Everything about Lai totally explained
A
lai was a song form composed in northern
Europe, mainly
France and
Germany, from the
13th to the late
14th century.
The poetic form of the lai usually has several
stanzas, none of which have the same form. As a result, the accompanying
music consists of sections which don't repeat. This distinguishes the lai from other common types of musically important verse of the period (for example, the
rondeau and the
ballade). Towards the end of its development in the 14th century, some lais repeat stanzas, but usually only in the longer examples. There is one very late example of a lai, written to mourn the defeat of the French at the
Battle of Agincourt (
1415), (
Lay de la guerre, by
Pierre de Nesson) but no music for it survives.
There are four lais in the
Roman de Fauvel, all of them anonymous. The lai reached its highest level of development as a musical and poetic form in the work of
Guillaume de Machaut; 19 separate lais by this 14th-century
ars nova composer survive, and they're among his most sophisticated and highly-developed secular compositions.
Other terms for the lai, or for forms which were very similar to the lai, include
descort (
Provençal),
Leich (German), and
Lay (English).
Composers of lais
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lai'.
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