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.

 



Home to Poulet GaucheBibliography