ABSTRACT
The courtly, non-ecclesiastical setting of so many pictures also matches the secular content of the chanson repertory, a link that is seemingly confirmed by the correspondence between the mixed instrumental ensembles in the pictures and the jumble of variously texted and untexted lines in most French chansonniers. The issue of style is peculiarly fraught, as both Edwards and Litterick readily admit. Texting was presumably one of the many areas, like musica ficta, phrasing, tempo or dynamics, which were subject to common conventions that did not need to be specified in the notation itself. A fascination with instruments is one of the abiding hallmarks of the early music performance movement, and one that accounts in no small measure for its wide appeal. Incipits are related to texts from literary as well as musical sources, and the possible strategies available for reconciling them with the musical notes discussed at length.
