Solage, the swan, and the exceptionality of (.)

The anonymous three-voice ballade Cine vermeil is one of the most chromatic songs of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, employing six different accidentals ranging from G# to Aβ around the circle of fifths. In an attempt to arrive at a composer attribution, the song was examined using a variety of different methods, the results of which consistently indicated Solage as its composer and strongly suggested that it was originally conceived for four voices. The findings also indicated an origin for the song at the court of Jean de Berry, and that songs by French composers of this period written in 3 are, in various ways, exceptional within their output. This study therefore not only confirms Ursula Günther’s hypothesis that Cine vermeil is associated with the 1389 wedding of Jean de Berry and Jeanne de Boulogne, but also indicates that it should be added to Solage’s oeuvre and to the other songs written by him for this event.