| We're going time-travelling again. This time, to the early 13th century, to the administrative office of one of the larger abbeys. Put this black habit on and tie the rope girdle. You'll have to exchange your shoes and socks for these rope sandals. Your identity will be that of Brother Raynaud, a foreign visitor within the same order. The reason for our visit; brother prior has been sorting through documents that are no longer needed and has found a parchment with directions that have long since been outdated, but the back side is clear and he is writing a love song. Something rather daring for a senior official in a monastic order, but he is being very proper and writing it in a courtly style; aspiring to love but without hope of real fulfilment. Perhaps brother prior heard this song from one of the abbey's noble guests, hostelled during one of the great festivals for the saints, or maybe it is a song he learned before taking holy orders. In any case, this is the first example of a love song written out in England. In all likelihood, the prior was the first person with knowledge of the song and also skilled not only in letters, but in the novel idea of writing music down! |  |
 | For more than a century the monks have sung their liturgy not only from songs learned by rote, but from books crafted by hand, the words matched with neumes which indicate the movement of the melody to those taught to read the symbols. Within two more centuries, the first information revolution will lay the foundations for the reformation as Gutenberg develops a printing process that makes book production a commercially viable business and the place of the monastic libraries as the greatest repositories of knowledge will begin to fade. |
Disclaimer: any similarity between the first few bars of this 13th century song, and "I only have eyes for you" is either bad luck on the part of the latter or a good example of musical serendipity!
X:51 % number
T:Bryd One Brere % title
C: % composer
O:Early 13th C. English % origin.
S:http://home.uchicago.edu/~atterlep/Music/Songs/brydonebrere.htm
M:3/4 % meter
L:1/4 % length of shortest note
Q: % tempo
K:G % key
V:1 % voice 1
A2 G/F/ | E2 E/F/ | A A G/F/ | E2 E | c2 B |
w:Brid o-ne bre--re, brid, brid o-ne bre-re, Kind is
w:Ich am so bli-the so bryg-hit o-ne bre-re, Whan I
w:Mik-te hic hi-re_ at wil-le_ ha-ven, Ste-de-
(3c/B/c/ A B | c/B/ c/A/ B | c2 c | c/B/ A B |
w:co---me of lo-ve, lo-ve to- cra-ve. Blith---ful
w:se___ that hen---de in hal-le Yhe__ is
w:fast___ of lo-ve, lo-ve-li, tre-we, Of__ mi
A2 B | B/A/ G/A/ G/F/ | (3d/c/B/ d c/B/ |
w:bri-d on_ me_ thu_ re----we_
w:quit of lime,_ lo--ve-lich, tre---we, Yhe_
w:sor-we yhe_ may_ me_ sa----ven;_
G/F/ (3G/F/E/ F | G2 B | B/A/ G/A/ G/F/ | G2 G |]
w:or_ greith,__ lef, greith thou me---- my-- gra-ve.
w:___ ys__ fayr and flur___ of_ alle._
w:Ioye____ and blise were eere___ me_ ne-we.
To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].
Visit this site for more information about "Bryd one brere", including a translation into modern English.
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