Robert de la Piere
Encyclopedia
Robert de la Piere was a trouvère
of the so-called "school" of Arras
. In his time Robert's bourgeois family was prominent in Arras, though the earliest known member is only recorded in 1212. Robert served as a magistrate
in 1255, as attested by one surviving document in the municipal archives. There is also a surviving notice of his death in the spring of 1258, at Arras.
His nine chansons
and five jeux partis survive only in north French sources, and were probably not widely copied or performed. The only possible exception to this is Hé, Amours, je fui nouris, which is widely preserved, but at the same time has conflicting attribution: it is more commonly assigned to Gillebert de Berneville in the manuscripts. The song Joliement doi chanter ascribed to Robert is also more often found ascribed to Gillebert. Hé, Amours was the basis for two contrafacta: Aucun gent m'out blasmé and Mout sera cil bien mouris, in praise of Mary. All the other seven chansons undisputedly assigned to Robert have melodies in bar form
with similar Aufegesangen, but their Abgesangen exhibit greater freedom.
Jeux partis
Trouvère
Trouvère , sometimes spelled trouveur , is the Northern French form of the word trobador . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France...
of the so-called "school" of Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
. In his time Robert's bourgeois family was prominent in Arras, though the earliest known member is only recorded in 1212. Robert served as a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in 1255, as attested by one surviving document in the municipal archives. There is also a surviving notice of his death in the spring of 1258, at Arras.
His nine chansons
Grand chant
The gran chan or, in modern French, chanson courtoise or chanson d'amour, often abbreviated chanson, was a genre of Old French lyric poetry devised by the trouvères. It was adopted from the Occitan canso of the troubadours, but scholars stress that it was a distinct genre...
and five jeux partis survive only in north French sources, and were probably not widely copied or performed. The only possible exception to this is Hé, Amours, je fui nouris, which is widely preserved, but at the same time has conflicting attribution: it is more commonly assigned to Gillebert de Berneville in the manuscripts. The song Joliement doi chanter ascribed to Robert is also more often found ascribed to Gillebert. Hé, Amours was the basis for two contrafacta: Aucun gent m'out blasmé and Mout sera cil bien mouris, in praise of Mary. All the other seven chansons undisputedly assigned to Robert have melodies in bar form
Bar form
Bar form is a musical form of the pattern AAB.-Original Use:The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to describe their songs and the songs of the predecessors, the minnesingers of the 12th to 14th century...
with similar Aufegesangen, but their Abgesangen exhibit greater freedom.
List of works
Chansons- Cele que j’ain veut que je chant por li
- C’il qui m’ont repris
- Contre le dous tens de mai
- J’ai chante mout liement
- Je chantai de ma doulour
- Je ne cuidai mais chanter
- Par maintes foi ai chanté liement
Jeux partis
- Robert de la Piere, repondés moi with Jehan BretelJehan BretelJehan Bretel was a trouvère. Of his known oeuvre of probably 97 songs, 96 have survived. Judging by his contacts with other trouvères he was famous and popular...
- Chopart, uns clers que se veut marier with Coupart
- De ce, Robert de la Piere with Lambert FerriLambert FerriLambert Ferri was a trouvère and cleric at the Benedictine monastery at Saint-Léonard, Pas-de-Calais. By 1268 he was a canon and a deacon of the monastery; he is last associated with the monastery in 1282....
- Grieviler, un jugement with Jehan de GrievilerJehan de GrievilerJehan de Grieviler was an Artesian cleric and trouvère.Jehan was probably born at Grévillers near Arras. A certain "Grieviler" is mentioned in the necrology of the Confrérie des jongleurs et des bourgeois d'Arras under 1254–5, but since Jehan was a known member of the Puy d'Arras, he cannot...
- Mahieu de Gant, respondés with Mahieu de GantMahieu de GantMahieu de Gant was a Flemish trouvère from Ghent associated with the so-called "school of Arras". He has been conflated with Mahieu le Juif, but the same manuscript that contains both their works clearly distinguishes them...
- Mahieu de Gant, respondés with Mahieu de GantMahieu de GantMahieu de Gant was a Flemish trouvère from Ghent associated with the so-called "school of Arras". He has been conflated with Mahieu le Juif, but the same manuscript that contains both their works clearly distinguishes them...