(fl 1185–1229). French troubadour. Although his name appears in documents of 1157–1229, these apparently refer to two persons, possibly father and son; it is thus difficult to determine the approximate birthdate of the poet. A member of the lesser nobility, Raimon shared with three brothers a small castle at Miraval, north of Carcassonne. This was taken by the Albigensian crusaders in either 1209 or 1211, and Bel m’es qu’ieu chant e condey refers to its loss. Raimon received the patronage of Count Raimon VI of Toulouse (alluded to in his poetry as ‘Audiart’) and Viscount Raimon-Rogier of Béziers (‘Pastoret’). He was familiar with Uc de Mataplana, and, like Aimeric de Peguilhan, he visited the courts of Pedro II of Aragon and Alfonso VIII of Castile (perhaps in the company of Raimon VI, following the latter’s defeat in 1213). According to his vida he died in a monastery at Lérida. Various noble ladies and men are mentioned in Raimon’s poetry under fictitious names. Raimon Vidal and Matfre Ermengaut regarded Raimon de Miraval as the embodiment of the courtly lover, and two of his works are cited by Berenguier de Noia. Francesco da Barberino indicated that a story by Raimon provided the basis for one of his own, but Raimon’s work has apparently not survived.
48 poems may be attributable to Raimon, including chansons courtoises, sirventes, coblas échangées, a partimen, and a dompnejaire (salut d’amour). 22 survive with melodies, the largest extant troubadour musical output after that of Guiraut Riquier. All are contained in F-Pn fr.22543, while three occur also in the Ambrosiano Chansonnier (I-MaR.71 sup.). The poems are normally simple and direct, of excellent craftsmanship and often elegant. Those with music show a marked preference for octosyllabic and heptasyllabic lines, though lines of five, six and ten syllables are also employed. There are usually two different line lengths per strophe, but Ben aja·l cortes essiens has five.
The variety in poetic construction is mirrored by a similar variety in the musical structures. On the one hand there are such tightly organized bar forms as in A penas sai don m’aprenh and Chansoneta farai, Vencutz with symmetrically constituted caudas, and on the other there are non-repetitive settings such as Sel cui joy tanh, Entre dos volers, Res contr’ Amor and Si·m fos de mon chantar. There is a variety of irregular repetition schemes, as well as some interesting examples of phrases which have similar basic contours but display different tonal groupings. There is also considerable variety of modal structure, and two of the three works that survive in both sources vary significantly in their modal organization. In some melodies there is a very strong feeling for a main tonal centre, while in others, such as Ben aja·l cortes essiens, Ben aja·l messatgiers and Si tot m’es ma domn’ esquiva, the final is different from the main centre of the opening phrases. Both simple recitations and moderately florid passages are to be found. Only in Si·m fos de mon chantar is there a regularity in the disposition of ligatures that suggests symmetry of rhythmic organization.
Edition: Der musikalische Nachlass der Troubadours, ed. F. Gennrich, SMM, iii, iv, xv (1958–65) [G]Las cançons dels trobadors, ed. I. Fernandez de la Cuesta and R. Lafont (Toulouse, 1979)The Extant Troubadour Melodies, ed. H. van der Werf and G. Bond (Rochester, NY, 1984)
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Aissi com es gensers pascors, PC 406.2; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.401 |
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A penas sai don m’aprenh, PC 406.7; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.402 |
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Ar ab la forsa dels freys, PC 406.8 |
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Ara m’agr’ ops que m’aizis, PC 406.9 |
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Bel m’es qu’ieu chant e condey, PC 406.12; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.401 |
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Be m’agrada·l bels temps d’estiu, PC 406.13 |
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Ben aja·l cortes essiens, PC 406.14 |
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Ben aja·l messatgiers, PC 406.15 |
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Chans, cant non es qui l’entenda, PC 406.22 |
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Chansoneta farai, Vencutz, PC 406.21; ed. in Anglès (1958), appx 8 |
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Contr’ Amor vauc durs et enbroncs, PC 406.23 |
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D’amor son tug miey cossiriers, PC 406.24; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.402 |
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Entre dos volers sui pensuis, PC 406.28 |
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Lonc temps ai avutz consiriers, PC 406.31 |
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Res contr’ Amor non es guirens, PC 406.36 |
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Sel cui joy tanh ni chantar sap, PC 406.18 |
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Selh que no vol auzir chansos, PC 406.20; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.403 |
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Si·m fos de mon chantar parven, PC 406.39 |
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Si tot m’es ma domn’ esquiva, PC 406.40; ed. in Anglès (1935), p.402 |
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Tals vai mon chant enqueren, PC 406.42 |
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Tot cant fatz de be ni dic, PC 406.44 |
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Un sonet m’es bel qu’ espanda, PC 406.47 |
P. Andraud: La vie et l’oeuvre du troubadour Raimon de Miraval (Paris, 1902/R)
H. Anglès: La música a Catalunya fins al segle XIII (Barcelona, 1935/R)
H. Anglès: La música de las Cantigas de Santa María del Rey Alfonso el Sabio, iii/2 (Barcelona, 1958)
L.T. Topsfield: Les poésies du troubadour Raimon de Miraval (Paris, 1971)
G. Le Vot, P. Lusson and J. Roubaud: ‘La conveniencia del texto y de la melodic en la canción de los trovadores’,RdMc, vii (1984), 45–72
M. Switten: The Cansos of Raimon de Miraval: a Study of Poems and Melodies (Cambridge, MA, 1985)
E. Aubrey: The Music of the Troubadours (Bloomington, IN, 1996)
For further bibliography see Troubadours, trouvères.
THEODORE KARP