Mise en musique et mise en scène de la musique dans les noëls manceaux du XVIe siècle (Samson Bedouin, Nicolas Denisot)

At the crossroads of poetry and music, the noël, very popular in France (notably in the western regions, such as Maine and Poitou) during the 16th century, can be defined as a kind of song celebrating the Nativity. The first part of this essay discusses noëls as parodies of popular songs, whose melodies were transferred from the secular into the religious sphere, and highlights the presence of music, songs and dances in the texts themselves, which portray the life of communities during feast days, when forbidden pleasures (such as wine and plentiful meals) became available. The following parts focus on the representation of music in the works of two of the best-known noélistes of the French Renaissance, i.e. Samson Bedouin and Nicolas Denisot, both native of Maine, and on the melodies these two authors took inspiration from to compose their poems. More specifically, part three addresses the main critical problems concerning the music of Denisot’s Noelz and Cantiques du premier advenement de Jesu-Christ. The Noelz stick to the well-established practice of the contrafactum and use existing love songs as their source material, some of whom are yet to be identified. On the other hand, the Cantiques, a more ambitious kind of noël, use original music by an anonymous composer, who might be Marc-Antoine Muret, one of Denisot’s closest friends. This essay also discusses a verse paraphrase of the Ten Commandments and a «Cantique sur le pater noster», traditionally (but incorrectly) attributed to Denisot himself.