Symbolic Innovation: The Notation of Jacob de Senleches

Abstract

With this statement, the late fourteenth century anonymous author of the Tractatus Figurarum concludes his prologue.2 The subsequent chapters in this treatise detail a rich vocabulary of novel signs used to achieve a new, subtle rhythmic freedom. From the grammatical tense of the previous passage, it is clear that this treatise is concerned with innovations that have already occurred. While very few of the actual signs in the treatise are found in the surviving sources containing this repertoire, the concerns expressed by the author of the Tractatus clearly reflect the notational situation apparent in surviving works in the ars subtilior style. Prior to the twentieth century, no greater diversity of notational signs (figure)3 are found in a mensural context than in the surviving versions of works by Jacob de Senleches, his contemporaries and his immediate successors. The use of special figures in his La harpe de melodie and En attendant esperance is