Gris et tenné

Claudin de Sermisy was a leading composer of French chansons in the first half of the 16th century. This example, Gris et tenné, is written for ATTB voices. The text speaks of a lover resigned to wearing grey and tan, perhaps symbols of enduring hope and fading pleasure. The lover laments leaving his beloved, associating black with a life of grief and sadness. The chanson style, with its clear melody and imitative textures, is perfectly suited to expressing such sentiments of love and loss with both elegance and directness. Sermisy's clear, balanced style makes this a very accessible example of Renaissance part-music.