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• Dufay, Guillaume: 8 Rondeaux

Dufay, Guillaume: 8 Rondeaux

for 3 voices or instruments.

It is difficult to write of the music of Dufay without falling into superlatives, so much does it transcend the conventions of his age. Certainly his secular pieces show a striking originality at times: Donnés l´assault, for instance, include his favourite trick of deliberately alternative E flats and E naturals, as well as his use of triadic figures at the end.
Ideas about performing Dufay´s songs have changed over the last decade or so; the conventional wisdom today is that they were normally performed either by singers or instruments, rather than by mixed forces. However, there is not a great deal of evidence either way; for this reason we have underlaid only those parts that are fully underlaid in the sources. Performers should be encouraged to experiment with different approaches to this music. It is important to know that the contratenor is of less importance than the discantus and tenor, and can be omitted if necessary; indeed, a good way to approach this music is to do it in two parts first, and only add the contra when the main parts are properly balanced.
In this edition editorial accidentals appear in the usual way, printed small above the stave, applying to the one note only. The original note values have been halved in most cases, but quartered in nos. 1 and 8. I am grateful to Jeannine Alton for translating the poems of this songs.