Estampie

The estampie is similar in form to the lai, consisting of a succession of repeated notes. Each puncta has a pair of lines that repeat the same melody, in the form: :aa, bb, cc, etc.. The two statements of the melody in each punctus differ only in their endings, described as apertum ("open") and clausum ("closed") by Grocheio, who believed that six puncta were standard for the stantipes (his term for the estampie), though he was aware of stantipes with seven puncta. The structure can therefore be diagrammed as: :a+x, a+y; b+w, b+z; etc.. In an instrumental estampie, the open and closed endings of the puncta are the same each time, so that the end of the punctum serves as the refrain, in the form: a+x, a+y; b+x, b+y, c+x, c+y, etc. He further states that this difficulty captivates the attention of both the players and listeners because of these complications. According to Grocheio, the vocal estampie begins with a refrain, which is repeated at the end of each stanza, with text and melody independent of the stanza. However, surviving songs do not include a section labeled as a refrain, so some scholars suggest that a convention must have existed for choosing lines to use as a refrain. Scholar Elizabeth Eva Leach wrote about a poetic form of estampie through the discussion of Douce 308. In a chapter titled "The Estampies of Douce 308" from Leach's book Music and Instruments of the Middle Ages, there is a heavy discussion about how the poetic forms of estampies differ from both instrumental and vocal forms. These poetic estampies were devoid of musical notation making the form reliant on syllabic stress and enjambment to make it recognizable. == History ==

The estampie is the first known genre of medieval era dance music which continues to exist today. The earliest reported example of this musical form is the song "Kalenda maya", written by the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (1180–1207), possibly to a preexisting melody. The estampie is also the earliest in compositional style that uses both vocal and instrumental music with each written in a different structure and it is the earliest example of dance evolving simultaneously with the complexity of music. == Instrumentation ==

Sources for individual songs do not generally indicate what instruments were used. However, according to Grocheio, the vielle was the supreme instrument of the period, and the stantipes, together with the cantus coronatus and ductia, were the principal forms played on vielles before the wealthy in their celebration. While evidence of estampies being performed on instruments beyond non-bowed strings is rare, it does exist. There is existing evidence of estampies being performed on keyboard instruments, including the organ dating back to a letter written in 1388 by King John I of Aragon. The letter requests for an organ player named John to bring his book of estampies to be performed for him. Though the estampie is generally monophonic, one account provides an example of a performance of the Kalenda Maya being performed by two instrumentalists, with one playing the melody and the other adding an ornamental upper harmony, suggesting that the estampie form had room for improvisation. There are also two-voice compositions in the form of an estampie, such as the two for keyboard in the Robertsbridge Fragment. The French estampie was performed in a lively triple meter, a primary division of three beats to the bar. ==Dance==

Although there is some opposition, the popular consensus is that the estampie was a form of dance. Scholars such as Peggy Dixon and Belinda Belinda Quirey have theorized that estampie is the first recorded instance of a “couples dance”. In line with certain etymological interpretations, many draw a connection to the stamping of feet as being characteristic of the dance. ==Etymology==

There is contention surrounding the exact etymology of the word “estampie”. According to the OED, the name comes from the Provençal estampida, feminine of estampit, the past participle of estampir "to resound". According to Ian Pittaway, the name was given by Grocheio from the Latin, “Stantipes” or “Stantipedes”, meaning “standing/stationary feet”. However, according to Curt Sachs, the word stems from the vulgar Latin, “Stante” or “Stantiae”, translated as “delay” perhaps in relation to the repetitive nature of the musical form. ==Footnotes==