Diffusion et usages de la musique polyphonique mesurée (ars nova) dans le monde méridional (France du Midi, nord de l’Espagne et de l’Italie, 1340-1430)

Abstract

Anheim (Étienne), Spread and usage of rhythmic polyphony (ars nova) in the South (Southern France, Northern Spain and Northern Italy, 1340-1430). The aim of this article is to study the spread and usage of rhythmic polyphony (ars nova) in the Southern regions - a type of music perfected in Northern France around 1320. After a hostile reception by Jean XXII (1316-1334), the region around the papal court of Avignon in the South of France seems to be since the middle of the fourteenth century, the main area for the practise and spread of this type of music. So we must try to understand the logic of its spread, using music manuscripts, in particular ms. Apt 16bis, then by studying the travels of the minstrels who mastered this learned music from cathedral chapters to grand courts. Far from being a passive phenomenon of cultural assimilation of the South by the North, it finally seems that the widespread use of the ars nova in French, Spanish and Italian courts at the end of the fourteenth century and beginning of the fifteenth century was linked with the intentional constitution of an elitist practise that contributed to enhancing the prestige of these courts, without this kind of music necessarily losing its holy vocation.