Du Fay, Josquin, and Gombert Chanson Analysis
By: Morgan Marshaus
According to the article by Howard Mayer Brown in Grove Music Online, a Chanson is,
“A French polyphonic song of the late Middle ages and Renaissance.” The time frame of the
Chanson expands from Machaut all the way through the sixteenth century.1 Guillaume Du Fay,
Josquin des Prez, and Nicolas Gombert were three of the largest musical influences of the
Renaissance. This paper is going to contain score analysis of three separate chanson by these
composers and a brief biography of their lives leading up to those compositions. These three
works are Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye by Du Fay, Adieu Mes Amours by Josquin, and
Tous Les Regretz by Gombert. After all three pieces have been studied individually and in that
order, they will be compared and contrasted with each other in order to show the different
composition styles between each composer.
Du Fay was a French composer and theorist who lived from 1397-1474. He was born in
the town of Bersele as an illegitimate child to a priest whose name is unknown and a woman
named Marie Du Fayt. He started his musical career as a choirboy in Cambrai, which is located
in Northern France, and he studied there till his voice changed. His family name, Du Fayt, was
changed to Du Fay later in life while he was living in Italy, where he spent a great deal of his
career. He traveled back and forth a great deal working in various courts in both Italy and
France. Du Fay was considered the best composer of his time due to his polyphonic
Brown, Howard Mayer, “Chanson.” Grove Music Online. Accessed March, 27, 2015. 1
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/40032?source
=omo_gmo&search=quick&q=Chanson&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit
1
1
compositions. He was not only well acclaimed in music, but also had obtained a Bachelor of Law
degree.2
Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye is one of over sixty different Rondeau compositions
by Du Fay. The date of composition of this piece is not known and cannot be guessed. The
stylistic qualities within this piece are consistent with every time frame of Du Fay’s
compositional career, making an accurate guess of composition date impossible. Many of his
pieces were written for three voices; however, there are some four voice compositions as well.
3
This is what makes Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye an unusual piece because it contains
four voices; but, the fourth voice was not written by Du Fay. The fourth voice was written as a
substitute to the contratenor line and has only ever been found in one source.4 Even though the
fourth voice is not Du Fay’s, this piece still contains many qualities that are undeniably true to
the original composer.
Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye is noted with a tempus indicating that it is in 3/4 or in
this composition’s case 6/4 time. 5It is in rondeau form, ABaAabAB, and is accompanied. It is
performed with an instrumental introduction and instrumental breaks in between each verse. The
phrasing of this piece consists of short phrases and clear cadences, which is very common in Du
Fay’s compositional style.
The text of this piece is Latin and is rhythmically syllabic throughout the piece. The
lyrics of the piece are as follows:
Planchart, Alejandro Enrique. “Dufay, Guillaume.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February
18, 2015: 1-7
3 Planchart, “Dufay,” 11.
4 Fallows, David. Dufay. London: J.M. Dent, 1982: 293.
5 Hamm, Charles. A Chronology of the Works of Guillaume Dufay. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1964: 35.
2
2
A
B
a
A
a
b
A
B
Pour l'amour de ma doulce amye
For love of my sweet lady
Ce rondelet voudray chanter,
I want to sing this song
Et de bon cuer luy presenter
And gladly present it to her
Affin qu'elle en soit plus jolye.
So that she can be more joyful as a result.
Car je l'ay sur toutes choysie
For I have chosen her above all others
A mon plaisir sans mal penser:
For my pleasure, without bad intent:
Pour [l'amour de ma doulce amye
For love of my sweet lady
Ce rondelet voudray chanter.]
I want to sing this song.
Elle est belle, plaisant et lye,
She is beautiful, pleasing and happy
Saige en maintieng et en parler:
Wise in her bearing and her talk:
Se la veul servir et amer
So I want to serve her and love her
A mon povoir toute ma vie.
The best I can, all my life.
Pour l'amour [de ma doulce amye
For love of my sweet lady
Ce rondelet voudray chanter,
I want to sing this song
Et de bon cuer luy presenter
And gladly present it to her
Affin qu'elle en soit plus jolye.]
So that she can be more joyful as a result.
Dufay used a great deal of poetry about courting, love, and romance in his pieces. This
piece in particular is about how he wanted to write a song for the woman he loves just to make
her happy. The left column shows how the rondeu form is represented in the lyrical structure. In
the Grove Music Online, Alejandro Planchart wrote, “Du Fay’s text settings throughout his
3
career pay exquisite attention to the detail in the poetry and to rhetorical and poetic structure, and
show an acute concern for the tonal and melodic balance of his line.” 6
Even though it was originally written in multiple voices, it is often times performed with
one voice along with the instrumental accompaniment. When looking at this piece from a solo
perspective, the melody line is normally the fourth voice. In the score, the triplum is the
instrumental accompaniment and the melody line is unlabeled above the contratenor. It is the Em
triplum part in this edition of the score that is considered the substitute to the Contratenor and is
believed to be the part not written by Du Fay [Musical Example 1]. 7
When performed as a vocal trio with instrumental accompaniment, the voices show a
great deal of imitation. Du Fay is known for having imitation in his compositions throughout his
entire career; but, it is found more consistently in his later pieces. Canons are also very common
features in his compositions throughout his musical career.6 The melody line, or the unlabeled
line above the contratenor, is slightly more neumatic than the contratenor and the tenor parts. All
three voices enter at the same time with the same text. It is not till after the first line of text, pour
l’amour de ma doulce amye, that the imitation begins, starting with the contratenor followed by
the tenor and then the melody line. An instrumental break is placed before the B section in
measures seven and eight. The entrance of the contratenor in measure nine is with the text Et de
bon cuer luy presenter, only this time, the melody line follows the contratenor and then the tenor
line is last. All three voices close together in unison before the accompaniment takes over for a
few measures at measure fifteen. From there it goes back to the start of the melodic text for the
beginning of section ‘a’ in the ABaAabAB form. The entire rest of the piece follows the same
6
7
Planchart, “Dufay,” 11.
Planchart, “Dufay,” Works.
4
body of music in the rondeau structure.
Another one of the great Renaissance composers was Josquin des Prez: a French
composer who lived from around 1450-1521. No one is really sure when or where exactly he
was born; but, he was born into the Lebloitte family near the village of Beaurevoir. Des Prez was
actually a nickname that overtime developed into a surname. Like Du Fay, it is believed that
Josquin began his musical career as a choirboy, studying at the Royal Collegiate Church of Saint
Quentin. If these facts about him being a choirboy are inaccurate, than it is presumed that he may
have been taught in a similar setting somewhere possibly in Northern France. It is also believed
that Josquin learned from Ockeghem. Whether that was in person or by the studying of his scores
is something that is still not know. Even though Josquin’s youth is not entirely certain, his adult
career can be traced as far back as anywhere between 1440-1459. The first official
documentation about Josquin’s musical life is in the year 1477 where he worked in the Aiex-enProvence Chapel of René as a singer. In 1480, Josquin’s compositions, along with several other
composer’s, became a part of a book of works called The Casanatense Chansonnier. This book
was more than likely made in order to celebrate the marriage of Isabella d’Este and Francesco
Gonzaga. There are six chanson by Josquin in this book, including the piece Adieu Mes Amours.8
This piece is not considered Josquin’s earliest compositional style; but, it is the earliest that we
know about. We will never know how Josquin’s early works sounded or how he developed into
the style he did. 9
Adieu Mes Amours contains material that is from a combination of three of Ockeghem’s
Macey, Patrick, “Josquin Des Prez.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February 18, 2015: 1-5
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/14497?q=Josq
uin+des+Prez&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit.
9 Prez, Josquin Des. New Josquin Edition. Volume 28. Edited by Willem Elders. Utrecht:
Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 2005: XIV
8
5
chansons. Josquin uses this borrowed material in the tenor and the bassus. It is composed for four
voices total: three vocalists and an instrumental accompaniment. The structure of this piece is a
rondeau in 4/4 time and the borrowed melody within this piece is used as a canon.10 According to
the score, the bassus, tenor, and superius are the three vocal lines and the altus is the instrumental
line. The text is French and only consists of six lines:
Adieu mes amours, a Dieu vous command,
Farewell my loves, to God I commend you.
Adieu je vous dy jusquez au printemps
Farewell I say until the Spring.
Je suis en souci de quoy je vivray
I am worried about what I shall live on.
La raison pour quoy je le vous diray :
The reason why? I will tell you:
Je n’ay plus d’argent, vivray je du vent,
I have no more money. Shall I live on air,
Se l’argent du roy ne vient plus souvent
if the king’s money does not come more often?
Unlike Du Fay, Josquin’s piece is not about love or making their beloved happy. It is
about saying goodbye, money, and the question of how they are going to make ends meet.
The first musical line heard in the piece is a few measures of the altus, or the instrumental
line. Then the tenor enters followed by the bassus in a canon with the borrowed material Adieu
mes amours [Musical Example 2]. The text is syllabic and has clear cadences all the way through
the work. After the cadences, there are small instrumental breaks before the canons continue.
The tenor and bassus sing as a vocal duo until the start of verse 4 or ABaAabAB. This time, the
superius is the first voice of the canon, followed by the tenor and then the bassus with the
repeated text of Adieu mes amours. The superius is more neumatic in rhythm patterns than the
other voices and carries more of a free counterpoint sense of style. Because of it’s placement, it
now caries over the sections of the altus where the instrumental breaks were before. This causes
10
Sheer, Richard. The Josquin Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: 308, 347356.
6
what were once clear cadences before to now sound unclear [Musical Example 3]. Eventually,
after the remainder of the rondeau form is played, all of the voices group together for a clear
standard cadence at the end of the piece.
Adieu Mes Amours is a great piece that represents many of Josquin’s unique styles;
however, because of the fact that this piece contains borrowed material that does not belong to
Josquin, it is possible that Josquin did not compose this piece. Someone may have written this
piece anonymously and clamed that it was Josquin’s due to the style. In 1540, a man named
Georg Forster said, “I remember a certain eminent man saying that, now that Josquin is dead, he
is putting out more works than when he was still alive.” 11
Nicolas Gombert was a composer from South Netherlands who lived from 1495 till
around 1560. It is determined that he was probably from a village called La Gorgue in southern
Flanders. A theorist named Hermann Finck stated that Gombert was a student of Josquin des
Prez in Josquin’s late years while he was in Condé. It is easy to believe that Finck was right
because Gombert and Josquin have similar imitative styles, only Gombert was able to take
Josquin’s ideas and develope them into his own style. Gombert liked to write overlapping
phrases, which was stylistically similar to Josquin; however, Gombert preferred hidden cadences
while Josquin liked clear cadences. Gombert had developed a new unique concept separate from
anything that had been created before. Finck once wrote about Gombert saying, “Yet in our own
time there are innovators, among whom Nicolas Gombert, pupil of Josquin of fond memory,
shows all musicians the path, nay more, the exact way to refinement and the requisite imitative
style. He composes music altogether different from what went before. For he avoids pauses, and
his work is rich with full harmonies and imitative counterpoint.”
11
Sheer. “Companion,” 308.
7
In 1526, Gombert was a vocalist in the court of Emperor Charles V. He got to travel to
many different countries around Europe and worked as a cleric, priest, and canon. Eventually he
retired at the Tournai Cathedral. Around 1540, Gombert was ripped from retirement and exiled.
A physician had determined that Gombert had violated a boy working for the emperor. While he
was in exile he made some compositions that the emperor enjoyed and then agreed for him to be
able to come back. There is no documentation on when exactly Gombert died; but, due to letters
and other documents, it is determined it was around 1560.12
It is believed that Gombert wrote the piece Tous Les Regretz during the time period while
he was in exile. The structure of this piece is in 4/4 time and is through-composed. There is no
accompaniment and the text is presented as syllabic and even slightly neumatic at times. The text
is in French and the lyrics are as follows:
Tous le regrets qu' onques (=jamais) furent au
All the regrets that onques ( = never) were in
monde,
the world,
venez vers moi où que je sois.
come to me wherever I am .
Prenez mon coeur en sa douleur profonde
Take my heart in deep pain
et fendez le (à moins) que soudainement le
and split it ( less) than suddenly see it.
vois.
The lyrics of this piece are about the pain of finally feeling regret for the things they have done
wrong. It is a song of repentance and guilt. Even though there is not a great deal of musical text,
it is still worded in a way that the audience can feel the emotion through the lyrics in the poetry
alone.
Nugent, George, and Eric Jas. “Gombert, Nicolas.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February
18, 2015. 1-9
12
8
There are six vocal parts that are in this piece: bassus, quintus, tenor, altus, sextus, and
cantus. Gombert uses these in order to show his ability to make stretched out phrases with hidden
cadences by overlapping the voices through imitation. The first voice that is heard is the Altus
line with the text Tous le regrets qu' onques (=jamais) furent au monde. The Quintus enters a
measure later, followed by the sextus, the tenor, the bassus, and last the cantus. All of the parts
come in individually and at different times than each other. Each point is also different when it
comes down to the melodic material that each voice sings. Even though they are all syllabic in
quality, the notes in each part are different, confirming that this is an imitative piece and not a
canon [Musical Example 4].
The first line of text ends at measure twenty. Two voices, the altus and the cantus, have a
cadence at this point. The other voices continue straight into the new line of text creating a mild
hiden cadence. Only this time, the voices enter in a different pattern than they had at the start of
the piece. The entrances are also rhythmically much closer together this time. The vocal pattern
for the new text of venez vers moi où que je sois is the quintus at measure 19, the bassus and the
sextus enter together at measure 20, then the tenor, and last the altus. This was all over the
duration of four measures in comparison to the introduction of the piece where all the entrances
were over the duration of eight measures.
The end of the second line of text ends at measure 39, where four voices end in a clear
cadence and two lines continue moving forward, creating a hidden cadence. The four lines that
have a clear cadence on the downbeat of measure 39 are the lowest voices: the bassus, quintus,
tenor, and altus. The sextus and cantus do not have a cadence at this section and start
immediately at the end of the previous line of text with the beginning of the third line of text,
Prenez mon Coeur [Musical Example 5].
9
There are a total of four hidden cadences throughout the piece. The fourth and final line
of text is performed as a recap at the very ending of the piece and closes with a standard cadence.
This is the only time there is any musical closure in the entire work. Because of all of the hidden
cadences the entire piece sounds like one phrase.
All three of these pieces are very unique in compositional style and are a great
representation in how music changed over the course of one hundred and fifty years. Each of
these pieces represents the compositional styles of their composers. It shows how they were able
to take what they had learned from those before them and adapt it to form a new perspective of
music. It is important to take the time to look at the development of music from one composer to
the next in order to fully appreciate their work.
Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye by Du Fay and Adieu Mes Amours by Josquin
contain both many similarities and differences when compared to each other. They are both
rondeaus with accompaniment. The introduction of both compositions start with a solo vocalist;
but as the pieces progress, they contain a total of three singing voices. Du Fay uses
instrumentation in between every verse. Josquin does the same thing at the start of his piece
while it is just a vocal duet; but, when the third voice is added, the instrumental feature sections
are lost. Also, during Josquin’s vocal duet, the cadences are clear just like Du Fay’s; however,
Josquin’s clear cadences turn into hidden cadences when the third voice is added. Even though
DuFay and Josquin both use imitation a great amount throughout their careers, Josquin uses
canonic material in Adieu Mes Amours. Du Fay uses imitation in his composition of Pour
L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye. Du Fay uses Latin text while Josquin uses French; however, the
structures of the rhythmic patterns are syllabic in both compositions. Du Fay has slightly
neumatic tendencies at times throughout all of the vocal lines while Josquin’s neumatic rhythms
10
are only in the superius. The lyrical contexts in both compositions are both about the future.
Dufay uses several verses talking about making the love of his life happy because that is how he
wants to spend his life. Josquin’s perspective of the future is far darker in comparison and he
uses a far fewer amount of words. The lyrics in his piece are more about the fear of the future.
He is saying goodbye to love and trying to figure out where he is going from there with what
little he has.
The differences between Josquin’s Adieu Mes Amours and Gombert’s Tous Les Regretz
are just as drastic as between Du Fay and Josquin’s musical styles. Gombert starts by doubling
the number of parts used in his composition, he does not use a form, and he gets rid of
instrumental accompaniment. Josquin used a canon in his composition with clear cadences in the
first half and unclear cadences in the second half. Gombert’s use of imitation and unclear
cadences through his entire piece made the music sound like one large phrase. The text in both
compositions was in French and was syllabic with neumatic tendencies. The lyrics in both
compositions were both short in poetic structure and both contained unhappy emotions for
different reasons pertaining to the directions of their life journeys. Josquin’s lyrics of distress
were because he did not know where things were going in the direction of his life. Gombert’s
anguish was because of how things had been in the past.
Gombert and Du Fay’s differences span over the course of over one hundred years. The
changes in style that develop over that time become very clear when comparing Pour L’amour
De Ma Doulce and Tous Les Regretz. Du Fay uses accompaniment in rondeau form and Gombert
disregards both instrumentation and the use of a structured form in his composition. Gombert
also uses twice as many voices as Du Fay. Both compositions start with one voice in the
introductions and throughout the music used a great deal of imitation. The rhythms are syllabic
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with neumatic tendencies in both compositions. Dufay used clear cadences and short phrases
where as Gombert was exactly the opposite with his never ending stretch of unclear cadences.
The text in Du Fay’s composition was in Latin, which was common during this time. During the
gap between Du Fay and Gombert, French text became the new normal. The poetry in these
compositions may vary in length; but the emotional expression is equally as moving between
both pieces. The lyrics seem very personal and have the ability to move the audience. In Du
Fay’s composition, he is pouring his heart out about the woman he loves. In Gombert’s
composition, he is pouring his heart out about how he wishes he had done things differently.
Even though these composers all differ in style, they all managed to create pieces that
made their mark. These composers took the ideas and concepts that they had been taught and
adapted them in a way that made them honest to their own ideas on how music potentially can
be. That was all that every artist wanted who lived during the Renaissance. The meaning of
Renaissance is rebirth while still holding the influences of Greek culture. The artists of this time
strived to take what they had been taught and creatively adapt it into a new art form that was
their own. Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye, Adieu Mes Amours, and Tous Les Regretz all
have similarities and differences within their bodies of work. Guillaume Du Fay, Josquin des
Prez, and Nicolas Gombert were able to take the Greek influences they had been taught and add
new and fresh characteristics that made a difference. It impacted not only in their own lives but
in the lives of the people around them for generations. It changed the direction of musical
development. All three of these composers were able to take their craft and made it into
something so entirely new that it now defines music from their generation.
Word Count: 3811
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Bibliography on Dufay, Josquin, and Gombert Chansons
By: Morgan Marshaus
Brown, Howard Mayer, “Chanson.” Grove Music Online. Accessed March, 27, 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/40032?source
=omo_gmo&search=quick&q=Chanson&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit This is a long article
containing everything about what a Chanson is and the history behind it.
Fallows, David. Dufay. London: J.M. Dent, 1982. This book is a biography of Dufay’s life. In
the back of the book, it talks about Pour l’amour de ma Doulce Ayme. In particular, it talks about
the triplum. That information is also in the Rondeau section of the book.
Hamm, Charles. A Chronology of the Works of Guillaume Dufay. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1964. This book talks a great deal about Dufay’s style of writing. There is a
small section about Pour l’amour de ma Doulce Ayme. It talks about what breves he uses in the
piece.
Macey, Patrick, “Josquin Des Prez.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February 18, 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/14497?q=Josq
uin+des+Prez&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit. This is a long article containing
everything from his biography to his works. His biography in the oxford dictionary is over
twenty pages. There is also a heavy section outside of the biography where it talks about his
secular works. Since it is one of his secular pieces that I am studying, this article contains a great
deal of information that is helpful.
Nugent, George, and Eric Jas. “Gombert, Nicolas.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February 18,
2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/11420?q=Gom
bert&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit. This article is the Grove Music biography of
Nicolas Gombert. This biography contains everything from his history to his style and influences
in both sacred and secular music. Even though there is not much information the piece I selected
to study, the other information in this source will help me recognize Gombert’s traits within the
piece.
Planchart, Alejandro Enrique. “Dufay, Guillaume.” Grove Music Online. Accessed February 18,
2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.bsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/08268?q=Guill
aume+DuFay&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit. This is a lengthy article from Grove
Music about Dufay. There is a very long biography. It also breaks down different types of music
that he composed and broke them into several different sections. These smaller sections through
out the articles help inform further on what Dufay influences were in each of the musical genres.
There is also a section that lists all of his known works.
13
Prez, Josquin Des. New Josquin Edition. Volume 28. Edited by Willem Elders. Utrecht:
Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 2005. This is a musical score
that contains many works by Josquin Des Prez. This book contains one of the pieces I chose to
analyze, Adieu Mes Amours. The beginning of the book contains an introduction that is a
biography of Des Prez that incorporates the pieces in the book into the bio.
Sheer, Richard. The Josquin Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. This is a
book that contains everything about Josquin from his biography to information about all of his
known compositions. I am using this source mostly because of the information it contains about
the piece I am studying. It has some great musical analysis points about the structure.
14
Musical Examples
Example 1: Guillaume Du Fay, Pour L’amour De Ma Doulce Amye, m. 1.
Example 2: Josquin des Prez, Adieu Mes Amours, mm. 1-9.
15
Example 3: Josquin des Prez, Adieu Mes Amours, mm. 30-33.
Example 4: Nicolas Gombert, Tous Les Regretz, mm. 1-8.
16
Example 5: Nicolas Gombert, Tous Les Regretz, mm. 39-41.
17