Solage
Encyclopedia
Solage was a French
composer. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex
, the principal source of music of the ars subtilior
, the manneristic
compositional school centered around Avignon
at the end of the century.
vocal writing in any music of the period. Solage was satirizing a group that called itself the "Society of Smokers," which included the nephew of Guillaume de Machaut
. Since tobacco was not to be known in Europe for another two centuries, the substance being smoked has been variously speculated to be either hashish
or opium
, and the music well represents the effect of the drug on the enthusiastic musicians. Other recent theories suggest that the smoke was purely symbolic: the smoke emanating from the heads of those engaged in deep thought.
Only ten works are certainly attributed to Solage, but two more are attributed on stylistic grounds. All twelve are contained in the Chantilly Codex, and they consist of 9 ballade
s, 2 virelai
s and a rondeau
(Fumeux fume). All Solage's works have been recorded by Gothic Voices
on the Avie Records label.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex
Chantilly Codex
The Chantilly Codex is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the Ars subtilior. It is held in the museum at the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise....
, the principal source of music of the ars subtilior
Ars subtilior
Ars subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
, the manneristic
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
compositional school centered around Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
at the end of the century.
Life
Nothing is known about his life, beyond what can be inferred from the texts to his music itself. Dedications and specific references in his songs indicate he probably was associated with the French royal court. In his chanson Pluseurs gens he mentioned Jacqueline, the granddaughter of Philippe, Duke of Burgundy, who was born in 1401 and betrothed in 1403: this is the latest dateable reference in his music.Music
Stylistically, much of his music is typical of the 1380s and 1390s, showing a greater concern for larger-scale form than was typically the case earlier, along with increasing use of variation to help hold a longer work together. Nevertheless, some of his music was quite experimental, for example the bizarre Fumeux fume par fumee ("The smoky one smokes through smoke"), in which the singers appear to get completely lost, singing lower and lower, and more and more chromatically; it contains some of the lowest-tessituraTessitura
In music, the term tessitura generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a given singer or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre...
vocal writing in any music of the period. Solage was satirizing a group that called itself the "Society of Smokers," which included the nephew of Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
. Since tobacco was not to be known in Europe for another two centuries, the substance being smoked has been variously speculated to be either hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
or opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, and the music well represents the effect of the drug on the enthusiastic musicians. Other recent theories suggest that the smoke was purely symbolic: the smoke emanating from the heads of those engaged in deep thought.
Only ten works are certainly attributed to Solage, but two more are attributed on stylistic grounds. All twelve are contained in the Chantilly Codex, and they consist of 9 ballade
Ballade
The ballade is a form of French poetry. It was one of the three formes fixes and one of the verse forms in France most commonly set to music between the late 13th and the 15th centuries....
s, 2 virelai
Virelai
A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three formes fixes and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the late thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.A virelai is similar to a rondeau...
s and a rondeau
Rondeau (music)
The rondeau was a Medieval and early Renaissance musical form, based on the contemporary popular poetic rondeau form. It is distinct from the 18th century rondo, though the terms are likely related...
(Fumeux fume). All Solage's works have been recorded by Gothic Voices
Gothic Voices
Gothic Voices is a United Kingdom based vocal ensemble specialising in repertoire from the 11th to the 15th century. The group was formed in 1981 by scholar and musician Christopher Page....
on the Avie Records label.
Examples
Recording
- 2004 – Zodiac. Ars NovaArs novaArs nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
and Ars SubtiliorArs subtiliorArs subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...
in the Low Countries and Europe Capilla FlamencaCapilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th Century music from Flanders and takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V...
. Eufoda 1360.
- FEBUS AVANT! Music at the Court of Gaston Febus, Count of Foix and Bearn (1331–1391); Huelgas EnsembleHuelgas EnsembleThe Huelgas Ensemble is a Belgian early music group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on renaissance polyphony...
, Paul Van NevelPaul Van NevelPaul Van Nevel is a Belgian conductor, musicologist and art historian. In 1971 he founded the Huelgas Ensemble, a choir dedicated to polyphony from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Van Nevel is known for hunting out little known polyphonic medieval works to perform.He grew up in a musical...
; Sony, 1992 (#6).