A ''tenso'' (; french: tençon) is a style of

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a '' trobair ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position; common topics relate to love or ethics. Usually, the tenso is written by two different poets, but several examples exist in which one of the parties is imaginary, including God ( Peire de Vic), the poet's horse ( Gui de Cavalhon) or his cloak (

Bertran Carbonel Bertran Carbonel (fl. 1252–1265) was a Provençal troubadour from Marseille. He is a polarising figure among scholars and his reputation varies between authorities. Eighteen of his lyric works survive, as well as seventy-two (Gaunt and Kay) ...

). Closely related, and sometimes overlapping, genres include: * the ''

partimen The ''partimen'' (; ca, partiment ; also known as ''partia'' or ''joc partit'') is a cognate form of the French jeu-parti (plural ''jeux-partis''). It is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry composed between two troubadours, a subgenre of the '' ten ...

'', in which more than two voices discuss a subject * the ''

cobla esparsa A ''cobla esparsa'' ( literally meaning "scattered stanza") in Old Occitan is the name used for a single-stanza poem in troubadour poetry. They constitute about 15% of the troubadour output, and they are the dominant form among late (after 1220) au ...

'' or ''

cobla exchange A ''cobla esparsa'' ( literally meaning "scattered stanza") in Old Occitan is the name used for a single-stanza poem in troubadour poetry. They constitute about 15% of the troubadour output, and they are the dominant form among late (after 1220) au ...

'', a tenso of two stanzas only * the ''contenson'', where the matter is eventually judged by a third party.

Notable examples

* Marcabru and Uc Catola
''Amics Marchabrun, car digam''
possibly the earliest known example. * Cercamon and Guilhalmi
''Car vei finir a tot dia''
another candidate for the earliest known example. * Raimbaut d'Aurenga and

Giraut de Bornelh Giraut de Bornelh (; c. 1138 – 1215), whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose toponym is de Borneil or de Borneyll, was a troubadour connected to the castle of the viscount of Limoges. He is credited with the formalisation, if not the ...

''Ara·m platz, Giraut de Borneill''
where major exponents of the two styles extol trobar clus and trobar leu, respectively. * Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
''Domna tan vos ai preiada''
where an (imaginary) Genoese lady answers the poet in her own dialect, is the only early document written in it. *Peire de Vic
''L’autrier fui en paradis''
a contrast with God * Montan
''Eu veing vas vos, Seingner, fauda levada''
considered the most obscene of Old Occitan lyrics. *Carenza and Iselda

about whether a lady should get married, between two trobairitz.

Legacy

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, includin ...

, the tenso was adapted as the ''tenzone''. In

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

, it became the ''tençon''. In the

Galician-Portuguese lyric In the Middle Ages, the Galician-Portuguese lyric, also known as ''trovadorismo'' in Portugal and ''trobadorismo'' in Galicia, was a lyric poetic school or movement. All told, there are around 1680 texts in the so-called secular lyric or ''l ...

, it was called ''tençom''.

References

{{Medieval-music-stub Western medieval lyric forms Occitan literary genres