Dueil et ennuy

Grief and weariness, cares, regrets and pain have driven away my worldly pleasure. I complain and torment myself, and I no longer have any hope of good things to await me; this is how fortune leads me on. Jean Lecocq’s Dueil et ennuy is a rich secular madrigal for five voices, STTTB. The text expresses a profound sense of melancholy and resignation, a common theme in the secular vocal music of the Renaissance. The composer’s setting captures the plaintive mood of the words with intricate vocal lines and imitative textures, characteristic of the genre. This work offers a poignant exploration of personal suffering, rendered with the expressive harmonic language and contrapuntal skill typical of the period.