by Eglal Doss-Quinby (Editor), Joan Tasker Grimbert (Editor), Wendy Pfeffer (Editor)
This groundbreaking anthology brings together for the first time the works of women poet-composers, or trouv res, in northern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Refuting the long-held notion that there are no extant Old French lyrics by women from this period, the editors of the volume present songs attributed to eight named female trouv res along with a varied selection of anonymous compositions in the feminine voice that may have been composed by women. The book includes the Old French texts of seventy-five compositions, extant music for eighteen monophonic songs and nineteen polyphonic motets, English translations, and a substantial introduction.