La Trobe University - Library: Medieval Music Database - Annual cycle of feasts of liturgical chant, liturgical polyphony and secular music of the late middle ages.

Certes, mon oeuil richement visa bel

Three-voice rondeau by Guillaume de Machaut

Sources

New York: Wildenstein Collection, fol. 35 (text), 321v (lost);
Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 843, fol. 202v (text), 245 (text); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 1584 (MachA), fol. 209 (text), 480 (3/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 1585 (MachB), fol. 52 (text), 309v (3/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 9221 (MachE), fol. 135 (3/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 22546 (MachG), fol. 153 (3/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds nouv. acq. français 6221, fol. 37 (text);
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Library, French MS 15, number 105 (text).

Editions

1. Guillaume de Machaut: Musikalische Werke. Erster Band: Balladen, Rondeaux und Virelais, edited by Friedrich Ludwig, Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1926, p. 64.
2. The Works of Guillaume de Machaut, Second Part, edited by Leo Schrade, Monaco: Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1956. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century III, p. 158.
3. La Louange des Dames, edited by Nigel Wilkins, Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1972, New York: Barnes and Noble, 1973, p. 155 (Pn1585).
4. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377), p. 24.
Text Editions
Guillaume de Machaut: poèsies lyriques, 2 vols., edited by V. Chichmaref, Paris: 1909, p. 210.
Literature
1. MACHABEY, Armand. Guillaume de Machault, 130?-1377: La vie et l'oeuvre musicale, 2 vols, Paris: Richard-Masse-Editeur, 1955. Bibliothèque d'ètudes musicales, p. 167.
2. GÜNTHER, Ursula. Der musikalische Stilwandel der französischen Liedkunst in der zweiten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts, dargestelt an Virelais, Balladen und Rondeax von Machaut., Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hamburg: 1957, Chapter 4.2.
3. GÜNTHER, Ursula. 'Contribution de la musicologie à la biographie et à la chronologie de Guillaume de Machaut', Guillaume de Machaut, poète et compositeur. Colloque - Table Ronde, 1978, pp. 95-116.
Recordings
1. The Art of Guillaume de Machaut, Ars Antiqua Paris, directed by Michel Sanvoisin (1974): Arion ARN 38252 (FRA)/ ARN 90814 (USA).
2. Guillaume de Machaut: le vray remède d'amour -- ballades, rondeaux, virelais, motets, Ensemble Gilles Binchois, directed by Dominique Vellard (1988): Harmonic Records H/CD 8825.
Text
Certes, mon oueil richement visa bel
Quant premiers vi ma dame bonne et belle,
Pour ce que gent maintieng et vis a bel.

Certes, mon oueil richement visa bel;
Ne fu tel fleur desque fu vis Abel,
Quant fleur des fleurs tous li mondes l'apelle:

Certes, mon oueil richement visa bel
Quant premiers vi ma dame bonne et belle.

TranslationIndeed, my eye aimed right well
When first I saw my lady good and fair,
For she has a noble manner and a lovely face.

Indeed, my eye aimed right well;
Nor was there such a flower since Abel was alive,
For flower of flowers all the world calls her:

Indeed, my eye aimed right well
When first I saw my lady good and fair.
Text revision and translation © Jennifer Garnham