The latest in this series of recordings of Machaut's chansons on Hyperion Records is entitled The Lion of Nobility. It includes a lengthy lai, as well as shorter, more intimate songs. Machaut wasn’t just the most important French poet of the fourteenth century; he was also France’s and Europe’s finest composer. As well as a host of secular pieces, he also wrote sacred music, including the famous Messe de Notre Dame, composed in the 1360s for Rheims Cathedral where he was a canon in later life.

The focus of the Hyperion project is the chansons, i.e. the songs, with a primary emphasis on the polyphonic chansons, which is to say those in more than one vocal part. This allows us to feature some of the solo songs and the lais – long narrative poems – both because they are very important works and because they lend variety and interest.

• 1. S'il Etoit Nuls / S'amours Tous / Et Gaudebit Cor Vestrum
• 2. On Ne Porroit Penser
• 3. Dame, Se Vous M'estes Lonteinne
• 4. Moult Sui De Bonne Heure Nee
• 5. Ne Pensez Pas, Dame, Que Je Recroie
• 6. En Demantant Et Lamentant
• 7. Mes Esperis Se Combat
• 8. J'aim Sans Penser Laidure
• 9. Ma Fin Est Mon Commencement
• 10. C'est Force, Faire Le Vueil
• 11. Je Puis Trop Bien Ma Dame Comparer
• 12. Tant Doucement M'ont Attrait / Eins Que Ma Dame / Ruina