Solage: Le basile for Trombone Quartet
by James M. Guthrie
Brass Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

Trombone Quartet Trombone - Level 2 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1266548

Composed by Solage. Arranged by James M. Guthrie. Chamber,Contest,Early Music,Festival,Historic,Medieval. 8 pages. Jmsgu3 #859221. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.1266548).

Solage's ballade "Le basile de sa propre nature" is a significant work in the history of medieval music. Here are some of its historical significances:

1. It is one of the twelve surviving works attributed to Solage, a French composer who lived in the late 14th century. Solage's works are known for their complex rhythms, intricate harmonies, and expressive melodies.

2. "Le basile de sa propre nature" is a four-voice ballade that features a text about the mythical creature known as the basilisk. The lyrics describe the basilisk as a monster that kills everything it sees with its deadly venom. The music is characterized by its intricate rhythms and harmonies, which reflect the text's vivid imagery.

3. The ballade is preserved in the Chantilly Codex, a manuscript that contains a collection of French secular music from the late 14th century. The Chantilly Codex is one of the most important sources of medieval music, and it provides valuable insights into the musical practices of the time.

4. "Le basile de sa propre nature" is an example of the Ars subtilior style, which was a highly experimental and complex musical style that emerged in the late 14th century. This style was characterized by its use of intricate rhythms, complex harmonies, and unusual notational practices. The Ars subtilior style was highly influential in the development of later musical styles, and it remains an important part of the medieval musical canon.

Overall, Solage's ballade "Le basile de sa propre nature" is a significant work that reflects the complex and experimental musical practices of the late 14th century. Its vivid imagery, intricate rhythms, and complex harmonies make it a valuable contribution to the medieval musical canon.

Lyrics:

All those he sees he kills suddenly,
For his venom is deadly.
He is a basilisk by his own nature,
And he has no other way of being. He is a monster of great power,

And he is feared by all who know him.
He is a creature of the earth,
And he is a master of death. He is a basilisk by his own nature,
And he has no other way of being.

All those he sees he kills suddenly,
For his venom is deadly. He is a creature of the night,
And he is a master of the dark.
He is a monster of great might,

And he is feared by all who hear his name. He is a basilisk by his own nature,
And he has no other way of being.
All those he sees he kills suddenly,
For his venom is deadly.

Solage was a French composer and probably also a poet who lived in the late 14th century. He composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex, which is the principal source of music of the ars subtilior, a manneristic compositional school centered on Avignon at the end of the century. Solage is an obscure composer, and aside from what can be deduced from the pieces attributed to him in the Chantilly Codex, nothing else is known about him. There are several interpretations of his name, and it is not clear whether his first name was Jean or Charles. 

The ars subtilior was a manneristic compositional school centered on Avignon at the end of the 14th century. It was characterized by complex rhythms and pitch, and it was a transitional period between the late medieval and Renaissance periods. Solage was one of the composers who fit into this school, and he composed the most pieces in the Chantilly Codex, which is the principal source of music of the ars subtilior. Stylistically, Solage's works exhibit two distinctly different characters: a relatively simple one usually associated with his great predecessor and elder contemporary Guillaume de Machaut, and a more recherché one, complex in the areas of both pitch and rhythm, characteristic of the ars subtilior.