A ''lai'' (or ''lay lyrique'', "lyric lay", to distinguish it from a ''
lai breton'') is a lyrical, narrative poem written in
octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance. ''Lais'' were mainly composed in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, during the 13th and 14th centuries. The English term
''
lay'' is a 13th-century loan from Old French ''lai''. The origin of the French term itself is unclear; perhaps it is itself a loan from German ''
Leich'' (reflected in archaic or dialectal English ''
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
'', "sport, play" and in modern Swedish (att leka = to play). The terms ''note'', ''nota'' and ''notula'' (as used by
Johannes de Grocheio) appear to have been synonyms for ''lai''.
The poetic form of the ''lai'' usually has several
stanzas, none of which have the same form. As a result, the accompanying music consists of sections which do not repeat. This distinguishes the lai from other common types of musically important verse of the period (for example, the
rondeau and the
ballade). Towards the end of its development in the 14th century, some lais repeat stanzas, but usually only in the longer examples. There is one very late example of a lai, written to mourn the defeat of the French at the
Battle of Agincourt (1415), (''Lay de la guerre'', by
Pierre de Nesson) but no music for it survives.
There are four lais in the ''
Roman de Fauvel'', all of them anonymous. The ''lai'' reached its highest level of development as a musical and poetic form in the work of
Guillaume de Machaut; 19 separate lais by this 14th-century
ars nova composer survive, and they are among his most sophisticated and highly developed secular compositions.
Composers of lais
French composers
*
Adam de Givenchi
*
Charles d'Anjou
*
Charles, Duke of Orléans
*
Gautier de Coincy
*
Gautier de Dargies
*
Guillaume de Machaut
*
Guillaume li Vinier
*
Marie de France
*
Philip the Chancellor
*
Philippe de Vitry (uncertain; works attributed to him may be anonymous)
*
Thomas Herier
German composers
[.]
*
Walther von der Vogelweide
*
Der Tannhäuser (wrote 6 ''Leiche'')
*
Rudolf von Rotenburg (5)
*
Ulrich von Winterstetten (5)
*
Konrad von Würzburg (>1)
*
Der von Gliers (>1)
*
Johannes Hadlaub (>1)
*
Heinrich Frauenlob (>1)
*
Ulrich von Gutenburg (1)
See also
*
Breton lai
*
*
Virelai
References
*David Fallows. "Lai." ''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online''. Oxford University Press.
*The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Volume 2: The Medieval Period. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press. 2009.
{{Authority control
Medieval music genres
French poetry
Song forms