Helas de vous me doy complaindre

Matthaeus Pipelare was a composer active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. This secular French chanson is written for three voices (soprano, tenor, and bass). The text expresses a lament of unrequited love, with the singer complaining to their beloved that they are constrained to love them so deeply, despite the lack of reciprocation. The music, typical of the era, would have been sung by a small group of skilled singers, perhaps in an intimate courtly setting.