Adam de la Halle

Adam de la Halle

Adam de la Halle (* around 1237 in Arras , Artois ; † 1286/1287 or 1306 in Naples ) was a French trouvère .

Adam de la Halle, also called Adam le bossu (the hunchback) or le boiteux (the limping), is one of the most famous trouvères. First he studied in the Cistercian Abbey of Vaucelles . Here, at the request of his father, he should be prepared for the spiritual status. But he fell in love there and got married. After a failed marriage, he continued his studies in Paris , where he graduated with the degree maître des arts .

The man of letters

In 1271 he became Ménestrel of Count Robert II of Artois and had come to Naples at the court of Charles of Anjou , King of Sicily. In Naples, Adam emerged as a playwright. His Jeu de la feuillée (1276/77) was the first satirical play in French literature: In this play Adam brings himself, his father, his wife, madmen and fairies as well as various rich patricians from Arras onto the stage and caricatures himself and them predominantly malicious in a series of scenes that appear like biting sweeps from a life crisis.

His Singspiel by Robin and Marion ( Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion ), the first famous lovers in European literature, was written here in 1284. They take turns singing the story of their love in unisonous melodies. Once a recorder is added and at the end a drum kit .

The Trouvère

Adam de la Halle belonged to the third generation of the Trouvères (1250 to 1300). During this time the initiative passed to the bourgeoisie, which united in singers' associations, called Puis . The originality was replaced by competition, regulation and artificiality. This marked the end of the troubadours and trouvères movements.

Adam de la Halle composed three-part rondeaus and motets in addition to his one-part songs . Here he creates the connection between the unanimous Trouvère singing and polyphonic art music.

literature

• Richard Meienreis: Adam de le Hale's play "Robin and Marion" and the latter's position in the development of dramatic and musical art . Munich 1893 ( archive.org )

Web links

Commons : Adam de la Halle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Adam de la Halle in the catalog of the German National Library
• Catalog of works and specialist literature at the Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge (ARLIMA)
• Foreword and text: Li gieus de Robin et de Marion (with melody notations ; French)
• de-la-Halle, Adam .  Publications in the bibliographic database of the Regesta Imperii .