Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry. Today we are going to learn about one of the last concepts in medieval music that ultimately helps us transition to the Renaissance. This episode is all about the French “formes fixes.”
The formes fixes—which translates from French as "fixed forms"—were a set of structured poetic and musical forms popular in France between the 13th and 15th centuries. These forms include the ballade, virelai, and rondeau. All three of these types of pieces were derived from dance music; this is because of the use of refrains, which we will see how each work’s structure regarding a refrain differs. Each of these forms had distinct rules for rhyme and repetition, creating a balance of predictability and creativity. They were commonly used in courtly and secular music, expressing themes of love, chivalry, and even political commentary. While they originated as poetic structures, they became central to musical compositions, particularly in the works of great composers like Guillaume de Machaut and later figures of the Burgundian School. 
Let’s take a second to chat about each form individually and break down how they are different from one another.
The Ballade
The ballade consists of three main stanzas, each ending in a refrain. The form diagram can be labeled as aabC. One way to remember the ballade is its stanza form - we know an AAB form to be what we call a bar form. 
Often used for storytelling and courtly love themes, ballades were a favorite of poets and composers alike. 
Example: Guillaume de Machaut’s Dame, ne regardez pas, is his 9th ballade from a set of 42. Here is what is sounds like! [PLAY A CLIP]
The Virelai
A highly melodic form, the virelai follows an A-B-A pattern where the refrain (A) alternates with contrasting verses (B). Most textbook sources don’t explain it in this way, so if you’re thinking that this sounds like some rounded binary form, you’re kind of right. Your textbook of choice might spell out the form for a virelai as Abba which will then be repeated several times. 
The virelai was one of the more flexible of the formes fixes, lending itself to both lyrical poetry and dance-like melodies. 
What’s cool about the virelai is that it is very comparable to an Italian ballata and can even sometimes translate to a laude or a cantiga, which we learned about earlier this season!
Guillaume de Machaut composed many of this type of work; Burkholder states that of his 33 different virelai, 25 of them are monophonic while 8 of them are polyphonic. 
Example: With that being said, I have another example of a composition by Machaut to share with you that is one of the monophonic virelai that he composed. It is called Hé, dame de valour. [MUSIC].
The Rondeau
Known for its circular and repetitive structure
It typically follows an A-B-A-A-B-A pattern. Some textbooks describe this pattern in a little bit more of an intricate way: where a refrain is AB, a stanza could be just a or even ab, and half refrains of just A might exist. Burkholder states that the A sections typically do not cadence with finality, hence why the rondeau might continue.
Its repeated lines made it an ideal form for both courtly and playful compositions.
Example: A famous rondeau that is most likely played in your music history class is "De plus en plus" by Gilles Binchois. Here is some of that music now [PLAY CLIP]
If you are interested in hearing the totality of each of the aforementioned works, check out the episode notes for links to some YouTube videos!
You might be wondering why I have dedicated a WHOLE episode just to this one topic. When studying for a comprehensive exam of any type, these types of pieces will ALWAYS show up, and you need to be able to distinguish among the three different types. Using what we learned in the episode about analyzing isorhythmic motets will also help us when analyzing any of the aforementioned formes fixes. Just as a word of note when analyzing these works, before delving into melodic content, taking a look at the poetic structure of the piece will help tremendously. 
The formes fixes may seem like relics of the past, but their influence is still felt in music and poetry today. Their structure and emphasis on refrains, repetition, and symmetry can even be seen in modern songwriting. Composers like our friend Machaut were pioneers, blending poetry and melody in ways that would influence the evolution of Western music. Without these early structured compositions, the transition into Renaissance polyphony and the development of more complex musical forms might have taken a very different path. In our next episode, we will tie up the loose ends that we still have from the medieval era, and in our final episode of the season, we will lightly discuss performance practice of this music! Join me next time on Between the Barlines!