An attempt to broach the controversy over the monophony of the vocal music contained in MSS f.fr. 9346 (Le Manuscrit de Bayeux) and f.fr. 12744 in the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale considers (1) the related theories of Gerold and Bukofzer that the collections do not contain monophonic chansons but are made up of parts extracted from polyphonic compositions and (2) similar research on MS 4379 and the Tournai Chansonnier. The authors provide a list of the forty-eight polyphonic sources consulted in tracking down the melodies and a chart that lists the differences for all compositions examined. The melodies of Bayeux and 12744 are not mere voice-parts extracted from polyphonic compositions; those that appear elsewhere in polyphonic settings are the pre-existent bases of these works rather than transcriptions arranged from them.

Works: Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS f.fr. 9346 (Le Manuscrit de Bayeux); Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS f.fr. 12744; Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS n.a.fr. 4379 (4, 5, 7); Tournai Chansonnier (5, 7).

Index Classifications: 1400s, 1500s

Contributed by: Jean Pang