Je ne puis bonnement penser

This is a secular French chanson from the Renaissance, set for a four-part choir of two sopranos and two tenors and basses (STTB). The text expresses the composer’s profound unhappiness at being separated from his beloved. He cannot understand the sudden pain he feels, attributing it to his loved one being far away, and the uncertain and unwelcome prospect of their return. The feeling of sorrow is so intense that nothing, however beautiful, brings him pleasure. Pierre Sandrin’s setting captures the melancholic mood of the text with its intricate vocal lines and harmonic progressions.