Cantigas de Santa Maria
The Cantigas de Santa Maria (about: Songs for St. Mary , abbreviated: CSM) are one of the largest collections of songs from the Middle Ages . They are written in Galician-Portuguese , one of the medieval languages of the Iberian Peninsula, and were collected during the reign and probably on behalf of King Alfonso X (1221–1284).
content
The cantigas consist of 420 poems, mostly with mensural notation , which mainly serve to praise the Virgin Mary . Many songs are decorated with partly elaborate miniatures . 357 of these songs tell of the miracles of St. Mary. 63 others deal with the teaching of Mary and with Marian festivities. The songs differ greatly in their metrics . Virelai and Rondo are most common .
Alfonso's project is not just a collection of songs and miracle reports, but a cultural project of great importance for medieval literature, music and art. Their completion took most of his tenure (1252–1284). He saw them as an important means of his political survival and his personal salvation.
Authors
The author or the authors of the texts and melodies cannot be named with certainty. The cantigas are popularly ascribed to Alfonso X, King of Leon and Castile. Walter Mettmann , author of a critical edition of the Cantigas, believes that many of the songs can be attributed to the Galician poet and troubadour Airas Nunes . The question of the direct involvement of the king remains unanswered, with some authors asking him to compose ten, others around a hundred melodies.
Copies
To date, four copies of the Cantigas have survived. They represent three different stages in the elaboration of the song collection.
- The To Codex from Toledo , an early collection of 100 pieces. It is considered the first editorial revision of the sheet music and was likely copied in the 14th century. Some attachments were added to it afterwards. Today it is kept in the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid (signature MS 10069 ).
In the second phase, the collection was greatly expanded (to around 400 pieces) and richly decorated. This processing phase consists of the
- T-Codex , also called códice rico , which is kept in the Escorial library ( call number MS TI1 ), and the
- F Codex , the so-called Florentine Manuscript . This was left in an incomplete and disordered state. It contains 109 of the cantigas, but no notes, just empty staves. Today this codex is kept in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence (signature Banco Rari 20 ).
In the last phase the
- E-Codex or códice de los músicos , which is also located in the Escorial (signature MS BI2 ). It consists of two volumes and is the largest of the Cantigas collections. It is written in Gothic handwriting and is decorated with 1262 miniatures. This version was made around 1280 to 1283. It has a few small errors and signs of hasty completion.
literature
- Kathleen Kulp-Hill (Ed.): Songs of Holy Mary of Alfonso X, the Wise: A Translation of the Cantigas De Santa Maria. Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Tempe 2000, ISBN 0-86698-213-2 .
- Walter Mettmann: An Alfonsin compilation on the "Secta de Mahomad"? In: Romanische Forschungen 98, 1986, ISSN 0035-8126 , pp. 277-303.
- Walter Mettmann: On the style of the “Cantigas de Santa María” (I). In: Manfred Höfler (Ed.): Festschrift Kurt Baldinger for his 60th birthday. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-484-50140-5 , pp. 304-313.
- Walter Mettmann: On the style of the "Cantigas de Santa María" (II). In: Hans-Dieter Bork (Ed.): Romanica Europaea et Americana. Festschrift for Harri Meier on January 8, 1980. Bouvier, Bonn 1980, ISBN 3-416-01508-8 , pp. 379-385.
- Xosé Ramón Pena: Historia da litratura medieval galego-portuguesa . Santiago de Compostela, 2002, pp. 199-210.
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Web links
- History, translations and further information (French)
- Electronic facsimile and link collection (English)
- Cantigas de Santa Maria : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Texts and notes of all songs, concordance, etc. (English)