Pierre de Molins or Molaines (''fl''. 1190–1220) was an early trouvère. He knew either

Gace Brulé Gace Brulé (''c.'' 1160 – ''after'' 1213) was a French nobleman and trouvère from Champagne. His name is simply a description of his blazonry. He owned land in Groslière and had dealings with the Knights Templar, and received a gift from t ...

or the

Chastelain de Couci Le Chastelain de Couci (modern orthography Le Châtelain de Coucy) was a French trouvère of the 12th century. He may have been the Guy de Couci who was castellan of Château de Coucy from 1186 to 1203. Some twenty-six songs, written in langue d' ...

, two of the first-generation trouvères. He was probably a member of a landed family of Épernay, or possibly of a family resident in and around Noyon. He is probably the local "Pierre II" referred to in documents from between 1210 and 1224. Four songs are attributed to Pierre in the

Chansonnier du Roi The ''Manuscrit du Roi'' or ''Chansonnier du Roi'' ("King's Manuscript" or "King's Songbook" in English) is a prominent songbook compiled towards the middle of the thirteenth century, probably between 1255 and 1260 and a major testimony of Europea ...

and the Noailles Chansonnier, and all appear in other chansonniers with different attributions. All the melodies are in bar form. Most unusual are the presence of a melodic tritone in two sources for ''Fine amours et bone esperance'' and of a sharpened

subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

in ''Chanter me fet ce don't je crien morir'', both created by the use of

accidentals In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (), flat (), and natural () symbols, among others, ma ...

. ''Fine amours'' served as the model for an anonymous composition of the same name (the second line beginning ''Me fait''), an anonymous piece beginning ''L'autrier par une matinee'', and an anonymous song to the Virgin Mary, ''Douce dame, vierge Marie''. The music of ''Chanter me fet'' was used in two different readings of ''Pour la pucele en chantant me deport'' by

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 ...

and the lyrics were a model for the anonymous ''Destroiz d'amours et pensis sans deport''. The other pieces attributed to Pierre are ''Quant foillissent li boscage'' and ''Tant sai d'amours con cil qui plus l'emprent''.

References

* Theodore Karp
"Pierre de Molins."
''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.'' Accessed 9 November 2009. {{Authority control Trouvères Male classical composers