In 2017 A-R Editions issued Motets from the Chansonnier de Noailles, presenting the works in a single, coordinated, comprehensive critical edition for the first time.
F-Pn MS fr. 12615, known as the Chansonnier de Noailles, brings together 13th-century motets in two to four parts, whose upper voices are all sung to vernacular texts. The collection is notable in several respects: with its 91 pieces it is the fourth-largest repository of 13th-century motets and the third-largest of motets in French; it is one of only two sizable sets of polyphonic motets preserved in provincial songbooks rather than Parisian collections, a fact that broadly affects the style of several groups of its motets; and it transmits an unusually high number of unica, due to the anthology’s inclusion in an Artesian chansonnier.
Although the Chansonnier de Noailles has sparked the interest of bibliophiles and scholars since the first half of the 18th century, its faulty polyphonic notation has made editing the motets difficult; past editions have thus been incomplete and relied heavily upon concordant readings.
Above, a page from the chansonnier (click to enlarge); below, one of the works in the collection.
