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• Sandrin, Pierre: 4 Chansons

Sandrin, Pierre: 4 Chansons

for 4 voices or instruments.

Pierre Sandrin (c. 1490-1561) was actually born Pierre Regnault, and supposedly took his professional name from the part of a shoemaker that he played when he was an young actor. Little is known of his early life: in his thirties he was a cleric in Picardy. By 1549 he was working as a singer in the French Chapel Royal, mysteriously combing this with the post of maestro di cappella for Ippolito, Cardinal d´Este in Ferrara.
Although Sandrin is known mostly for rather serious pieces such as Doulce memoire, his music is actually quite varied. Italian influence can be found in some of these chansons, particularly Ce qui m´est deu et ordonné, which includes a section that is very similar to a typical villotta by Azzaiolo, and to the gagliarda “La gamba” in particular.
An unusual feature of many of Sandrin´s chansons, including three printed here, is the mixing of triple- and duple-time sections (this may also be an element from the villotta). In these pieces the proportional relationship between the sections is not entirely obvious. In theory the relationship should be bar equals bar, but the way rhythms go across the time-changes suggest that the minim (half note) in the triple should equal the crotchet (quarter note) in the duple. However, this is a “pragmatic” solution, that cannot be justified theoretically. For this reason I have not defined the relationship in the edition, and performers should feel free to find their own solutions.
All these pieces are printed after chanson books published by Attaingnant: no. 1 from Vingt deuxiesme livre contenant xxvi Chansons (1547 ), no. 2 from Cinquiesme livre contenant xxviii Chansons nouvelles (1537), no. 3 from Vingtsixiesme livre contenant xxvii Chansons (1548), and no. 4 from Quatorsiesme livre contenant xxix Chansons nouvelles (1543). The original note values have been halved throughout. Editorial accidentals are printed small above the stave, applying to the single note only. I am grateful to Jeannine Alton, for translating the texts of these songs.