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• 2 French Songs of the fifteenth Century

2 French Songs of the fifteenth Century

(Comme femme desconfortee, Le serviteur) for 3 voices or instruments.

These two songs from the fifteenth century have a number of features in common: both were very well-known in their day – Comme femme has survived in 8 sources, and Le serviteur in no less than 14 manuscripts, plus one early printed source. Both songs were respected not only in their own right, but also as starting-points for elaborate instrumental pieces. In spite of the wide distribution of these rondeaux, there is doubt about the authorship of both of them. Comme femme is attributed to Binchois only in the Mellon Chansonnier, and Le serviteur to Dufay in a single source also.
Comme femme is printed here after the Mellon Chansonnier, except for bar 14 of the contratenor and the second half of the text, which follow Wolfenbüttel. Le serviteur follows the Berlin source, except for the penultimate bar of the contra, which again is after Wolfenbüttel. The original note values have been halved in both pieces. Le serviteur is originally a tone lower. Editorial accidentals are shown in the usual way, that is printed small above the stave, applying to the one note only. The original accidentals are taken as applying to the whole bar, and corrected in brackets where necessary.
These songs can be performed by one singer and two or more instruments (preferably bowed or plucked strings), or by three singers, or by three instruments. As the tenor and contratenor cross over frequently, care should be taken to avoid inverted chords if recorders or flutes are used. Both pieces, but especially Le serviteur, have parts that are satisfying to play, and work well as purely instrumental pieces, on consorts of recorders, viols or other instruments.