A rondeau is a fixed form of verse with roots in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th and 15th centuries. The term rondel is sometimes used interchangeably with rondeau . A rondeau typically has 13 lines in three stanzas built on two rhyme sounds. The opening words of the first line appear as an independent refrain following the second and third stanzas. The earliest rondeaux had two- or three-line stanzas, but later versions contained four to six lines. In music, the form of the first stanza had two parts and was repeated for the third and fourth stanzas, with the second stanza using the music of the first part of the first stanza repeated twice.

Where did the rondeau originate?

The rondeau, a fixed form of verse and song, originated in France. The earliest known examples with polyphonic music are from the 13th-century poet and composer Adam De La Halle . In northern France during the mid-12th to 13th centuries, trouvères added refrains to poems, which evolved into fixed forms like the rondeau . By the mid-15th century, the rondeau had virtually supplanted other song forms because of the wide range that Guillaume de Machaut found and demonstrated in the rondeau.

How is a rondeau different in poetry and music?

The poetic and musical forms of the rondeau differ primarily in structure and performance. The poetic rondeau, a French lyric poem, comprises four stanzas with the first and last being identical. The second stanza includes a short refrain, mirroring the first half of the opening stanza. Conversely, the sung rondeau maintains complete refrains due to its musical structure. The music of the first stanza, divided into two parts, repeats for the third and fourth stanzas, while the second stanza repeats the music of the first part of the first stanza twice. This strict bipartite musical form emphasizes the return of the "b" section in the third stanza, creating a balanced and significant musical moment.

What is the typical structure of a rondeau poem?

The rondeau is a fixed verse form with two rhymes, typically of 13 lines in three stanzas, where the opening words or the first line of the first stanza act as an independent refrain in the second and third stanzas. The full form consists of four stanzas, with the first and last being identical. The second half of the second stanza is a short refrain, using the first half of the first stanza's text. The earliest musical rondeaux, such as those by Adam De La Halle in the 13th century, strictly followed a bipartite musical form. By the 15th century, the rondeau had virtually supplanted other song forms because it was well-balanced to express the spirit of its time.

How did composers use the rondeau form in medieval and Renaissance music?

The rondeau is a fixed form of French lyric poetry and song from the 14th and 15th centuries. Early rondeaux, such as those by 13th-century composer Adam De La Halle, were brief and followed a strict bipartite musical form. Guillaume de Machaut expanded the rondeau's range in the 14th century, establishing it as an intimate form characterized by sentimental longing. By the mid-15th century, the rondeau had largely supplanted other song forms. Burgundian composers like Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois contributed significantly to the genre. Binchois's "De plus en plus" is a memorable example, while Dufay's "Par le regart de vos beaux yeulx" was widely appreciated. Hayne van Ghizeghem also composed notable rondeaux during the Burgundian dukes' final years. The rondeau maintained its structure for 200 years, ideally expressing the spirit of its time, before its abandonment at the end of the 15th century.

Why is the use of repeated lines or refrains important in the rondeau?

The use of repeated lines or refrains is important in the rondeau because the music for the first stanza always had two parts and was repeated for the third and fourth stanzas; the second stanza consisted of the music of the first part of the first stanza repeated twice. The triple repetition of the first section in the second and third stanzas makes the eventual return of the second section in the third stanza significant, requiring balance from the final refrain. The roundelay and rondeau redoublé are also poetic forms that use refrains extensively. A refrain is a phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals throughout a poem, generally at the end of the stanza.

rondeau

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Quick Facts

Plural:: rondeaux

Key People:: Guillaume de Machaut; Guillaume Dufay; Binchois

Related Topics:: song; virelai; pantoum; rondel; formes fixes

See all related content

rondeau

poetry and music

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Top Questions

What is a rondeau?
A rondeau is a fixed form of verse with roots in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th and 15th centuries. The term rondel is sometimes used interchangeably with rondeau.

A rondeau typically has 13 lines in three stanzas built on two rhyme sounds. The opening words of the first line appear as an independent refrain following the second and third stanzas. The earliest rondeaux had two- or three-line stanzas, but later versions contained four to six lines. In music, the form of the first stanza had two parts and was repeated for the third and fourth stanzas, with the second stanza using the music of the first part of the first stanza repeated twice.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where did the rondeau originate?
The rondeau, a fixed form of verse and song, originated in France. The earliest known examples with polyphonic music are from the 13th-century poet and composer Adam De La Halle. In northern France during the mid-12th to 13th centuries, trouvères added refrains to poems, which evolved into fixed forms like the rondeau. By the mid-15th century, the rondeau had virtually supplanted other song forms because of the wide range that Guillaume de Machaut found and demonstrated in the rondeau.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is a rondeau different in poetry and music?
The poetic and musical forms of the rondeau differ primarily in structure and performance. The poetic rondeau, a French lyric poem, comprises four stanzas with the first and last being identical. The second stanza includes a short refrain, mirroring the first half of the opening stanza.

Conversely, the sung rondeau maintains complete refrains due to its musical structure. The music of the first stanza, divided into two parts, repeats for the third and fourth stanzas, while the second stanza repeats the music of the first part of the first stanza twice. This strict bipartite musical form emphasizes the return of the "b" section in the third stanza, creating a balanced and significant musical moment.
2 Britannica Sources
1. rondel
2. rondeau
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What is the typical structure of a rondeau poem?
The rondeau is a fixed verse form with two rhymes, typically of 13 lines in three stanzas, where the opening words or the first line of the first stanza act as an independent refrain in the second and third stanzas.

The full form consists of four stanzas, with the first and last being identical. The second half of the second stanza is a short refrain, using the first half of the first stanza's text.

The earliest musical rondeaux, such as those by Adam De La Halle in the 13th century, strictly followed a bipartite musical form. By the 15th century, the rondeau had virtually supplanted other song forms because it was well-balanced to express the spirit of its time.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did composers use the rondeau form in medieval and Renaissance music?
The rondeau is a fixed form of French lyric poetry and song from the 14th and 15th centuries. Early rondeaux, such as those by 13th-century composer Adam De La Halle, were brief and followed a strict bipartite musical form. Guillaume de Machaut expanded the rondeau's range in the 14th century, establishing it as an intimate form characterized by sentimental longing. By the mid-15th century, the rondeau had largely supplanted other song forms.

Burgundian composers like Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois contributed significantly to the genre. Binchois's "De plus en plus" is a memorable example, while Dufay's "Par le regart de vos beaux yeulx" was widely appreciated. Hayne van Ghizeghem also composed notable rondeaux during the Burgundian dukes' final years. The rondeau maintained its structure for 200 years, ideally expressing the spirit of its time, before its abandonment at the end of the 15th century.
2 Britannica Sources
1. rondo
2. rondeau
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why is the use of repeated lines or refrains important in the rondeau?
The use of repeated lines or refrains is important in the rondeau because the music for the first stanza always had two parts and was repeated for the third and fourth stanzas; the second stanza consisted of the music of the first part of the first stanza repeated twice. The triple repetition of the first section in the second and third stanzas makes the eventual return of the second section in the third stanza significant, requiring balance from the final refrain.

The roundelay and rondeau redoublé are also poetic forms that use refrains extensively. A refrain is a phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals throughout a poem, generally at the end of the stanza.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

rondeau, one of several formes fixes (“fixed forms”) in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th and 15th centuries. The full form of a rondeau consists of four stanzas. The first and last are identical; the second half of the second stanza is a short refrain, which has as its text the first half of the first stanza.

The earliest rondeaux had stanzas of two or three lines; later, especially in the 15th century, stanzas of four, five, or even six lines were common. Because of the unwieldy length of the refrains in such cases, the literary rondeau, which in the 15th century began to separate itself clearly from the sung rondeau, often curtailed the refrains in the second and fourth stanzas, leaving only a rentrement (“reentry”) of the opening words. This truncation often produced unexpected changes of meaning.

Such curtailment probably never took place in the sung rondeau because the musical form required that refrains be complete. The music for the first stanza always had two parts and was repeated for the third and fourth stanzas; the second stanza consisted of the music of the first part of the first stanza repeated twice. In the following diagram the repeats of music with new text appear in lowercase, while exact repeats (of text and music) are in uppercase: Depiction of the repeats with new text and the exact repeats in a rondeau.

Young girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)

Britannica Quiz

Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz

To adapt this form to include the curtailed rentrement would require adjustment tantamount to overthrowing the form. The musical form of the full rondeau had a peculiar strength because the triple repetition of the “a” section in the second and third stanzas made the eventual return of the “b” section in the third stanza a moment of immense significance, its weight requiring the balance provided by the final full refrain.

The earliest-known rondeaux with polyphonic music are by the 13th-century poet and composer Adam De La Halle. These brief pieces already follow the bipartite musical form strictly. The 14th-century poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut wrote fewer than 30 musical rondeaux, but they constitute the most varied and inventive portion of his oeuvre. Partly because of the wide range that Machaut found and demonstrated in the rondeau, it had, by the middle of the 15th century, virtually supplanted the other song forms. For Machaut and his successors, the rondeau was a highly intimate form compared with the other formes fixes, and the texts often display the mood of slightly sentimental longing that was to characterize the courtly love tradition in its later stages.

In the 15th century the Burgundian composers Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois wrote many rondeaux. Perhaps the most memorable song of the century is the rondeau “De plus en plus” (“More and More”) of Binchois, while the most widely appreciated at the time was the infinitely more delicate “Par le regart de vos beaux yeulx” (“For a Glance from Your Lovely Eyes”) of Dufay. Such songs would represent the peak of the rondeau’s history were it not for the long, fine songs of Hayne van Ghizeghem, written in the last years of the supremacy of the Burgundian dukes. The end of the 15th century saw the abandonment of the medieval formes fixes. The rondeau was the only form to have survived 200 years without any significant change; it was perhaps ideally designed and balanced to express the spirit of its time.

rondeau

Thank you for signing up!