Amour partez

Thomas Crecquillon’s Amour partez is a four-part chanson for SATT voices. The music opens with a sense of playful pursuit, the voices imitating one another in quick succession. The French text, which expresses a lover’s determined banishment of fickle Cupid, is treated with a light touch. Crecquillon’s skill is evident in the clear declamation of the words and the engaging interplay between the vocal lines. This secular work, characteristic of the popular chanson genre of its time, offers a delightful opportunity for vocal ensembles seeking to explore Renaissance part-music with a lively textual theme.