A ''lai'' (or ''lay lyrique'', "lyric lay", to distinguish it from a '' lai breton'') is a lyrical, narrative poem written in

octosyllabic The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie de ...

couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance. ''Lais'' were mainly composed in France and Germany, during the 13th and 14th centuries. The English term ''

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

'' is a 13th-century loan from Old French ''lai''. The origin of the French term itself is unclear; perhaps it is itself a loan from German '' Leich'' (reflected in archaic or dialectal English '' lake'', "sport, play" and in modern Swedish (leker = to play). The terms ''note'', ''nota'' and ''notula'' (as used by Johannes de Grocheio) appear to have been synonyms for ''lai''. The poetic form of the ''lai'' usually has several

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s, none of which have the same form. As a result, the accompanying music consists of sections which do not repeat. This distinguishes the lai from other common types of musically important verse of the period (for example, the rondeau and the ballade). Towards the end of its development in the 14th century, some lais repeat stanzas, but usually only in the longer examples. There is one very late example of a lai, written to mourn the defeat of the French at the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

(1415), (''Lay de la guerre'', by Pierre de Nesson) but no music for it survives. There are four lais in the ''

Roman de Fauvel The ''Roman de Fauvel'' is a 14th-century French allegorical verse romance of satirical bent, generally attributed to , a clerk at the French royal chancery. The original narrative of 3,280 octosyllabics is divided into two books, dated to 131 ...

'', all of them anonymous. The ''lai'' reached its highest level of development as a musical and poetic form in the work of

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

; 19 separate lais by this 14th-century ars nova composer survive, and they are among his most sophisticated and highly developed secular compositions.

Composers of lais

French composers *

Adam de Givenchi Adam de Givenchi (floruit, fl. 1230–1268) was a trouvère, probably from Givenchy and active in and around Arras. His surname is also spelled Givenci, Gevanche, or Gievenci. Adam appears in charters of May and July 1230 as a clerk (position), ...

Charles d'Anjou Charles of Anjou (count, 1246–1285) was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. Charles of Anjou may also refer to: *Charles II of Anjou (count, 1285–1290), also king of Naples * Charles III of Anjou (count, 1290–1325), also count of Valois *Charle ...

Charles, Duke of Orléans Charles of Orléans (24 November 1394 – 5 January 1465) was Duke of Orléans from 1407, following the murder of his father, Louis I, Duke of Orléans. He was also Duke of Valois, Count of Beaumont-sur-Oise and of Blois, Lord of Coucy, and t ...

Gautier de Coincy Gautier de Coincy (1177–1236) was a French abbot, trouvère and musical arranger, chiefly known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary. While he served as prior of Vic-sur-Aisne he compiled ''Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame'' (known in English as ''T ...

Gautier de Dargies Gautier de Dargies (ca. 1170 – ca. 1240) was a trouvère from Dargies. He was one of the most prolific of the early trouvères; possibly twenty-five of his lyrics survive, twenty-two with accompanying melodies, in sixteen separate ''chansonn ...

* Guillaume li Vinier * Marie de France * Philip the Chancellor * Philippe de Vitry (uncertain; works attributed to him may be anonymous) * Thomas Herier German composers. * Walther von der Vogelweide * Der Tannhäuser (wrote 6 ''Leiche'') * Rudolf von Rotenburg (5) * Ulrich von Winterstetten (5) * Konrad von Würzburg (>1) * Der von Gliers (>1) *

Johannes Hadlaub Johannes Hadlaub ( fl. 1300, d. before 1340) is one of the Minnesingers whose works are recorded in ''Codex Manesse''. He was a citizen of Zürich, and is on record as buying a house there in 1302. There are 51 songs by Hadlaub in the Codex Man ...

(>1) * Heinrich Frauenlob (>1) *

Ulrich von Gutenburg Ulrich von Gutenburg (or Gutenberg; fl. late 12th century) was an Alsatian nobleman and Middle High German poet. He can be traced at the court of Emperors Frederick Barbarossa and Henry VI between 1172 and about 1200. The main influence on his p ...

(1)

References

*David Fallows. "Lai." ''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online''. Oxford University Press. *The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Volume 2: The Medieval Period. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press. 2009. {{Authority control Medieval music genres French poetry Song forms

Composers of lais

See also

References