Mignonne allons voir si la rose
from Doulce mémoire by Mignarda
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Passameze by Adrian Le Roy (c. 1520 – 1598)
Poem by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Arranged by Ron Andrico
The poetry for "Mignonne allons voir si la rose"is by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585), from his Ode à Cassandre. Our source for the music is Recueil de chansons en forme de voix de ville by Jehan Chardavoine (1576), where it appears as a single unharmonized melody line. In the absence of a harmonized accompaniment, others who have performed and recorded the chanson have used a simple drone or doubling of the melody on an instrument, an effective treatment of the haunting melody.
Our unique version of the air was made early in our partnership (circa 2004) when we were assembling a program of French airs de cour for our first CD. At the time, we were living in a log cabin without electricity in a remote area of the Siskiyou Mountains. Tapping into our understanding of historical performance practice and our practical musical skills, an arrangement emerged from singing and playing what was in our hearts and fingers when it was otherwise too dark to see written music. It took one quiet candlelit evening to confirm that musicians of 400 years ago would have taken the same informed practical approach in harmonizing a melody as musicians of today.
It turns out that Adrian Le Roy first used the term airs de cour to describe his settings of the poetry of Ronsard and others in his Livre d’airs de cour (1571). In his settings of Ronsard’s poetry, Le Roy frequently employed dance-like harmonizations of recognizable grounds (familiar sets of chord changes), and we discovered that the melody of Mignonne allons from Chardavoine works well with minor adjustments to Le Roy’s Passemeze ground (1568, f.17v). Since LeRoy set several other poems by Ronsard in a similar manner, we feel our arrangement is both historically justifiable and eminently listenable.
Poem by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Arranged by Ron Andrico
The poetry for "Mignonne allons voir si la rose"is by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585), from his Ode à Cassandre. Our source for the music is Recueil de chansons en forme de voix de ville by Jehan Chardavoine (1576), where it appears as a single unharmonized melody line. In the absence of a harmonized accompaniment, others who have performed and recorded the chanson have used a simple drone or doubling of the melody on an instrument, an effective treatment of the haunting melody.
Our unique version of the air was made early in our partnership (circa 2004) when we were assembling a program of French airs de cour for our first CD. At the time, we were living in a log cabin without electricity in a remote area of the Siskiyou Mountains. Tapping into our understanding of historical performance practice and our practical musical skills, an arrangement emerged from singing and playing what was in our hearts and fingers when it was otherwise too dark to see written music. It took one quiet candlelit evening to confirm that musicians of 400 years ago would have taken the same informed practical approach in harmonizing a melody as musicians of today.
It turns out that Adrian Le Roy first used the term airs de cour to describe his settings of the poetry of Ronsard and others in his Livre d’airs de cour (1571). In his settings of Ronsard’s poetry, Le Roy frequently employed dance-like harmonizations of recognizable grounds (familiar sets of chord changes), and we discovered that the melody of Mignonne allons from Chardavoine works well with minor adjustments to Le Roy’s Passemeze ground (1568, f.17v). Since LeRoy set several other poems by Ronsard in a similar manner, we feel our arrangement is both historically justifiable and eminently listenable.
lyrics
Mignonne allons voir si la rose
Qui ce matin avoit disclose
Sa robe de pourpre au soleil
A poinct perdu ceste vesprée
Les plis de sa robe pourprée.
Et son teinct au votre pareil.
Las! Voyez comme en peu d’espace,
Mignonne, elle a dessus la place,
Helas! ses beautes laissé choir!
Ha vrayment marastre est nature.
Puis qu’une telle fleur ne dure
Que du matin jusques au soir.
Donc, si vous me croyez, Mignonne,
Tandis que vostre aage fleuronne
En sa plus verde nouveauté,
Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse:
Comme a ceste fleur la vieillesse
Fera ternir vostre beauté.
Let’s go, my dear, and see whether the rose
Which this morning uncovered
its purple garment to the sun
has now at evening
lost any of the folds of that garment,
or any of its color that resembles your own.
But see, alas, how in so brief a time,
My dear, the rose has let fall
Its beauties upon the ground.
Nature is truly a wicked stepmother
If such a flower lasts only
From morning till night.
So then, my dear, if you believe me:
While your time of life is in bloom In its freshest green,
Go and harvest your youth;
For as with this flower, old age
Will wither your beauty.
English translation by Donna Stewart.
Qui ce matin avoit disclose
Sa robe de pourpre au soleil
A poinct perdu ceste vesprée
Les plis de sa robe pourprée.
Et son teinct au votre pareil.
Las! Voyez comme en peu d’espace,
Mignonne, elle a dessus la place,
Helas! ses beautes laissé choir!
Ha vrayment marastre est nature.
Puis qu’une telle fleur ne dure
Que du matin jusques au soir.
Donc, si vous me croyez, Mignonne,
Tandis que vostre aage fleuronne
En sa plus verde nouveauté,
Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse:
Comme a ceste fleur la vieillesse
Fera ternir vostre beauté.
Let’s go, my dear, and see whether the rose
Which this morning uncovered
its purple garment to the sun
has now at evening
lost any of the folds of that garment,
or any of its color that resembles your own.
But see, alas, how in so brief a time,
My dear, the rose has let fall
Its beauties upon the ground.
Nature is truly a wicked stepmother
If such a flower lasts only
From morning till night.
So then, my dear, if you believe me:
While your time of life is in bloom In its freshest green,
Go and harvest your youth;
For as with this flower, old age
Will wither your beauty.
English translation by Donna Stewart.
credits
from Doulce mémoire,
released September 3, 2021
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
Recorded at the Lava Room, Beachwood, OH
Engineer, Chris Ebbert
lute by Richard Fletcher, courtesy of Jean Toombs
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
Recorded at the Lava Room, Beachwood, OH
Engineer, Chris Ebbert
lute by Richard Fletcher, courtesy of Jean Toombs
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Mignarda Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Mignarda specializes in thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music & poetry. Noted for awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching & recording, with 17 critically-acclaimed CDs, a series of 16 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts. ... more
discography
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Jun 2022 -
Sep 2021 -
Apr 2021 -
Nov 2020
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