The Unica of The Leuven Chansonnier A PT

The unica of the Leuven chansonnier – a portfolio
of songs by an ambitious young musician
With an edition of the twelve unique songs
Peter Woetmann Christoffersen
August 2024
ISBN 978-87-93815-15-5
© 2024 Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

http://www.pwch.dk/Publications/PWCH_Leuven.pdf
Contents
Article
The unica in the eighth fascicle 4
The remaining unica 16
A repertory of a maîtrise? 22
Edition
Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras 3v 29

Oubli, oublie oublie oublie oublie 3v 32
Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir 3v 35
Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame 4v 39
Par Mallebouche la cruelle 3v 43
Escu d’ennuy semé de plours 3v 47
Si vous voulez que je vous ame 3v 50
Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur 3v 54
En atendant vostre venue 3v 59
Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez 3v 62
J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil 3v 65
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter 3v 69
.
The unica of the Leuven chansonnier – a portfolio of songs by an
ambitious young musician
Peter Woetmann Christoffersen
When the announcement of the discovery of the Leuven chansonnier came in 2015, it
raised great expectations. Here was a new source for the rich repertory of polyphonic
French chansons from the 15th century, in a fine state of preservation and with twelve new,
previously unknown songs. Gradually, however, one could detect a certain disappointment.
There were no hidden treasures among its unique songs that could be compared to the
international hit songs of the known repertory. Its unica were interesting, but a little
difficult to place in relation to the known songs, a bit provincial with many old-fashioned
features, and they in general could not live up to the best standards of musical craftsman-
ship. With this article I hope to counter this mild disappointment by pointing out some
special features of the group of unica, which may have an impact on our view of the
manuscript and its context.
Since the Leuven chansonnier (Leuven, Alamire Foundation, Manuscript without shelf
number, hereafter Leuven) resurfaced, it has been described, published in facsimile, at least
two complete transcriptions have appeared online, it has been the subject for conferences,
and a string of articles has appeared in the Journal of the Alamire Foundation and elsewhere.1
The repertory of the manuscript has so much in common with the group of French chan-
sonniers that have come to be known as the ‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers that, without
much doubt or discussion, it has been grouped with the five that were already known.2
The book is in a very small format (120 x 85 mm), made of good parchment, and it
still has its original binding of brocade fabric on cardboard. The writing in music and text
is easy to read, and the openings are decorated with small brightly coloured painted
initials. Among its repertory of 50 polyphonic songs we find some of the most exquisite
and well-known in circulation in the years just after 1470. All this indicates that the book
was intended as a valuable personal possession to be read, pondered over, to follow
1 Cf. David J. Burn, ‘The Leuven Chansonnier: A New Source for Mid Fifteenth-Century Franco-Flemish
Polyphonic Song’, Journal of the Alamire Foundation 9 (2017), pp. 135-158. Facsimiles are published online
at https://idemdatabase.org/item/b-af-ms-1, and in print in David J. Burn, Leuven Chansonnier. Facsimile
& Study/Studie (Leuven Library of Music in Facsimile, vol. 1), Leuven 2017. Modern online editions are
available at http://www.goldbergstiftung.org/leuven-chansonnier-first-complete-edition/, and my web site,
The Copenhagen Chansonnier and the ‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers. An open access project, now contains a
complete edition of the Leuven chansonnier including transcriptions, text editions and translations, and
comments on the repertory (at http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/LISTS/LeuvCont.html).
2 Copenhagen, The Royal Library, MS Thott 291 8° (Copenhagen chansonnier); Dijon, Bibliothèque
Municipale, Ms. 517 (Dijon); Washington D.C., Library of Congress, MS M2.1 L25 Case (Laborde); Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale, Rés. Vmc. ms. 57 (Nivelle); Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Codex Guelf.
287 Extravag. (Wolfenbüttel).
© 2024 Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

The unica of the Leuven chansonnier
performances of the songs, or to relive the music – and to show off and discuss with like-
minded people who were preoccupied with current tendencies in music and poetry.3
As mentioned, Leuven contains many high-quality songs composed by famous
musicians such as Johannes Ockeghem, Antoine Busnoys, Robert Morton and Walter
Frye, although no composers’ names are mentioned in the manuscript. Some of the songs
we know mostly from the group of ‘Loire Valley’ manuscripts, while others achieved
international circulation over several generations, songs like Ockeghem’s “D’un autre
amer mon cueur s’abesseroit” (no. 10), Hayne van Ghizeghem’s “De tous biens plaine est
ma maistresse” (no. 16) or “Je ne fais plus, je ne dis ne escris” (no. 21) by Gilles Mureau, to
name just a few. In addition, there are some less widely circulated songs, which in terms
of musical brilliance do not quite measure up to the best. And finally we have the songs
unique to the Leuven chansonnier, 12 in total.
The unica in the eighth fascicle
After 29 songs, which correspond in character to the content of a chansonnier of the
same type as the Copenhagen chansonnier, comes a series unica, which takes up the en-
tire fascicle eight (ff. 45-52v), as the series begins on the first opening of the fascicle and
continues a little into fascicle 9 (ff. 45v-54). The series contains five songs:
No. 30 “Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir” 3v (ff. 45v-47)
No. 31 “Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame” 4v (ff. 47v-50)
No. 32 “Par Mallebouche la cruelle” 3v (ff. 50v-51)
No. 33 “Escu d’ennuy semé de plours” 3v (ff. 51v-52)
No. 34 “Si vous voulez que je vous ame” 3v (ff. 52v-54)
The first thing that catches one’s eye is that the first two songs are in a poetic and musical
form, which is highly unusual, if not unique, in collections of songs in formes fixes.
Perhaps they are even the only representatives in the handed down repertory. Both are
“simples virlais”, which Jean Molinet characterizes as a kind of “rondeaux doubles, qui se
nomment simples virlais, pour ce que gens lais mettent en leurs chansons rurales”, that is,
song forms that ordinary people use in their rural songs. He described this form with an
example in his L’art de rhétorique, which was printed in Paris by Vérard in 1493, but also
circulated widely in manuscript copies.4 We can name them ‘virelais simples’ or possibly
‘rondeaux doubles’ to adapt the terminology to the other formes fixes.
When we look at how the songs are notated on two or three openings, they look like
bergerettes that are missing some lines in their poems.5 But they are not virelais containing
3 Concerning the format of Leuven in relation to other similar manuscripts, see Thomas Schmidt, ‘On
the Production and Reading of the Leuven Chansonnier’. Journal of the Alamire Foundation 12 (2020),
pp. 278-292; on the chansonniers’ function as intimate assets, see Jane Alden, ‘Formes of Intimacy: Minia-
turisation and Sociability in the Fifteenth-Century Chansonnier’ in Vincenzo Borghetti and Alexandros
Maria Hatzikiriakos (eds.), The Media of Secular Music in the Medieval and Early Modern Period (1110–1650).
Turnhout 2024, pp. 116-138.
4 Cf. Ernest Langlois (ed.), Recueil d’arts de seconde rhétorique. Paris 1902, pp. 231-232.
5 In recent recordings by Sollazzo Ensemble, Ensemble Leones and Blue Heron these songs has been rear-
ranged as bergerettes with new text interpolated, and they are mentioned as standard virelais (bergerettes)
in recent literature, cf. Burn, ‘The Leuven Chansonnier: A New Source’, p. 149, Fabrice Fitch, ‘Spotlight on
a Newly Recovered Song: The Anonymous Virelai Si vous voullez que je vous ame from the Leuven Chan-
sonnier’, Journal of the Alamire Foundation 12 (2020), pp. 217-230 (p. 217), and Honey Meconi, ‘Text and
Context in the Leuven Chansonnier’, Journal of the Alamire Foundation 13 (2021), pp. 12-32 (p. 16).
4
one stanza only, which may be called bergerettes to discern them from multi-stanza
virelais. The bergerette consists of two contrasting sections: a refrain and two short couplets
with new rimes and, in most cases, contrasting music, followed by a tierce of the same
length and structure as the refrain and a repeat of the refrain (cf. fig. 1). The virelai simple
poem also has two sections, but only one couplet of half the length of the refrain, and it
continues the pattern of rimes of the refrain: the corresponding text lines of the refrain is
used for the repeat of this section. It ends in the same way with tierce and refrain. Its
pattern of rimes and repeats does not encourage any pronounced musical contrast
between the sections. The poetic form of the virelai simple is then similar to the rondeau,
as Molinet remarked, but musically it is closer to the bergerette with its new music for the
couplets.
refrain couplets tierce refrain

Rondeau: AB aA ab AB
Bergerette: AB Cc ab AB
Simple virelai: AB music: C c ab AB
text: a A
Figure 1
The poems of the two first songs fit the virelai simple pattern perfectly. “Tousdis vous
voit” has a cinquain as refrain with a couplet of three lines with rimes all the way through
based on “-ir/-ieux”, while “Donnez l’aumosne” has a quatrain with a two-line couplet and
rimes “-ame/-ace”. The two sections of music are in both songs in tempus imperfectum
diminutum with a relatively fast beat on the breves – there is no contrast in rhythmical
structure! A common set up for the bergerette involves a long refrain section in triple
time, tempus perfectum, and the shorter couplets in diminished double time, imperfectum
diminutum. This results in a tempo ratio of 3:4 between the sections. Some bergerettes
use diminished double time in both sections, see e.g. in Leuven the anonymous “Ha,
cueur perdu et desole” (no. 38), or the two songs by Busnoys, “M’a vostre cueur mis en
oubli” or “Soudainement mon cueur a pris”, which both can be found in the Copenhagen
and Dijon chansonniers.6 In these songs, the contrast between couplets and refrain is
achieved by other means.
“Donnez l’aumosne” is the only song in the Leuven chansonnier for four voices. This
must give rise to a question: Why on earth did the compiler of the manuscript want to
include a virelai simple for four voices in a chansonnier that otherwise only contained
songs for three voices in well-known formes fixes? The series of songs in the eighth fascicle
may give us some of the answer. It consists of two virelais simples, a rondeau cinquain, a
rondeau quatrain and a regular bergerette, all male love complaints in artful, rich rimes, a
display of l’art de rhétorique! The series looks like a small anthology that presents settings
of the poetic forms that were most suitable for music. As we shall see, the two first songs
and the last certainly came from the same author, and this probably also applies to other
songs - also outside this series.
6 See further at http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH282.html, http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH010.html,

and http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH023.html.
5
It seems possible that they were all copied from a common exemplar, which was of a
special character and different from most of Leuven’s other repertory. One cannot find
evidence for this hypothesis in the general appearance of the manuscript. The main scribe
has worked his way through all the pages in the same way. Only one single element in his
preparation of the appearance of the songs on the pages deviates in these songs from his
fixed habits; it concerns the placement of the words of the poems under the music.
The main writer’s standard procedure is the same as seen in many chansonniers: each
line of text is written below the notes in the upper voice, starting below the beginning of
a musical phrase; if the line is divided into several subsections, the first syllable in the
second subsection is placed below the first note after the incision; and at main cadences
one often finds that special care is shown with the placement of the last syllable of the
line. This model is practical when copying a song from an exemplar in a larger format
into a very small chansonnier. The text is written consecutively, but apart from the first
syllable in a phrase, the syllables are not aligned with the music and are therefore flexible,
and the text is easy to read as a poem. The text in the other voices usually consists only of
incipits, a few words at the beginning of each of the main sections of the song.
The small number of staves, six, on each page in Leuven allow for a relatively greater
distance between the staves than in other manuscripts. Therefore, it becomes easier to
write the text without interruptions due to notes or stems, which extend outside the
staves. The second scribe’s writing is smaller, and this enables him to show more precisely
the placement of the syllables in relation to the music. That can be seen, for example, in
the precise division of words at a line break in no. 48 “Vraiz amans pour dieu suppliez”,
bar 9 “gra-ce”, where he let “gra” extend into the margin to emphasize the connection. This
requires greater care when copying from different page format. One could say that Hand
A makes the text stand out nicely, while Hand B uses the space for greater precision.
In fascicle eight, the main writer has changed his procedure, and the text has been
entered with even greater care and in several cases more text appears. In “Tousdis vous
voit” he has supplied the last line of the refrain in the tenor as well as in the contra-tenor;
otherwise both only have incipits. In the contratenor he placed the words “jusques vous
voye” under bars 50.2-54, and below the unusual ending consisting of eight repeated notes
in a row he put “au revenir” in bars 56-57, forcing a repetition of the last four syllables.
With this simple intervention, it becomes completely clear how the composer wanted the
unusual passage to be performed. The four-part “Donnez l’aumosne” has the words care-
fully laid under all four voices – in the lowest voice, the “Basis”, a line and a few words
have been passed over. Otherwise, it is only in no. 47 “Quant je fus prins au pavillon”,
which was entered by hand B, that we find text placed under all the music in more than
one voice; the two high, equal voices are both fully texted. In no. 45 “Helas l’avoy je
desservy”, also copied by Hand B, the words “Par Dieu, nenny” (By God, no, no) appear
alone below bars 15-17 in the tenor in order to assure the maximum effect of the imitation
at the start of the rondeau’s second section.
The main scribe’s care with the text in the eighth fascicle is also shown by the fact that
in “Par Mallebouche” he has divided the second text line up, so that “ennemye” is placed
very precisely under bars 6-7 and “faulse et rebelle” under bars 9-13; and at the start of the
second section, great care has been taken to align the words “gentille pucelle” with the six
first minimae (bb. 20-21.1). In “Si vous voulez” the underlay of the text in the upper voice
is careful with a clear distribution of the words in, for example, the very extended setting
6
Example 1a “Tousdis vous voit”, superius bars 1-9

U
˙. œœ 4
&CÓ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w. ˙ w
Example 1b “Tousdis vous voit”, superius bars 10-16

w ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œw w
& ˙
Example 1c “Tousdis vous voit”, superius bars 79-85
œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙.
& ˙. œw ˙ w
of the first line, and in the second couplet we find a written out repeat of the last words
“ou j’ay affaire” in order to match the extension in the 2a volta (bb. 62-75), which is
unusual in chansonniers.
The slightly changed behaviour of the main scribe with regard to copying the words
can thus support the idea that the contents of fascicle eight and perhaps other songs were
copied from an exemplar of a different nature than the exemplars used for the majority of
the small chansonnier. Since the second scribe generally pays more attention to the precise
location of the text, it is more difficult to include his contribution as support for this
assumption, but there is nothing against that he may have used the same exemplar as the
main scribe used in fascicle eight.
But distinctive features in the copying are far from the only thing that binds the
repertory in fascicle eight together. The first two songs, the two virelais simples, were
undoubtedly composed by the same musician, and they were most probably intended for
performance as a set. As there were probably no precedents for how a polyphonic setting
of a virelai simple should be formed, the composer has felt quite free to experiment and
has used a number of features not often encountered in this repertory.
They both meet the full requirements for varietas in the setting of a poem in fixed form.
There is an alternation between careful syllabic declamation of the words and long drawn-out
syllables for melismas, and homorhythmic or upper-voice-dominated texture alternates
with imitation and passages in canon. However, as a whole they do not sound like secular
chansons. It seems as if the composer feels more at home in sacred music, and that this has
rubbed off on his way of setting the poems to music. Let us discuss here separately some
of the features characteristic of this musician’s way of setting courtly poems to music.7
The two songs were composed for the same group of performers. “Tousdis vous voit”
uses three voices in quite high and wide ranges: a superius (b-f ''), a tenor (d-a') and a
contratenor (Bb-f '). The ranges for superius, an unlabelled tenor, which we may regard as
a contratenor, and a low “Basis” are in the four-part “Donnez l’aumosne” similar to the
voices of “Tousdis vous voit”, and to this is added a part in a more modest range, f-g',
which in the manuscript is labelled as “Tenor”.
“Tousdis vous voit” sets its two first lines as a closed musical phrase in disregard of the
meaning of the text. They are formed as antecedent and consequent phrases (see exx.
1a-b); and the second phrase, a recitation formula followed by a cadential formula,
appears several times in slightly different shapes during the course of the song (ex. 1c).
7 All of the unique songs mentioned below can be found in transcription with translations of the poems in
the appendix to this article. More detailed discussions of each song can be found in the comments in the
online edition, see further http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/LISTS/LeuvCont.html.
7
In bars 39-48 the upper voice paraphrases the end of the opening statement an octave
lower (ex. 1b), first above long notes in the lower voices then above an ostinato accompa-
niment. Also the final cadence of the refrain (bb. 55-62) sounds like a reference to this
opening statement. The couplets paraphrase the song’s start in canon and in reverse order:
first the ascension to f '' and back to c'' like example 1c, then the song’s opening phrase
(ex. 1a) ending on e''. After a general pause (b. 78) comes the last line in the couplets as
a repeat of their first line reshaped in homophony and nearly identical to the refrain’s
second line (cf. exx. 1b and 1c) with an extension, which possibly may be interpreted as a
first and a second endings. This simple cadential phrase appears so many times in slightly
different shapes in the refrain and the couplets that it given the repetitions during the
performance of the full form takes on the character of a ‘refrain line’. It contributes signifi-
cantly to the song’s unity.
The same melodic material appears in “Donnez l’aumosne”. The second phrase as shown
in example 1b and transposed down a fourth is similar to the upper voice in the four-part
song’s setting of the poem’s second line with an interpolated prolongation (bb. 20-35). The
same simple melodic gesture is presented in the refrain’s third line in the highest voice
(bb. 40-48), now in the shape shown in example 1c and in C tonality; the contratenor
starts imitatively a fifth lower. The close connection with “Tousdis vous voit” is impossible
to overhear in the couplets; see example 2a. The opening line, similar to example 1a, is
presented in a slightly condensed version in canonic imitation between superius and
contratenor accompanied by the tenor (bb. 72-78), and the consequent phrase (ex. 1b)
continues in the contratenor (bb. 78-83) accompanied by tenor and Basis ending in a
parallel cadence in fauxbourdon style. The four-part second line in the couplets has in the
superius a repeat of example 1b, slightly extended.
The use and re-use of the same musical material is remarkable, and the effect of the
sound of a ‘refrain line’, which we could hear in “Tousdis vous voit”, is only increased at
the same line’s reappearance in “Donnez l’aumosne” in its third line (bb. 40-48) and at the
end of the couplets (bb. 83-90). The use of recurring material, the tendency to create
rounded forms, as we hear it in the apparent ‘refrain line’ or in the couplets’ audible ABA'
form in “Tousdis vous voit”, and which do not correspond well with the natural patterns
of repetition in settings of formes fixes, is not a normal feature in this repertory.8
As can be seen from examples 2a-c the phrase that begins “Tousdis vous voit” is a fixed
component of this composer’s way of expressing himself, which we shall return to in what
follows. In the superius it starts as a descent in an inverted melodic curve from c'' to g' and
rises up high to e'', where it stops on a longa with fermata – a display of the g'-hexachord
(see ex. 3a). The tenor shadows it in the c'-hexachord, while the contratenor an octave
below supplies the harmonic foundation suggesting the Bb-hexachord (or the combined c-
and F-hexachords) with the characteristic alternation of triads on c and on Bb (underscored
by the accidental in bar 7). The fermata chord with the third at the top (c-c'-e'') is a sound
as bright as possible.
8 An anonymous, not very accomplished rondeau cinquain “Je ne requiers que vostre bien vueillance”,
which appears in the Copenhagen, Laborde and Wolfenbüttel chansonniers, shows up a rounded form as
the setting of its first line of music is reused at the end of the rondeau’s extended fifth line. It, too, looks
like an experiment; cf. http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH015.html.
8
Example 2a, “Donnez l’aumosne”, bars 72-83

w w ˙. œ w w
& nC w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œw 4
V nC ∑ ∑ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. b #
V nC w ˙ ˙ œ˙ ˙ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ w b 4
˙
b b
? C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w 4
Example 2b, “Si vous voulez”, bars 34-42

˙ ˙. ˙
&C w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ œ 4
w w ˙ ˙ w
VC ∑ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w
j w ˙
VC ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ ˙
˙ w ˙. œœ
4 œ
Example 2c, “Vraiz amans”, bars 1-6

˙ ˙. œœ ˙ œ ˙ œ.
&S ˙ œ. œ ˙
J ˙ w œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙
J
˙ ˙ ˙ œ. œ œ
VS ∑ ˙ œ. œ ˙ ˙ w J œ ˙ w
J
VS Ó ˙ œ œ ˙ Œ
w ˙ w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ
9
Example 3a, “Tousdis vous voit”, bars 1-9

U
˙ ˙. w ˙. œœ 4
&CÓ œ ˙ ˙ w. ˙
˙ w w w w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ U4
VC Ó
U
VC Ó w w
˙ w w w bw 4
Example 3b, “Si vous voulez”, bars 8-15
˙ ˙ ˙ w. ˙ œ ˙ œœ ˙ j j œ œ œ. œ ˙
& œ œ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ J
œ ˙
œ
œ ˙ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
Vb ˙. Ó n w w
Vb Ó w ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
˙ œ œ 4 œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙. w
We meet the harmonic effect of a slow alternation of triads on c and on Bb again at

the start of the second half of the refrain (bb. 39-43, see ex. 4a), and when the couplets
paraphrase the song’s start the associated harmony (triads on c and on Bb) is heard trice
in different shapes during a few bars (bb. 66-77). Obviously, this sequence of concords is
one of the composer’s favourite devices, and it reappears in other songs. In “Donnez l’aumosne”
the sequence turns up several times, especially when using the melodic material it has in
common with “Tousdis vous voit”: in bars 24-26, twice in different octaves in bars 41-45,
and in the four-part ending to the couplets (bb. 83-85).
Another distinct feature of this composer’s music is his predilection for ornamenting
long notes by inserting a short dissonant note a step lower than the main note. In
“Tousdis vous voit” this is used to great effect in the ostinato passage bars 43.2-47 (ex.
4a). The sounding third in tenor and contratenor is ornamented by complementary dot-
ted figures, which creates a rather special sound with dissonances (seconds and fourths)
appearing twice in every bar. Also the superius takes part in this, as the dotted figure in
bars 44.2-45.1 produces a seventh against the tenor. Obliviously, the composer liked this
way of enlivening long notes with dissonant turns, because the effect reappears in bar 58
in the superius and bar 75 in the tenor. In “Donnez l’aumosne” it appears less conspicu-
ously in the tenor bars 12, 74 and 78, and in superius bars 30 and 60. The effect is used in
a way similar to “Tousdis vous voit”, namely to enliven a bland sound, in “Vraiz amans”
10
Example 4a, “Tousdis vous voit”, bars 39-49
& w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ w ˙. œ˙ ˙ ˙. œw ˙ w
b
4
V w w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w 4
b b b b #
V ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œw ˙ ˙. ˙
4 4 ˙
Example 4b, “Vraiz amans”, bars 6-10

#
j j j j
& œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ œ. œ œ œ œ bœ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ w
b b b
œ œ j œ j œ ˙ œ
V œ. œ œ œ. œ œ ˙ œ ˙ w.
b S
œ Œ ˙
V œ œ œ ˙ b˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
when it appears as a sort of imitation between tenor and superius in bars 8 and 17 (ex.
4b).9 Furthermore, general pauses are a feature we do not often encounter inside the
music of formes fixes songs. In “Tousdis vous voit” they appear twice, one in each section
(bb. 55 and 78). They both serve to draw attention to the closing phrase, the ‘refrain line’.
After the extended cadence following the repeat of the first line in “Donnez l’aumosne”
the general pause finds use again – again in order to set off a variant of the ‘refrain line’.
And then we have the end of the refrain of “Tousdis vous voit”, where the countertenor
in static harmony repeats the last words in shorter note values “au revenir / sans faillir” –
absolutely an original idea. The words are recited on c' in dotted and then syncopated
notes. “Donnez l’aumosne” opens with a duo between the high contratenor and Basis.
The contratenor continues where the contratenor in “Tousdis vous voit” ended – with a
recitation of the first line on one note, c', ending in a cadence to C.10 Obviously, the words
“Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame” (Give alms, dear lady) provoked the ecclesiastical
9 Embellishing long notes with dissonant short notes is not a common feature in this repertory, but can be
encountered, but never in such a pronounced form as in this song. See, for example in the Leuven chan-
sonnier no. 41, ff. 65v-67 “Quant j’ay au cueur aulcun contraire” bars 6.2-3 and 10.2-3 in the superius and
bar 14.2-3 in the tenor. This rondeau is anonymous in Leuven, but ascribed to Busnoys in the later Italian
Pixérécourt MS (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. f.fr. 15123).
10 This link between the two songs was pointed out in Adam Knight Gilbert, ‘Songs that Know Each Other
in the Leuven Chansonnier’. Journal of the Alamire Foundation 12 (2020), pp. 231-261, at p. 240.
11
reference to a chant recitation tone (see ex. 6b). This duo is then repeated an octave
higher by superius and tenor (bb. 9-16), with a slightly varied countervoice in the tenor.
In the foregoing we have discussed the many unusual features of the two virelais
simples. It is, on the other hand, not unusual for short passages in a fauxbourdon-like
style to appear in chansons composed as late as around 1470. They appear in both songs
as a means of creating variation in the music. In “Tousdis vous voit” the contratenor is
placed between the other voices in bars 44-49 (ex. 4a) and proceeds to the cadence in a
double leading note formula; and in “Donnez l’aumosne” we find similar three-part
passages in different combinations in the refrain (bb. 55-58) and in the couplets (bb. 80-
83; ex. 2a).
“Tousdis vous voit” sounds more like a small sacred composition of the prayer type than
like a chanson. By the change to the four-part medium, the sacred sound only becomes
more prominent. The start of “Donnez l’aumosne” with the first line’s recitation of the
words in a duo, which is repeated an octave higher, is similar to many motets or mass
sections, and the appearance of passages with a reduced number of voices points in the
same direction. The two virelais simples share the wish to experiment, the mixture of new
and old in sound treatment and the simplistic and recurring melodic material – and some
personal fingerprints of the composer.
The last song in the eighth fascicle, “Si vous voulez”, is a real bergerette that meets all
the requirements of the conventions of the genre. It is lighter in tone than the preceding
four love laments, it has two contrasting couplets and a corresponding rhythmic alterna-
tion between triple and double time, with tempus perfectum in the refrain and tempus
imperfectum diminutum in the two couplets. And it was certainly composed by the same
musician who was the author of the two virelais simples.
It is written for the same group of performers as “Tousdis vous voit” with an upper
voice in the range c'-e'', a tenor g-a' and a countertenor moving between Bb and e' and
staying below the upper voices except in the refrain’s middle cadence, where it takes the
fifth above the tenor. Just before the end of the refrain, we meet the same melodic figure
in the upper voice that started “Tousdis vous voit” (cf. bb. 27-29 and ex. 1a), and to reach
the cadence the ascent through the g'-hexachord is run again and imitated by tenor (bb.
30-31). This use of a banal melodic turn tied to a hexachord would not be worth noting if
the opening of the couplets had not clearly built on the same motif and worked out in the
same manner as was the case in “Donnez l’aumosne”, in canonical imitation (cf. exx. 2a-
b). Here the composer’s signature is unmistakable.
“Si vous voulez” is the most ambitious of his songs, all sails are set and he uses a well-
known song as his model. The opening is clearly modelled on Ockeghem’s bergerette
“Ma maistresse et ma plus qu’autre amye”, which since the 1450s had circulated widely.11
He builds on the version of “Ma maistresse”, which was entered into Leuven as no. 25 on
ff. 34v-37 with the voices in similar ranges, and it starts out with no signature in the
upper voice and one-flat signatures in the lower voices, which disappear in the couplets to
further a tonal contrast.
The start is original and quite spectacular. It opens with two semibrevis-rests in all
three voices, not to prepare an upbeat opening, but in order to place the first stressed
note on the third beat of the perfection. This is a phenomenon on paper; in a perfor-
mance it just begins normally, but then the stressed beat imperceptibly moves back to its
11 Cf. http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH173.html.
12
normal placement in the pattern, and thus creates a rhythmic fluidity, which can be
compared with what Ockeghem obtained in the setting of the second line in “Ma mais-
tresse”. The tenor of “Si vous voulez” quotes the opening of the tenor in “Ma maistresse”
slightly modified and a fourth lower. Against the tenor the composer in the upper voice
set a quote from Ockeghem’s contratenor transposed up a fifth. Both quotes end with a
dotted figure descending a third – this figure also appears in an important role in “Donnez
l’aumosne” –, which in the superius continues in an ascending sequence shadowed by the
contratenor a tenth below, probably inspired by the rising sequence in the second line in
Ockeghem’s song. At the same time, the tenor imitates the start of the superius at the
unison, and with the ‘hidden’ imitations at the fifth between all three voices bars 4.3-6 it
emulates the ‘hidden’ fifth imitation between superius and tenor in “Ma maistresse”.
What helps to make the start of Ockeghem’s song memorable is the false relation between
b-flat and b'-natural in bar 2 forced by the imitation at the fifth and Ockeghem’s sure
simultaneous use of the three basic hexachords on f, c' and g'. “Si vous voulez” shows that
its composer was able to do exactly the same a fifth lower, with the voices in Bb-, f- and
c'-hexachords, and with the false relation sounding in bars 3-4 between e-flat and e'-natural.
When the tenor repeats the superius motive in bar 4, he is able to repeat the whole
procedure a fifth higher with hexachords on f, c' and g'.12
All of this sets only the first four syllables of the first line to music. The rest of the line
“que je vous ame” gets a strong emphasis on “je” at the upper voices’ ascend to e'' in paral-
lel sixths (bb. 9-10, see ex. 3b), and we experience again the sound of a succession of triads
based on c, Bb and c, the composer’s favourite harmonization of such passages. He has to
hide the parallel fifths with the tenor by interpolating a d in bar 9.3. Something similar
happens in the couplets bars 54-56, where he has twice to insert Bs to disguise parallel
octaves. These difficulties indicate that we are dealing here with a relatively young and
less experienced composer. “Si vous voules” is probably composed before the two virelais
simples.
Otherwise, it is as if the composer’s ideas are running out, and originality is replaced
by ordinary measures. The tenor is a bit curious from here on; apart from a couple of dips
down to g, it stays slavishly within the hexachord on c', marching up and down – this says
something about the composer’s ability in relation to Ockeghem’s wide-ranging tenor.
The setting is varied with passages in imitation and strict unison canon and at the fifth,
and the second line of the couplets is very long (33 brevis bars including the second
ending), presumably in order to balance the very extended setting of the refrain’s first
line. In the second ending we find an ostinato passage, in which the same notes are
repeated for three bars (bb. 58-60) building up the tension before the cadence. We found
the same phenomenon in “Tousdis vous voit” (bb. 43.2-47.1; ex. 4a), where it is even more
striking because of the dissonant effects. At the last chord in the couplets’ first line (b. 50)
the upper voice is split into two, and in the second ending the same happens with a
decorative flourish before the chord’s major third.
It seems that a relatively young musician has strived to emulate Ockeghem’s bid on
how to compose a bergerette. He has fully managed to live up to the challenge’s demand
for alluring originality from the start of the song, to the demand for constant variety in
12 See further the music examples and discussion in my edition of “Si vous voulez” at http://chansonniers.
pwch.dk/CH/CH280.html, and Gilbert, ‘Songs that Know’, pp. 232-234, and the interesting analysis in
Fitch, ‘Spotlight’.
13
the music, a varied presentation of the poem, and balance in the music. Something else is
that he has not mastered all details and that his melodic imagination eventually fails and
he falls back to standard phrases. “Si vous voulez” exhibits the same mixture of old and
new traits as is present in “Tousdis vous voit” and “Donnez l’aumosne”, the same use of
recurrent motives and simple melodic material, and some of the composer’s quirks are
apparent. It may be older than the two virelais simples; it may in fact be the source for
some of the ideas that were unfolded in his ensuing compositions.
That three of the songs in the series of unica in fascicle eight can be attributed to the
same composer raises the question of whether the same musician may be responsible for
the remaining two songs in rondeau form. One is a cinquain and the other a quatrain, so
they represent the two most widespread rondeau types. Nothing speaks against this being
the case, but on the other hand, they contain no apparent ‘fingerprints’.
The rondeau cinquain “Par Mallebouche la cruelle” is the most obvious candidate to
be included in our composer’s production. It is male love complaint in rich rimes that
invoke two allegorical figures, Mallebouche, the cruel slanderer, and her antithesis, Loyau-
té, faithfulness. This exercise in the art of rhétorique is set for three voices, an upper
voice in a modest range (c'-d'') and two tenors in the same range (c-f '), and it explores the
quite rare Lydian mode, notated without any hexachordal signatures, but clearly anchored
in a F-tonality.
It exhibits a curious blend of old and new, experiment and tradition side-by-side.
The first section is kept entirely in the Lydian mode building on C- and G-hexachords
and avoiding flattening of any B’s. The contratenor starts before the other voices, and it
programmatically announces the F-tonality by sounding the triad on f. The first line
ends without cadence on g with the top voice on the concord’s third (b') in bar 5, while
the first cadence to f comes in bar 9 after four syllables of the poem’s second line (see
ex. 5a). This secondary cadence is between the contratenor and the tenor with the contra
as the highest voice in a syncopated cadence figure, while the tenor is relegated to a func-
tion as harmonic foundation. The upper voice follows the contratenor in parallel thirds
above. In this way a sounding reference to the ending of the first line with a third at the
top is established – a tone lower. The contra stays above the tenor for the remainder of
the line, which ends in and old-fashioned double leading note cadence to F – after some
curious plodding by the tenor in bars 11-12. Superius and tenor starts the third line as a
canon at the fifth before cadencing in C with the contra as a harmonic filler below.
The pace and sound changes in the second section. The contra opens a three-part
unison imitation of a descending scale figure, which changes into octave imitation in
superius and tenor, and the words are placed on rows of minimae. In the last line this
imitation evolves into a three-part canon at the octave and unison in complementary
rhythms characterized by semiminimae. At the same time b-flats are needed constantly by
the abrupt change into the combined F- and C-hexachords. The final cadence to F again
involves double leading tones.
The poem is an artful rondeau cinquain, but the music is much lighter in tone with its
bright sound and its occasionally rapid delivery of the words. The song is in tempus
imperfectum with the beats on semibrevis values, yet an almost parodic effect occurs when
the second section begins with imitation of minima motion with a syllable placed under
each note. It is as if the composer wanted to demonstrate that he could achieve the
greatest possible contrast between the rondeau’s sections by changes in timbre and pace of
14
Example 5a, “Par Mallebouche la cruelle”, bars 4-9

j œ œ œ. j œ. j
& œ œ œ. œ ˙ Ó ˙ œœ œ œ. œœœ ˙ Œ œ
V Œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ ˙
˙ w
˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ. œœœ œ ˙
V Œ Œ
Example 5b, “Escu d’ennuy”, bars 19-27

#
œ œ œ œ œ. œœ œœ˙ #
4
V œ œ œ œ œ . œ˙ œ w. Œ œ œ J œ
J
. b
? ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ Œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œJ œ œ œ ˙ 4
w J
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ# œ œ# 4
? œ ˙ œ œ . œ# œ œ# ˙ Œ œ œ. œœ œ Œ ˙
b J J J
declamation. “Par Mallebouche la cruelle” exhibits the same mixture of old-fashioned

style and sound treatment and newer elements, the same desire to experiment and attempts
to sound modern as we found in the three other songs – and a fondness for cadences
with the third at the top.
“Escu d’ennuy semé de plours” has the same disposition of the voices, just a fourth
lower and in the Dorian mode. The upper voice is placed between a and a' – its restricted
range may still be performed by boys – and tenor and contratenor are in nearly the same low
ranges (A-d' and G-c'), and they often cross each other. The poem is a rondeau quatrain,
which uses heraldic terminology as images of the lover’s sufferings.
The greatest interest is concentrated in the melody of the upper voice, which is well-
formed with a clear presentation of the words and quite long melismas that emphasize
important words such as “tristesse / destresse” in bars 17-20. The lower voices mostly
accompany without imitation before the last line, where all three voices participate in a
unison/octave imitation, which leads directly to the final D cadence.
The point where the couplets repeat the first half of the refrain’s music is hardly
marked. Only fermatas in the superius and the tenor indicate the point, no cadential
movement or standard figuration. When the refrain is performed in full, there is no
audible incision. The second and third lines come to function as a whole, where the
cadences to F and to C in bars 15 and 18 gain more weight and lead to the important
melisma on “tristesse / destresse”. This artifice serves to strengthen the melodic unity.
The two last cadences in the song, to A in bars 20-21 and the final to D are both in
15
fauxbourdon style with the curious old-fashioned decoration of the double leading notes
in the contratenor (see ex. 5b). This may a copying error, which has arisen during the
song’s transmission, the ornamentations normally belong in the highest voice.
This song could very well be composed by the same musician who has authored the
others in the series in the eighth fascicle of Leuven. It displays, for example, the same
mixture of old and new, with its double leading note cadences, as we can find in the
rondeau that comes just before it in Leuven, “Par Mallebouche”. However, “Escu d’ennuy”
shows a surer grip on the compositional technique and especially on the shaping of
melody, and it is the only one in this series whose poem has been transmitted through
other sources. It might have been incorporated into the series because it had served as
an inspiration for “Par Mallebouche”; it may have inspired the unusual cadence in bar 8-9
(ex. 5a) and the two songs share the same limited range of the upper voice and the
placing of text syllables on rows of minimae near the end.
The remaining unica
The fact that four out of the five songs in the series in fascicle eight are most likely
composed by the same musician greatly supports the idea that the songs come from an
exemplar of a special character whose content differs from the repertory we usually meet
in chansonniers. And the reason why a song for four voices suddenly appears in this very
small chansonnier is that it was part of a systematic collection of music that the main
scribe has copied in order. This makes it interesting to investigate if other of the seven
songs that we only know through Leuven could come from the same collection.
Entered by the main scribe:

No. 13 “Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras” 3v (ff. 17v-18)
No. 18 “Oubli, oublie oublie oublie oublie” (ff. 22v-23)
No. 40 “Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur” (ff. 63v-65)
Entered by the second scribe:
No. 44 “En atendant vostre venue” (ff. 72v-73)
No. 48 “Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez” (ff. 78v-79)
No. 49 “J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil” (ff. 79v-80)
Added by a later hand (Hand C):
No. 50 “Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter” (ff. 80v-81)
We have already found the composer’s ‘fingerprint’ in the rondeau quatrain “Vraiz amans”.
It is like the other songs by this composer a male love complaint, and it is set in music
using the same disposition of voices as in “Tousdis vous voit”. Superius lies in the range
d'-f '' and the tenor f-a', where they form an imitative duet with snatches of canon, and
they are supported by a contratenor a fourth below the tenor, c-e'. Its opening motif in
octave canon between the upper voices (see ex. 2c) is the same that can be found in three
songs in Leuven’s eighth fascicle, “Tousdis vous voit” (ex. 3a), “Donnez l’aumosne” (ex. 2a),
and “Si vous voulez” (ex. 2b). Another of his distinctive features, namely embellishing
a longer note with a dissonant downward turning note, appears here several times in
exposed places: in superius bar 3, and in a sort of imitation between tenor and superius
16
bars 8 and 17 (ex. 4b). It was clearly the composer’s intention to provide an impressive
ending to the song, but something went wrong either in the copying of the contratenor or
else his skill did not match his ambition. It is not one of our composer’s most successful
creations.13
It is interesting that another song by the same composer and probably copied from the
same exemplar appears in the last part of Leuven, which was done by the second scribe. It
shows that this scribe must have taken over the special music material when the first
scribe fell away, and that this material was probably more voluminous than the five songs
in fascicle eight suggest. If it was a regular fascicle manuscript made of folded sheets of
paper, consisting of four or five sheets, it could have held at least 6-10 songs or more,
depending on how many sheets were folded.
We have already established that the composer was fascinated by Ockeghem’s songs. In
“Si vous voulez” he took Ockeghem’s early “Ma maistresse” as his starting point. The song
that comes right after “Si vous voulez” in Leuven is Ockeghem’s “Fors seullement l’actente
que je meure” (ff. 54v-56). A few openings later comes the unique rondeau cinquain “Ou
beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur”, about which Adam Knight Gilbert has noted that
it bears a striking resemblance to “Fors seullement”.14 It is another male love complaint and
set in music for two nearly equal voices (a-c'' and g-bb') – the lower voice of the two is
labelled “Tenor” – and a low contratenor (G-c'), which keeps below the upper voices.
It is a very varied setting characterised by several two-part passages; both sections of
the rondeau start with duos. This feature and a motif, which appear in both sections,
are the most important elements that lead the mind to “Fors seullement”. It is evident that
the composer of “Ou beau chastel” knew “Fors seullement” intimately, and it is precisely
the Leuven version of Ockeghem’s song that he knew. The motif that begins the song and
appears several times in different contexts, a descending movement rhythmized as a
dotted semibrevis and two semiminimae, appear at the beginning of “Fors seullement” in
Leuven and Wolfenbüttel chansonniers, while other sources are slightly different.15 This
version is in A mode with no hexachordal signatures. “Ou beau chastel” is in the same
modality a tone lower in G, as it ends with two-flat signatures in all voices in the second
section. In the first section superius and contratenor have only one flat each, which
produces a tonal shading between the sections.
It leads nowhere to wonder if Ockeghem or another musician of his rank could be the
author of “Ou beau chastel”. The similarities with Ockeghem’s song are immediately audi-
ble, but the differences are almost more noticeable. This is not a song where a beautiful,
well-articulated tune sounds in the tenor moved up an octave. In “Ou beau chastel” the
highest voice is leading, and this is mostly the superius, although the two equal voices
often change places, and the melodic material is first presented in the contratenor. A good
guess for an author could be the musician who composed at least three of the unique
songs in Leuven’s eighth fascicle.
13 Using a slightly different approach, Adam Knight Gilbert reached a similar conclusion concerning the
authorship in his article ‘Songs that Know’: “Tousdis vous voit, Donnez l’aumosne, Si vous voullez, and
Vraiz amans share melodic subjects to such an extent that shared authorship is a strong likelihood.” (p. 259),
see also his music examples p. 256.
14 Gilbert, ‘Songs that Know’, p. 234 states that they “... share striking similarities, including the melodic
outline of their opening duos, the imitation of the subject in the cantus (bb. 1-7), and the sequential
motive in the tenor (bb. 21-28) ...”.
15 See further the comments on “Fors seullement” at http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH056.html.
17
The contratenor presents the first line of text in a melodic gesture that could resemble
a recitation formula, and which, with its four repeated notes on c', more associates with
the opening duo in the four-part “Donnez l’aumosne”, than with “Fors seullement” (cf. exx.
6a and 6b). The tenor’s countervoice to this consists of the descending figure alluding to
“Fors seullement” and continues in very simple counterpoint in alternating unisons and
thirds, ending in a cadence to G. The contratenor tune is then repeated by the superius an
octave higher with a new accompaniment in the lower voices, which have to draw the last
words of the line far out.
It is probably true that the composer found inspiration in the sound and layout of
Ockeghem’s song, just as in “Si vous voulez”. “Ou beau chastel” fulfils all imaginable
requirements for varietas in the setting of the words, and in contrasts between the sections,
and it is quite a successful attempt. However, the use of introductory duos, and the mosaic
of duos in the second section combined with the reliance on parallel thirds and simplified
counterpoint seem to point more in the direction of a young musician experienced in
sacred music in the years around 1470 than a composer of secular music.
One more unique song in Leuven refers indirectly to Ockeghem. It is the rondeau
quatrain “En atendant vostre venue” where the speaker is waiting and hoping for the
return of her/his male lover. In its fourth line the poem quotes a rondeau cinquain,
which was set to music by Ockeghem in the Dijon chansonnier, “Quant de vous seul je
pers la veue”.16 The poem “En atendant” is in the courtly vein involving rich rimes and an
allegorical figure (Bon Espoir), but seems to be made up from stock phrases, and not very
expertly done. Its music is for two high voices in the ranges c'-f '' and g-a', which never
cross and form a self-contained two-part structure in mainly thirds and sixths – and
without imitation. Below this duet we find a wide-ranging low contratenor, G-d', which
supports the upper voices in a rather clumsy way.
In two places the contratenor sounds the note B against d' and f ''/f ' in the upper voices
forming a diminished triad (bb. 15.2 and 22.2). It appears that the composer assumed a
flattening of the B. However, such a flattening would have consequences normally and
turn the music to the flat side thereby obliterating the effect of the deliberate introduction
of the flat before b' in the upper voice at the quote of “quant de vous seul” (b. 26). The
change in colour from Mixolydian to Dorian has to come with the quote, or the whole
idea of the song as performed by superius and tenor is lost. The shift in colour was
probably a conscious reference to the sound of Ockeghem’s song. Designing a suitable
low contratenor was beyond the capabilities of the composer. It is highly probable that
this song, which was the first one added by the second scribe, was also copied from the
exemplar used by the main scribe in fascicle eight. If the composer is the musician we
know from “Tousdis vous voit” etc., he probably expected B-flats to be sung in the critical
places without consequences for the other voices, so that his favourite progression was
produced each time with concords on c, Bb and c. In the contratenor we also in bar 24
meet his preferred decoration with a dissonant turning note.
The last unique song entered by the second scribe, “J’ay des semblans”, may also come
from the same exemplar. However, it does not exhibit any of the characteristics that point
to our composer. Its inclusion in this repertory is rather due to the fitting disposition of
its voices and the quality of the poem. The elegant poem with its artful linking of the
couplets and of tierce and refrain (or if recited the rentrement only) was well known since
16 See http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH062.html.
18
Example 6a, “Ou beau chastel”, bars 1-9

&b C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w
b
& b C ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙.
˙ ˙ œœ ˙ ˙ w w w
w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. #
4
? œ œ œ
b C
Example 6b, “Donnez l’aumosne”, superius, contratenor and Basis, bars 1-9
& bC ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w
˙.
V C w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ w ˙ 4
b
? C ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ w 4
b ˙
the middle of the fifteenth century and appeared in several poetic sources. It was written
by a certain Monbeton who belonged to the circle around Charles d’Orléans.
The compact musical setting may be some decades younger than the poem. The main
interest is concentrated on the wide-ranging upper voice (a-e''), while the tenor seems
somewhat restricted (g-a'), it mainly moves within the narrow range between a and f '.
The contratenor is quite old-fashioned; it is sounding above the tenor in places and leap-
ing up an octave at cadences, but at the same time composed with the text in mind. The
song may not be a creation by a very experienced musician, but it has a couple of points,
which made it worthy of inclusion in the chansonnier. First and foremost the poem,
whose words are clearly audible, and the unusual opening of the second section with a
short canon over a pedal point in the contratenor, the low d sustained for six brevis-bars,
which creates a striking contrast against the first section.
Something similar may apply to the three songs, which make up the remainder of the
second scribe’s contribution to Leuven. They are all known from other sources, and all
without composer attributions. The only other source for the rondeau setting no. 45
“Helas l’avoy je desservy” (ff. 73v-74) is the half a century younger music collection,
Copenhagen, The Royal Library, MS Ny kgl. Saml. 1848°, which was copied at Lyons
around 1520.17 The two versions of this bagatelle are nearly identical. It is an early example
17 See http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH286.html and Christoffersen, French Music in the Early Six-

teenth Century. Studies in the music collection of a copyist of Lyons. The manuscript Ny kgl.
19
of the light-hearted, anti-courtly, forme fixe song. No. 47 “Quant je fus prins au pavillon”
(ff. 76v-78) is an elegant setting for two equal high voices and a Concordans of a rondeau
by Charles d’Orléans. The only other source for the music was most probable also created
at Lyons during the first decade of the sixteenth century, the chansonnier in Uppsala,
Universitetsbiblioteket, Musik i Handskrift 76a.18
No. 46 “Ravy d’amours despourveu de bon sens” (ff. 74v-76) was well-known in the
years around 1470. The poem, a rondeau cinquain, appears in many sources, and the
music is in the Dijon and Wolfenbüttel chansonniers, and it even appears without text
in the early 16th century collection of music treatises in Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale
Augusta, Ms. 1013, where it is found among a series of music examples illustrating the
teachings of Johannes Tinctoris. It is placed between two examples composed by Tinctoris,
which appear in his De arte contrapuncti, Liber secundus.19 It is an ambitious demonstra-
tion of varietas, where the modern surface cannot hide that the composer is most at home
in the music of the Du Fay generation. The song does seem a bit like a youthful exercise,
eager to prove proficiency in just too many things.
The final line demonstrates the composer’s skill in combining different sorts of rhythmic
manipulations with all three voices ending in different interpretations of coloration, and
is a quite elegant illustration of the words. But with the tenor marching on in equal
semibrevis in the sounding realisation, it really does not belong in a chanson. Taken out as
an independent passage these bars are suspiciously similar to the three-part examples in
Tinctoris’ treatise on counterpoint. As we shall see, it is precisely the song’s pedagogical
elements that make it likely that “Ravi d’amours” also comes from the same special
exemplar as the other songs that the second scribe entered in Leuven.
The main scribe copied the last two unica in Leuven into the first part of the chanson-
nier. It is possible that they could both have been copied after the special exemplar that
we are dealing with here. But it is equally conceivable that they were found in another
collection along with the well-known songs. Musically they are not closely related to what
we know of our composer’s production. “Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras” is a modest
setting of a rondeau cinquain for two equal voices in male ranges. The setting of the
words is short and compact, mainly syllabic, and the upper voices prefer to move in thirds
with the low contratenor in a supporting role. In nearly every instance it completes the
concords with the triads’ fundamental notes providing the song with an unusual pedes-
trian quality. “Oubli, oublie oublie oublie oublie” shows up more originality and daring,
especially the poem, a rondeau quatrain, is unusual. Its point is the repeated call to a male
lover about forgetting all past worries. All this shouting may be inspired by the cries of
street vendors who offered small pressed waffles, oublies, and it has got a lively imitative
setting.
Samling 1848 2° in the Royal Library, Copenhagen I-III, Copenhagen 1994 (http://www.pwch.dk/
Publications/PWCH_Cop1848.pdf), vol. I, pp. 147-148, edition in vol. III, no. 10.
18 Cf. http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH287.html, and concerning the dating and location of the MS, see
the introduction to my online edition THE UPPSALA CHANSONNIER MS 76a (http://uppsala.pwch.dk/).
It is highly uncertain that these late survivals of two songs in sources from Lyon help to locate the
special repertory somewhere in eastern France. The manuscripts from Lyon collect music from all over
France, and like to include the slightly old-fashioned.
19 Cf. Bonnie J. Blackburn, ‘A Lost Guide to Tinctoris’s Teachings Recovered’, Early Music History. Studies in
medieval and early modern music 1 (1981) pp. 29-116; see further http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH122.
html.
20
To summarize: The most interesting find among Leuven’s unica is that at least four
songs, “Tousdis vous voit”, “Donnez l’aumosne”, “Si vous voulez” and “Vraiz amans”, and
most likely two or three more, “Ou beau chastel”, “Par Mallebouche” and “En attendant
vostre venue”, were composed by the same musician, and that they were all copied from
an exemplar of a special nature. Furthermore, it is conceivable that all the six songs
entered by the scribe who completed the manuscript came from this exemplar, unique
as well as those known from other sources. This means that the main scribe worked from
two different types of music manuscripts.
It seems as if he had access to a collection of the songs that were best known in the
musical world of the time. Perhaps he copied another small chansonnier of the same type
as Copenhagen, which originally contained 36 songs of the highest quality (33 have been
preserved), or he used one or more fascicle manuscripts as exemplars. His exemplars have
not been identical to any of those used for the other five ‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers, but
on the contrary attest to the wide circulation of these songs. In any case, he has ensured
that the Leuven chansonniers start with Frye’s Latin prayer to the Virgin “Ave regina
celorum”, just as the Laborde and Wolfenbüttel chansonniers do,20 and he continues
through seven fascicles with the same kind of repertory, a total of 29 songs – a number
that can be compared to the scope of the Copenhagen chansonnier.
For fascicle eight and part of the remainder of Leuven, the main scribe has used an
exemplar of quite a different nature. It has mostly contained songs of local origin and
many of them are by the same unknown composer. It was probably a fascicle manuscript
created close to the composer. Of course, we cannot know whether the main scribe sud-
denly got hold of a new collection of music, which he switched to in fascicle eight of his
own accord or at the instigation of the manuscript’s purchaser. For that matter, fascicle
eight may have been copied before or concurrently with the first seven fascicles and then
linked with them. The main scribe left his work a little way into fascicle eleven after copy-
ing Busnoys’ “Quant ce vendra au droit destraindre” (ff. 70v-72). In the index of the
manuscript he has entered a song without page reference, “Videz de hors, car vous estes
trop chaut”, which he did not manage to copy.21 It probably belonged in his exemplar
containing well-known songs, because the other scribe did not copy it either. Apparently,
the scribe who completed the Leuven only took over the manuscript with the special
repertory. He had the remaining songs copied, then he had a paint shop do the illumi-
nated initials, and finally he had the diminutive book bound and delivered to the
recipient.
This suggests that the special, unique repertory was of great importance to the recipient
of the book. Therefore, as a final point, we have to discuss which profile we can try to
draw for the unknown composer and his surroundings.
21
A repertory of a maîtrise?
Thomas Schmidt has already in his article ‘On the Production and Reading of the Leuven
Chansonnier’ through a close reading of his approach, his script and the whole layout of
the music drawn a convincing profile of the main scribe’s work:
So what does that tell us about the principal copyist, the ‘maker’ of the Leuven chansonnier?
Like all copyists of the period, he had to make any number of decisions regarding the mise-
en-page of his book—decisions that were presumably guided by the book’s intended func-
tion and readership. And as it turns out, the notation seems, on the face of it, primarily
designed by a musician for other musicians—to a perhaps surprising degree, given how we
think of the Loire Valley chansonniers as luxury objects to be owned and beheld, and almost
certainly not as objects for performance from the page. And yet, the Leuven scribe arranges
the music on the openings as though he were copying a (much larger) choirbook with a
view to making life easy for singers performing at speed: spacing the notation in a way that
is not only fundamentally correct but also ‘useful’ in deciding where to place line-breaks
and page-turns. This is not to say that the copyists of some of the other books of this type
(Dijon chansonnier in particular) were inept or careless in their treatment of the music—all
of them were clearly musically literate to a substantial degree, laying out the notation in a
way that conforms to contemporary standards of presenting polyphony in choirbook for-
mat; but their choices tend to be more geared towards the calligraphic, aiming their copying
efforts at an implied reader who was a beholder rather than a singer.
... it does raise questions about musical literacy of the intended audience, assuming the
copyist knew for whom (or for what type of reader) he was making this object. Whether by
reading along to a performance or simply by taking the notation in silently: compared to its
contemporary sibling books, the choices made in the Leuven chansonnier imply a higher
degree of musical ‘knowingness’ that prompts us to consider its purpose and its readership
in a different light.22
Schmidt’s characterization of the main scribe finds a parallel in the special repertory,
where the same scribe paid special attention to the distribution of the text under the
music. The content of a chansonnier is usually a mixture of well-known and lesser-known
songs taken from various sources, mixed and filtered during their circulation in musical
life, international ‘hits’ alongside more local products, selected and arranged according to
the tastes and preferences of the copyist or the person who ordered the manuscript. There
may well appear series of chansons that were copied directly from an exemplar, and other
series may be composed thematically, but as a whole the contents of a chansonnier is
created as a work of art in line with the physical expression of the book, its format, layout,
calligraphy and decoration. The repertory is an anthology, which for the user – and
perhaps especially the user’s acquaintances – should radiate fashionable taste and cultural
status, an entertaining diversity in topics and style, and preferably a certain intellectual
weight. Faced with this, Leuven’s eighth fascicle in particular stands out as an element
that to a far greater extent relates to musical practice. The five songs and probably the
other songs from the same exemplar are copied from a source intended for practical
musical performance. They represent real musical events that either the main scribe or
22 Pp. 290-292 (I have resolved Schmidt’s abbreviations).
22
the customer wanted to be able to relive or show off through their inclusion in the little
chansonnier.
I have a couple of times discussed the songs that Gilles Mureau and Philippe Basiron
created in their youth.23 They were still quite young in the years around 1470, Mureau
having been born c1442 and Basiron c1448, and they had achieved good positions in the
service of the church. Mureau was in 1467 appointed maître de grammaire and adminis-
trator of the maîtrise of the Chartres cathedral, a position he retained for the remainder
of his life, and Basiron was in 1469 elected to the position of magister puerum at the
Sainte-Chapelle in the ducal palace in Bourges after having functioned as assistant master
for some years. My theory is that these young musicians deliberately utilized their skills
in writing poems in the fashionable style of the time and setting them to music to advance
their careers in the service of the church.24 As leaders of and responsible for the boy
choristers, they were part of the church’s external activities.
In Chartres the boys of the maîtrise were in demand as musical performers outside the
cathedral, not only in religious institutions but in noble houses as well. Furthermore,
Mureau took in sons of noblemen to board and look after in order to teach them
grammar and the art of performing polyphonic music, all agreed to in written contracts
with the fathers.25 After Mureau was installed as a canon at the cathedral shortly before
1472, he does not seem to have much incentive to compose new music.
The very young Basiron seems to have enjoyed the protection and appreciation from
powerful men like cardinals and bishops close to the royal court. For example, in a
controversy with the chapter of the Sainte-Chapelle over a canonry and prebend in 1471,
King Louis XI intervened on the side of Basiron.26 The four songs of Basiron, which are
preserved in the ‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers, must all have been written and become
known while he sought to establish himself in Bourges.
The contents of Leuven’s eighth fascicle look like a presentation of a young ambitious
musician who was in one way or another attached to a maîtrise at a cathedral or other
major ecclesiastical institution – a portfolio of songs. A musician who, in the same way
as Mureau and Basiron, at the start of his career was keen to give the leading circles in
society a positive impression of his abilities.
If we summarize the comments already made about his music, the most important
features of a profile of the unknown, young composer must be that he had a solid educa-
tion as a boy chorister in a maîtrise and had pursued further studies with a view to a
musical function in the service of the church; the ‘music theory’ song “Ravi d’amours”
may be a reminiscence of such studies. He was aware of the social importance of knowing
and mastering the art of poetry. He probably wrote the poems himself. It is characteristic
23 The Complete Works of Gilles Mureau (c1442-1512) – poet-musician of Chartres. Introduced and edited by
Peter Woetmann Christoffersen. August 2011 (http://www.pwch.dk/Publications/PWCH_Mureau.pdf), The
chansons of Basiron’s youth and the dating of the ‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers. February 2013 (http://www.
pwch.dk/Publications/PWCH_Basiron.pdf), and ‘Music, competition and the Art de seconde rhétorique:
The youthful chansons of Gilles Mureau and Philippe Basiron’, Danish Yearbook of Musicology 41:1 (2017),
pp. 3–31 (http://www.dym.dk/dym_pdf_files/volume_41/dym41_1_01.pdf).
24 Christoffersen, ‘Music, competition and the Art de seconde rhétorique’.
25 Cf. Abbé A. Clerval, Les écoles de Chartres au moyen du Ve au XV e siècles. (Mémoires de la Société
archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, Tome XI), Chartres, 1895, pp. 428-430.
26 Paula Higgins, ‘Tracing the Careers of Late Medieval Composers. The Case of Philippe Basiron of Bourges’,
Acta musicologica 62 (1990), pp. 1-28, at pp. 7-11.
23
that in none of the cases where one can argue for his authorship of chansons, the poem is
known from other sources. Apparently he has systematically produced songs in the forms
exemplified in a textbook on versification, virelais simples with four- and five-line refrains,
rondeaux correspondingly with four- and five-line refrains, and a bergerette – though
without realizing that creating polyphonic music for a virelai simple was quite unusual.
His musical settings of the poems reveal that he did not have the same experience in
composing secular music as he probably had in both the creation and performance of the
sacred repertory. He was quite obviously an admirer of Ockeghem’s songs, but of course
also had knowledge of the work of other older composers as well as his contemporaries.27
However, his songs show a willingness to experiment and explore new stylistic features,
even if he did not yet possess a highly developed contrapuntal technique or great talent
for writing memorable melodies. He has not reached as far in his compositional develop-
ment as the music we encounter by Mureau and Basiron. But that seemingly old-fashioned
stylistic features and phrases can be pointed out in his music should not arouse wonder.
The conclusion of my discussion of style and composition technique in Mureau’s and Ba-
siron’s chansons was the following:
It is interesting to discover that the two young composers during the years up to and around
1470 – the preserved material is silent about them composing chansons later on – really took
part in developing tendencies, which became of great relevance during the next decades in
the music of much more productive composers as Loyset Compere and Alexander Agricola.
Another point is that the stylistic foundation for the young composers’ working ‘at the front
of the art’ may seem a bit out-dated. They and many of their contemporaries in the same
sources used old-fashioned cadences, contratenors above the tenors and passages in faux-
bourdon-style as valid alternatives to more modern sounding devices as low contratenors,
three-part imitation etc. – completely unaware that musicology has classified such traits as
stylistic markers of an older generation.28
It is one thing to discuss the construction of the music, another thing is to imagine how it
sounded and was received. There can be no doubt that our composer knew how to write
for ensembles consisting of a number of boys and a few male voices from the church’s
staff of professional singers. His songs must have worked brilliantly and they must have
been favourably received. His favourite phrase with ascent to the high E and the many
parallel thirds and sixths create a glorious sound with boys’ voices, and the simple melodic
material of the songs makes them easy to follow, even if they are varied in sound and
motion.
In fact, much of the repertory in the preserved chansonniers was written for perfor-
mances in which boy singers must have taken part. Musicians with the church as their
primary place of work composed nearly all the chansons we know. In this way, Leuven’s
fascicle eight and its other unica do not differ from the common repertory. The difference
is that the special repertory in Leuven seems to represent music that has been sung on
specific occasions, and that the person who chose the repertory or who commissioned
the chansonnier seems to have had a personal interest in it.
Where the other chansonniers may very well have been produced in a commercial
centre with a significant book production, it could be Paris or Tours, Leuven’s genesis
27 Cf. the enumerations of shared style elements in Gilbert, ‘Songs that Know’ and Fitch, ‘Spotlight’.
28 Christoffersen, ‘Music, competition and the Art de seconde rhétorique’, pp. 26-27.
24
seems to have been different. That part of the repertory came from a local source, while
the majority might have come from a single collection of standard repertory, could
indicate that Leuven was a local product with a close connection with the institution from
which the local repertory originated. Thomas Schmidt has pointed out that the main
scribe was a professional who was used to make music manuscripts in the form of large
choirbooks. This indicates that he worked for a large church or an institution with similar
musical services. Somebody ordered the small chansonnier from him, and he probably
obtained the special repertory directly from the composer who worked or had worked for
the same institution. That it all took place within the framework of the same institution is
further suggested by the fact that the composer knew Ockeghem’s songs in the versions
that were to be included in the Leuven chansonnier. When the main scribe dropped out,
left his post for another, or simply had to perform a more pressing task, another scribe
ensured that probably the remainder of the special repertory was copied into the manuscript
to fulfil the request of the client.
The question then is: who could the person be who ordered the chansonnier. We can
only guess about that, and a number of different scenarios can easily be drawn up. The
most obvious is that a wealthy person with cultural ambitions ordered the manuscript
either for himself or with a view to giving it as a gift without making specific demands
on the content. In that case, Leuven’s remarkable composition of its repertory simply
indicates that it was created in an environment where the main scribe within a limited
time only had the opportunity to obtain a sufficient number of songs by extensive use of
a local exemplar. In this case, the special repertory appears as a marker of Leuven’s origin
in a provincial setting.
If we turn this scenario upside down, the young composer himself stands as the most
obvious candidate to have commissioned the manuscript. Perhaps, after a successful
development in his career, he commissioned the chansonnier as a gift to a patron who
had furthered his ambitions. This patron could of course be an influential member of
the secular world, but it could just as well be someone in the ecclesiastical hierarchy at
a much more elevated position than a young musician. As is well known, it was not
uncommon for men of the church to form strong bonds with each other. If so, Leuven
could be entirely the produce of an ecclesiastical institution, conceived, commissioned,
executed and given as a gift within the framework of the church – and the chansonnier
remained for some decades in the recipient’s possession, before new owners provided it
with owner’s marks and coats of arms.
Variations of these scenarios can be imagined ad libitum. The last unique song in
Leuven, however, seems to confirm the hypothesis that the small chansonnier remained
in ecclesiastical surroundings for some time.
“Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter” is the last song in Leuven, and it was added
by a later hand probably late in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The poem is a
declaration of love to a man named Henri Phlippet (possibly a variant of the more
common family name Philippet). Its tone is intimate. The name of the speaker’s beloved
is mentioned, which in itself is highly unusual for a courtly poem; moreover, his name is
exposed as the poem’s opening words and repeated twice with the recurring refrain. He is
all the way through addressed in an informal way as “tu” instead of the formal “vous” –
obviously, the speaker and the beloved were close and of similar social standing. However,
in form and language the poem keeps to the prescripts of the Rhétoriqueurs, the rondeau
25
form with a strict adherence to the internal caesura after four syllables, the rich rimes and
the appearance of an allegorical figure, the unpredictable Fortune.29 Its spelling of French
is like the name of the beloved, Phlippet, strongly influenced by Picard dialect.
The music is for male voices and exemplarily varied with a quite careful setting of the
words. Except for the introductory canon and the mostly lively polyphony towards the
end, it is possible to have the core voices pronounce the syllables simultaneously. It is
remarkable how well short phrases and note repetitions in the contratenor fit the text. In
spite of the composer’s fulfilment of the requirements for setting a rondeau, his creation
does not sound as a rondeau in the courtly tradition. The copying of the song was very
careful, but it lacks any marking of the medial cadence, an important feature in a rondeau
destined for performance with the repeated couplets. The style of this setting seems more
like a small three-part motet of the type found in French provincial music during the
decades where four- or five-part motets had become the norm in the leading musical
centres.30
It has been proposed that an owner of the Leuven chansonnier might be female, and
that this owner was also the author and composer of “Henri Phlippet”.31 The composer may
very well be the person who made the careful copy of the song, but then it is remarkable
that he left out the signum congruentia or the fermata, which normally indicates the
medial cadence. The composer was surely a professional musician with some experience
from sacred music, and he might have been entrusted with the setting of the words of a
female poet. But something is not quite right. The name, the intimate approach, the
motet-like style, the sound of the male singers’ voices – all seem to indicate that this is a
male love song or – possibly – an elaborate male joke at somebody’s expense, and that the
owner recognized the unusual character of the song and therefore wanted it added to the
chansonnier.
29 The poem has been commented on in two recent articles as being in a female voice and “bawdy” (Honey
Meconi, ‘Text and Context in the Leuven Chansonnier’, p. 31) and showing “a peculiar mixture of courtly
and popular registers” (Sigrid Harris, ‘Fortune and Injustice in the Leuven Chansonnier’, p. 50; both articles
appeared in Journal of the Alamire Foundation 13 (2021), pp. 12-32 and 33-52 respectively). The “bawdy”
and “popular” stem from a misreading of the word “vir” (voir – sight, appearance} in the poem’s second
line as “vit” (cock).
30 Examples of three-part provincial motets can be found in the French music collection of c. 1520 in the
Royal Library in Copenhagen, MS Ny kgl. Samling 1848 2°, cf. Christoffersen, French Music in the Early
Sixteenth Century, vol. I, pp. 278 ff.
31 Harris, ‘Fortune and Injustice’, p. 49.
26
Edition
Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras 3v 29

Oubli, oublie oublie oublie oublie 3v 32
Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir 3v 35
Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame 4v 39
Par Mallebouche la cruelle 3v 43
Escu d’ennuy semé de plours 3v 47
Si vous voulez que je vous ame 3v 50
Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur 3v 54
En atendant vostre venue 3v 59
Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez 3v 62
J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil 3v 65
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter 3v 69
All songs are extracted from my online edition The Copenhagen Chansonnier and the
‘Loire Valley’ chansonniers. Detailed discussions of sources and songs can be found on the
pages in the online edition (at http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/).
27
28
Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras 3v
Source:
Leuven ff. 17v-18 »Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras« 3v
Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven:

.
H mon cueur, tu m’occiras Alas, my heart, you will kill me,
quant des dames departiras when you turn away from ladies
en qui d’onneur as veu l’eslite; in whom you have seen perfect honour;
lors sera ta vie mauldite, then your life will be damned,
car apres en brief temps mourras. for after a short time you die.
Tousjours languir si me feras, I suffer forever if you do this to me,
et ma mort en pourchaceras and you will seek my death
affin que de moy soiez quitte. in order to be rid of me.
Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras Alas, my heart, you will kill me,
en qui d’onneur as veu l’eslite. in whom you have seen perfect honour,
Incessaument tu larmoiras You will cry without end
tant plus que les eslongneras when you abandon those
dont mes en rien ne me deslite; who do not in any way delight me;
viengne vers moy la mort despite, bring to me the despicable death,
car aussi tost qu’eslongne feras. for you will be far way very soon.
Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras Alas, my heart, you will kill me,
en qui d’onneur as veu l’eslite; in whom you have seen perfect honour;
lors sera ta vie mauldite, then your life will be damned,
car apres en brief temps mourras. for after a short time you die.
29
Leuven no. 13 Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras (unicum)
Leuven, Alamire Foundation, Manuscript without shelf number, ff. 17v-18
[Superius] Mensura = w #
499
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vien - gne vers moy la mort des - pi -
1) Superius, key signature, the scribe forgot to enter the key signature in 2) Contratenor, bb. 12-13 are missing (error).
the first staff (bb. 1-10); flats before b and b' appear in the remainder. 3) Tenor, b. 22.1, the brevis is not black (error).
© 2017 Peter Woetmann Christoffersen This edition is protected by copyright – but free to use for study or performance
Leuven no. 13, p. 2
33
&b w Ó
˙ w
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w 4
te, car a - pres en brief temps mour - - - ras.
te, car aus - si tost qu’es - lon - gne fe - - # - ras.
&b 4 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œ œ œ 4
te, car a - pres en brief temps mour - ras.
te, car aus - si tost qu’es - lon - gne fe - ras.
? w ˙ ˙ ˙
4)
˙ ˙ w
b ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ 4
˙
te, car a - pres en brief temps mour - - - - ras.
te, car aus - si tost qu’es - lon - gne fe - - - ras.
#
&b C w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ œ
2a. Tous - jours lan - guir si me fe - - - -
2b. He - las, mon cueur, tu m’oc - ci - - - -
&b C w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
b
? C ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
b w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
7
&b w ∑
w w w w ˙ ˙ w
ras, et ma mort en pour - cha - ce -
ras quant des da - mes de - par - ti #-
&b b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙ w ˙
4 w
ras, et ma mort en pour - cha - ce - -
ras quant des da - mes de - par - ti - -
? Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ b˙ w
b 4. ˙
ras, et ma mort en pour - cha - ce -
15
U
&b Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ 4
˙ ˙
w 5)
ras af - fin que de moy soi - ez quit - te.
ras en qui d’on - neur as veu l’es - li - te.
U
&b ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ 4#
˙ ˙ w.
? ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w U
4
b w ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ w
4) Contratenor, b. 38.2, g (error).
5) Superius, text 2a, b. 19, “soiz” (error).
31
Oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie 3v
Source:
Leuven ff. 22v-23 »Oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie« 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven:
Oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie, Forget, forget, forget, forget, forget,
oublie oublie oublie tes dolours,) forget, forget, forget your sufferings,
leal amant, car venus sont les jours loyal lover, for the days have arrived
que de dangier ne donnent une oublie. that do not bring a bit of danger.
Si tu as dueil ou as merancolie If you feel grief or is depressed
que tes desirs venoient au rebours, because your desires were rejected,
oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie, forget, forget, forget, forget, forget,
oublie oublie oublie tes dolours. forget, forget, forget your sufferings.
Pour tant donques lesse celle follie, Therefore now take leave of this folly,
tu n’as besoing de ces dolens labours, you have no need for these painful labours,
ainsi vivras doulcement en amours and then you will live nicely in love
et au plaisir de ta dame et amye. and at the pleasure of your lady and beloved.
Oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie, Forget, forget, forget, forget, forget,
oublie oublie oublie tes dolours, forget, forget, forget your sufferings,
leal amant, car venus sont les jours loyal lover, for the days have arrived
que de dangier ne donnes une oublie. that do not bring a bit of danger.
32
Leuven no. 18 Oublie oublie oublie oublie oublie (unique)
Mensura = h
˙. œ ˙ œ œ.
[Superius]
ªª 9 4 9 4 & SÓ Ó ˙ w ˙ w ˙ œ˙
.
. 1.4. Ou - bli
3. Pour tant
- e_ou - bli
don - ques
- e_ou - bli
les - se
- e_ou-bli
cel - le
- e_ou
fol
-
-
J
bli
li
-
-
˙ w ˙ ˙. œ œ.
1 b d ›ª ª 9 4 9 V b S
Tenor
∑ Ó Ó œ œ œ ˙ ˙
.
J
.
1.4. Ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou-bli - e_ou - bli -
3. Pour tant don - ques les - se cel - le fol - li -
œ. œ œ œ ˙ ˙
Contratenor
2 bd flªª 9 4 9 ? b S ∑ ∑ Ó Ó ˙ w
.
J
.
b
1.4. Ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou -
3. Pour tant don - ques les - se cel
œ ˙ ˙. œ œ. œ ˙. ˙
b ˙
œ œ œ
6
& ˙ Ó ˙ ˙. œ
J
e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e tes do -
. œ ˙.
e, tu n’as be - soing de ces do - lens la -
œ. ˙ ˙
Vb w Ó ˙. œ ˙ ˙. œ œ J œœ
J
˙
e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e tes

e, tu n’as be - soing de ces do - lens
? ˙ w œ. œœ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
b ˙. œ Ó ˙. œ œ œ J ˙
bli - e_ou - bli - e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e tes
le fol - li - e, tu n’as be - soing de ces do - lens
11
˙ ˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ
& Ó Ó Œ ˙ œ œ. œ œ œ œ.
J
lours, le - al a - mant, car ve - nus
bours, ain - si vi - vras doul - ce - ment
œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙
Vb Ó Ó
J
Œ ˙
do - - - lours, le - al a - mant, car
la - - - bours, ain - si vi - vras doul -
? ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙
b Œ J œ Ó
do - lours, le - al a - mant, car ve - nus
la - bours, ain - si vi - vras doul - ce - ment
b b b
jb ˙ œœ ˙
œ œ œ œ.
15
& Ó ˙ œ. œœ œœ œœœ Ó Ó œ.
˙ J œ ˙ J
sont les jours que de dan
en a - mours et au plai
j œœ ˙ œ ˙ ˙
V b œ œ. œ œ œ œ. j
œ ˙
Ó ˙ œ. œœ œ ˙ œ.
J Ó
ve - nus sont les jours que
ce-ment en a - mours et
? ˙. w ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ
b ˙.
sont les jours que de dan - gier ne
en a - mours et au plai - sir de
Leuven no. 18, p. 2
œ. œœ ˙
b b j b b
œ œ œ. j
20
& J œ œ œ œ. œ˙ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ˙
J œ 4.
gier ne don - nent u - ne_ou - - - bli - e.
œ.
sir de ta da - me_et a - - - my - e.
œ œ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ.
Vb J œ ˙
Jœ œ œ œœ
J ˙ 4.
de dan - gier ne don - nent u - ne_ou - - - bli - e.
œ.
au plai - sir de ta da - me_et a - - - my - e.
œœ œ ˙
?
b J œ œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ œ ˙ ˙
œ œ œ ˙ 4.
don - - - nent u - ne_ou - - - bli - e.
ta da - me_et a - - - my - e.
˙ w ˙ w ˙. œ ˙ œ œ. œ˙
& SÓ Ó ˙ J
œ
2a. Si tu as dueil ou as me - ran - co - li -
2b. ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli -
˙ w ˙ ˙. œ œ. œ œ ˙ ˙
V bS ∑ Ó Ó
J œ
2a. Si tu as dueil ou me - ran - co - li -
2b. ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli -
? S ˙ w œ. œ œ œ ˙ ˙
b ∑ ∑ Ó Ó J
2a. Si tu as dueil ou me -
2b. ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou -
6
˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙. œ œ. œ ˙. ˙
b
& Ó œ
J
e que tes de - sirs ve - noi - ent au
œ ˙.
e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e tes
˙. œ. œ. œ œ
Vb w Ó ˙. œ ˙ œ J J
e que tes de - sirs ve - noi - ent
e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e
? w œ. œœ œ ˙
b ˙. œ ˙ Ó ˙. œ œ œ J
ran - co - li - e que tes de - sirs ve - noi -
bli - e_ou - bli - e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou -
10
œ œ ˙ œ ˙
& œ Ó Ó ∑
re - - - bours,
do - - - lours.
˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ w.
U
œ œ
Vb
au re - - - bours,
tes do - - - lours.
? œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ U.
w
b œ ˙
ent au re - - - bours,
bli - e tes do - - - lours.
34
Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 45v-47 »Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir« 3v
Text: Virelai simple, full text in Leuven.
Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir, My memory always sees you,

quelque part qu’aler et venir no matter where I may go
je puisse, helas, ainsi m’aist dieux, or come, alas, so God help me,
il fait l’office de mes yeulx it takes over my eyes
jusques vous voye au revenir. until I see you return.
Ma pensee et mon desir My thoughts and my desire
n’a loing de moy aultre plaisir have far from me no other pleasure
esperant en brief d’avoir mieulx. hoping soon to have better.
je puisse, helas, ainsi m’aist dieux. or come, alas, so God help me.
Mays lors que je pourray choisir But when I can meet
vo gent oeillet, tant resjoir your noble eye, you will see
voirres mon cueur saillant es cieulx such a joy, my heart gushing in the heavens,
oubliant le temps angoisseux forgetting the anguished times
ou a present suis sans faillir. in which I now unfailingly find myself.
je puisse, helas, ainsi m’aist dieux, or come, alas, so God help me,
il fait l’office de mes yeulx it takes over my eyes
jusques vous voye au revenir. until I see you return.
35
Leuven no. 30 Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir (unique)
w U
˙. œœ 4
[Superius] Mensura =
ª 9 9 .¡ 9 & C Ó ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w. ˙ w
.
C
. 1.4. Tous - dis

3. Mays lors
vous
que
voit
je
mon sou
pour - ray
- ve
choi
-
-
nir,
sir
Tenor
w w w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ U4
1 ª 9 44 4 V C Ó
1)
˙ w
.
.
1.4. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve - nir,
3. Mays lors que je pour - ray choi - sir
1C 4 4
Contratenor
U
ª9 4 V C Ó
.
˙ w w w w w 4
bw
.
1.4. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve - nir,

3. Mays lors que je pour - ray choi - sir
10
w ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ w w
& ˙ ∑ w
quel - que part qu’a - ler et ve - nir je
vo gent oeil - let, tant res - jo - ir voir -
w ˙ ˙ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w 4 ∑
V
quel - que part qu’a - ler et ve - nir
vo gent oeil - let, tant res - jo - ir
V w ˙ ˙
w
˙ bw ˙ w ∑ ˙. œ
w
quel - que part qu’a - ler et ve - nir je
vo gent oeil - let, tant res - jo - ir voir -
19
˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ w
& ˙ ˙ Ó ˙
w w
puis - - - se, he - las, ain - - - -
res mon cueur sail - - - -
w ˙ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ w
V ∑ ∑ w
je puis - - - se, he - las,
voir - res mon cueur
˙. ˙ œœ ˙
V ˙ w ˙ w ˙. œœ w w w
puis - - - se, he - las, ain - - - -
res mon cueur sail - - - -
#
w ˙
28
& ˙ ˙. œœ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ w ˙
si m’aist
lant es
∑ ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙
V ˙ ˙ w
ain - si m’aist
sail - lant es
V w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
˙
si m’aist
lant es
1) Tenor, bars 2-3, the ligature is c.o.p. (error).
Leuven no. 30, p. 2
37
& w ∑ ˙ ˙. œ
w ˙ ˙ ˙
dieux, il fait l’of - fi - - - -
cieulx ou - bli - ant le
w w 4
V 4
dieux, il fait
cieulx ou - bli - - - - - -
b
j
V Ó ˙. œ. œœ 4 4
dieux, il fait
cieulx ou - - - - bli - - - -
43 2)
& ˙ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ w ˙
ce de mes
temps an - - - - - gois - - - - - -
b
V ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w
l’of - fi - ce de mes
ant le temps an - gois - - - -
b b b #
V ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œ ˙. œ w ˙
˙
l’of - - - fi - ce de mes
ant le temps an - gois - - -
49
& Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ w
w
yeulx jus - ques vous voye
seux ou a pre - sent
V Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ w
4
˙ œ œ œ œ. œ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
V ˙. J
w. ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙.
55
& ∑ œ w ˙ 4
au re - ve - - - - - - nir.
suis sans fail - - - - - - lir.
w ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙ w
V ∑ ˙ 4
au re - ve - - - - - - - nir.
suis sans fail - - - - - - - lir.
V ∑ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
4
au re - ve - nir, au re - ve - - - - - nir..
suis sans fail - lir, suis sans fail - - - - - lir.
2) Superius, bar 45.2 is missing (error).
37
Leuven no. 30, p. 3
64
w ˙ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ w
& C ∑ ∑
2a. Ma pen - se - e et mon de -
2b. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve -
˙ w w ˙ w
V C w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2a. Ma pen - se - e et mon de - sir n’a loing de
2b. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve - nir, quel - que part
b ˙ ˙
Vb C ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
2a. Ma pen - se - e et mon de - sir
2b. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve - nir,
˙ w
72
& ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ∑
sir n’a loing de moy aul - tre plai - sir
nir, quel - que part qu’a - ler et ve - nir
˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ œ œ w
V w ˙ ˙ ∑
moy aul - tre plai - sir
qu’a - ler
n
et ve -
n
nir
b
Vb Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
∑
w ˙ ˙ w
n’a loing de moy aul - tre plai - sir
quel - que part qu’a - ler et ve - nir
79
˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ w
& ˙
es - pe - rant en brief d’a - voir
je puis - se_he - las, ain - si m’aist
˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œœ˙ w
V
es - pe - rant en brief d’a - - - voir
b
Vb w ˙ ˙
˙ œ œ ˙ w
˙ ˙ ˙
es - pe - rant en brief d’a - voir
85
& w ˙ ˙. œ ˙ œ
˙. 4
mieulx.
dieux.
V 4 Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ 4
mieulx.
dieux.
n n
b
Vb ˙ ˙. œ ˙
˙. œ w 4
mieulx.
dieux.
38
Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame 4v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 47v-50 »Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame« 4v
Text: Virelai simple, full text in Leuven.
Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame, Give alms, dear lady,

au pouvre cueur requerant grace; to the poor heart seeking grace;
voustre charite, las, luy face your kindness, alas, may do him
du bien pour dieu et noustre dame. good, for God and Our Lady.
Pelerin alant a sainct Jame A pilgrim going to Saint Jame
est qu’ainsi passant se pourchace. is he who thus begs his passage.
au pouvre cueur requerant grace. to the poor heart seeking grace.
Octroyez sans plus une dragme Give just a drachma
de voustre amour, helas, a ce of your love, alas! to him,
que pour vous prie en toute place, that he may pray for you everywhere,
ce vous sera merite a l’ame. it will be worthy of your soul.
au pouvre cueur requerant grace; to the poor heart seeking grace;
voustre charite, las, luy face your kindness, alas, may do him
du bien pour dieu et noustre dame. good, for God and Our Lady.
39
Leuven no. 31 Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame (unique)
[Superius] Mensura = w
b C flfl 49
&b C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w
1 flfl
[Contratenor]
.
. 1.4. Don
3. Oc -
-
1 C4 9 9 9 . V w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ 4
.
C
.
1.4. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - - - - me,
3. Oc - troy - ez sans plus u - ne drag - - - - me,
Tenor
1 b ››››› ›› 4 9 V b C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
.
› ›
.
b
˙.
Basis
2 C 49 9 ? b ∑ w ˙ ˙ œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ w 4
.
b › C ˙
.
1.4. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - me,

3. Oc - troy - ez sans plus u - ne drag - me
n U
˙.
10
&b ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ w ˙ ˙. œ 4 ∑
nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - - - - - me,
troy - ez sans plus u - ne drag - - - - - me
4 w ˙. œ Uw
V ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
da - - - me,
drag - - me
˙. ˙ ˙ ˙ U w
œ w
Vb w ˙ ˙ ˙ 4 ∑
1.4. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - - - me,
3. Oc - troy - ez sans plus u - ne drag - - me
? w ˙. œ U4
b ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙ w ∑
chie - re da - - - me,
u - ne drag - - me
20
&b w ˙ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙. œ˙ w
Ó ˙. œ ˙ ˙
˙
au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant gra - - -
de vous - tre a - mour, he - las, a
Vb w w ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ 4. w. ˙ ˙. œœ
au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant gra - - -
de vous - tre_a - mour, he - - - las, a
w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ w 4
1)
w 4
Vb nw
au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant
de vous - tre a - mour, he - las,
? w w w ˙ ˙ ∑ w ˙ ˙
b w w 4 w
au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant gra -
de vous - tre_a - mour, he - las, a ce
1) Tenor, bar 28, the ligature is longa-brevis-longa (error).
Leuven no. 31, p. 2
w
32
&b ˙ ˙. ∑ ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙
œw ˙ 4
- - - - ce; vous - tre cha - ri -
ce que pour vous pri -
2)
U w ˙ ˙ w w ˙. œœ w
Vb ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w w ∑ n
- - - - ce; vous - tre cha - ri - te, las,
ce que pour vous pri - e_en tou -
w ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙
Vb ∑ Ó ˙. œ w Ó ˙ ˙ Ó
gra - ce; vous - tre cha - ri - te, cha -
a ce que pour vous pri - e_en tou -
w ˙ ˙ ˙
? ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w Ó w w ∑ w
b w
- - ce; vous - tre cha - ri -
que pour vous pri -
w n
w ˙ ˙.
43
&b œ w ˙ w ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
te, las, luy fa - - - ce du bien pour dieu
e_en tou - te pla - - - ce, ce vous se - ra
b
˙ w
V w w ˙ ˙ ˙ 4 ∑ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
luy fa - - - - ce du bien pour
te pla - - - - ce, ce vous se -
˙ w w ˙ w w ˙
Vb ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙. Ó
œ ˙
ri - - - te, las, luy fa - ce du bien pour dieu et
te tou - te pla - ce, ce vous se - ra me -
w ˙
? ∑ ∑ Ó 4 Ó
b w ˙ 4
te, las, luy fa - - - ce du
e_en tou - te pla - - - ce, ce
w
53
&b 4 ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œœœœœœ
˙. œ
et nous - - - - tre
me - ri - - - - te_a
4 ˙ w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ w
V w b w w ˙
dieu et
ra me - - - - - - - - - -
˙. œœ w ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ w w 4
Vb w
- - - - - - - - - - - -
œ ˙ ˙
? œ w ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ˙
b w n Ó ˙ w
bien pour dieu et
vous se - ra me - - -
2) Contratenor, bar 33.1, f (error).
41
Leuven no. 31, p. 3
63
&b ˙ ˙
Ó ˙. œœ˙ ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ 4
w
da - - - - - - me.
l’a - - - - - - me.
˙. w ˙ ˙b . œ w ˙ 44
Vb ˙ œ œ œ w
nous - - - tre da - - - - me.
ri - - - te_a l’a - - - - me.
˙ ˙ 4
Vb Ó ˙ w ˙ ˙ w 4
nous - tre da - - - - me.
- ri - te_a l’a - - - - me.
4
? ∑ w ˙ ˙ b˙ ˙ w
b4
nous - tre da - - - - me.
- - ri - te_a l’a - - - - me.
w ˙.
72
& nC w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w œ w ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
2a. Pe - le - rin a - lant a sainct Ja - me
2b. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - me,
w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œw
VnC ∑ ∑ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2a. Pe - le - rin a - lant a sainct Ja - - - -
2b. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - - - -
˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ b #
VnC w ˙ ˙. œ˙ ˙ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ w ˙
2a. Pe - le - rin a - lant a sainct Ja - - - -
2b. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - - - -
b b
? C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w
˙
2a. Pe - le - rin a - lant a sainct Ja -
2b. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da -
83
w ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œw w
U
& ˙ ˙ ˙ w w. ˙ w
est qu’ain - si pas - sant se pour - cha - ce.
au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant gra - ce.
U
V 4
w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w w ∑ w 4
me est qu’ain - si pas-sant se pour - cha - ce.
me, au pou - vre cueur re - que-rant gra - ce.
w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œœ˙ U
4
Vb 4 ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ w Ó
me, est qu’ain-si pas - sant se pour - cha - ce.
me, au pou - vre cueur re - que - rant gra - ce.
? ˙ ˙ ˙ w w w 4
4 bw ˙ ˙ ˙ w
me est qu’ain - si pas-sant se pour - cha - ce.
me, au pou - vre cueur re - que rant gra - ce.
42
Par Mallebouche la cruelle 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 50v-51 »Par Mallebouche la cruelle« 3v
Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven.
Par Mallebouche la cruelle, Due to cruel Mallebouche,

ennemye faulse et rebelle, an enemy false and hostile,
aige perdu voustre acointance, have I lost your friendship,
gentille pucelle de France, sweet virgin from France,
dont j’ay au cueur doleur mortelle. so I feel a mortal pain in my heart.
A quoy fault que je ne vous celle, Why should I not keep you hidden,
ja soit ce que vous soiez celle though you are her
pour qui en ay tel desplaysance for whom I suffer such displeasure
par Mallebouche la cruelle, due to cruel Mallebouche,
aige perdu voustre acointance. have I lost your friendship.
Onques n’y eut en ma querelle Never in my courtship has there been
que Loyaute, enqueres elle anyone but Loyaulté; ask her
et y mettes telle ordonnance and then put everything into such order
que brief puisse avoir alegeance that soon I may have relief
de ma doleur qui renouvelle from my pain, which is renewed
par Mallebouche la cruelle, due to cruel Mallebouche,
aige perdu voustre acointance, have I lost your friendship,
gentille pucelle de France, sweet virgin from France,
dont j’ay au cueur doleur mortelle. so I feel a mortal pain in my heart.
43
Leuven no. 32 Par Mallebouche la cruelle (unique)
Mensura = h
j
[Superius]
c ›9¡ ¡¡ ∑ ˙ œ œ.
1 & c œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
.
. 1.4. Par
3. On -
Mal - le -
ques n’y
bou
eut
- che
en
la
ma
cru - el
que - rel
-
-
1 c› 9 ¡ ¡ V c
Tenor
˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ œ œ
∑ J Œ
.
.
1.4. Par Mal - le - bou - che la cru - el -
3. On - ques n’y eut en ma que - rel -
1 ª9 ¡ ¡9 V c Ó ˙ œ œ
Contratenor
˙ œ œ ˙ Ó
.
c ˙
.
1.4. Par Mal - le - bou - che la cru - el -

3. On - ques n’y eut en ma que - rel -
5
œ œ œ. j œ. j
& ˙ Ó ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ
le, en - ne - my - e faul -
le que Loy - au - te, en -
V ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ ˙
˙ w
le, en - ne - my - e
le que Loy - au - te,
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙
V Œ Œ
le que Loy - au - te, en -
j
10
& œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ œ. j Ó ˙ œ œ
œ œ ˙
se_et re - bel - - - - - - le, ai - ge per -
que - res el - - - - - - le et y met -
V Œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ w ∑
œ œ
faul - se_et re - bel - - - - - le,
en - que - res el - - - - - le
œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ
V œ ˙ ˙
se_et re - bel - - - - - - le, ai - ge
que - res el - - - - - - le et y
œ.
15
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
J
œ
du vous - tre_a - coin - tan - - - - - - -
tes tel - le_or - don - nan - - - - - - -
˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
V œ œ
ai - ge per - du vous - tre_a - coin - tan - - - - -
et y met - tes tel - le_or - don - nan - - - - -
V Œ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
œ ˙ ˙
per - du vous - tre_a - coin - tan - - - -
met - tes tel - le_or - don - nan - - - -
Leuven no. 32, p. 2
19 b
& ˙ Ó œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œ œ œ ˙
œ
ce, gen - til - le pu - cel - le de Fran - - - - ce,
ce que brief puis - se_a - voir a - le - gean - - - - ce
œ œ œ œ
b
V ˙ ˙ Ó œ
œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙
ce, gen - til - le pu - cel - le de Fran - - ce,
ce que brief puis - se_a - voir a - le - gean - - ce
œ œ œ œ œ œ
b
œ œ œ œ ˙ œ
V œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œ
ce, gen - til - le pu - cel - le de Fran - - ce, dont
ce que brief puis - se_a - voir a - le - gean - - ce de
24 b
& Œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ.
dont j’ay au cueur do - - - leur
de ma do - - - leur qui re -
b
j j j
V œ œ œ. œ
J
œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ
dont j’ay au cueur do - - - leur
de ma do b - - - leur qui
b
re -
œ. œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ j
V œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ
j’ay au cueur do - - - - leur
ma do - - - leur qui re -
b
j
28
& œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ 4
mor - tel - le.
- b - nou - vel - le
V œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ 4
œ
mor - tel - le.
- - nou - vel - le
V œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ 4
mor - tel - le.
- - nou - vel - le
45
Leuven no. 32, p. 3
∑ ˙ j
& c œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ
2a. A quoy fault que je ne vous cel -
2b. par Mal - le - bou - che la cru - el -
˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ œ œ
V c ∑ J Œ
˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ
V c Ó œ œ ˙ Ó
5
œ œ œ. j œ. j
& ˙ Ó ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ Œ œ
le, ja soit ce que vous
V ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ ˙
˙ w
le, ja soit ce que
le, en - ne - my - e
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙
V Œ Œ
le, ja soit ce que vous
j
10
& œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ œ. j Ó ˙ œ œ
œ œ ˙
soi - ez cel - - - - - - le pour qui en
se_et re - bel - - - - - - le, ai - ge per -
V Œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ w ∑
œ œ
vous soi - ez cel - - - - - le
faul - se_et re - bel - - - - - le,
œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ
V œ ˙ ˙
soi - ez cel - - - - - - le pour qui
se_et re - bel - - - - - - le, ai - ge
U
œ.
15
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
J
œ w
ay tel des - play - san - - - - - - - ce
du vous - tre_a - coin - tan - - - - - - - ce.
˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ U
œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ w
V
pour qui en ay tel des - play - san - - - - ce
ai - ge per - du vous - tre_a - coin - tan - - - - ce.
U
V Œ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ w
œ ˙ ˙
en ay tel des - play - san - - - - ce
per - du vous - tre_a - coin - tan
46
Escu d’ennuy semé de plours 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 51v-52 »Escu d’ennuy seme de plours« 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven, also found in MS Paris, Bibliothèque nationale,
ms. f.fr. 1719, f. 92v, and Le Jardin de plaisance et fleur de rethoricque, Paris [Verard, 1501],
f. 118, no. 53.
After Leuven:
Escu d’ennuy semé de plours A shield of misery decorated with tears

bordé de saible et de feblesse, bordered by darkness and frailty,
ung cueur palé de grant tristesse, a heart bemoaning great sadness,
telz armes porte je amours. such a badge of love do I carry.
Timbre de piteuses clamours, A crest of piteous wails
couronné d’amere aspresse, crowned by cruel asperity,
escu d’ennuy semé de plours a shield of misery decorated with tears
borde de saible et de feblesse bordered by darkness and frailty
ordonnez, las, m’avez tousjours, have you, alas, forever assigned me,
ma tresbelle dame et maistresse, my beautiful lady and mistress,
criez harou ou quel destresse condemned me to this desperation
au langoreux plain de dolours. in the woeful clarity of suffering.
Escu d’ennuy semé de plours A shield of misery decorated with tears
bordé de saible et de feblesse, bordered by darkness and frailty,
ung cueur pale de grant tristesse, a heart bemoaning great sadness,
telz armes porte je amours. such a badge of love do I carry.
47
Leuven no. 33 Escu d’ennuy semé de plours (unique)
Mensura = h
.
œ œ œœ #
œ. œœ œ œ ˙
[Superius]
c˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ˙ œ. J œ
1)
.
1d 9 9 9 V J J
. 1.4. Es - cu
3. or - don -
d’en - nuy
nez, las, b
se
m’a
-
-
mé
vez
de
tous -
˙ œ ˙
œ. œœ ˙ œ œ œ. œœ œ œ. œœ ˙
Tenor
2 9 . ¡. £ ¡ ? c ˙.
.
J J J
.
1.4. Es - cu d’en-nuy se - mé de
3. or - don - nez, las, m’a - vez tous -
2b 9
Contratenor
? œ ˙.
b c˙ Œ œ œ œ œ ˙
.
4 w ˙ ˙ ˙ œ
.
1.4. Es - cu d’en - nuy se - mé de

3. or - don - nez, las, m’a - vez tous - - - -
7
˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ
V Œ ˙ Œ
plours bor - dé de sai - - - - - - ble et
jours, ma tres - bel - le da - - - - me et
œ œ ˙ ˙ #
œ w
? 4 Œ œ œ œ œ œ
plours bor - dé de sai - ble_et de
jours, n ma tres - bel - le da - - - me_et
˙. œ ˙ w
? Œ ˙ œ
b ˙ œ ˙ œ
plours bor - dé de sai - ble_et de fe - - -
jours, ma tres - - - bel - le da - me_et mais -
œ œ. œ œ U˙ œ œ œ. œœ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ
œ
12
V Œ Œ
de fe - bles - se, ung cueur pa - lé de grant tris -
œ. U̇ ˙
mais - tres - se, cri - ez ha - rou ou quel des -
œ œ œ œ œ ˙
? Œ J œ w ˙
fe - bles - se, ung cueur pa - lé de
˙ n
mais - tres - se, cri - ez ha - rou ou
œ ˙ œ
? ˙ Œ œ ˙
b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
bles - se, ung cueur pa - - - lé de
tres - se, cri - ez ha - - - rou ou
#
œ œ. œ.
17
V œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ
J J
tes - - - - - - - - - - - -
tres - - - - - - - - - - -
? ˙ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ
œ œ ˙
grant tris - tes - - - - - - -
quel des - tres - - - - - - -
œ ˙ œ ˙ # #
? œ œ œ. œ ˙ œ œ. œ œ œ
b J J
grant tris - - - - - tes - - - - -
quel des - - - - tres - - - - -
1) Superius, the mensuration sign indicates tempus perfectum, obviusly an error.
Leuven no. 33, p. 2
21
œ œ œ œ œ. œœ œœ˙ #
4
V w. Œ œ œ J œ
se, telz ar - mes por - te je a - mours.
. b
se au lan - go - reux plain de do - lours.
? Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ
J œ œ ˙ 4
w œ œ.
J
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ# œ #œ 4
? œ Œ ˙
b ˙ Œ œ œ. œœ
J J
œ œ. œœ #
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ. œ˙ œ. œœ œ J œ ˙ œ
V c J J
2a. Tim - bre de pi - - - teu - ses cla -
2b. es - cu d’en - nuy b se - mé de
œ. ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ. œ.
? c ˙. œœ œ œ œœ œ œœ ˙
J J J
2a. Tim - bre de pi - - - teu - ses cla - - -
2b. es - cu d’en - nuy se - mé de
? c˙ Œ œ œ ˙. œ œ
b w ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
2a. Tim - bre de pi - teu - ses cla - - - -
2b. es - cu d’en - nuy se - mé de
#
˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œœ ˙ œ ˙ œœ˙ œ œ œ. œœ U
7
V ˙ Œ œ w
mours, cou - ron - né d’a - me - - - re as - pres - se,
œ œ. U
plours bor - dé de sai - - - - - ble et de fe - bles - se
? œ œ ˙ ˙ #
œ w œ
J w
4 Œ œ œ œœ œ Œ
mours, cou - ron - né d’a - me - - - re as - pres - se,
plours n bor - dé de saible_et de fe - bles - se
˙. œ ˙ w
? Œ ˙ ˙ œ œ
b œ ˙ œ œ ˙ ∑
mours, cou - ron - né d’a - me - re as - pres - se,
plours bor - dé de sai - ble_et de fe - bles - se
49
Si vous voulez que je vous ame 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 52v-54 »Si vous voullez que je vous ame« 3v
Text: Bergerette, full text in Leuven:
Si vous voulez que je vous ame If you wish that I love you
bien et lealment sans changer, fairly and truly without deceit,
ne vous vueillez plus estranger, you should not any more turn away,
car je vous lairoye sur mon ame. for I will leave you, upon my soul.
Fait m’avez aler et venir You have made me go and come
trop de foix sans nul bien me faire, too many times without any joy for me,
mays pensez y pour l’advenir so think about that in the future
g’iray ailleurs ou j’ay affaire, I will go somewhere else where I am welcome,
si non qu’il vous plaise, ma dame, unless it pleases you, my lady,
gracieusement vous ranger, to surrender graciously;
car vous povez bien sans dangier for you could easily without fear
me faire plaisir et sans blasme. make me happy, and without reproach.
Si vous voulez que je vous ame If you wish that I love you
bien et lealment sans changer, fairly and truly without deceit,
ne vous vueillez plus estranger, you should not any more turn away,
car je vous lairoye sur mon ame. for I will leave you, upon my soul.
50
Leuven no. 34 Si vous voulez que je vous ame (unique)
Mensura = h
˙.
[Superius]
SÓ Ó ˙. ˙. œ˙ ˙ ˙ œ˙
1 ª ª 9. ¡ 9 & ˙. œ˙ œœ
d
.
. 1.4. Si
3. si
˙. œ˙
vous
non
œ˙
voul
qu’il
-
œ˙
- - - - - -
Tenor
œ˙ ˙. œ ˙ w œ. œ œ œ w
1 b ªªd 4 . 44 . V b S Ó Ó w . ˙ ˙. ˙.
.
œ˙ J
.
1.4. Si vous vou - - - - - - -
3. si non qu’il
1b
Contratenor b
b ªª 4 4 Vb SÓ Ó ˙. ˙. œœ˙. œ˙ ˙.
œœœœœ
.
d
w ˙ ˙ w œ˙ ˙
.
1.4. Si vous vou - - - - - - -

3. si non qu’il
˙ w. ˙ œ ˙ j j œ
8
& Ó ˙ ˙ œœ ˙ œ œ œ. œ œ. œœ œ
w œ
lez que je vous a - - - - -
vous plai - se, ma da - - - - -
œ ˙ ˙ w w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ
Vb ˙ Ó ˙. Ó n w
lez que je vous a - - - - -
vous plai - se, ma da - - - - -
Vb . Ó w ˙ œ
w ˙ œ œ 4 œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙.
lez que je vous a - - - -
vous plai - se, ma da - - - -
œ œ.
œ œ œ ˙
14
& œ˙ œ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ œœ
J
- - - me bien et le - al - - ment sans
- - - me, gra - ci - eu - se - - ment vous
˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
V w Œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙
Vb œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ
w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙
#
j j
19
& œ œ. œ˙ œ w. ∑ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œœ œ ˙
chan - ger, ne vous vueil -
ran - - ger, car vous po - - -
œ œ œ œœ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œœ œ ˙ œ. œ
V ˙ w. J w J
chan - ger, ne vous vueil - - lez plus
ran - ger, car vous po - - - vez bien
˙. œ. œœ
Vb œ ˙ ˙ Ó Ó
œ œ œ J œ œ ˙ ˙ w ˙
chan - ger, ne vous
ran - ger, car vous
Leuven no. 34, p. 2
j ˙ ˙ œ ˙
24
& œ. œ œ ˙ œœ˙ Œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ
w ˙. œ ˙
lez plus es - tran - ger, car je vous lai - roye sur
vez bien sans dan - gier me fai - re plai - sir et
œ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙
V œ. œœ ˙ œ w Ó ˙ ˙ œœ˙ œ. œœ œ
J J
es - tran - ger, car je vous lai - roye
sans dan - gier me fai - re plai - sir
b
˙ ˙
Vb œ œ Ó ˙ œ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ œ œ œœ
˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ œ
vueil - lez plus es - tran - ger, car je vous lai - roye
po - vez bien sans dan - gier me fai - re plai - sir
œ œ. œ œ.
30
& œ œ œ œ J
œ ˙
J
œ 4.
mon a - me.
sans blas - me.
œ œ. œœœ œ ˙
V œ ˙ œ œ 4.
sur mon a - - - me.
et sans blas - - - me.
Vb œ œ Œ œ Œ œ œ ˙
œ œ œ 4.
sur mon a - - - me.
w.=4 et sans blas - - - me.
w
˙ ˙. ˙
34 Mensura =
&C w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ œ
2a. Fait m’a - vez a - ler et ve - - -
2b. Mays pen - sez y pour l’ad - - - ve - - -
w w ˙ ˙ w
VC ∑ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙
2b. Mays pen - sez y pour l’ad - ve - - -
j w ˙
VC ˙ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙ ˙
˙ w
4 œ
2b. Mays pen - sez y pour l’ad - ve - - -
#
˙. j
42
& 4 Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ. œ˙ œ
nir trop de foix
nir g’i - ray ail - - - - - -
˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
V w Ó ˙ ˙
nir trop de foix
nir g’i - ray ail - - - - - - -
V ˙. œœ ˙ Œ œ œ ˙
œœ œ ˙
œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
nir trop de foix
nir g’i - ray ail - - - - - -
52
Leuven no. 34, p. 3
50
Ó Ó œ
1)
& 44
˙ ˙ œ ˙ œœ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙
sans nul bien me fai - -
leurs ou j’ay af - fai - -
4 ∑ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œœ ˙ w ˙
V w
sans nul bien me
leurs ou j’ay af -
V ˙. Œ ˙ Œ
œ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ œœ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
sans nul bien me
leurs ou j’ay af - - - - - -
˙ ˙
58
œœ˙ ˙ .. U
1. 2.
& œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ Uw 4
∑ Ó ˙
- - - - - - re,
- - - - - - - re, ou
#
˙. œœ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œœ œ ˙ U U ˙ ˙. œ
V œ w .. w Ó ˙ ˙
fai - - - - - - re,
fai - - - - - - - re, ou j’ay af -
U
œ œ ˙
2)
V Œ ˙ œ œ .. w ˙ ˙. œœ˙
˙ œœ œ œ ˙ w w
fai - - - - - re,
- fai - - - - - - re, ou
œ œ. œœ. œ œ œ. œœ œ. œœ œ ˙. ˙
66
& ˙ ˙ ˙. ˙ œ œw œ . œ 4
J J J J œœ 4
j’ay af - - - - - fai - - - re,
œ. œ ˙. œœ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
V J Œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ 4
- - - fai - - - - - - re,
V ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ ˙
œ œ 4
j’ay af-fai - - - - - - - re,
1) Superius, bars 50-51, the lower note is black.

2) Contratenor, bars 65.2-66.1, two semibreves are missing (error).
53
Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 63v-65 »Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur« 3v
Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven.
Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur In the fair castle my heart is a prisoner
de celle ou monde ou a plus de doulceur, of her who in the world has the most sweetness,
beaulté, bonté et courtoisie aussi, beauty, goodness, and courtesy as well,
et toutesfoix ne peult avoir mercy and yet it cannot find mercy
n’alegement de sa dure langeur. nor relief from its hard despair.
Painne et soussi, tristesse et doleur Trouble and worry, sadness and pain
luy sont prochains avecques larmes et pleur, surround it with tears and weeping,
pour bien amer seuffre, las, tout cecy. for loving well it suffers, alas, all this.
beaulté, bonté et courtoisie aussi. beauty, goodness, and courtesy as well.
A qui donner de ce cas ycy l’erreur On whom to lay the blame for this situation
ne sçaroye, si non a mon malheur I may not know, if not on my ill luck
ou a Fortune qui vieult qu’il soit ainsy, or on Fortune who wishes that it shall be so,
car la belle est ung chief d’enpure sans cy for the fair one is the most refined without fault,
et gist pour voir la le comble d’onneur. and in her is found the summit of honor.
beaulté, bonté et courtoisie aussi, beauty, goodness, and courtesy as well,
et toutesfoix ne peult avoir mercy and yet it cannot find mercy
n’alegement de sa dure langeur. nor relief from its hard despair.
54
Leuven no. 40 Ou beau chastel est prisonnier mon cueur (unique)
fl fl 4 9
1 C fl fl &b C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
b
.
.
9.
1 bb C £ £ 9 & b b C ˙ .
Tenor
œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙
.
˙ w w
.
1.4. Ou beau chas - tel est pri - son - nier
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
3. A qui don - ner de ce cas y - - - cy
˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙. #
2 bC 4 9 9 ? b C w œ ˙.
Contratenor
œ œ œ
.
b
.

3. A qui don - ner de ce cas y - - - - -
9
&b w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œ œ œœ
w
3. A qui don - ner de ce cas y - - - cy
n n n n
bb
2)
& Ó ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ œ ˙. ˙
˙ œ ˙ w. ˙
w mon
l’er - - - - - - - - - -
? 4 1)
˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ w
b ˙ w ˙
mon cueur
cy l’er - - - - - - reur
18 n
&b ˙ ˙. ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ˙ ˙. œ œ œ ˙.
œ˙ w œ˙
mon cueur de cel - le_ou mon - de_ou a
l’er - reur ne sça - roy - e, si non
n
b
&b w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ w ˙. ˙. œœœ ˙
˙. œœw œœ w ˙ ˙
cueur de cel - le_ou mon - - - - de_ou a
œœœœ
reur ne sça - roy - e, si non
? ˙ w ˙ w
b w Ó w Ó w ∑ ∑ ∑
de cel - le_ou mon - de_ou
ne sça - roy - e, si non
29 b b n
&b ˙ ˙. œœ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œœ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙. œ ˙
plus de doul - - - - - ceur, beaul -
a mon mal - - - - - heur ou
n
b
&b ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙
˙ ˙ 4
plus de doul - - - ceur,
œ. œ œ œ œ
a mon mal - - - heur
?
b
˙ ˙ ˙
b ∑ ∑ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ J w Ó ˙
a plus de doul - - - - ceur, beaul -
a mon mal - - - - heur ou
1) Contratenor, bars 11-16 are notated a third higher (error).

2) Tenor, bar 17.1 looks more like a semibrevis rest than a dot (error).
Leuven no. 40, p. 2
38 # b U
&b ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ j
œ œ. œ ˙ œ nw
té, bon - té et cour - toi - si - e_aus - si,
a For - tu - ne qui vieult qu’il soit ain - sy,
b U
&b Ó w ˙ ˙ œ œ œ
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ w ˙ ˙. w
beaul - té, bon - té et cour - toi - si - e_aus - si,
ou a For - tu - ne qui vieult qu’il soit ain - sy,
b
3)
˙ b
˙ U
w
? ∑ Ó ˙ w w ˙.
b ˙. œœ w œ w w
u
té, bon - té cour - toi - si - e_aus - si,
a For - tu - ne qu’il soit ain - sy,
b
48
&b ˙. œ w ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ œ œ œ œ
˙. œœ ˙ ˙ w w ˙
et tou - tes - foix ne peult
car la bel - le_est ung chief
n
b
& b ˙. . ∑ ∑
œœ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙. œ œ œ w
et tou - tes - foix ne peult
car la bel - le_est ung chief
? b w ˙ ˙
b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ w
et toutesfoix peult
chief d’en -
b b
b
58
&b w ˙ œ œ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙
˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w
a - - - voir mer - - - cy n’a - le - ge - ment de
d’en - pu - re sans cy et gist pour voir la
b
b ˙.
&b ∑ ∑ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ w. œ œ w
Ó
˙ ˙
˙
a - voir mer - cy n’a - le - ge -
b d’en - pu - re sans cy et gist pour
? b œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ w ∑ Ó ˙. œ w
b ˙ 4 w
a - - - voir mer - cy de
pu - - - re sans cy la
n # n
b
68
& b ˙. Ó ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ 4
œœ ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ w
sa du - re lan - - - - geur.
le com - ble d’on - - - - neur.
b
&b ˙ ˙. œ œ ˙. œ ˙ w
Ó
w ˙
˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ 4
ment de sa du - re lan - - - - - geur.
˙
voir la le com - ble d’on - - - - -
w
neur.
? b w w w w ˙ 4
b Ó ˙ œ œ ˙ w
4
sa du - re lan - - - geur.
le com - ble d’on - - - neur.
3) Contratenor, bar 47, the upper note is black.
56
Leuven no. 40, p. 3
&b C ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
b
& b C ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙.
˙ ˙ œœ ˙ ˙ w w
2a. Pain - ne_et sous - si, tris - tes - se et
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
2b. Ou beau chas - tel est pri - son - nier
? w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. #
œ œ œ
b C
9
&b w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. œ œ œœ
w
n n n n
b
&b Ó ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙. œ œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙
w w. ˙
do - - - - - - - - - -
mon
? 4 ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ w
b ˙ w ˙
do - - - - - - leur
mon cueur
18 n
&b ˙ ˙. ∑ w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ˙ ˙. œ œ œ ˙.
œ˙ w œ˙
do - leur luy sont pro - chains a - - - vec -
mon cueur de cel - le_ou mon - de_ou a
n
b
&b w ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ w ˙. ˙. œœœ ˙
˙. œœw œœ w ˙ ˙
leur luy sont pro - chains a - - - vec -
œœœœ
cueur de cel - le_ou mon - - - - de_ou a
? ˙ w ˙ w
b w Ó w Ó w ∑ ∑ ∑
luy sont pro - chains
de cel - le_ou mon - de_ou
29 b b n
&b ˙ ˙. œœ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œœ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙. œ ˙
- ques lar - mes et pleur, pour
plus de doul - - - - - ceur, beaul -
n
b
&b ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙
˙ ˙ 4
- ques larmes et pleur,
œ. œ œ œ œ
plus dedoul - - - - - ceur,
?
b
˙ ˙ ˙
b ∑ ∑ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ J w Ó ˙
a - vec - ques lar - mes et pleur, pour
a plus de doul - - - - ceur, beaul -
57
Leuven no. 40, p. 4
38 # b U
&b ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ j
œ œ. œ ˙ œ nw
bien a - mer seuf - fre, las, tout ce - cy.
té, bon - té et cour - toi - si - e_aus - si.
b U
&b Ó w ˙ ˙ œ œ œ
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ w ˙ ˙. w
pour bien a - mer seuf - fre, las, tout ce - cy.
beaul - té, bon - té et cour - toi - si - e_aus - si.
b b U
? ∑ Ó ˙ ˙ w ˙ w ˙. w
b ˙. œœ w œ w w
u
bien a - mer seuf - fre, las, tout ce - cy.
té, bon - té cour - toi - si - e_aus - si.
58
En atendant vostre venue 3v
Source:
Leuven ff. 72v-73 “En atendant vostre venue” 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain; full text in Leuven. Its 4th line quotes a rondeau cinquain in Le
Jardin de plaisance et fleur de rethoricque, Paris, [Antoine Verard, 1501] f. 91, which was set
to music by Ockeghem in the Dijon chansonnier, “Quant de vous seul je pers la veue”.1
.
En atendant vostre venue, Waiting for your arrival,
mon bien que je desire tant, my dear whom I so desire,
une heure me dure bien cent an hour feels like hundred
quant de vous seul je pers la veue. when I lose sight of you alone.
Bien souvent seullete esperdue Very often alone and lost
je passe mon temps en pleurant I pass the time in tears
en atendantvostre venue, waiting for your arrival,
mon bien que je desire tant. my dear whom I so desire.
Mais Bon Espoir m’a maintenue But Good Hope has supported me
et de son bon gre m’asseurant and by her good wish promised me
que je vous reverray briefment that I will see you again shortly,
qui en joye m’a entretenue which has kept me happy
en atandant vostre venue, waiting for your arrival,
mon bien que je desire tant, my dear whom I so desire,
une heure me dure bien cent an hour feels like hundred
quant de vous seul je pers la veue. when I lose sight of you alone.
1 See http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH062.html.
59
Leuven no. 44 En atendant vostre venue (Unicum)
Mensura = h
#
j
[Superius]
4. 9 9 9 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ.
1 & c w. ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ˙
.
c
œ
. 1.4. En a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - nu -
3. Mais Bon Es - poir m’a main - te - nu -
œ œœ ˙ #
Tenor
w ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
1 99 9 V œ œ ˙
4
.
c
.
1.4. En a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - - nu -
œ
3. Mais Bon Es - poir m’a main - te - - nu -
œ œ œ. œ œ œ
Contratenor
˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
⁄9 ? ˙ ˙
19
Ó ˙ œ
.
c ˙ J
.
1.4. En a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - - nu -

3. Mais Bon Es - poir m’a main - te - - nu -
8
& ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
˙ ˙
e, mon bien que je de - si - re
e et de son bon gre m’as - seu - -
V ˙. œ ˙ w ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙
e, mon bien
e et de
? ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
w ˙
e, mon bien que je
e et de son bon
13
œ. œœ ˙ œ œ. œœœ œ œ.
& ˙ œ œ œ ˙ J œœœ ˙ Ó
J
tant,
- - - - rant
˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
V ˙ œ w
que je de - si - re tant,
son bon gre m’as - seu - rant
b
? œ œ œ ˙
œ œ.
1)
∑ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ œ. J ˙. œ
J
de - si - re tant,
gre m’as - seu - rant
19
& ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ. Œ
˙ œ œœœ˙ ˙ œ
u - ne_heu - re me du - re bien cent quant
que je vous re - ver - ray brief - - - - ment qui_en
˙ œ œœw ˙ œ ˙ ˙ w
V Ó ˙ œ
u - ne_heu - re me du - re bien cent
que je vous re - ver - ray brief - ment
b
? ˙ w Ó œ. œœ ˙ œ j
˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ. œœ
J
u - ne_heu - re me du - re bien cent quant
que je vous re - ver - ray brief - ment qui_en
1) Contratenor, bar 17.1, minima g has a punctus (error).
Leuven no. 44, p. 2
# #
b j j
2)
j
25
j œ bœ œ œ
& œ œ. œœ œ. œœœ œ œ œ. œœ ˙ ˙. œ. œœœ 4
de vous seul je pers la veu - - - e.
joy - e m’a en - tre - te - nu - - - e
œ œ.
#
˙ œ œ ˙ œ˙ œ ˙
V œ œ ˙ ˙ J ˙ ˙ w
quant de vous seul je pers la veu - - - e.
qui_en joy - e m’a en - tre - te - - - nu - - - e
? œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œœœ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
4
de vous seul je pers la veu - - - e.
joy - e m’a en - tre - te - nu - - - e
#
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ. j
& c w. ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ˙ œ
2a. Bien sou - vent seul - le - te_es - per - du -
2b. en a ten - dant vos -
-
œ œœ ˙ # tre ve - nu -
w ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ ˙
V c œ œ ˙
2a. Bien sou - vent seul - le - te_es - per - - - du -
œ œ œ œ
2b. en a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - - - nu -
? c ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ œ ˙
˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ J œ
2a. Bien sou - vent seul - le - te_es - per - - - du -
2b. en a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - - - nu -
8
& ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙
˙ ˙
e je pas - se mon temps en pleu - -
e, mon bien que je de - si - re
V ˙. œ ˙ w ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙
e je pas -
e, mon bien
? ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
w ˙
e je pas - se mon
e, mon bien que je
˙ U
œœ œ œ.
13
& ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œœœ œ œ. œœœ w

J J
- - - - rant
tant.
˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
U
V ˙ œ w
se mon temps en pleu - rant
que je de - si - re tant.
b
œ U
? œ œ. œ œ ˙
1)
∑ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ œ. J w
J
temps en pleu - rant
de - si - re tant.
2) Superius, bars 29.2-30.1, semibrevis d' - minima rest (error).
61
Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 78v-79 »Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez« 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven.
Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez True lovers, for God’s sake pray
pour ung serviteur hors de grace, for a servant out of favour,
qu’on a la mis par grande espace who was put there for a long time
avec les pechez oubliez. with the sins forgotten.
Helas! il est si traveillez Alas, he is so tortured
que je crains qu’il ne se defface. that I fear he will end his life.
pour ung serviteur hors de grace. for a servant out of favour.
Et s’il est si treffort liez And if he is so tightly bound
que la mort sa vie trespasse, that death ends his life
je pry et requier qu’on pourchasse I pray and require that you strive
que ces motz soient publiez. to make these words known.
pour ung serviteur hors de grace, for a servant out of favour,
qu’on a la mis par grande espace who was put there for a long time
avec les pechez oubliez. with the sins forgotten.
62
Leuven no. 48 Vraiz amans, pour dieu suppliez (Unicum)
Mensura = h
˙. œœ ˙ œ ˙ œ.
[Superius]
9 ¡.£ 9 & S ˙ œ. œ ˙ w ˙ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ
˙
3d
.
. 1.4. Vraiz a
3. Et s’il
J
- mans, pour
est si
dieu
tref -
sup
fort
- pli
li -
-
J
-
-
-
-
Tenor
˙ ˙ ˙ œ. œ œ
1 d ›9 ¡. £ 9 V S ∑ ˙ œ. œ ˙ w J œ ˙
.
J ˙
.
1.4. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - pli -
Contratenor 3. Et s’il est si tref - fort li -
1d V S Ó ˙ œ œ ˙
4949 ˙ ˙ œ œ
.
w w ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙
.
1.4. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - pli - ez

3. Et s’il est si tref - fort li - ez
#
j j j j
6
& ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ œ. œ œ œ œ bœ œ. œ œ. œ œœ
ez pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - - -
ez que la mort sa vi - e tres - pas - - -
b b b
œ j j
V w Œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
ez pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - - -
ez que la mort sa vi - e tres - pas - - -
b
V Œ j
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ ˙ b˙ œ œ ˙ œ
œ. œ ˙ ˙
pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - - -
que la mort sa vi - e tres - pas - - -
#
˙ œ œ ˙ w ˙ j j
10 1)
& w Ó œ. œœœ˙ œ œ . œ œ œ . œj œ œ . œ œ ˙
J œ
ce, qu’on a la mis par gran - de_es - pa -
se, je pry et re - quier qu’on pour - chas -
˙ œ œ ˙ œ. œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
V w. Œ ˙ J ˙ œ œ . Jœ œ œ œœœ œ. œœœ
J
S
˙ œ. œ ˙
2)
V w Œ j ˙
J œ œ w
˙
œ ˙
œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œœœ
16
œ. œ. œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ ˙
& Œ œ œ œ œœœ œ ˙ œ 4.
˙ J J
ce a - vec les pe - chez ou - bli - - - ez.
se que ces motz soi - ent pu - bli - - - ez.
œ. œœ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙
V w Œ œ œ. œ œ.
J
œ œ
J J 4.
Ó j œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
V œ œ œ. œ ˙
˙ œ. œ œ œ œœœ 4.
1) Superius, bar 11.1, b' (error).
2) Contratenor, bars 15-17 may be corrupt, cf. the example opposite.
Leuven no. 48, p. 2
˙ ˙. œœ ˙ œ ˙ œ.
& S ˙ œ. œ ˙
J ˙ w œ œ œ œ œ. œœœ
J
2a. He - las! il est si tra - veil - - -
2b. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - pli - - -
˙ ˙ ˙ œ. œœ
V S ∑ ˙ œ. œ˙ ˙ w J œ ˙
J
2a. He - las! il est si tra - veil - -
2b. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - pli - - -
V S Ó ˙ œ œ ˙
w ˙ w ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ
2a. He - las! il est si tra - - veil - lez
2b. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - - - pli - ez
# U
j j j j
6
& ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ. œœ œ ˙ œ. œœ œ œ bœ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ w.
lez que je crains qu’il ne se def - fa - ce.
ez pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - ce.
œ œ œ. j œb j
b b U
V w Œ œ œœ œ. œœ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ w.
lez que je crains qu’il ne se def - fa - ce.
ez pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - ce.
b U.
w
V Œ j
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ ˙ b˙ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
œ.
que je crains qu’il ne se def - fa - ce.
pour ung ser - vi - teur hors de gra - ce.
Contratenor in MS bars 15-18:

œ œ ˙ œ
V Œ j œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ. ˙
œ. œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙
64
J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 79v-80 »J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil« 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain by Monbeton, full text in Leuven; also in Berlin, Staatsliche Mu-
seen der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett, Ms. 78.B.17 (Chansonnier
Rohan), f. 184v, ed. M. Löpelmann, Die Liederhandschrift des Cardinals de Rohan (Ge-
sellschaft für romanische Litteratur, Band 44) Göttingen 1923, p. 359; Paris, Bibliothèque
Nationale, ms. f.fr. 1719, f. 50; ms. f.fr. 9223, f. 38v “Montbreton”, ed. Gaston Raynaud,
Rondeaux et autres poésies du XVe siècle publiés d’après le manuscrit de la Bibliothèque
Nationale. Paris 1889, p. 63; ms. nouv. acq. 15771, f. 17 “Monbeton”; Le Jardin de plaisance
et fleur de rethoricque, Paris, [Antoine Verard, 1501], f. 86.
After Leuven:
J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil, I get glances, as many as I want,
mais du surplus il n’est nouvelle, but otherwise there is nothing new,
car par ma foy la bonne et belle for by my faith the good and fair
n’a pas le cueur tel comme l’ueil. has not the heart that matches her eye.
Se je me plains ou je me dueil If I lament or suffer,
mais que sans plus soye pres d’elle, only so that I may be near her,
j’ay des semblans tant que je vueil, I get glances, as many as I want,
mais du surplus il n’est nouvelle. but otherwise there is nothing new.
Nul aultre bien je n’en recueil No other favours do I receive
fors que par foiz elle m’apelle except that sometimes she calls me
“Mon amy” et puis se rapelle. ‘My friend’ and then turns away.
Mais quoy que j’aye ou joie ou dueil, But whatever I get, joy or grief,
j’ay des semblans tant que je vueil, I get glances, as many as I want,
mais du surplus il n’est nouvelle, but otherwise there is nothing new,
car par ma foy la bonne et belle for by my faith the good and fair
n’a pas le cueur tel comme l’ueil. has not the heart that matches her eye.
65
Leuven no. 49 J’ay des semblans tant que je vueil (unique)
⁄ 9 9 .£ £ & C Ó ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ Ó w ˙ ˙. œœ
1
C
.
. 1.4. J’ay des
˙
sem - blans
w
tant que
3. Nul aul - tre bien je n’en
Tenor
w w. ˙ w
1C ⁄ 9 9. ¡ 9 V C Ó ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙
.
.
1.4. J’ay des sam - blans tant que
Contratenor
1 ¡ V CÓ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
.
C
⁄9 9¡ ˙ ˙ w ˙. œ ˙
.
1.4. J’ay des sem - blans tant que

#
˙.
8
& œ œ œ w ˙ w ∑ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙
je vueil, mais du sur -
re - - - - cueil fors que par
w. ˙ w 4 Ó ˙ ˙ ˙
V ˙ ˙
je vueil, mais du sur - plus
re - - - - cueil fors que par foiz
w ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ ˙
V ˙ w ˙ Ó
w
je vueil, mais du sur - - - plus
re - - - cueil fors que par foiz
16
& ˙. w ˙ ˙ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙
œ ˙ ˙ w w
plus il n’est nou - - - vel - le, nou - vel -
foiz el - le m’a - - - pel - le, m’a - pel -
w ˙ ˙ ˙ #
w w ˙. œ ˙ 4 Ó
V ˙
il n’est nou - vel - le, nou -
el - le m’a - pel - le, m’a -
b
˙
V w ˙ ˙ w ˙
w w Ó
˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙
il n’est nou - vel - - - le,
el - - - le m’a - pel - - - le,
# b S
˙ ˙ w ˙
25
& ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó œ
w ˙ ˙.
- - - - - le, car par
- - - - - le # “Mon a -
˙ ˙ ˙ w 4 w w ˙
V ˙ Ó
vel - - - - - le car
pel - - - - - le “Mon
V w Ó w w
˙ 4 4
nou - vel - le, car
m’a - pel - le “Mon
Leuven no. 49, p. 2
33
& ˙ ˙ Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ Ó ˙
w ˙. œœ ˙ ˙ w
ma foy la bon - ne_et bel - - - le n’a
˙ ˙
- my” et puis se ra - pel - le. Mais
˙. œ w ˙ w w ˙.
1)
œœ w
V Ó
par ma foy la bon - ne_et bel - le
a - my” et puis se ra - pel - le.
Ó ˙ w w
V 4 4 ˙ ˙
par ma foy la bon - ne_et bel - le
amy” et puis se ra - pel - le.
41
b
& ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙. ˙.
œ ˙ œœ
pas le cueur tel com - me
quoy que j’ay - - - - e_ou joi - e_ou
˙. œœ˙ ˙ ˙
V Ó ˙ ˙ w ˙ ˙ ˙ bw ˙
n’a pas le cueur tel com - - - me
Mais quoy que j’ay - e_ou joi - - - e_ou
˙
2)
V ˙. œ ˙. œœ w w
˙ ˙
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œ
n’a pas le cueur tel com - - - me
Mais quoy que j’ay - e_ou joi - - - e_ou
49 # # #
& ˙ ˙. œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙. œœ˙ 4
œ ˙
l’ueil.
dueil,
˙ w ˙ ˙
V ˙ ˙ ˙ w 4
l’ueil.
dueil,
4
V ˙ ˙ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ w
w
l’ueil.
dueil,
1) Tenor, bars 39-55, the last staff has a one flat signature; the exemplar probably had a flat before b in bar 47 (error).
2) Contratenor, bar 47.2, d (error).
67
Leuven no. 49, p. 3
& CÓ ˙ ˙. œœ ˙ Ó w ˙ ˙. œœ
˙ w
2a. Se je me plains ou je
2b. j’ay des sem - blans tant que
˙ ˙ w w. ˙ w
V CÓ ˙ ˙. œ
V CÓ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙
w ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
#
˙.
8
& œ œ œ w ˙ w ∑ w ˙. œ ˙ ˙
me dueil mais que sans
je vueil, mais du sur -
w. ˙ w 4 Ó ˙ ˙ ˙
V ˙ ˙
me dueil mais que sans plus
je vueil, mais du sur - plus
w ˙ ˙. œ w ˙ ˙
V ˙ w ˙ Ó
w
me dueil mais que sans plus
je vueil, mais du sur - - - plus
16
& ˙. w ˙ ˙ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙
œ ˙ ˙ w w
plus soy - e pres d’el - le, pres d’el -
plus il n’est nou - - - vel - le, nou - vel -
w ˙ ˙ ˙ #
w w ˙. œ ˙ 4 Ó
V ˙
soy - e pres d’el - le, pres
il n’est nou - vel - le, nou -
b
˙
V w ˙ ˙ w ˙
w w Ó
˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙
soy - - - e pres d’el - - - le,
il n’est nou - vel - - - le,
# b U
˙ ˙ w ˙
25
& ˙ ˙ Œ œ œ œ œ œ
w
- - - - le,
- - - - le. U#
˙ ˙ ˙ w 4 w
V ˙
d’el - - - - le,
vel - - - - le.
U
V w Ó w w
˙ 4
pres d’el - le,
nou - vel - le.
68
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter 3v · Anonymous
Source:
Leuven ff. 80v-81 »Henri phlippet le vert me fais porter« 3v
Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven:
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter Henri Phlippet, you make me wear green
pour ton douls vir que je vis si plaisant, by the sweet sight of you that I find so pleasant,
tu me samblois estre leal amant, you seemed to me to be a loyal lover,
dont mon amour te vauls du tout donner. and therefore I want to give you all my love.
Car tu n’es pas home pour refuser, For you are not a man to turn down,
en fais, en dis, tu te portes vaillant, in deed, in word, you behave boldly.
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter Henri Phlippet, you make me wear green
pour ton douls vir que je vis si plaisant. by the sweet sight of you that I find so pleasant.
Couvertement, sans nul samblant monstrer, Covertly, without showing anything,
mon povre cuer nuyt et jour va pensant my poor heart night and day schemes
contre Fortune, qui ne va che gardant, against Fortune, who does not care about it,
pour nous tous deux en ses las attrapper. to put both of us in her bonds.
Henri Phlippet, le vert me fais porter Henri Phlippet, you make me wear green,
pour ton douls vir que je vis si plaisant, by the sweet sight of you that I find so pleasant,
tu me samblois estre leal amant, you seemed to me to be a loyal lover,
dont mon amour te vauls du tout donner. and therefore I want to give you all my love.
69
Leuven no. 50 Henry Phlippet, le vert me fais porter (unique)
[Superius] Mensura = h b b
b 499 4
1 bC & b Cw ˙ ˙ ˙. j
œ œ œ. œ ˙
[Tenor]
.. 1.4. Hen
3. Cou -
- ri
ver -
Phlip
te -
- pet,
ment,
1b 4 9 9 4 V b C ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙
.
C fl
.
1.4. Hen - - - ri Phlip -
3. Cou - - - ver - te -
b
2 9.¡ 9 9 ? b C ˙ .
Contratenor
œ ˙ bœ . j
˙ œ ˙ œ. œ ˙
.
Cb J
.
1.4. Hen - ri Phlip - pet,

3. Cou - ver - te - ment,
5 b b
&b Œ ˙ œœ˙ j ˙ œœ˙ œ œ. œœœ ˙
˙ œ. œœ b˙
le vert me fais por -
sans nul sam - blant mons -
b b b
j j j ˙
V b ˙. œ œ œ. œ˙
Œ ˙ œœ˙
œ. œœ œ. œœ
b˙
pet, le vert me fais
ment, sans nul sam - blant
b
? b˙ . œœ ˙ Œ ˙. œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œœ ˙
b œ œ ˙
le vert me fais
sans nul sam - blant
11 b b
&b œ Œ j j ˙ œ œ.
œ. œœœ ˙ œ. œ œ. œ˙ ˙
œœœ
˙ œ
- - ter pour ton douls vir
- - trer, # mon po - - - - vre cuer
w ˙ w
Vb œ œ. œœœ œ ˙ œ w ˙
por - - - - ter pour ton douls vir
mons - - - - trer, mon po - vre cuer
b
? œ b˙ . œ œ
b Œ œ œ œ œ
˙ œœ œ œ ˙ Œ œ ˙ ˙
mons - - - trer, mon po - vre cuer
17 b b # b #
&b ˙ j œ œ œ œœ œ ˙
˙ œ. œ œ ˙ œ œœ œ ˙ œ w
que
˙
je vis si plai - - - sant,
nuyt et jour va pen - - - sant
Vb ˙ w ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙
que je vis si plai - - - sant,
nuyt et jour va pen - - - sant
˙ b
Œ œ œ. œ œ œb ˙
? ḃ
b Œ œ œ ˙ bœ . œœ œ œ ˙ ˙
J œ œ J
que je vis si plai - - - - sant,
nuyt et jour va pen - - - - sant
Leuven no. 50, p. 2
24
&b w ˙ ˙ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ w w
tu me sam - blois es - tre le - al a -
con - tre For - tune, qui ne va che gar -
w œ b˙ œ œb œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙
n
Vb ˙ ˙ Ó w ˙
tu me sam - blois es - tre le - - - al
œ bœ œ œœœ b
con - tre For - tune, qui ne va che
˙ b˙ œ œ. œ œ œ bœ . b
?
b œ œ. œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙
J J
tu me sam - blois es - tre le - - - al
con - tre For - tune, qui ne va che
31
& b ˙. œœ w Ó ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙. œœ
mant, dont mon a - mour te
dant, pour nous tous deux en
n
œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
Vb œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œœ ˙ Œ œ
a - mant, dont mon a - mour te
gar - dant, pour nous tous deux en
œ b˙
b
? j b
œ ˙ ˙ œœ ˙
b œ. œœ ˙ ˙ w ˙
a - mant, dont mon a - mour te
gar - dant, pour nous tous deux en
# #
j . j
37
&b œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ. œ œ œ œ˙ œ 4
œœ œ ˙ œ w ˙
vauls du tout don - - - ner.
ses las at - trap - - - per.
j ˙ w
V b œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ ˙ j .
œ. œ œ œ
œœ œ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ 4
b b
? ˙ ˙ œ œ. œœ ˙
b œ ˙ œœ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ J 4
71
Leuven no. 50, p. 3
b b
& b Cw ˙ ˙ ˙. j
œ œ œ. œ ˙
2a. Car tu n’es pas
2b. Hen - - - ri Phlip - pet,
Vb C ∑ ∑ w ˙ ˙
2a. Car tu n’es
2b. Hen - - - ri Phlip -
b
j
?
b C ˙. œ ˙ ˙ bœ . œ ˙ œ. œ ˙
J
2a. Car tu n’es pas
2b. Hen - - - ri Phlip - pet,
5
b b
&b Œ ˙ œœ˙ j ˙ œœ˙ œ œ. œœœ ˙
˙ œ. œœ b˙
ho - - - me pour re - - - - fu -
le vert me fais por -
b b b
j j j ˙
V b ˙. œ œ œ. œ˙
Œ ˙ œœ˙
œ. œœ œ. œœ
b˙
pas ho - - - me pour re -
pet, le vert me fais
˙ b
? b˙ .
b œœ ˙ Œ ˙. œ ˙
œ ˙ œœ ˙ ˙
œ
ho - me pour re - - - -
le vert me fais
11 b b
&b œ Œ j j ˙ œ œ.
œ. œœœ ˙ œ. œ œ. œ˙ ˙
œœœ
˙ œ
- - ser, en fais, en dis,
- - ter # pour ton douls vir
w ˙ w
Vb œ œ. œœœ œ ˙ œ w ˙
fu - - - - ser, en fais, en dis,
b
? œ b˙ . œ œ
b Œ œ œ œ œ
˙ œœ œ œ ˙ Œ œ ˙ ˙
- fu - - - - ser, en fais, en dis,
17 b b # b # U
&b ˙ j œ œ œ œœ œ ˙
˙ œ. œ œ ˙ œ œœ œ ˙ œ w
tu
˙
te por - - - tes vail - - - - lant,
que je vis si plai - - - - sant.
U
Vb ˙ w ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ w
tu te por - - - tes vail - - - - lant,
˙ b U
?
b Œ œ Œ œ œ. œ œ œb ˙
J œ ˙ bœ . œœ œ œ ˙
w
œ œ J
tu te por - tes vail - - - - lant,
72

The Unica of The Leuven Chansonnier A PT

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The unica of the Leuven chansonnier – a portfolio

of songs by an ambitious young musician

With an edition of the twelve unique songs

Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

© 2024 Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras 3v 29

Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

© 2024 Peter Woetmann Christoffersen

refrain couplets tierce refrain

6 See further at http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH282.html, http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH010.html,

Example 1a “Tousdis vous voit”, superius bars 1-9

Example 1b “Tousdis vous voit”, superius bars 10-16

Example 2a, “Donnez l’aumosne”, bars 72-83

Example 2b, “Si vous voulez”, bars 34-42

Example 2c, “Vraiz amans”, bars 1-6

Example 3a, “Tousdis vous voit”, bars 1-9

Example 3b, “Si vous voulez”, bars 8-15

We meet the harmonic effect of a slow alternation of triads on c and on Bb again at

Example 4a, “Tousdis vous voit”, bars 39-49

Example 4b, “Vraiz amans”, bars 6-10

Example 5a, “Par Mallebouche la cruelle”, bars 4-9

Example 5b, “Escu d’ennuy”, bars 19-27

declamation. “Par Mallebouche la cruelle” exhibits the same mixture of old-fashioned

Entered by the main scribe:

Example 6a, “Ou beau chastel”, bars 1-9

17 See http://chansonniers.pwch.dk/CH/CH286.html and Christoffersen, French Music in the Early Six-

The unica of the Leuven chansonnier

Helas, mon cueur, tu m’occiras 3v 29

Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven:

1.4. He - las, mon cueur, tu m’oc - ci - - - -

Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven:

e, ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e_ou - bli - e tes

Text: Virelai simple, full text in Leuven.

Tousdis vous voit mon souvenir, My memory always sees you,

. 1.4. Tous - dis

1.4. Tous - dis vous voit mon sou - ve - nir,

Text: Virelai simple, full text in Leuven.

Donnez l’aumosne, chiere dame, Give alms, dear lady,

1.4. Don - nez l’au - mos - ne, chie - re da - me,

1) Tenor, bar 28, the ligature is longa-brevis-longa (error).

2) Contratenor, bar 33.1, f (error).

Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven.

Par Mallebouche la cruelle, Due to cruel Mallebouche,

1.4. Par Mal - le - bou - che la cru - el -

Escu d’ennuy semé de plours A shield of misery decorated with tears

1.4. Es - cu d’en - nuy se - mé de

1) Superius, the mensuration sign indicates tempus perfectum, obviusly an error.

Text: Bergerette, full text in Leuven:

1.4. Si vous vou - - - - - - -

1) Superius, bars 50-51, the lower note is black.

Text: Rondeau cinquain, full text in Leuven.

1.4. Ou beau chas - tel est pri - son - nier

1) Contratenor, bars 11-16 are notated a third higher (error).

3) Contratenor, bar 47, the upper note is black.

1.4. En a - ten - dant vos - tre ve - - nu -

& ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œœœ œ œ. œœœ w

Text: Rondeau quatrain, full text in Leuven.

1.4. Vraiz a - mans, pour dieu sup - pli - ez

Contratenor in MS bars 15-18: