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“Robin and Marion” is a mature example of the dramatic pastourelle, featuring a shepherdess, a knight who tries to seduce her, and the shepherd Robin, her true love. Adam de la Halle lived in Arras around 1237–1286, a late member of the trouvère tradition, one who introduced polyphony into a monodic art and dramatic comedy into a tradition of song. The play survives in three variant manuscripts of the first half of the 14th century, and it has a long recorded history. Safford Cape, Thomas Binkley, and Joel Cohen each presented a version running around 10 minutes or so, the bare bones of the surviving sources. Since then, the productions have become more elaborate. Guy Robert (Arion ARN 38588; CD, ARN 68162) extended the work to 53 minutes by realizing the improvisational nature of the piece, recorded in 1980 after 100 public performances. Binkley tried again (Focus 913) and achieved the same length, adding some scene-setting music in the beginning, in a public performance recorded in 1987.
This new disc seems to be the first attempt since then to present the work, again one that was prepared for public performance and realized in 58 minutes with considerable imagination. The three most recent discs call for detailed analysis. Robert was criticized for many details of his approach, including the mensural rhythm, the pronunciation of the Picard dialect, and the vocal quality adopted, not to mention the improvisational freedom. Binkley might have been offering an alternative in his choices. Now that we have three versions to compare, it’s clear enough what is needed: the skill and the imagination to achieve a coherent interpretation of a significant work of its time.
The members of Micrologus succeed in making a case for their own insights. This is the first disc that identifies the sources at all, printing a detailed account of each track. The main source is La Vallière (Paris, BnF fr. 25566), with a few tracks from a second source and four motets from Montpellier and Bamberg. Each of these motets incorporates a tune from the play. Robert used one of them as well, along with other motets more arbitrarily chosen. Binkley adds no motets, but employs considerable spoken dialogue. The new version is especially attractive. This group was founded in 1984; one of its members, Patrizia Bovi, had made a few solo recordings (reviewed here), but since then has apparently devoted her time to the ensemble. One of their earliest recordings was “Amor mi fa cantar”. Anyone who is interested in this path-breaking work will want to compare all three recordings closely, for each has something to offer. J. F. Weber, FANFARE
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