Hail Britannica!


The songs of the trouvères were monophonic (consisting solely of melodic line). Their exact mode of performance is not known. The form of the instrumental accompaniment is unknown, but it almost certainly included preludes, postludes, and interludes.

Trouvère lyrics were intended to be sung, probably by the poet alone or with instrumental accompaniment provided by a hired musician. Although originally connected with feudal courts, around which the trouvères traveled looking for patronage, their poetry was not just popular with aristocratic circles, and they tended increasingly to find their patrons in the middle classes.

...11th through 14th centuries
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