Scholars have often noted the exceptional character of Binchois's Files a marier but have not realized that the melody employed by Binchois is also found in an anonymous triple chanson, Robinet se veult marier/Se tu t'en marias/Helás pourquoy. The tenor of the quodlibet chanson, Se tu t'en marias, is borrowed in Binchois's chanson and supplies the text for Binchois's part, since the only surviving source does not provide it. Based on this newfound borrowing, the composition could possibly be referred to as a double chanson, Files a marier/Se tu t'en marias, as it parodies the learned motet genre by using a popular tune as a cantus firmus.

Works: Binchois: Files a marier (235-36).

Sources: Anonymous: Robinet se veult marier/Se tu t'en marias/Helás pourquoy (235-36).

Index Classifications: 1400s

Contributed by: Mary Ellen Ryan