens and Hé Dieus).

Individuality of form is present also in the melodies. While bar form remains the norm, Hé Dieus has pedes of three phrases each, and Bien me cuidai uses pedes of four phrases each. Four melodies are non-repetitive (Ainc mais ne fis chançon, Chançon ferai, Desque ci ai and La gent dient), and Haute chose repeats later phrases rather than the customary opening ones. Highly unusual are the late settings of Chançon ferai and Maintes fois in the Chansonnier d'Arras; in these, the phrase lengths (defined by repetition patterns) often differ in length from the poetic phrases, creating a complex interplay. A similar technique, carried out more subtly, is present in the main setting of Maintes fois. The descorts, containing 47, 63 and 85 verses, are normally analysed as falling into six, seven and nine strophes respectively, no two being structurally identical in the same poem. Most musical phrases are grouped in twos, each group being stated two, three or four times. There are also groups of three phrases as well as twofold and threefold statements of single phrases. A few strophes conclude with one or two phrases not part of a larger repetition.

Gautier's melodies move vigorously. None is restricted to less than an octave, and examples covering a 10th, 11th or 12th are common. The late setting of Se j'ai esté in the Manuscrit du Roi spans an extraordinary two octaves and a 2nd, a range made possible by an early use of the G clef on the lowest line of a four-line staff. (If octave transposition for this clef were used in order to keep the melody within a smaller span, leaps which are highly uncharacteristic of the style would result at the two points of transition; the range of an octave and a 7th in the Noailles reading of De celi me plaing seems, however, to result from transpositions which represent a late – and perhaps unintended – revision of the original.) Modal organization is frequently individual also, and often varies from one reading to another. In several works there is important use of notes below the final. In the reading of Bien me cuidai in the Manuscrit du Roi, for example, the final is a 7th above the lowest note. In general, Gautier favoured modes with a major 3rd above the final. In most melodies the final is a tonal centre of importance; some, however, reach an unexpected final while others display little sense of tonal gravitation.

The late setting of Chançon ferai in the Manuscrit du Roi is given in fully mensural notation and is cast in the 2nd rhythmic mode. The applicability of this information to the florid original setting is, however, doubtful. The ligatures used in the main setting of Autres que je ne suel fas are disposed in patterns that invite the use of the 2nd mode, but there is little other evidence of such regularity. On the contrary, the irregular and often highly ornate settings appear quite inappropriate to the use of modal rhythm. The individuality of form, combined with breadth of motion and richness of rhythmic design, show Gautier's melodies to be among the more forceful creations of their kind.

Sources, MS

WORKS

Editions:Trouvères-Melodien, ed. H. van der Werf, MMMA, xi–xii (1977–9), iiTrouvère Lyrics with Melodies: Complete Comparative Edition, ed. H. Tischler, CMM, cvii (1997)

[K] etc. indicates a MS (using Schwan sigla: see Sources, ms); italics indicate uncertain identification

doubtful works

works of joint authorship

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Jeanroy, L.Brandin and P. Aubry: Lais et descorts français du XIIIe siècle (Paris, 1901/ R)

P. Aubry: Trouvères et troubadours (Paris, 1909, 2/1910; Eng. trans., 1914/R)

G. Huet, ed.: Chansons et descorts de Gautier de Dargies (Paris, 1912/R) [edn of texts]

E. Langlois: ‘Remarques sur les chansonniers français, I: à propos de Gautier de Dargies’, Romania, xlv (1918–19), 321–50

H. Petersen Dyggve: ‘Personnages historiques figurant dans la poésie lyrique française des XIIe et XIIIe siècles, xxiii: Gautier de Dargies’, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, xlvi (1945), 77–91

W. Bittinger: Studien zur musikalischen Textkritik des mittelalterlichen Liedes (Würzburg, 1953)

R. Dragonetti: La technique des poétique trouvères dans la chanson courtoise: contribution à l'étude de la rhétorique médiévale (Bruges, 1960/R)

T. Karp: ‘Interrelationships between Poetic and Musical Form in Trouvère Song’, A Musical Offering: Essays in Honor of Martin Bernstein, ed. E.H. Clinkscale and C. Brook (New York, 1977), 137–61

A.M. Raugei, ed.: Gautier de Dargies: Poésie (Florence, 1981)

M. O'Neill: ‘L'art mélodique dans “les chanz fors et pesans” de Gautier de Dargies’, RdM, lxxxi (1995), 165–90

For further bibliography see Troubadours, trouvères.

THEODORE KARP