Vernacular Contrafacta in the Leuven Chansonnier? Caron’s ‘Helas’ and the Anonymous ‘Aime qui vouldra’

Peer-reviewed

Ryan O'Sullivan


(Belgium)

Abstract

Chanson scholarship often distrusts fifteenth-century Italian or Central European sources that transmit contrafacta, whereas manuscripts from France or the Low Countries enjoy higher status because their texts are presumed authentic. I counter this imbalance by applying the critical scrutiny usually reserved for peripheral sources to a central source, the Leuven Chansonnier. Despite all its chanson texts initially appearing to be authentic, I argue that two are probably contrafacta: Firminus Caron’s Helas que pourra devenir and the anonymous Aime qui vouldra.



Keywords:

chanson, rondeau, fifteenth century, polyphony, Leuven Chansonnier, contrafacta, centre, periphery, Firminus Caron, Helas

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Published
2025-10-07

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O’Sullivan, R. (2025). Vernacular Contrafacta in the Leuven Chansonnier? Caron’s ‘Helas’ and the Anonymous ‘Aime qui vouldra’ . Muzyka, 70(3), 77–105. https://doi.org/10.36744/m.4579

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Ryan O'Sullivan 

Belgium

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