Guiot de Dijon (''
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
'' 1215–25) was a
Burgundian trouvère
''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French ('' langue d'oïl'') form of the '' langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word '' troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to po ...
. The seventeen ''
chansons'' ascribed to him in the standard listing of Raynaud-Spanke are found in fifteen
chansonnier
A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...
s, some without attribution or with conflicting attributions where they occur in multiple sources.
Of Guiot's life, little is known. His name suggests he was from
Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
. The mention of three names in two songs gives further indication of his milieu: an
envoi
Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe:
* A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem.
* A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
naming 'Erard a Chassenay' has been assumed to refer to one of the three individuals called Érart who were barons of Chassenay in Champagne.
Several Guiot's songs survive with more than one distinct melody. The version of ''Quant je plus voi felon rire'' in the
Chansonnier du roi, the melody of which was added later, is unusual in being
through-composed
In the theory of musical form, through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional, and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music.
While most musical forms such as te ...
and in
Franconian notation. Overall, Guiot's melodies are usually identified as those appearing in
bar form
Bar form (German: ''die Barform'' or ''der Bar'') is a musical form of the pattern AAB.
Original use
The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to refer to their songs and the ...
, which all end on the same pitch class.
Guiot probably modelled ''Chanter m'estuet, coment que me destraigne'' (RS117) after the
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
song ''Si be·m sui loing et entre gent estraigna'' by the
troubadour
A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''.
The tr ...
Peirol, although this is based on assumptions from shared versification and cannot be confirmed, since no melody survives for RS117. The song ''Penser ne doit vilanie'' (RS1240), sometimes attributed to him, served as a model for the anonymous Marian song ''De penser a vilanie'' (RS1239), which survives uniquely in the
Chansonnier Clairambault, i.e. TrouvX.
List of songs
The list below gives all the songs listed for Guiot de Dijon in the catalogue of Raynaud-Spanke with their number in that catalogue. The listing includes those with attributions to Guiot, which are certainly by someone else (e.g. RS110) and those with conflicting attributions, whose authorship is unresolved by modern scholars.
*''A l'entree del dous comencement'' (RS647). Ascribed in the Berne Chansonnier but ascribed to
Jocelin de Dijon in the
Chansonnier du roi, where the melody was entered later.
*''Amours m'a si enseignié'' (RS1088). Ascribed in the
Chansonnier du roi and
Chansonnier de Noailles but the Berne Chansonnier ascribes it to
Gilles de Viés Maisons.
*''Bien doi chanter quant fine Amour m'enseigne'' (RS561). Ascribed in the Berne Chansonnier. No music survives.
*''Chanter m'estuet, coment que me destraigne'' (RS117). Ascribed in the Berne Chansonnier.
*''Chanter m'estuet pour la plus bele'' (RS589). Ascribed in the Berne Chansonnier. No music survives
*''Chanterai por mon corage'' (RS21). The 'je' of this song is a woman, yearning for her crusader lover. It is ascribed to Guiot in the Chansonnier du roi but the Berne chansonnier ascribes it to 'Dame de Flayel'.
[The melody, text, and translation is available in Samuel N. Rosenberg, Margaret Switten, and Gérard Le Vot, eds.,''Songs of the Troubadours and Trouvères: An Anthology of Poems and Melodies'' (New York and London: Garland, 1998), pp.290-291.]
*''Cuers desirous apaie'' (RS110). Ascribed to Guiot in the Berne Chansonnier, but accepted as being by
Blondel de Nesle who is ascribed the song in other sources.
*''De moi douloureus vos chant'' (RS317). Ascribed to
Gillebert de Berneville in the Chansonnier de Noailles.
*''Desoremais est raison'' (RS1885). Ascribed to Guiot only in the Chansonnier du roi where an older rubric and the index ascribe the song to
Jehan de Nuevile; the Berne chansonnier ascribes it to
Raoul de Soissons.
*''Helas, qu'ai forfait a la gent'' (RS681). Ascribed in the Chansonnier du roi.
*''Joie ne guerredon d'amours'' (RS2020). Attributed in the Chansonnier du roi but given two different ascriptions in two other sources.
*''Li dous tens noviaus qui revient'' (RS1246). Ascribed in the Chansonnier du roi. No music survives.
*''Penser ne doit vilanie '' (RS1240). Attributed in the Chansonnier du roi but given two different ascriptions in two other sources.
*''Quant je plus voi felon rire'' (RS1503). Ascribed in the Chansonnier du roi and Chansonnier de Noailles but the Berne Chansonnier ascribes it to
Amauri du Craon.
*''Quant li dous estés define'' (RS1388). Attributed in the Chansonnier du roi but given two different ascriptions in two other sources.
*''Quant voi la flor botoner'' (RS771). Unicum in the Chansonnier du roi ascribed in situ there but to
Jehan de Nuevile in the index. No melody survives (empty staves in the MS).
*''Uns maus k'ainc mes ne senti'' (RS1079). Ascribed in the
Chansonnier du roi but the
Chansonnier de Noailles ascribes it to one 'Gontier'.
References
*
Karp, Theodore C.br>
"Guiot de Dijon."''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Accessed 20 September 2008.
*Nissen, Elisabeth, ed. ''Les chansons attribuées à Guiot de Dijon et Jocelin''. Paris: H. Champion, 1929.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dijon, Guiot de
Trouvères
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
French male classical composers