Chansons spirituelles were spiritual songs encouraged and disseminated by the Calvinists for performance in the home. Except for one collection, all extant chansons spirituelles are in the form of text, meant to be set to well-known secular songs. The exception is a collection by Jacques Buus from 1550. Four of his pieces are based on preexisting works. In these chansons Buus's method of composition involves the reshaping of a tune by compression or fragmentation, which is then surrounded by new material. In an earlier secular chanson anthology (1543), Buus parodies eight models. Typically, he either quotes the existing material exactly and surrounds it with new material, or treats each voice as a model to be paraphrased, with one in particular dominating.

Works: Buus: A toy Seigneur (158), Chantons de cueur (158), Christ souffrit peine (157), Pour ung plaisir (157), Content desir (164), Vivre ne puis content (164), Ces fascheaux sotz (164), Doulce mémoire (164), Dieu vous gard (165).

Index Classifications: 1500s

Contributed by: John F. Anderies, Sergio Bezerra