The cantigas they were poetic-musical compositions developed in the Middle Ages, especially in Galicia and Portugal. They were lyrical works created by musicians and poets of the time, the so-called troubadours, who from time to time were accompanied by street artists known as minstrels..
These artists were in charge, through cantigas and accompanied by their instruments, to play and sing from town to town the adventures of the heroes, the news that happened in the surroundings, the experiences of the inhabitants and those of themselves..
During the 13th century, it was common to hear the cantigas being sung or recited for the entertainment of kings, nobles and the general public. At this time, poetry could not be separated from music. That is to say: poetry was always song and song always went hand in hand with poetry.
Medieval musical composition was expressed mainly through the so-called “Gregorian monody”, which is a form of singing with one voice, or “melody”. That is, there was no desire to add polyphonic effects or great harmonies, it was simply sought to emit a message in a simple and picaresque way.
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The first known cantiga dates from the end of the 12th century. He was of Galician-Portuguese origin. It is the so-called “Cantiga de Garvaia”, or “Cantiga de Riverinha”, composed by Paio Soares Taveiroos around 1180..
This cantiga narrates in a satirical or burlesque way the love affairs of María Riveiro, the “Riberinha” and King Sancho.
Paio Soares was a troubadour who developed his arts between the last years of the 12th century and the first years of the 13th century. He was an artist of Galician origin. He belonged to the nobility, which facilitated the performance of his work.
Thus, the Galician-Portuguese territories were the first to see the birth and development of cantigas, at the end of the 12th century. By the 15th century they were sung and appreciated throughout Europe..
This poetic-musical genre not only dealt with the mockery or satirization of what was happening, but also talked about friendship, love and the different problems that were experienced daily in the towns.
Alfonso X of Castilla is considered the most important composer of cantigas of the thirteenth century and of history. Such was his passion for this type of composition that he sent for other composers and singers from all the nearby regions to elaborate their cantigas.
The select group of musicians brought together by Alfonso X was known as the "Corte Alfonsi".
King Alfonso X had a special fixation for the Galician language for the development of poetry, and thanks to his performance and passion during his tenure, the Galician-Portuguese lyric had a growth never seen before. He composed, apart from the cantigas with a religious character, 44 cantigas of a profane nature, most of them satirical..
It is due to Alfonso X to contribute to the organization of the body of religious cantigas known as Cantigas de Santa María. This series of poems created by the monarch in the thirteenth century are the most extensive medieval songbook with religious motifs in the Galician-Portuguese language..
In the cantigas written by Alfonso X to Santa María, the monarch rises as the lover and the virgin is the unattainable damsel to whom he dedicates all his praise. Each poem is beautifully achieved, both in theme and meter, they are certainly a treasure of Western music in the Middle Ages..
Part of the perfection in the development of Cantigas de Santa María it is due, of course, to the excellent work group that Alfonso X had, his "Corte Alfonsi".
The 429 cantigas contained in the Cantigas de Santa María They are considered the most transcendental literary-musical jewel of the time in the Galician-Portuguese language. The language they use is vulgar, even when the theme is bordering on the religious. These cantigas come to be, then, a song of the people to their virgin.
The Cantigas de Santa María They come in two forms:
The praises are cantigas that lack narration and are used mainly to give glory and honor to Mary for all her virtues. Alfonso X placed special emphasis on them as a means of worship. They appear among the cantigas every ten poemillas.
If you read cantiga 70 of the body of Cantigas de María, the "Eno nome de María", it can be seen how the composer notably exalts the wonderful qualities of Mary.
They are cantigas that focus on narrating the miracles and pieties performed by Santa María throughout the Galician-Portuguese territory and its surroundings..
If you read cantiga number 329, you can see the miracle performed by Maria in resuscitating a man fallen from grace..
Although it can be sung by many, a single melodic line is handled, there are no harmonic variants or second voices. Simplicity in intonation is preserved to focus on the message, in the background more than in the form.
Although they were mostly sung by minstrels and troubadours, when the cantigas became popular they became a group, collective phenomenon. People huddled around the singers and recited them in choirs.
Except for those composed by Alfonso X (and following the traditions of the chants of deeds, the jarchas and the moaxajas), the cantigas commonly lacked known authors.
Her anonymity characterized her, although that took a back seat when the amusements were formed in the squares between the artists and the public..
Which is nothing more than the musical form in which the verses alternate with the chorus, in such a way that the final part of each verse is musically molded with the beginning of the chorus. And so throughout the song.
The vast majority of these poemillas were sung at what we know as "waltz time", or "1, 2, 3", as was done with the rest of the compositions of the European trova..
The subjects dealt with were quite diverse, right, of course, to what their composers wanted to express. Thus we can appreciate, then, songs of love, hatred, protest, swearing, mockery; each and every one of the possible daily manifestations of the human being.
As there was a marked influence and economic support from Alfonso X, the majority of Cantigas de Santa María were accompanied by a very varied range of instruments.
These include: psaltery, bow viola, horn, lute, dulzainas, castanets, trumpet, among others.
In the interpretations of the street cantigas the lute was common to accompany.
As far as structure is concerned, there are two basic forms of cantigas: those of regressive chorus, or cantigas of sayings; and the progressives, or masters cantigas, much better elaborated, more poetic and literary.
In both cases the assonance rhyme was handled with the use of octosyllabic and decasyllable verses.
From the point of view of rhyme, its stanzas were organized as follows: ababcca, ababccb, abbacca, abbaccb.
In these, the lover addresses his beloved with servile, submissive poems and with convincing arguments to be reciprocated..
They were used to expose the defects and embarrassing life situations of others, with a burlesque and ambiguous language, very suggestive.
They were songs used to wish evil directly to any enemy or thing, with a foul and vulgar language.
In them you can see a woman who complains about suffering the absence of her loved one. Poetic resources are used alluding to common elements present in the environment: trees, spring water, wells, deer. These seeds always have a hidden message.
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