BULLOCK, EDMUND BARTON (b. 1956). CYCLE OF FIVE TROUBADOUR SONGS. Based on 12th Century Provencal and Languedoc Poems translated into English by Ezra Pound. E. B. Bullock (ASCAP), 2002 (CVR, 2006). Tonal; A3-B_5; Tess: mL-mH; regular meters; slow to medium tempos; V/mE-mD, P/mE-M; 19 pages. Soprano.

II. "Planh for the Young English King" (Bertrand de Born). [F.sup.#] minor; A3-D5; Tess: mL; 4/4, Lento maestoso; V/M, P/mE; 4 pages.

III. "Alba, from Langue d'Oc" (Anonymous). Mixolydian; D_4-B_5; Tess: CR; 7/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, Lento, tempo rubato (come una recitative); V/M, P/mE; 2 pages.

IV. "Blandula, tenulla, vagula" (original poem by Ezra Pound). [G.sup.[flat]] major; [D.sup.[flat].sub.4]-]B.sup.[flat].sub.5]; Tess: mH; 4/4, L'istesso tempo; V/M, P/M; 5 pages.

V. "I Only" (Arnault Daniel). A major; [C.sup.#.sub.4]-[E.sub.5]; Tess: M; 3/4, Tempo di minuetto ([crotchet]= 88); V/M, P/mE; 5 pages.

Growing up in Louisiana started Edmund Barton Bullock on his way to becoming a Francophile. After graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a bachelor's degree in piano performance, he went to Paris to continue his studies at the Paris Conservatory. After studying and concertizing in France, Mr. Bullock became a permanent resident and moved to the area of Toulouse where he taught piano and composition. In 1999 he began a collaboration with the Academie des Jeux Floraux de Toulouse, founded in 1323 by seven troubadours whose goal was to continue the lyrisme courtois (courtly love) tradition of the quest for the sublimation of love. The Jeux Floraux (Floral Games) have been celebrated on May 3 every year since the society's foundation, making it the oldest literary society in the western world. The society, raised to the status of Academie in 1694 by Louis XIV, has honored both ancient and modern French poets to the present day.

In his collaboration with the Jeux Floraux, Mr. Bullock has made settings of at least thirteen poems from this tradition. The Cycle of Five Troubadour Songs has English texts that were translated from the twelfth-century Provencal by Ezra Pound, who spent many years studying the troubadour tradition. The poetic subjects include nature as an inspiration for song, a lament for the death of the English king, the young Henry Platagenet, a song for sunrise warning lovers that the night is over, an imagination of life after death, and a languishing love song.

The musical settings of these texts incorporate the modal harmonies of the period into classical contemporary musical language. The textures of the piano parts are generally spare, with attractive melodic material woven throughout the sectional repetitions. Rhythmically simple and clean, the movement of the songs is reminiscent of a storytelling form. Only in the third song ("Alba, from Langue d'Oc") does the piano punctuate the vocal line, illustrating the call of the nightingale.

The vocal lines are mostly conjunct and lie on the staff, with the exception of a few large intervals and a few climactic notes above the staff. The rhythmic structure follows word stress and is often quite interesting. The melodies themselves are composed of some motif-like groupings that recur in some form throughout the cycle and are suggestive of the types of melodies found in the troubadour literature. The effect ranges from pleasant to lovely.

Performers who choose these songs will need a large range of vocal colors and real sensitivity to the poetic values of words, as there is often a lot of musical repetition. It would be interesting to program a group of actual troubadour songs with lute alongside some of these twenty-first century reincarnations of the medieval texts.

ABBREVIATION KEY: Diff = difficulty level; V = voice; P = piano; E = easy; mE = moderately easy; M = medium; mD = moderately difficult; D = difficult; DD = very difficult; Tess = tessitura; LL = very low; L = low; mL = moderately low; M = medium; mH = moderately high; H = high; HH = very high; CR = covers range; CS = covers staff; X = no clear key center.