CSM Cantiga 72 Lyrics: Quen diz mal da Reínna Espirital Cantiga 72Like CSM 62, this cantiga presents a bit of a puzzle. It seems quite likely that an earlier version had just seven metrical syllables in the first line of each stanza, and that an imperfect attempt was later made to expand these to eight syllables—imperfect because, in all three manuscripts, four of the lines were left one syllable short (those in stanzas 5, 6, 9 and 10).

Happily, like CSM 62, examination of the music leads us to a satisfactory solution. This time, the clue is to be found in the fact that the music for the first two lines of each stanza consists of a pair of phrases which are almost identical, except that the first phrase has two separate puncta .o + .o where the second has a single ascending plica .bod (better read as long .ohod). (In Elmes, these are the F-G crotchet pairs in the first bars of lines 3 and 4.) The solution, then, is to treat the first pair of puncta as a ligature for the lines that are metrically short, thereby making the words fit and the two musical phrases truly identical. Or to put it another way, the first vowels of u, padre, dou and tésta each have a small melisma, i.e. they are drawn out in singing to cover two separate notes.

Standard spelling
Quen diz mal da Reínna Espirital
Cantiga 72: Quen diz mal da Reínna Espirital
Please read the notes on using the texts and the IPA transcriptions Please read the notes on using the music transcriptions
   
Standard spelling
Epigraph  

Como o démo matou a un tafur que dẽostou a Santa María porque perdera.

Line Refrain  Metrics  
1 Quen diz mal 3  A
2 da Reínna Espirital, 8  A
3 lógu' é tal 3  A
4 que mereç' o fógu' infernal. 8  A
 
  Stanza I     
5 Ca non póde dela dizer 8  b
6 mal, en que a Déus tanger 7  b
7 non haja, que quis nacer 7  b
8 dela por Natal. 5  A
  Quen diz mal...    
 
  Stanza II     
9 E desto vos quéro contar 8  b
10 miragre que quis mostrar 7  b
11 Déus por sa Madre vingar 7  b
12 dun mui mentiral, 5  A
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/72
 
  Stanza III     
13 que ena tavérna beveu 8  b
14 e aos dados perdeu 7  b
15 algu', e porên descreeu 7  b
16 mui descomunal- 5  A
 
  Stanza IV     
17 mente; ca a Déus dẽostou 8  b
18 e sa Madre non leixou, 7  b
19 e en séus nembros travou 7  b
20 come desleal. 5  A
  Quen diz mal...    
 
  Stanza V     
21 E u(u) quis do ventre séu CSM 72:21See main note to this cantiga. Note that in a different context, the resolution for this line would probably be something a little more normal, such as replacing quis with its full form quiso. 7  b .o
22 dizer mal, mórte lle déu 7  b
23 Déus come a fals' encréu 7  b
24 que de razôn sal. 5  A
  Quen diz mal...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/72
 
  Stanza VI     
25 Séu pa(a)dre, quand' est' oiu, CSM 72:25See main note to this cantiga. Once again, in the absence of other problems, I'd be far more inclined to fix this line by expanding quand' to quando or est' to esto. 7  b .o
26 de sa cas' entôn saiu; CSM 72:26Mettmann casa; [To] cas; [T] cas; [E] cassa (sic). 7  b
27 na vía un mórto viu 7  b
28 ben d' i natural, 5  A
 
  Stanza VII     
29 que lle disse atal razôn: 8  b
30 “Téu fillo, mui mal garçôn, 7  b
31 é mórt' e en perdiçôn, 7  b
32 que nunca mais fal; 5  A
 
  Stanza VIII     
33 non porque de Nóstro Sennor 8  b
34 disse mal, mais que da Flor, 7  b
35 sa Madre, disse peor. 7  b
36 E porên sinal 5  A
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/72
 
  Stanza IX     
37 te dou(u) que o acharás CSM 72:37See main note to this cantiga. 7  b .o
38 pelas cóstas tod' atrás 7  b
39 partid', e ll' o cór verás 7  b
40 assí per igual, 5  A
 
  Stanza X     
41 da té(è)sta e a serviz. CSM 72:41See main note to this cantiga. [T] actually has E a testa here, rather than Da testa, which on the face of it would appear to scan properly. Given the evidence of the other two manuscripts, however, it seems likely that this is just the result of the illuminator adding the wrong decorated capital (a common mistake) after the scribe had written -a testa. 7  b .o
42 Porque da Emperadriz 7  b
43 disse mal, Déus foi joíz, 7  b
44 que pód' e que val.” 5  A
  Quen diz mal...    
 
  Stanza XI     
45 E o padre foi lóg' alí 8  b
46 e achou séu fill' assí 7  b
47 como vos ja retraí, 7  b
48 ben oístes qual. 5  A
  Quen diz mal...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/72
 

Footnotes

Like CSM 62, this cantiga presents a bit of a puzzle. It seems quite likely that an earlier version had just seven metrical syllables in the first line of each stanza, and that an imperfect attempt was later made to expand these to eight syllables—imperfect because, in all three manuscripts, four of the lines were left one syllable short (those in stanzas 5, 6, 9 and 10).

Happily, like CSM 62, examination of the music leads us to a satisfactory solution. This time, the clue is to be found in the fact that the music for the first two lines of each stanza consists of a pair of phrases which are almost identical, except that the first phrase has two separate puncta .o + .o where the second has a single ascending plica .bod (better read as long .ohod). (In Elmes, these are the F-G crotchet pairs in the first bars of lines 3 and 4.) The solution, then, is to treat the first pair of puncta as a ligature for the lines that are metrically short, thereby making the words fit and the two musical phrases truly identical. Or to put it another way, the first vowels of u, padre, dou and tésta each have a small melisma, i.e. they are drawn out in singing to cover two separate notes.

Line 21:

See main note to this cantiga. Note that in a different context, the resolution for this line would probably be something a little more normal, such as replacing quis with its full form quiso.

Line 25:

See main note to this cantiga. Once again, in the absence of other problems, I'd be far more inclined to fix this line by expanding quand' to quando or est' to esto.

Line 26:

Mettmann casa; [To] cas; [T] cas; [E] cassa (sic).

Line 37:

See main note to this cantiga.

Line 41:

See main note to this cantiga. [T] actually has E a testa here, rather than Da testa, which on the face of it would appear to scan properly. Given the evidence of the other two manuscripts, however, it seems likely that this is just the result of the illuminator adding the wrong decorated capital (a common mistake) after the scribe had written -a testa.

A more radical solution might have been to reconstruct a version with seven metrical syllables in the first line of every stanza, and treat the pair of notes identified above as a ligature throughout. In fact, it is not difficult to find suitable alternative wordings that barely affect the meaning; one possible version has the modified first lines as follows: 5. Ca non pod' dela dizer 9. E desto quero contar 13. Que na taverna beveu 17. Mente; c' a Deus dẽostou 29. Que lle diss' atal razon 33. Non que de Nostro Sennor 45. O padre foi log' ali.

Standard spelling  
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Footnotes

E1:

See the main note on the Lyrics tab of this Cantiga for discussion of the melismata on this note in stanzas V, VI, IX and X.

E2:

This stave and the previous one in the manuscript have both C- and F-clefs, but their relative positioning is consistent.

Manuscript references

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

[E]72viewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/E/177small.htmlExternal link
[T]72 
[To]XIIIviewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/To/bob107small.gifExternal link

Oxford CSM Database record

External link to poem data:  CSM 72http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/index.php?p=poemdata_view&rec=72

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

3  8  3  8

Stanzas

8  7  7  5 I II III IV VII VIII XI
7  7  7  5 V VI IX X

Rhyme

AAAA / bbbA
 RIIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXXXI
Aal
b eu̯ou̯ɛu̯iu̯asi

Estimated performance times

Average syllables / min. Time
Very slow5011:08
Slow1005:34
Medium1503:42
Fast2002:47
Very fast2502:13

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: 557