Dir so, trobar vers, entendre razo. Poetry and music in medieval Romance lyric

Abstract

To what extent, in medieval Romance lyric, is the idea of an original symbiosis between word and music historically grounded? Taking into account medieval documents and texts, both literary and nonliterary, this essay explores the interpretive hypothesis that one fundamental aspect of the relationship between poetry and music remained unchanged from the origins of Romance lyric through to the end of the fourteenth century: the independence of the two forms of art in the creative process, and consequently the prevalence of a division of competence and role between poets and musicians.