Where Is Virelai Found?

A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three formes fixes (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the late thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.

What does the word virelai mean?

or vir·e·lai (vîr′ə-lā′) pl. vir·e·lays or vir·e·lais. Any of several medieval French verse and song forms, especially one in which each stanza has two rhymes, the end rhyme recurring as the first rhyme of the following stanza.

What is formes fixes in music?

Fixed patterns or styles with which certain forms of music must comply. This term specifically applies to the music of France in the Renaissance, such as the ballade and the rondeau.