Virelai

Virelai is a medieval French verse form and song, one of the formes fixes used in medieval lyric poetry and early polyphonic music. It emerged in the 13th century and remained common into the 14th, especially among the trouvères and later Ars Nova composers. The defining feature of the virelai is a fixed refrain that recurs at regular intervals, interwoven with stanzas of verse that follow a set rhyming pattern. In performance, the refrain is sung with a repeated text and often a distinct melodic idea, while the surrounding verses vary.

Form and structure in practice vary, but the hallmark is the recurring refrain, which appears at specified points within the text and music. The remaining lines form a pattern of rhymes that complements the refrain. The exact number of lines and the arrangement of the verses differ by composer, yet the repetitive refrain provides the unifying musical and textual element across stanzas.

Musically, virelais were commonly set in concord with other formes fixes of the period. They could be monophonic or polyphonic, with the refrain sometimes treated as a separate melodic unit that reappears with the same text, while the intervening lines carry different melodies or polyphonic lines.

Notable examples include Guillaume de Machaut’s Douce Dame Jolie, a renowned virelai in which the refrain is clearly identifiable and serves as the anchor for the poem and musical setting. The term virelai derives from Old French and suggests a turning or recurring element, referring to the refrain or a melodic turn that frames the piece.

The virelai declined as a dominant form with the late medieval shifts in musical taste, but it remains a central reference point in studies of medieval French poetry and Ars Nova polyphony.