Douceur fine a mon goust amere: Sweetness in Machaut's Polyphonic Works

Abstract

In the fourteenth century, the change in musical style meant that the semitone became the fundamental contrapuntal resource. Some medieval music theory treatises link the use of (too many) semitones to the concepts of femininity and sweetness. This thesis explores how the concept of sweetness, as discussed in late medieval music theory, is present in Guillaume de Machaut’s polyphonic works that speak about sweetness and bitterness in relation to a lady. The analysis of four case studies indicates that the associations of sweetness with the semitone, and with b-molle in particular, as discussed in music theory texts, were not confined to the abstract theoretical world; on the contrary, they found their way in contemporary musical practice.