Piece Review: “Puis qu’en oubli,” Guillaume de Machaut

“Puis qu’en oubli,” or in English, “Since I am Forgotten,” is a secular song composed in the mid-14th century by Guillaume de Machaut.  Highly influential of his time, this late-medieval piece of Guillaume pushes the boundaries of typical medieval music and points towards the newer music of the Renaissance.  The piece is polyphonic in texture and is in rondeau form ABaAabAB to fit the structure of the lyric’s poetic form.  Three voices make up the polyphonic texture in which the “Cantus,” upper, voice sings the lyrics while the contratenor and tenor provide harmony to support the upper voice’s melody.  The two bottom voices provide a beautiful harmonious contrast to the melodic voice and provide a low bass-like timbre to the music since there are no instruments accompanying the voices as Guillaume did not write any instrumental accompaniment.  The rondeau form of this piece causes the music to be a bit repetitive with three repetitions of the refrain and only a verse and a half in contrast.  However, the dynamic of each verse and refrain add subtle contrast and sets the solemn mood for the piece.  The mood that the voices create are a great reflection of the meaning and words of the poem. The music utilizes small dissonances and double leading-tone cadences that help create this effect.

The overall musical intension of the piece is very effective.  The poem portrays an unhappy love, full of pain, and the music is reflective of it.  However, I think it could be even more effective with the addition of instrumental accompaniment, which would also add some diversity to the simple repetitive tune.  A more diverse melody in the verse could also enhance the piece for a more powerful statement.