Je ne sçay pas comment

Nicolas Gombert was a leading composer of the Franco-Flemish school, active during the High Renaissance. This secular chanson, Je ne sçay pas comment, is set for SATTB voices in French. The text expresses a profound and all-consuming love, where the singer's heart has been so captured that earthly possessions mean nothing. The beloved's favour is all that matters. Gombert's setting would have been typical of the intricate, imitative polyphony characteristic of the era, creating a rich texture for this intimate expression of devotion. It is a fine example of secular part-music from a golden age of vocal composition.