The Story of the Troubadour

            The troubadour school of tradition has begun in France referring to one who invents new poems. It was a composer who performed the old Occitan lyric during the middle age. The first troubadour is the duke of Aquitaine and he was a nobility. The songs are believed to submit to the achievements of the tradition rather than the beginning of traditions. The performers are called troubadours in general but had different titles. Under the influence of the troubadours, movements have emerged throughout Europe. It has spread to Germany, Italy and Spain.

            The troubadours mainly focus on the themes of court love and chivalry. The kings and the nobles want their partners to be known at cultural places and are also in search of entertainment. The members of the court who are mostly clerks hence educated compose songs and perform them (Aubrey, 1982). The court members have different identities depending on their region and work.

            The troubadours have performed different song types. We have the ‘dansa’, this is a love song performed by two troubadours, a knight to a shepherdess expressing himself how he feels about her. There is also a debate of love between two troubadours performing exchanging love praises between themselves, the ‘jeu parti’. We have the ‘alba’ which is a lengthy song where the performer who is a night watchman is teasing the women that morning is soon approaching and their jealous husbands may come home at any time and surprise them. There is also a song type performed by the troubadours that consists of five to six stanzas with an envoy referred to as the ‘canso’. These troubadours normally stay in a noble house and perform the songs for a long period of time under the supervision and provision of a noble person. They later move to other home to entertain some other nobles at a different place (Honey, 2019). They normally don’t move from place to place in a hurry.  The female troubadours were called trobairitz. They had great influence due to their freedom in speech. They also intervened even in the political arena.

            The tradition from the middle ages is very meaningful to us today. Songs have only been performed in the Christian context before the emergence of the troubadour age. It is a confined society where praising someone or performing love songs is not expected. It has ushered in a free society as well as enlarged the music sector. Many people today are able to earn a livelihood though performing love songs. Secular music which has been introduced has brought up unity in the entire world as people sing, perform, and even attend live performances to watch (Pattison, 1952). The flight of women has been boosted in the society as the secular songs try to praise and give them a place in the society. The music industry has also grown wide and famous as music has become an international industry which runs on its own. The traditions of the middle age have therefore been the cornerstone of this quick and positive development in the society today. We also cannot forget how music has been diversified not only in the Christian way but also to stop wars and solve conflicts in the society.