Karp corrects misinterpretations in Hans Spanke's revised and enlarged edition of Reynaud's Bibliographie des altfranzösischen Liedes, Leiden, 1955. Spanke looked at too few sources and thus thought that the contrafactum Bon rois Thibaut, en chantant respondés was derived from the version of its model that is in the same manuscript (Chansonnier de l'Arsenal). Karp shows, however, that the contrafactum is based on the version of the model as it appears in the Manuscrit du Roi, which implies that in the Arsenal manuscript not the contrafactum but the model underwent changes. Such comparisons between both models and contrafacta from different manuscripts help to detect misreadings of copyists and to establish manuscript filiations. Trouvères drew on a large body of melodic formulas that may lead to the unjustified impression of borrowing. If, however, these formulas coincide over several verses and if the texts are structurally unrelated, we can be reasonably sure that one of the two melodies was borrowed.

Works: Thibaut de Navarre: Bon rois Thibaut, en chantant respondés (87-88, 90-91); Anonymous: Li chastelains de Couci ama tant (91-92); Hué de la Ferté: Je chantasse volentiers liement (92-93); Gautier d'Espinal or Châtelain de Coucy: Comencement de douce saison bele (93-94, 97); Blondel de Nesle: Bien doit chanter cui fine Amours adrece (96-97); Gace Brulé: Biaus m'est estés, quant retentist la breuille (96-97); Conon de Béthume: Ahi, Amours, con dure departie (97-99); Anonymous: Toi reclaim, vierge Marie (99); Anonymous: Ne chant pas que que nus die (99-100); Moniot d'Arras: Qui bien aime, a tart oublie (100); Châtelain de Coucy: La douce vois du rossignol salvage (100-1).

Index Classifications: Monophony to 1300

Contributed by: Andreas Giger