Planctus de obitu Karoli
Encyclopedia
The Planctus Karoli ("Lament [on the Death] of Charlemagne"), also known by its incipit
A solis ortu (usque ad occidua) ("From the rising of the sun [to the setting]"), is an anonymous medieval Latin
planctus
eulogising Charlemagne
, written in accented verse by a monk of Bobbio
shortly after his subject's death in 814. It is generally considered the earliest surviving planctus, thought its melody is written in tenth-century neume
s, one of the earliest surviving examples of this sort of musical notation
. The poem has been translated into English by Peter Godman.
The authorship of the Planctus has been a matter of some dispute. Its author has been identified with Columbanus of Saint Trond, who, it is claimed, also wrote the Ad Fidolium, a set of quantitative adonics. The Planctus appeared in a seventeenth-century manuscript compilation of the poems of Hrabanus Maurus under the subscription "Hymnus Columbani ad Andream episcopum de obitu Caroli", which inspired L. A. Muratori to make the identification, but this late ascription to a Columbanus is probably deduced from the poem's own seventeenth stanza. As argued by Heinz Löwe, that stanza in fact makes it very difficult to argue that the poet, who consistenly uses the first person, was the Columbanus he refers to.
The poem is composed of twenty three-line romance strophe
s each with a distich of two dodecasyllable
s and the parenthetical heptasyllabic refrain
Heu mihi misero!, which does not mark a division in thought but is inserted regularly in an otherwise continuous syntax. Each dodecasyllable ends in a paroxytone
(mot métrique). The existence of quilisma in the musical notation indicates the influence of plainchant.
The first line (A solis ortu...) is drawn from a fifth-century hymn of Caelius Sedulius. As the Sedulian hymn was sung at Christmastime, the sorrowful Planctus presents a contrast with the joy typically associated with its opening. The poet expands upon his personal grief at the death of his emperor—and benefactor of Bobbio—by asking all the regions of Earth to mourn with him, and using the tears of Saint Columbanus, founder of Bobbio, as a symbol of the monastery's grief. The rhythm of the verse, presence of musical notation, and orientation towards contemporary events suggest popular recitation or performance. The poem, though associated with the Carolingian Renaissance
in Latin letters, is not a commentary on the "disintegration" (or décomposition) of the Carolingian Empire
after the death of Charlemagne.
The latest critical and only textual and musical edition can be found in Corpus Rhythmorum Musicum (saec. IV–IX), I, "Songs in non-liturgical sources [Canti di tradizione non liturgica]", 1 "Lyrics [Canzoni]" (Florence: SISMEL, 2007), edited by Francesco Stella (text) and Sam Barrett (music), with reproduction of the manuscript sources and recording of the audio executions of the modern musical transcriptions, now partially consultable here.
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
A solis ortu (usque ad occidua) ("From the rising of the sun [to the setting]"), is an anonymous medieval Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
planctus
Planctus
A planctus is a lament or dirge, a song or poem expressing grief or mourning. It became a popular literary form in the Middle Ages, when they were written in Latin and in the vernacular . The most common planctus is to mourn the death of a famous person, but a number of other varieties have been...
eulogising Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, written in accented verse by a monk of Bobbio
Bobbio Abbey
Bobbio Abbey is a monastery founded by Irish Saint Columbanus in 614, around which later grew up the town of Bobbio, in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Columbanus...
shortly after his subject's death in 814. It is generally considered the earliest surviving planctus, thought its melody is written in tenth-century neume
Neume
A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English corruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath ....
s, one of the earliest surviving examples of this sort of musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
. The poem has been translated into English by Peter Godman.
The authorship of the Planctus has been a matter of some dispute. Its author has been identified with Columbanus of Saint Trond, who, it is claimed, also wrote the Ad Fidolium, a set of quantitative adonics. The Planctus appeared in a seventeenth-century manuscript compilation of the poems of Hrabanus Maurus under the subscription "Hymnus Columbani ad Andream episcopum de obitu Caroli", which inspired L. A. Muratori to make the identification, but this late ascription to a Columbanus is probably deduced from the poem's own seventeenth stanza. As argued by Heinz Löwe, that stanza in fact makes it very difficult to argue that the poet, who consistenly uses the first person, was the Columbanus he refers to.
The poem is composed of twenty three-line romance strophe
Strophe
A strophe forms the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. In its original Greek setting, "strophe, antistrophe and epode were a kind of stanza framed only for the music," as John Milton wrote in the preface to Samson Agonistes, with the strophe...
s each with a distich of two dodecasyllable
Dodecasyllable
Dodecasyllable verse is a line of verse with twelve syllables. 12 syllable lines are used in a variety of poetic traditions, including Italian and French poetry, and in poetry of the Southern Slavs...
s and the parenthetical heptasyllabic refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
Heu mihi misero!, which does not mark a division in thought but is inserted regularly in an otherwise continuous syntax. Each dodecasyllable ends in a paroxytone
Paroxytone
Paroxytone is a linguistic term for a word with stress on the penultimate syllable, that is, the syllable before the last syllable, e.g, the English word potato...
(mot métrique). The existence of quilisma in the musical notation indicates the influence of plainchant.
The first line (A solis ortu...) is drawn from a fifth-century hymn of Caelius Sedulius. As the Sedulian hymn was sung at Christmastime, the sorrowful Planctus presents a contrast with the joy typically associated with its opening. The poet expands upon his personal grief at the death of his emperor—and benefactor of Bobbio—by asking all the regions of Earth to mourn with him, and using the tears of Saint Columbanus, founder of Bobbio, as a symbol of the monastery's grief. The rhythm of the verse, presence of musical notation, and orientation towards contemporary events suggest popular recitation or performance. The poem, though associated with the Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingian Renaissance
In the history of ideas the Carolingian Renaissance stands out as a period of intellectual and cultural revival in Europe occurring from the late eighth century, in the generation of Alcuin, to the 9th century, and the generation of Heiric of Auxerre, with the peak of the activities coordinated...
in Latin letters, is not a commentary on the "disintegration" (or décomposition) of the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
after the death of Charlemagne.
Select stanzas
The following text is taken from Peter Godman (1985), Latin Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press), 206–211.
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The latest critical and only textual and musical edition can be found in Corpus Rhythmorum Musicum (saec. IV–IX), I, "Songs in non-liturgical sources [Canti di tradizione non liturgica]", 1 "Lyrics [Canzoni]" (Florence: SISMEL, 2007), edited by Francesco Stella (text) and Sam Barrett (music), with reproduction of the manuscript sources and recording of the audio executions of the modern musical transcriptions, now partially consultable here.
