Adieu mes amours was a popular secular

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

of the late 15th century. Many settings of this tune are in fact based on the c. 1480 setting by

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

, in which the lower two voices are in quasi-canon, and the upper two voices are freer. The tune itself is in a simple ABA' form. It appeared in many

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s and prints from many countries, including in Ottaviano Petrucci's Odhecaton A.

Josquin's version

Josquin's chanson was used as the basis for works by a number of other composers, including a version by

Heinrich Isaac Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450 – 26 March 1517) was a Netherlandish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs (in French, German and Italian), and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin de ...

, and the five-voice chanson "Vous seulement" by Simon Moreau. The setting by

Jean Mouton Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Ve ...

seems to be unrelated to the setting by Josquin. Although "Adieu mes amours" was originally a secular chanson, it was used in a number of mass settings such as, ''Missa "Adieu mes amours"'' which uses both

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

and

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tr ...

compositional techniques by Francesco de Layolle, and another ''Missa "Adieu mes amours"'' by

Jacob Obrecht Jacob Obrecht (also Hobrecht; 1457/8

. The first attribution to Josquin of this chanson is in the ''

Casanatense chansonnier The ''Casanatense chansonnier'' (I-Rc MS 2856) was a major collection of Renaissance vocal music made in Ferrara , including compositions from Europe's leading composers. Overview It was likely compiled for Isabella d'Este's marriage to Frances ...

'' of around 1480, which was probably put together to celebrate the betrothal of

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

to Francesco Gonzaga. The chansonnier includes works by many of the great composers of the period, including

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was the most influential European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his ...

Johannes Martini Johannes Martini (c. 1440 – late 1497 or early 1498) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Life He was born in Brabant around 1440, but information about his early life is scanty. He probably received his early training in Flan ...

and

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he wa ...

. It included six chansons attributed to Josquin, each with a different spelling of his name, suggesting that the copyist was not aware of Josquin prior to this, lessening the likelihood that the chanson was mistakenly attributed to Josquin. An issue in the performance practice of Josquin's setting of this chanson is whether it was a vocal piece or an instrumental piece. Although there is underlay of the text in the Florence 2794 manuscript, the music does not fit well with the rondeau refrain of the original. At least ten other contemporary manuscripts include only the

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

and no other text.Sherr, pg. 356

References

Citations

Sources

* * Sherr, Richard, ed. ''The Josquin Companion''. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000. . "Chansons for Three and Four Voices" by Louise Litterick.

External links

* {{Josquin des Prez Compositions by Josquin des Prez Renaissance music Renaissance chansons