This edition was prepared by Daniel Buxeda Rodriguez — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
De toutes Flours
Staff Notation • Secular, Ballades
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De toutes Flours by Guillaume de Machaut — Lyrics
De toutes flours n'avoit et de tous fruis
En mon vergier fors une seule rose:
Gastés estois li surplus et destruis
Par Fortune qui durement s'opose
Contre ceste douce flour
Pour amatir sa coulour et s'odour.
Mais se cueillir la voy ou tresbuchier,
Autre après li ja mais avoir ne quier.
Mais vraiement ymaginer ne puis
Que la vertus, où ma rose est enclose,
Viengne par toy et par tes faus conduis,
Ains est drois dons naturex; si suppose
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About De toutes Flours
Guillaume de Machaut, a leading figure of the ars nova in 14th-century France, composed this secular ballade for three male voices (STT). The text, in French, speaks of a lover whose garden, once abundant with flowers and fruit, is now reduced to a single rose. This rose is threatened by Fortune, who seeks to diminish its beauty and fragrance. The poet laments that only this one rose can satisfy him, and he cannot imagine its virtue being corrupted by false influences. The song reflects on the power of Fortune and the unique value of the beloved rose, resisting its corruption. Machaut's setting captures the nuanced emotions of courtly love and the unpredictable nature of fate.
