There's a big gap in my early music record collection: Troubadours & Trouvères. I have heard a number of recordings, but I bought only a few, and not even these fulfill in EVERY respect what I would regard as good historically informed performance practice: so why not start a whole SERIES of entirely new Troubadours & Trouvères recordings - with the following features:
1.) Good and clear tenors and/or baritones would take most vocal parts; women's voices would only be used where the text makes clear that a woman is speaking
2.) The singers do not necessarily have to be French, but they must be very fit in correctly rendering the texts in good (medieval) pronunciation: secure and fluid pronunciation of medieval langue d'oc/langue d'oil is a MUST - so the singers must have had a really GOOD training with specialists for these languages, reading texts aloud again and again for a long time. The pronunciation should follow the latest and the most probable opinions of the most profound specialists for these languages.
3.) The singers should improvise some melismatic turns and little ornaments (auch as appoggiaturas) which are in keeping with sources of other vocal music of about the same time - this should not be done in the first strophes, but in the following ones in order to provide some deal of variety/variation. And it should never exceed an appropriate measure so that it could become too ornamental and manneristic. The melody and the text should at all times be the main focus of the singers, the ornaments and small melismatic turns should be used with discretion and where appropriate (for instance on words which imply joy, felicity, adornment, grace etc.).
4.) Tempi, "expression", dynamics etc. should be chosen in ACCORDANCE with the TEXTS - for example sad texts/passages somewhat slower than happy ones, words of exclamation/bewilderment etc. a bit louder (but never TOO loud) etc.. Where it seems appropriate a singer can even become a bit more "rhetoric" and use agogics etc. in order to highlight certain words.
5.) As instruments for the accompaniment mainly the medieval fiddle, but sometimes also medieval harp, lute, medieval hurdy-gurdy should be used - sometimes, but not too often, in combination/alternation. The instruments should always improvise pre-, inter- and postludes, playing with fragments of the vocal melody, sometimes providing drones, sometimes playfully "embroidering" the vocal line etc., but never dominating or disturbing the vocal melody or the understanding of the text. There should be enough variety in the instrumental parts from strophe to strophe in the choice of melodic/parallel or "embroidering" movement or drones etc.. The instruments should of course follow iconographic evidence from about the time of the Troubadours & Trouvères or the manuscripts.
6.) If there are different versions of texts/melodies, then it seems advisable to choose the ones which are (probably) closer to the original one, and if this cannot be determined with a sufficient deal of certainty or probability, then simply take the version which seems "better".
7.) The booklets should include all original texts and (commented) French translations; if possible, at least some transcribed melodies should also be included in the booklets
8.) The booklet comments on the authors, melodies and texts should come from real Troubadours & Trouvères specialists who KNOW & LOVE the works
9.) Every CD/DVD booklet of the series should have a very beautiful cover and back with a depiction from one of the Troubadour/Trouvère manuscripts - authors, instruments, melodies etc..
I hope that this series will be feasible and will live up to what I have outlined. It would be great to connect the series with REGULAR Troubadours/Trouvères performances in the places where this music once thrived. Put up a website for the whole project with all informations, dates, videos, audios, links to sources and texts and transcriptions etc.: good promotion.
Thank you and BEST wishes for this project to all interested performers and musicologists!
Christoph Dohrmann
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