Skip to main content

The Oxford Trobadors, Occitan poetry and song.

In preparation for the Oxford Trobadors concert for the Oxford Proms on 12th August, I have been working on Jaufre Rudel's lovely poem and song Quan lo riu de la fontana (When the water of the fountain). It is one of the medieval Occitan troubadours pieces in our repertoire.

So many of the songs of the troubadours tell of the pain of an unattainable love, a love far away, or amors de lonhdana. 

 Amors de terra lonhdana           Those I love in a far off land
Per vos totz lo cors mi dol         for you all my body aches
E n'on puec trobar meizina        and I cannot find the remedy.
According to legend Jaufre Rudel was inspired to go on  a crusade after hearing of the beauty of Countess Hodierna of Tripoli. She was his amor de lonhdana.  Sadly he fell ill on the journey and was brought ashore in Tripoli a dying man.

Countess Hodierna is said to have come down from her castle on hearing the news.  Rudel died in her arms.

Is this romantic story true? Perhaps not, but it doesn't matter. It represents so much of  the poetry of Rudel.   I think of the story whenever I sing Lo Riu de la Fontana.

The music of the Oxford Trobadors is inspired by the langauge, poetry and culture of  Occitan, a language spoken today across the south of France and parts of Northern Italy.


One song that perhaps represents the spirit of the Oxford Trobadors is L'aiga de la Dordogna (waters of the Dordogne) composed by Jean Bonnefon of the renowned Occitan group Peiraguda. One of us, Denis Noble, performed this song 30 years ago in the town square in Ribérac as part of  a soirée occitane organised by Radio Périgord. It led to the formation of the Oxford Trobadors in 1998, and the song is a major feature of our repertoire. You can read the history of this event on the Oxford Trobadors website either in English or in Occitan.

It reminds us too that Occitan is a living language and culture of which as a group here in England we are proud to be a part.

You may also be interested in my article on the Battle for Regional Languages in France

Ray Noble is lead Tenor with the Oxford Trobadors
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ian Duncan-Smith says he wants to make those on benefits 'better people'!

By any account, the government's austerity strategy is utilitarian. It justifies its approach by the presumed potential ends. It's objective is to cut the deficit, but it has also adopted another objective which is specifically targeted. It seeks to drive people off benefits and 'back to work'.  The two together are toxic to the poorest in society. Those least able to cope are the most affected by the cuts in benefits and the loss of services. It is the coupling of these two strategic aims that make their policies ethically questionable. For, by combining the two, slashing the value of benefits to make budget savings while also changing the benefits system, the highest burden falls on a specific group, those dependent on benefits. For the greater good of the majority, a minority group, those on benefits, are being sacrificed; sacrificed on the altar of austerity. And they are being sacrificed in part so that others may be spared. Utilitarian ethics considers the ba...
7 comments
Read more

Ethical considerations of a National DNA database.

Plans for a national DNA database   will be revealed by the Prime Minister this week. This is the same proposal the Tories and Liberal Democrats opposed when presented by the Blair government because they argued it posed  a threat to civil liberties. This time it is expected to offer an 'opt-out' clause for those who do not wish their data to be stored; exactly how this would operate isn't yet clear. But does it matter and does it really pose a threat to civil liberties? When it comes to biology and ethics we tend to have a distorted view of DNA and genetics. This is for two reasons. The first is that it is thought that our genome somehow represents the individual as a code that then gets translated. This is biologically speaking wrong. DNA is a template and part of the machinery for making proteins. It isn't a code in anything like the sense of being a 'blueprint' or 'book of life'.  Although these metaphors are used often they are just that, metapho...
2 comments
Read more

In praise of social housing and the welfare state

I will declare an interest. I grew up in a one-parent family on a council estate. I occasionally attended my local comprehensive school. I say occasionally because for the most part I played truant. I spent much of my time skipping school but walking and reading on the local common. It had a windmill which I loved. It later had Wombles but that is another story. I contemplated life under the sun. Like many others, I left school at 15 with no qualifications. My penultimate school report said they  'could see no reason why public money should be wasted on the attempted education of this boy'. So I declare this interest of a privileged upbringing. Social housing kept a roof over our heads at a rent mum could (barely) afford; and oh how I recall the days  when she couldn't. She worked all hours to keep that roof over our heads. In those early days of Rock-and-Roll, Bill Haley and the Comets, Adam Faith, Billy Fury, Cliff Richard (yes I was/am a fan), the estate had three c...
2 comments
Read more