Revecy venir du printemps by Claude Le Jeune
Never heard of him? No worries! Join the club of people who (like me) are always discovering new favorite songs by composers of whom we were formerly ignorant. The important thing, of course, is not to bewail our ignorance, but to happily follow whatever bread crumbs we find that can lead us to new (to us), wonderful music. Further up and further in!
Le Jeune was one of the mainstays of the chanson in the 16th-century, though he also wrote a heck of a lot of sacred music. Today's piece falls into a special category, though: 'Musique mesurée', a style of text setting which took le monde de la chanson by storm beginning in the 1560's. The idea was that the text would be reflected in the music by rhythms which accurately represented the actual speech patterns of the poem set to music. In other words, the sung lines would not be distorted by long notes and rests and other manipulations, but would really sound like sung speech.
In practice, this often resulted (as it does here) in something we would now call the 'America' rhythm (this appellation referring to the famous song in 'West Side Story' in which the meter alternates between 6/8 and 3/4). As it does in the musical show, this hemiolic feel gives a lot of buoyancy to the music, making you want to essay some kind of tipsy reel.
And the poem is so fun! You can check it out on the attached text-translation sheet. As you can see, it begins with a refrain, which is duly repeated between verses. The theme is the return of spring, and of its celebrated concomitant occurrences of love! love! love! And we're not just talking about people-love. Love in the sea, on land, in the air: It's all fair game for this charming, celebratory song.
The four verses follow a special add-one-voice feature: First two, then three, then four,
then finally five voices take part.
I've put together a fun playlist for you to get to know the piece. Follow along with the attached score, or wing it, as you see fit. The main thing is to have a good time!
Revecy venir du printemps (Doulce Mémoire): An excellent intro to the song, with instruments joining in and with a scrolling score.
Revecy venir du printemps (King's Singers):
The good-ol' King's Singers in an all-vocal (male, of course) rendition.
Revecy venir dy printemps (Saxon Brass Quintet): Hold onto your hat!
Revecy venir du printemps (Ensemble Gilles Binchois):
Strangely slow--like love on Quaaludes--but beautiful withal.
Revecy venir du printemps (Parthenia): The redoubtable Julianne Baird joins a crackerjack viol consort for a rendition. A rollicking good musical time ensues.
Enjoy! Live! Laugh! Love! Sing!
Never heard of him? No worries! Join the club of people who (like me) are always discovering new favorite songs by composers of whom we were formerly ignorant. The important thing, of course, is not to bewail our ignorance, but to happily follow whatever bread crumbs we find that can lead us to new (to us), wonderful music. Further up and further in!
Le Jeune was one of the mainstays of the chanson in the 16th-century, though he also wrote a heck of a lot of sacred music. Today's piece falls into a special category, though: 'Musique mesurée', a style of text setting which took le monde de la chanson by storm beginning in the 1560's. The idea was that the text would be reflected in the music by rhythms which accurately represented the actual speech patterns of the poem set to music. In other words, the sung lines would not be distorted by long notes and rests and other manipulations, but would really sound like sung speech.
In practice, this often resulted (as it does here) in something we would now call the 'America' rhythm (this appellation referring to the famous song in 'West Side Story' in which the meter alternates between 6/8 and 3/4). As it does in the musical show, this hemiolic feel gives a lot of buoyancy to the music, making you want to essay some kind of tipsy reel.
And the poem is so fun! You can check it out on the attached text-translation sheet. As you can see, it begins with a refrain, which is duly repeated between verses. The theme is the return of spring, and of its celebrated concomitant occurrences of love! love! love! And we're not just talking about people-love. Love in the sea, on land, in the air: It's all fair game for this charming, celebratory song.
The four verses follow a special add-one-voice feature: First two, then three, then four,
then finally five voices take part.
I've put together a fun playlist for you to get to know the piece. Follow along with the attached score, or wing it, as you see fit. The main thing is to have a good time!
Revecy venir du printemps (Doulce Mémoire): An excellent intro to the song, with instruments joining in and with a scrolling score.
Revecy venir du printemps (King's Singers):
The good-ol' King's Singers in an all-vocal (male, of course) rendition.
Revecy venir dy printemps (Saxon Brass Quintet): Hold onto your hat!
Revecy venir du printemps (Ensemble Gilles Binchois):
Strangely slow--like love on Quaaludes--but beautiful withal.
Revecy venir du printemps (Parthenia): The redoubtable Julianne Baird joins a crackerjack viol consort for a rendition. A rollicking good musical time ensues.
Enjoy! Live! Laugh! Love! Sing!