Cancionero de el Escorial (Escorial Chansonnier) (1435-1460): a late Medieval songbook from Naples

The Escorial Manuscript has a complicated history. It is a collection of late Medieval music mostly composed by Franco-Flemish masters and transcribed by Neapolitan copyists around 1460 - in the heyday of Spanish rule. Its 100+ handwritten pages feature Italian, Anglo- and Franco-Burgundian composers both famous and lesser known from the period 1435-1460. It contains a soulful chanson Deul angoisseux (Deuil angoisseus) by Gilles de Binchois based on the poetry of Christine de Pizan, memorializing her suddenly deceased husband. There is also an intricate polyphonic gem titled N'oès vous point / Cocq en l'orge which contains a caccia for two tenor parts (likely based on a child's nursery rhyme) combined with an elaborate counterpoint for two upper register parts with overtly risqué lyrics.

The Escorial Chansonnier (a.k.a. Escorial MS IV.a.24) was likely intended as a performance edition for vocal ensembles of 2 to 4 highly skilled singers with and without instrumental accompaniment. I chose 7 of these pieces and arranged them for instruments alone as was a common practice in the day.

Beneath the title of each piece, I listed the artworks coinciding with that segment of the soundtrack. I also acknowledged the author(s) of the original MIDI files. As always, the entire soundtrack was assembled from sequencing MIDI files that were downloaded from the internet and extensively reworked using a MIDI editing app. For the first song in this video (N'oès vous point), I entered the notes myself using a digital facsimile of the original score because I could not find an online version that could be played in my preferred tempo. To skip to another piece, click on the corresponding time stamp for the song title.

0:06 N'oès vous point / Cocq en l'orge (Anonymous)
a. N'oès vous point / Cocq en l'orge, Escorial MS
b. Woman feeding chickens, Tacuinum Sanitatis, French, c1460
c. Jean de Saintré jousts with Enguerrant, French, c1470
d. Wedding festivities, Verona, c1430
1:39 Deul angoisseux (Gilles de Binchois)
a. Deul angoisseux, Escorial MS
b. Dufay+Binchois, Martin le Franc, 1440
c. Orpheus and Eurydice, Harley MS 4431, French, c1414
d. Wolkenstein's harp, c1410
e. Christine de Pizan and the Sybil, Harley MS 4431
3:24 Una vecchia sempiternosa (Anonymous)
UPLOAD by Anonymous at xoomer.virgilio.it/earlymusicmidi
a. Una vecchia sempiternosa, Escorial MS
b. Angel with viola, Agostino di Duccio, Perugia, c1460
c. Musical angels, Francesco Botticini, c1480
d. Musical angels, Santa Maria del Fiore, c1440
4:56 O rosa bella (John Dunstaple or John Bedyngham)
UPLOAD by Elaine Fine at IMSLP.org
a. Lady with unicorn, details, Flemish
b. Musicians, Roman de la Rose, Harley MS 4425, c1490
c. O rosa bella, Escorial MS
d. Altarpiece, Donatello, Basilica Sant'Antonio, Padua, c1447
e. The Muse Euterpe, Francesco del Cossa, c1450
6:44 Hora may che fora son (Anonymous)
UPLOAD by Anonymous at xoomer.virgilio.it/earlymusicmidi
a. San Giobbe altarpiece, detail, Giovanni Bellini, 1487
b. Concert, Luca Signorelli, Capella di S.Brizio, Orvieto, c1500
c. Pastoral scene, Giovanni Boccacio in French, c1440
d. Forbidden Love, Roman de la Rose, French, 1520
e. Courtly dance, French, c1490
8:44 N'aray je jamais mieulx (Robert Morton)
UPLOAD by Aeolian Consort at geocities.jp/lyrischesuite
a. Angels playing music, triptych details, Hans Memling, c1480
b. Court musicians and Lady, French, c1420
c. You or Death, ceremonial shield
9:58 Rolet ara / Maistre Piere / La tricotee (Anonymous)
UPLOAD by Anonymous at josquin.stanford.edu
a. Court of Love, Bruges, c1480
b. Rolet ara / Maistre Piere / La tricotee, Escorial MS
c. Bride and groom, Schwabia, c1470
d. Paris & Helen, Epistre de Othea, Christine de Pizan, c1406
e. Sempronia, De claris mulieribus, Bocaccio in French, c1420
f. Musicians, Queen Isabella Breviary, Add MS 18851, c1497
e. Garden of Love, Leonardo Dati, c1440