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Anlisis de
Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 1377)
My end is my beginning
And my beginning my end
And this holds truly,
My end is my beginning
My third melody three times only
Reverses itself and thus ends.
My end is my beginning
And my beginning my end.
Disfruta de una msica enigmtica del siglo XIV! Tome nota de que el texto de las lneas que se
cantan en retrgrado tambin se escriben silbicamente en retrgrado para esta animacin.
Jordan Alexander Key
Bibliografia
http://concienciamusical-plataforma.blogspot.mx/2012/04/de-nuevo-la-bandade-mobius-esta-vez-de.html
http://www.jordanalexanderkey.com/single-post/2016/08/13/Popular-Music-from14th-Century-France-Part-3---Guillaume-de-Machaut-c-1300-%E2%80%931377-Rondeau-14-Ma-fin-est-mon-commencement-My-end-is-my-beginning
Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 1377) - Rondeau 14, "Ma fin est mon commencement" ("My end
is my beginning")
Transcription and animation by Jordan Alexander Key
website: http://www.jordanalexanderkey.com/
transcription: https://www.academia.edu/27422320/Gui...
Performance found on
Machaut: Dreams In The Pleasure Garden - Chansons
Performed by: Charles Daniels, Angus Smith, & Don Greig
The form of a Rondeau is AB-aA-ab-AB, with letters representing musical content and capitalization
representing text content. Where a letter is capitalized, the same text and music as before appear.
Where a letter is lowercase, the same music but different text appear. You can see how the form
matches the text below.
The musical content of this Rondeau is particularly interesting and hinted at by the text "in my end is
my beginning. As you can see in the animation, the music is not always read from left to right, but
sometimes starts to move in reverse. This is because this music actually "retrogrades" in a variety
of ways between verses 1 & 2, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8.
For example, at the end of the first line "Ma fin ce mon commencement," the Tenor (lowest voice)
begins to read his music backwards. Meanwhile, the Triplum (top line) and Cantus (middle line)
swap lines. The Triplum moves down and reads the Cantus backwards while the Cantus moves up
and reads the Triplum backwards. In this way, the beginning of the verse becomes the end of the
verse.
Machaut provides variety and variation by simply reversing the original music. Ultimately, the
Triplum line is just the Cantus line sung backwards and the Tenor line is a palindrome. Knowing this,
one realizes that while each verse of the piece can be somewhat long, the musical content is
actually minimal. One could notate the music fully, actually writing out the retrogrades for each
voice, but this is unnecessary. All one really needs to realize this music is what is provided here.
Enjoy some enigmatic music from the 14th century! Take note that the text of those lines which are
sung in retrograde are also written syllabically in retrograde for this animation.
For more information on this music feel free to visit my website and read my blog
athttp://www.jordanalexanderkey.com
Blog Post: (see August 2016)
http://www.jordanalexanderkey.com/sin...
_________________________
French Text:
_________________________
English Translation:
A. My end is my beginning
B. And my beginning my end
a. And this holds truly,
A. My end is my beginning
a. My third melody three times only
b. Reverses itself and thus ends.
A. My end is my beginning
B. And my beginning my end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcfPr4IN2MM