Music of Le Poulet Gauche
There was no television or radio in the sixteenth century: people had to
create their own entertainment. Music was a key form of entertainment that
had many levels of meaning. In the Catholic church, it called to mind the
glory of heaven. In Protestant churches, singing the Psalms together was
an expression of the community of God on earth. Farmers, soldiers, and
laborers in the cities sang to make work lighter and time pass faster.
Sailors chanted to time their tasks managing the sails and lines, And of
course, no drunken debauch was complete without its share of bawdy tunes.
Princes and great lords patronized musicians as a way of displaying their
own power, wealth, and good taste and we owe a great deal of beautiful
music to aristocratic vanity.
The following are a collection of French rounds that would have been
common during the time of the Poulet Gauche. All have been transcribed
by Gwendolyn of Middlemarch.
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