{{short description|Musical style of the late middle ages}} {{italic title}} [[Image:CordierColor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A chanson about love, ''Belle, bonne, sage'', by [[Baude Cordier]], is in a heart shape, with red notes indicating rhythmic [[#Notational characteristics|alterations]].]] {{Medieval music sidebar}} '''{{lang|la|Ars subtilior}}''' ([[Latin]] for 'subtler art') is a [[musical style]] characterized by [[rhythm]]ic and [[musical notation|notational]] complexity, centered on Paris, [[Avignon]] in [[southern France]], and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.<ref name="Hoppin">Hoppin 1978, 472–73.</ref> The style also is found in the [[Kingdom of Cyprus|French Cypriot]] repertory. Often the term is used in contrast with [[ars nova]], which applies to the musical style of the preceding period from about 1310 to about 1370; though some scholars prefer to consider {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} a subcategory of the earlier style. Primary sources for {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} are the [[Chantilly Codex]], the [[Modena Codex]] (Mod A M 5.24), and the Turin Manuscript (Torino J.II.9).

==Overview and history==

Musically, the productions of the {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} are highly refined, complex, and difficult to sing, and probably were produced, sung, and enjoyed by a small audience of specialists and connoisseurs. Musicologist [[Richard Hoppin]] suggests the superlative ''ars subtilissima'', saying, "not until the twentieth century did music again reach the most subtle refinements and rhythmic complexities of the [[Mannerism#Mannerism in literature and music|manneristic]] style."<ref name="Hoppin"/> They are almost exclusively [[secular music|secular songs]], and have as their subject matter love, war, chivalry, and stories from classical antiquity. There are even some songs written in praise of public figures (for example [[Antipope Clement VII]]). Daniel Albright<ref name="Albright">Albright 2004, 10.</ref> compares [[avant-garde]] and [[modernist music]] of the [[20th-century classical music|20th century]]'s "emphasis on generating music through technical experiment" to the precedent set by the {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} movement's "autonomous delight in extending the kingdom of sound." He cites Baude Cordier's [[perpetual canon]] ''Tout par compas'' (All by compass am I composed), notated on a circular staff.

Albright contrasts this motivation with "expressive urgency" and "obedience to rules of craft" and, indeed, "{{lang|la|ars subtilior}}" was coined by musicologist [[Ursula Günther]] in 1960 to avoid the negative connotations of the terms ''manneristic style'' and ''mannered notation''.<ref>Günther 1960.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2014}}<!--Electronic search of the entire article fails to turn up the words "subtilior", "Manier", "manieriert", "Manierismus", or "vermeiden" (German for "avoid").--> (Günther's coinage was based on references in ''Tractatus de diversis figuris'', attributed to [[Philippus de Caserta]], to composers moving to a style "post modum subtiliorem comparantes" and developing an "artem magis subtiliter".)<ref>Günther 1960, summarized in Josephson 2001.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2014}}<!--Josephson may well "summarize" all this, but certainly not from Günther 1960, who never uses the word "subtilior", nor the words "magis" or "Tractatus".-->

One of the centers of activity of the style was Avignon at the end of their [[Avignon Papacy|Papacy]] and during the subsequent [[Western Schism|Great Schism]] (1378–1417), the time during which the Western Church had a pope both in Rome and in Avignon. Avignon had developed into an active cultural center, and produced a significant surviving body of secular song in the late fourteenth century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burkholder |first=J. Peter |title=Concise History of Western Music |publisher=W. W. Norton and Company |year=2006 |isbn=978-0393928952 |edition=3rd |location=United States}}</ref> The style spread into, or was simultaneously developed in northern Spain, Italy (especially [[Pavia]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=Anne |date=1996 |title=Che cosa c’è di più sottile riguardo l’''ars subtilior''? |journal=[[Rivista Italiana di Musicologia]] |volume=31 |pages=3–31}}</ref> and as far east as Cyprus (which was a French cultural outpost at the time).<ref>Josephson 2001.</ref> French, Flemish, Spanish and Italian composers used the style.

==Notational characteristics== Manuscripts of works in the {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} occasionally were themselves in unusual and expressive shapes, as a form of [[eye music]]. As well as [[Baude Cordier]]'s circular canon and the heart-shaped score shown above, [[Jacob Senleches]]'s ''[[La Harpe de melodie]]'' is written in the shape of a harp.

==List of composers== The main composers of the {{lang|la|ars subtilior}} (those from whom at least three compositions in this style are known) are [[Anthonello de Caserta]], [[Johannes Cuvelier]], [[Egidius (Chantilly Codex composer)|Egidius]], Galiot, [[Matteo da Perugia]], [[Philippus de Caserta|Philipoctus de Caserta]], [[Jacob Senleches]], and [[Trebor (composer)|Trebor]].<ref>Apel 1973, 55.</ref> Other composers associated with the style include: * [[Johannes Ciconia]], ''Sus un fontayne'' * [[Baude Cordier]], ''Tout par compas'' (Rondeau-canon) and ''Belle bonne sage'' * [[Martinus Fabri]] * [[Paolo da Firenze]] * Guido de Lange, ''Dieux gart'' (Rondeau) * [[Johannes Symonis Hasprois]] * [[Matheus de Sancto Johanne]] * [[Solage]], ''Fumeux fume par fumée'' (Rondeau)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/na021.htm|title=Ars Magis Subtiliter|website=www.medieval.org}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2017}}<!--Does not identify this piece as an example of Ards subtilior: it merely lists it among the contents of a redording with other pieces from the ChantillyCodex.--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Fumeux_fume_par_fumee_(Solage)|title=Fumeux fume par fumee (Solage) - ChoralWiki|website=www0.cpdl.org}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2017}}<!--Identifies the title, composer, form, number of voices, and manuscript source, but says nothing at all about the style of the piece, let alone any mention of the Ars subtilior.--><!--Certainly Solage is linked to the ars subtilior, but it is for the rhythmic extravagances of "S'aincy estoit" and "Calextone qui fut dame", which are completely absent in the highly chromatic "Fumeux fume".--> *[[Zacara da Teramo|Antonio Zacara da Teramo]], ''Sumite karissime'' *Anonymous composers at the [[Nicosia]] court of King [[Janus of Cyprus]]

==Examples== *{{Audio|SENLECHES Fuions de ci.mid|Senleches: ''Fuions de ci''}} *{{Audio|SOLAGE Fumeux fume par fumee.mid|Solage: ''Fumeux fume par fumee''}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== *Albright, Daniel. 2004. ''Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources''. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-01267-0}}. *Apel, Willi. 1973. "The Development of French Secular Music During the Fourteenth Century". ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'' 27:41–59. * Günther, Ursula. 1960. "Die Anwendung der Diminution in der Handschrift Chantilly 1047". ''[[Archiv für Musikwissenschaft]]'' 17:1–21. * Hoppin, Richard H. 1978. ''Medieval Music''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. {{ISBN|0-393-09090-6}}. * Josephson, Nors S. 2001. "Ars Subtilior". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.

==Further reading== {{colbegin|colwidth=26em}} {{refbegin}} *Apel, Willi. 1950. "French Secular Music of the Late Fourteenth Century". ''Mediaeval Academy of America''.{{Full|date=October 2017}}<!--Volume number and inclusive page range for this journal article needed.--> [https://pdf.lu/Z1Ue/ text online] * {{cite journal |author-link=:de:Wulf Arlt |last=Arlt |first=Wulf |date=1973 |title=The Development of French Secular Music during the Fourteenth Century |journal=[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]] |volume=27 |pages=41–59 |jstor=20532157}} * Berger, Anna Maria Busse. 2002. "The Evolution of Rhythmic Notation". In ''The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory'', edited by Thomas Street Christensen, 628–56. The Cambridge History of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-62371-5}} * Fallows, David. "Ars nova" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}}. * Gleason, Harold, and Warren Becker, ''Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'' Music Literature Outlines Series I. Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-89917-034-X}}. * Günther, Ursula. 1963. "Das Ende der Ars Nova". ''[[Die Musikforschung]]'' 16:105–120. * Günther, Ursula. 1964. "Zur Biographie einiger Komponisten der Ars Subtilior". ''Archiv für Musikwissenschaft'' 21:172–99. * Günther, Ursula. 1965. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120212032509/http://www.corpusmusicae.com/cmm/cmm_cc039.htm The Motets of the Manuscripts Chantilly, Musée condé, 564 (olim 1047) and Modena, Biblioteca estense, a. M. 5, 24 (olim lat. 568)]''. Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 39. Neuhausen: [[American Institute of Musicology]]. Unaltered reprint, 1998. * Günther, Ursula. 1991. "Die Ars subtilior". Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft 11: 277–88. * Hentschel, Frank. 2001. "Der Streit um die Ars Nova: Nur ein Scherz?" ''Archiv für Musikwissenschaft'' 58:110–30. * Hoppin, Richard H. 1960–1963. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120212032556/http://www.corpusmusicae.com/cmm/cmm_cc021.htm Cypriot-French Repertory (15th c.) of the Manuscript Torino, Biblioteca Nazionale, J.II.9]'', 4 vols. Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 21. Rome : [[American Institute of Musicology]]. * Hoppin, Richard H. 1968. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120722155401/http://www.corpusmusicae.com/msd.htm Cypriot Plainchant of the Manuscript Torino, Biblioteca Nazionale J. II. 9]'', facsimile edition with commentary. Musicological Studies and Documents 19. Rome: [[American Institute of Musicology]]. {{ISBN|978-1-59551-256-7}}. * Josephson, Nora S. "Ars subtilior" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}}. * {{cite journal |last=Josephson |first=Nora S. |date=2003–2008 |title=Many Roads Lead to Rome: Multifarious Stylistic Tendencies and Their Musical Interrelationships within the "Ars Subtilior" |journal=[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]] |volume=53 |pages=71-97 |jstor=30249358 }} * Köhler, Laurie. 1990. ''Pythagoreisch-platonische Proportionen in Werken der ars nova und ars subtilior''. 2 vols. Göttinger musikwissenschaftliche Arbeiten 12. Kassel and New York: Bärenreiter. {{ISBN|3-7618-1014-8}} * Leech-Wilkinson, Daniel. 1990. "Ars Antiqua—Ars Nova—Ars Subtilior". In ''Antiquity and the Middle Ages: From Ancient Greece to the Fifteenth Century'', edited by James McKinnon, 218–40. Man & Music. London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|0-333-51040-2}} (cased) {{ISBN|0-333-53004-7}} (pbk) * Newes, Virginia Ervin. 1977. "Imitation in the Ars Nova and Ars Subtilior". ''Revue belge de musicologie/Belgisch tijdschrift voor muziekwetenschap.'' 31:38–59. * [[Nino Pirrotta|Pirrotta, Nino]]. 1966. "Ars Nova e stil novo". ''Rivista Italiana di Musicologia'' 1:3–19 * Plumley, Yolanda M. 1991. "Style and Structure in the Late 14th-Century Chanson". Ph.D. diss., University of Exeter. * Plumley, Yolanda M. 1996. ''The Grammar of Fourteenth Century Melody: Tonal Organization and Compositional Process in the Chansons of Guillaume de Machaut and the Ars Subtilior''. Outstanding Dissertations in Music from British Universities. New York: Garland. {{ISBN|0-8153-2065-5}} * Plumley, Yolanda M. 1999. "Citation and Allusion in the Late Ars Nova: The Case of 'Esperance' and the 'En attendant' songs". ''Early Music History'' 18:287–363. * Plumley, Yolanda, and Anne Stone. 2008. ''Codex Chantilly: Bibliothèque du Château de Chantilly Ms. 564'' facsimile edition with commentary. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols (distributed by [http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/chantilly.html Old Manuscripts & Incunabula]). {{ISBN|978-2-503-52776-5}}. * Smith, F. Joseph. 1964. "Ars Nova: A Re-Definition? (Observations in the Light of Speculum Musicae I by Jacques de Liège" Part 1. ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'' 18:19–35. * Smith, F. Joseph. 1965. "Ars Nova: A Re-Definition?" Part 2. ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'' 19:83–97. * Smith, F. Joseph. 1983. "Jacques de Liège's Criticism of the Notational Innovations of the Ars nova". ''The Journal of Musicological Research'' 4: 267–313 * Stone, Anne. 1996. "Che cosa c'è di più sottile riguardo l'ars subtilior?" ''Rivista Italiana di Musicologia'' 31:3–31. * Tanay, Dorit. 1999. ''Noting Music, Making Culture: The Intellectual Context of Rhythmic Notation, 1250–1400''. Musicological Studies and Documents 46. Holzgerlingen: [[American Institute of Musicology]] and Hänssler-Verlag. {{ISBN|3-7751-3195-7}} {{refend}} {{colend|colwidth=26em}}

{{Ars subtilior|state=open}} {{Medieval music}} {{Avant-garde}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Composition schools]] [[Category:Ars subtilior| ]] [[Category:Renaissance music]] [[Category:French styles of music]] [[Category:Italian styles of music]] [[Category:Spanish styles of music]] [[Category:History of Avignon]]