CSM Cantiga 176 Lyrics: Soltar póde muit' aginna os presos e os lïados

Standard spelling
Soltar póde muit' aginna os presos e os lïados
Cantiga 176: Soltar póde muit' aginna os presos e os lïados
Please read the notes on using the texts and the IPA transcriptions Please read the notes on using the music transcriptions
   
Standard spelling
Epigraph  

Esta é do cativo de Maiorgas que sacou Santa María quand' éra de mouros.

Line Refrain  Metrics  
1 Soltar póde muit' aginna | os presos e os lïados 7' | 7' A
2 a que faz ao séu Fillo | que nos sólte dos pecados. 7' | 7' A
 
  Stanza I     
3 E dest' un mui gran miragre | direi que oí dizer 7' | 7  b
4 que avẽo en Maiorgas, | quando mouros en poder 7' | 7  b
5 a tinnan, por un crischão | que foi ontr' eles caer CSM 176:5Mettmann tĩian; [T] tĩan; [E] tĩjan. Synaeresis is clearly intended in [E], which has tĩjan laid under just two notes/ligatures .on + .bowowa, implying two syllables.

This line is a fine example of the music scribes, both in [E] and [T], blithely copying the refrain music as the vuelta even though the metrics are different and the words don't fit. Specifically, the music for the second hemistich has eight individual notes/ligatures, which fit the 7' metre of the refrain with its feminine rhyme, but not the plain 7 with masculine rhyme in the stanza. The fact that the lyrics were amended by a later hand to que foi ben ontr' eles caer is of no use to us whatsoever: this painfully naïve "correction" might allow us to sing the first stanza to the music, but it messes up the poetic metre and does nothing to fix the following stanzas—we can't insert ben in all of them! So, to make all stanza lyrics work with the minimum of rhythmic disruption, it seems that the only defensible option is to join up .ood and .on at the end of this line into one ligature, such that the final word stress falls at the same musical point. This is what I've done at E1 in the music transcription. The resulting shape .ohodwwwon is not one that I've seen elsewhere, but the intention is of course that it should sound exactly like the .ood + .on combination that it replaces, only with a single syllable sung to it.
7' | 7  b
6 en cativo e havía | os pées enferrollados. 7' | 7' A
  Soltar póde muit' aginna | os presos e os lïados...    
 
  Stanza II     
7 Demais tiínn' a garganta | no cepo, com' aprendí; 7' | 7  b
8 e jazend' en tan gran coita, | prometeu lógo assí 7' | 7  b
9 que se o Santa María | de Salas tirasse d' i, 7' | 7  b
10 que sería séu romeiro | e dar-ll-ía mui grãados 7' | 7' A
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/176
 
  Stanza III     
11 dões e a sa omagen | faría, com' aprix éu, 7' | 7  b
12 de cera que i levasse, | e sería sempre séu 7' | 7  b
13 sérvo. E pois esto dito | houve, tal sono lle déu 7' | 7  b
14 Santa María, que lógo | dormiu entr' outros atados. 7' | 7' A
  Soltar póde muit' aginna | os presos e os lïados...    
 
  Stanza IV     
15 E u jazía dormindo, | a viu; e disso-ll' atal: 7' | 7  b
16 “Léva-te, ca ja és sólto, | e daquí lógo te sal.” 7' | 7  b
17 E abriu lóg' as cadẽas | e assí lle fez o al, 7' | 7  b
18 e o cep' en que jazía | e todo-los cadẽados. 7' | 7' A
  Soltar póde muit' aginna | os presos e os lïados...    
 
  Stanza V     
19 E disse-lle: “Vai, non temas, | ca per ren non te verá 7' | 7  b
20 null' hóme que mal te faça, | e léva-t' e sal acá; 7' | 7  b
21 ca ir-te pódes en salvo | atá que chegues alá 7' | 7  b
22 u compras ta romaría | e sejan-te perdõados 7' | 7' A
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/176
 
  Stanza VI     
23 os pecados que hás feitos.” | E el lógo s' espertou 7' | 7  b
24 e do cep' e das cadẽas | de todo se livr' achou; 7' | 7  b
25 e en mui pouco de tempo | en salv' a Salas chegou 7' | 7  b
26 e levou i a omagen | de cer'. E maravillados 7' | 7' A
 
  Stanza VII     
27 foron quantos lo oíron, | e déron porên loor 7' | 7  b
28 aa Virgen grorïosa, | Madre de Nóstro Sennor, 7' | 7  b
29 que nos de tantas maneiras | faz mercee e amor 7' | 7  b
30 e non cata nóssos érros, | nen como somos culpados. 7' | 7' A
  Soltar póde muit' aginna | os presos e os lïados...    
 

Footnotes

Line 5:

Mettmann tĩian; [T] tĩan; [E] tĩjan. Synaeresis is clearly intended in [E], which has tĩjan laid under just two notes/ligatures .on + .bowowa, implying two syllables.

Line 5:

This line is a fine example of the music scribes, both in [E] and [T], blithely copying the refrain music as the vuelta even though the metrics are different and the words don't fit. Specifically, the music for the second hemistich has eight individual notes/ligatures, which fit the 7' metre of the refrain with its feminine rhyme, but not the plain 7 with masculine rhyme in the stanza. The fact that the lyrics were amended by a later hand to que foi ben ontr' eles caer is of no use to us whatsoever: this painfully naïve "correction" might allow us to sing the first stanza to the music, but it messes up the poetic metre and does nothing to fix the following stanzas—we can't insert ben in all of them! So, to make all stanza lyrics work with the minimum of rhythmic disruption, it seems that the only defensible option is to join up .ood and .on at the end of this line into one ligature, such that the final word stress falls at the same musical point. This is what I've done at E1 in the music transcription. The resulting shape .ohodwwwon is not one that I've seen elsewhere, but the intention is of course that it should sound exactly like the .ood + .on combination that it replaces, only with a single syllable sung to it.

Standard spelling  
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Footnotes

E1:

This flat is missing in [E], but comparison with the previous phrase confirms that it should be there.

E2:

See the footnotes to line 5 of the lyrics for an explanation of the change I have made here.

Manuscript references

External links marked are to facsimiles on Greg Lindahl's Cantigas de Santa Maria website.

[E]176viewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/E/329small.htmlExternal link
[T]176 

Oxford CSM Database record

External link to poem data:  CSM 176http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/index.php?p=poemdata_view&rec=176

Links to the Oxford database are provided with the kind permission of the project team. When planning a concert or recording, I would recommend that you use (and credit) my more pragmatic texts and supporting materials in the preparation of your performance, but that you request permission from the Oxford database team to reproduce (and credit) their own critically edited texts in your programme or liner notes, as these adhere to stricter criteria that keep them closer to the original sources, and undoubtedly have the greater academic authority.

Metrical summary

Refrain

7' | 7'  7' | 7'

Stanzas

7' | 7  7' | 7  7' | 7  7' | 7'

Rhyme

AA / bbbA
 RIIIIIIIVVVIVII
Aados
b iɛu̯alaou̯

Estimated performance times

Average syllables / min. Time
Very slow5013:39
Slow1006:49
Medium1504:33
Fast2003:24
Very fast2502:43

These are very approximate total times for a full sung (or spoken) performance of all stanzas with all repeats of the refrain. Note that the speed is in average syllables per minute, and no particular mensural interpretation is assumed. More ornamented music will reduce the syllabic speed considerably. Remember also to add time for instrumental preludes, interludes and postludes.

Total syllables: 683