formes fixes

Principal forms of music and poetry in 14th- and 15th-century France. Three forms predominated. The rondeau followed the pattern ; and represent repeated musical phrases; capital letters indicate repetition of text in a refrain, while lowercase letters indicate new text. The ballade employed the pattern . The virelai used the pattern . The trouv Adam de la Halle (b. c. 1250) wrote the first polyphonic settings of the . Guillaume de Machaut wrote both text and music for many monophonic and polyphonic chansons in the . Later composers, including Guillaume Dufay, favoured the rondeau.

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