Le Tourdion - French Renaissance Song

Arrangement & vocals by Farya Faraji. Many thanks to my good friends Christophe Chapleau and Tommy Laniel for participating in the video.
The history of this song is a bit complex: originally, the Tourdion was a French dance of the 1500's, with its associated music usually if not always in triple metre. The specific piece heard here was collected by Pierre Attaignant, a music publisher. This is an important detail: all over the internet, people will credit him as the author and musician of this melody, but he was simply a publisher, and he was the first to collect this piece whose original author is unknown. This original piece had no lyrics, and was simply a polyphonic instrumental piece. The lyrics heard here were added over four centuries later by César Goeffrey, a French musician, in the 1900's, who turned the piece into a vocal polyphonic performance.
Therefore, my arrangement, while historically accurate in its form, is a mixture of the original instrumental piece with the more recent vocal additions, which could have absolutely existed in the original era as they are now. However, one part that is not accurate is the nature of some of the melodic lines: the original versions use the cadential semitone subtonic of the harmonic minor during the ending of the melodic lines, as was most typical of Renaissance music. I based my singing on more recent written down renditions that substitute the harmonic minor subtonic during cadences for the whole tone subtonic of the natural minor, which is evidently anachronistic to the musical practices of the 1500's.
The rest of the arrangement follows the principles of 1500's French polyphony, one of my absolute favourite forms of music. Four different melodic lines are written in vertical structure to coincide with harmonic intervals that end up creating what is effectively a harmonic progression very similar to modern chord progressions in Western music. The instruments double the same melodic lines, and they consist of a fidule, a viola de gamba, a flute and a lute.
Lyrics in French:
Quand je bois du vin clairet,
Amis, tout tourne,
Aussi désormais
Je bois Anjou ou Arbois.
Chantons et buvons,
À ce flacon faisons la guerre,
Chantons et buvons,
Mes amis, buvons donc.
Buvons bien, buvons mes amis,
Trinquons, buvons, gaiement chantons.
En mangeant d’un gras jambon,
À ce flacon faisons la guerre.
Le bon vin nous a rendus gais,
Chantons, oublions nos peines, chantons.
En mangeant d’un gras jambon,
À ce flacon faisons la guerre.
English translation:
Everything is spinning, everything is spinning.
When I drink Clairet wine,
My friend, everything turns, turns, turns, turns...
Therefore now I drink Anjou or Arbois.
Let us drink my friends, let us drink well,
Let us empty our cups,
As we eat this fatty ham,
Let us wage war on this wine flask!
The good wine has made us gay,
Let us sing, let us drink,
As we eat this fatty ham,
Let us wage war on this wine flask!

[@faryafaraji]

Arrangement & vocals by Farya Faraji. Many thanks to my good friends Christophe Chapleau and Tommy Laniel for participating in the video. The history of this song is a bit complex: originally, the Tourdion was a French dance of the 1500's, with its associated music usually if not always in triple metre. The specific piece heard here was collected by Pierre Attaignant, a music publisher. This is an important detail: all over the internet, people will credit him as the author and musician of this melody, but he was simply a publisher, and he was the first to collect this piece whose original author is unknown. This original piece had no lyrics, and was simply a polyphonic instrumental piece. The lyrics heard here were added over four centuries later by César Goeffrey, a French musician, in the 1900's, who turned the piece into a vocal polyphonic performance. Therefore, my arrangement, while historically accurate in its form, is a mixture of the original instrumental piece with the more recent vocal additions, which could have absolutely existed in the original era as they are now. However, one part that is not accurate is the nature of some of the melodic lines: the original versions use the cadential semitone subtonic of the harmonic minor during the ending of the melodic lines, as was most typical of Renaissance music. I based my singing on more recent written down renditions that substitute the harmonic minor subtonic during cadences for the whole tone subtonic of the natural minor, which is evidently anachronistic to the musical practices of the 1500's. The rest of the arrangement follows the principles of 1500's French polyphony, one of my absolute favourite forms of music. Four different melodic lines are written in vertical structure to coincide with harmonic intervals that end up creating what is effectively a harmonic progression very similar to modern chord progressions in Western music. The instruments double the same melodic lines, and they consist of a fidule, a viola de gamba, a flute and a lute. Lyrics in French: Tout tout tout tourne… Quand je bois du vin clairet, Amis, tout tourne, Aussi désormais Je bois Anjou ou Arbois. Chantons et buvons, À ce flacon faisons la guerre, Chantons et buvons, Mes amis, buvons donc. Buvons bien, buvons mes amis, Trinquons, buvons, gaiement chantons. En mangeant d’un gras jambon, À ce flacon faisons la guerre. Le bon vin nous a rendus gais, Chantons, oublions nos peines, chantons. En mangeant d’un gras jambon, À ce flacon faisons la guerre. English translation: Everything is spinning, everything is spinning. When I drink Clairet wine, My friend, everything turns, turns, turns, turns... Therefore now I drink Anjou or Arbois. Let us drink my friends, let us drink well, Let us empty our cups, As we eat this fatty ham, Let us wage war on this wine flask! The good wine has made us gay, Let us sing, let us drink, As we eat this fatty ham, Let us wage war on this wine flask!

[@sahilsingh6048]

Ah now im hungry after your this song

[@waltercommunitycollege1615]

Have you heard Appalasia? They make good music!

[@HrLBolle]

Prost Mahlzeit bei dem festlichen Gelage Reminds me of the feast the last ruling Steward Denethor II, son of Ecthelion II, held for himself in spite of the host of Mordor marching on the seat of government, the White City of Minas Tirith.

[@Alexandre-oc2ch]

toujours aussi intéressant et envoutent

[@Lagolop]

You will find this pretty good if you like Medieval music. Earlier than the music in your vid. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZaZZ5-rp6t9d6s

[@AlexTV-rw2rt]

if your party doesn't look like this, don't even bother to invite me

[@andreebesseau6995]

Lol

[@chaosvolt]

"Let us wage war on this wine flask" is absolutely a mood.

[@averongodoffire8098]

Me listening to this song during lunch “je ne peux pas je suis dans une escarmouche avec brie et pain”

[@OddFlame]

Been there, done that, had regrets.

[@sbeno5362]

French nobles introduce the Safavid ambassador to the culture of the Renaissance (1601, colorized)

[@MrHazz111]

An ancient Tamil chant on Monday, an American Folk song on Tuesday, and a French Renaissance melody on Friday. Thus was the life of the bard Farya.

[@LesangdesdieuX]

Their way of speaking old french is really great xD

[@nanok44]

@@LesangdesdieuX Not exactly old French. Two hundred years too young.

[@johaquila]

@@nanok44 Whether it's Old French or not, it's definitely old French. (Capitalization.)

[@nanok44]

@@johaquila Agreed. And they speak it well.

[@simonidastankovic2627]

And how he sang and arranged the oldest written song, an ancient okd Greek Hymn ("HO SONZES")....it's probably closest to the original as you can get...yet...so personal, authentic, unique, ....great bard !

[@xano2834]

As a French, I thank you for this masterpiece

[@laurentbrewee3781]

En français.

[@LesangdesdieuX]

As a french the food showed they truly understand our culture xD

[@virisek1]

L interprétation est excellente ❤

[@indecentanalyst]

@@LesangdesdieuX The guy is from Laval, Québec.

[@rheinhartsilvento2576]

As a French what...? Cheese? Baguette? Dressing? Kiss? 😂 But I agree - they're amazing 🤩

[@mohammadmahdijalaeipour2387]

Seeing Farya, our Lord of music and memery destroy a whole pie was quite entertaining.

[@bluesteno64]

Agreed

[@Teutororo]

As French, I must congratulate you, mon bon Monsieur : you honor the spirit of our country, may it survive the times to come ❤

[@TenTenJ]

And may the French Language never be lost.

[@YaBoiBaxter2024]

​@@TenTenJUnlike with Occitan unfortunately....

[@mello46029]

Quand j'écoute Farya, Amis, tout tourne, Aussi désormais Je chante et je chantonne. Chantons et dansons, À ce ménestrel faisons la fête, Chantons et dansons, Mes amis, honorons le donc!

[@przecietnyobywatel9814]

Bien sur mon ami !

[@Spitzeredd72]

Bien évidemment !

[@hhjj621]

Bravo Monsieur !!!!! ❤🇹🇩☦️

[@ansfelt8154]

My friends and I were all studying in history when we were in university. This song was known by all of us and multiple times we had been thrown out of the bar or restauran we had ended because we shouted that at the top of our lungs all the while being dread drunk and sometime passing out before we could shout the first chorus. Good memories, i'm glad i've found this new version. Next time I reunite with the pals, i'll make sure to bring ham and wine and indulge a little with them all !

[@starkfaktory6920]

i am a native french speaker of course he speaks that old aristocratic french, when the Rs were rolled it is incredible how versatile his voice and accent are

[@tibsky1396]

Lui-même vient du Québec, il est Francophone. Mais c'est vrai que pour les autres langues, il s'en sort très bien.

[@boptillyouflop]

@@tibsky1396 Il connaît au moins 3 langues au niveau natif? Français, Anglais, Persan...

[@etiennelebraud5835]

Au contraire, c'était le peuple qui roulait les R, l'aristocratie la prononçait comme aujourd'hui, c'est pour les imiter que les Parisiens se sont mis à faire pareil, et ont étendu cette pratique à toute la France à partir de la Révolution.

[@saddlerdu95]

@@etiennelebraud5835 C'est le contraire, le "r" d'aujourd'hui vient du patois "francilien" de Paris et des villes au alentour, le "r" roulé vient du reste de la France, des nobles et du roi. le "r" d'aujourd'hui à pris le dessus car la révolution à été orchestré par les bourgeois parisien.

[@igorvoloshin3406]

- Сенешаль, что нового слышно в моих землях? - Милорд, люди в городке у замка говорят, что в таверне видели знаменитого барда. Возможно, Ваша Милость захочет пригласить его чтобы скрасить ужин? - Прекрасная идея, пошли за ним людей! Только смотри у меня, со всем уважением, знаменитые барды - они люди чувствительные!

[@ImperatorOfficial0]

After having an awful day, I was just stunned how fast my mood went from ”I cannot take this anymore!” to ”Our favourite Persian bard brings joy again!”. The video is simply wholesome. I ordered a pizza and simply imagined and felt like eating with You, gentlemen! Edit: I was referring to the part without the poisoning.

[@ImperatorOfficial0]

@@xunqianbaidu6917 my apologies!

[@g1u2y345]

@@ImperatorOfficial0 Iranian is the more broad term, which includes Persian, Mazanderani, etc

[@k_6s287]

How can you have such a nice accent in so many different languages. That blows my mind.

[@Muttonchop_USA]

People who are bilingual from childhood have an easier time acquiring additional languages. I'm still pissed that my self-hating Jewish family avoided speaking Yiddish in my presence.

[@00muinamir]

Seriously, how does the channel not have at least five times the subscribers it currently does!? This is top-shelf content!

[@branarthen2268]

I guess very few people are interested in historical music.

[@disconnected7737]

@@branarthen2268 seems most of the views come in from Rome/Rome adjacent videos, which is a damn shame everything here is gold.

[@branarthen2268]

@@disconnected7737 It truly is a shame

[@Nihil2407]

I discovered this channel only recently and honestly, it's great! I really agree! This channel deserves more.

[@bhatiyamanthan1943]

Macron :- there is no freanch culture FARYA FARJI :- wait a minute let me finish my freanch music work

[@aorum3589]

What Macron actually said was: “Our culture can no longer wall itself away from other cultures, as if under voluntary house arrest. We would not have the multiplicity of cultures, this amazing French cultural richness, which exists, by seeking to deny parts of it. French culture doesn’t exist in and of itself; there is no such thing as a single French culture. There is culture in France and it is diverse and multiple. And I will not exclude from this culture, certain authors or musicians or artists, on the pretext that they supposedly come from elsewhere.”. This was during a speech in Lyon in 2017. After he became president the far right pretended that he had claimed during this speech that their was no french culture. It's fascinating to see that 7 years later this hoax still prevails over what Macron really said.

[@tim_vergos]

@@aorum3589 Thanks for bringing the context and translating it !

[@sierra.ivanova]

En tant que Française, je vous remercie, non seulement pour cette oeuvre d'une classe de maître, mais aussi (je ne sais pas si vous usitez le Français dans la vie courante) pour votre excellente prononciation. C'est un bonheur pour les oreilles et un baume pour le coeur, de même que vos autres compositions. Un grand merci. 😁

[@rade6912]

Il habite au Québec je crois

[@simonidastankovic2627]

Je suis entiérrement d'accord avec Vous noble Dame !

[@tristanduplessy9208]

Concernant la prononciation, il existe d'autres versions de ce tourdion, enregistrées il y a quelques années avec l'aide d'historiens et linguistes. Ils se sont peut-être appuyés sur cette version là.

[@GF-yh9tb]

Il habite au sud de la France.

[@laraik1198]

Il habite en romandie je crois

[@kaanozkomec9588]

Kültürün vücut bulmuş hali bu adam. Karşıma çıkaran KZbin algoritmasından allah razı olsun.

[@Panzergredi]

A true masterpiece not only by the singing, but also by the setting and arrangement❤

[@Nihil2407]

You also can't forget, that also time was dedicated to research the song and make it historically accurate

[@russergee49]

I was not expecting French Renaissance-style Epic Meal Time in the middle of the video 😂

[@Sir77Hill]

Interprétation magistrale! Peut-on faire plus Français que ça?! Je ne crois pas, non.

[@MyPoetik]

😅 Après hein on dit qu'on aime boire et manger en France ça date pas d'hier 😊

[@robertspeedwagon982]

Ah, enfin une nouvelle chanson à ajouter au répertoire des repas de famille ! Merci à toi ô ménestrel pour nous avoir donné une si belle reprise !

[@Feanor83]

La ripaille française a retrouvé son hymne ! J'ai hâte de voir le repas du nouvel an avec l'entrain de cette chanson 😂

[@AthVIII]

My toddler is obsessed with your videos we listen to this song at least 15 times a day!

[@fuferito]

The gorgeous images of this feast in the first few seconds gave the gout I've always craved to get.

[@nikolazcardellach5795]

Juste excellent, très rabelaisien dans l'esprit. Non seulement le chant (qui ne déçoit pas, comme d'habitude), mais aussi le clip qui est absolument hilarant dès que ça commence à partir en couille. Sans compter la vue du festin qui fout l'eau à la bouche direct, même si tu viens de sortir de table.

[@Rr39d]

Amazing, would love to hear more French Renaissance and Medieval music from you in the future!

[@alexanderfo3886]

This is probably the most fitting video imaginable to this song.

[@__Rafaelleos___]

Какая прекрасная песня. Одежда, быт...атмосфера эпохи Возрождения. Bravo, Farya!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🥰🥰🥰Это шедевр! Bravo!!!

[@alinlupu6453]

Learning about history, music theory and wine, while laughing my ass off! Great content! Love, from Romania!

[@maxrolland3148]

Salutare din Franta, frate latin 🇫🇷🇷🇴

[@Cloporte.indomptable]

Quand la bouteille d'Arbois va sortir de ma cave, cette musique retentira à son ouverture !! Ripaille avec les amis 🎉🍾🍷🍖🍴

[@Pierre-Weiss]

Bonjour ami du bon goût. Quel est le domaine que vous possédez ? Autant s'enivrer avec un bel ouvrage !

[@Cloporte.indomptable]

​@@Pierre-Weiss fruitière vinicole d'Arbois.

[@kortiv7643]

Hello, i'm french and i discover your channel with this song. Thanks for keeping dying culture alive.

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

This is even better than modern French songs and it makes me want to sing this even though I’m rubbish at French.

[@The_NordKnight]

Another wonderful piece, Farya Faraji might just be my favourite musician. 10/10 song!

[@pino6099]

Quality+ 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[@victorsoula8185]

Merci depuis la France mon cher, quel travail et quel clip ! Vous êtes le bienvenu chez nous pour allier les actes à ces belles paroles.

[@derniercaesar5319]

Yes, more medieval/Renaissance stuff, pls?😍

[@lietwin]

У Фарьи голос стал ещё лучше! Видно что он развивает свой вокал👍

[@Kaguyahime88]

My favorite singer sings my favourite French renaissance song! What a joy!!!!!!!

[@cyrilsegaut420]

Masterclass ! On veut plus de vidéos comme cela, vive le panache français !

[@janburzynski2520]

Niech żyje rozmach🍷🍷🥂

[@EmiliaFelcyn]

Niech żyje polska szlachta i kozactwo! 😂

[@alastor1510]

Encore un énorme tube de la part de notre barde international! Le clip est absolument hilarant, mes oreilles te remercient pour cette reprise tout à fait prodigieuse.

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

Seriously the production value is so 10/10 I could swear you could make a series of a French Bard travelling through Europe and the Middle East with these visuals as he goes and sings I would write the script, make an epic historical series (If only!) but that feast! What were you guys eating, a whole buffet!!! Awesome stuff!

[@user-jt2pc9mp8r]

This is one of those beautiful songs where I don’t know the language but I keep coming back to it. What a masterpiece. Currently learning Persian but I hope to move onto French someday

[@aisaishi4346]

i cannot express words, i have never loved french so much

[@Hussar117]

This makes me hungry, you guys most certainly had a great time making this

[@entrozxa]

Je pensais pas que tu allais faire une reprise de cette musique je suis agréablement surpris.

[@christinebordes9991]

What did I laugh! Thank you! What incredible actor you are in addition to so polyvalent musician and so particular singer. The most complete artist on youtube!

[@memduhakat]

Thanks to u goat composer, i have been studying French and Spanish for the last 6 months

[@YOUPIMatin123]

Thank you from a french. This was the most french song version of that song.

[@kwebax9909]

This man never stops producing bangers

[@onurerdogan1078]

Farya is doing full fledged music clips now lmao. It was a fun watch though, can clearly tell you've enjoyed making this Farya

[@mononcjipi]

Merci de faire rayonner notre culture M. Faraji ! Un gros merci de Drummondville !

[@roboye1653]

La meilleurs interprétation que j'ai trouvé de la chanson, cette vieille accent tout en restant compréhensible et de très beau instruments !

[@secretname2670]

lmao the first this I see when alt-tabbing to my browser to check my music playlist is "French Reneissance music" followed by images of Cheese. Truly classic

[@Alyesly]

C'est excellent. Merci pour ce magnifique hommage à la vielle chanson françoise ! ❤

[@TheKnifeRaven]

The music is beautiful and the visuals are hilariously fun. Merci!

[@SakeBlossom]

Everything about this is fabulous! The music, the set, the humor and that feast 😋 brilliant!

[@jeje1145]

Chapeau bas ! Le meilleur troubadour du monde connu 😄

[@Apogee012]

masterful cinematics! and audio as well. really like the upbeat in this.

[@chteerex]

Je l'écoute depuis 2 semaines, merci !

[@Zecterre]

Wow! Tourdion has long been a personal favorite of mine as both an enduring Renaissance piece and something that lends itself well to improvisation (particularly in the shower). Loved to hear your take on it.

[@paorich]

Très belle pièce à danser!

[@202mc4]

I fell in love with this song when I heard it in your video about microtones, and I have to say I really like your version.

[@pohiena2666]

Os instrumentos, as roupas, a cantoria, a comida e a guerra no final por ela. Vocês captaram bem a imagem que penso quando escuto a música.

[@miracafsin7386]

First like for you my favourite singer

[@kernicole]

Thank you. Many years ago I sang (perhaps not very well) in a choir in France, and this was one of our favourite numbers. What a pleasure to hear it again. Lovely!

[@sheherezahade]

I used to sing this in my choir group. It was one of my favorite songs, it was so fun to sing! Congrats on the vid, excellent job!

[@GOKUBLACK-xq4is]

CONSISTENCY on another Level

[@user-qi4en7vb3m]

Божественно! Браво!

[@lacreaturedumarais]

L'atmosphère on ne peut plus française est tout à fait comprise, heureux de voir qu'elle perdure également au Québec en attendant l'annexion, boujou de Normandie (Normandie qui mérite bien une reprise elle aussi)

[@blankahladka4804]

There is a czech version of this song, sang by the Spiritual kvintet. It is called ,,Batalion (Markytánka)" and the central part is: ,,Víno na kuráž a pomilovat markytánku, zítra do Burgund batalion zamíří. Víno na kuráž a k ránu dvě hodinky spánku, díky díky vám, královští verbíři..." 🙂

[@kevinreiss-coint2353]

Amazing ! I must say that you make an incredibly good ancient french accent.

[@MemoriaVivit]

Outstanding work mon ami !

[@user-mu1xm2il2c]

I usually do not leave a comment on videos but i have to say that i really like and respect your work Farya. Keep it up.

[@deboradesaint-d4611]

Comme si nous y étions....Merci!❤️🙏

[@jgr9851]

Petite soirée avec des potes, je lance la petite musique française, je tombe par hasard sur votre chaîne, vidéo sortie il y a 2 heures. Toujours en avance.

[@taha_bin_mehdi]

Good old François lowkey reminds me of the protagonist of Kingdom come deliverance

[@ommsterlitz1805]

Indeed he does ! François has come to see us !

[@Evan-iw4rz]

La chanson parfaite à boire quand on écoute du vin :)

[@robinrehlinghaus1944]

Incroyable! I have recently been listening to this piece quite often and found myself to enjoy it so much that it has been stuck in my head for a while now, and you making your version of it is a great gift - I must say it again and again, thank you so much for your work! It has been brightening my time ever since I found it.

[@Yasoshly]

10/10 . Would love to hear more Medieval & Rennaissance music projects in the near future. Peace!

[@kirkdougherty8690]

I think that I gained ten pounds just watching this. But, thank you for the song and the humor at the end. Wonderful as always.

[@khuzaitwarlord5742]

You are an amazing talent. Tourdion is one of my favorite songs from medieval. Thanks for the masterpiece.

[@MatthewVanston]

It's actually a Renaissance song.

[@khuzaitwarlord5742]

@@MatthewVanston :D thanks

[@simonidastankovic2627]

Fariya Farayi, brilliant as always ; Cette version est une merveille, Je dois dire!

[@sylnah1449]

Bravo ! Alors là bravo ! Il n'y a rien à redire ! 👍

[@2010turrican]

This is voiced version of French music in Civilization 6! Great job!

[@martuuk3598]

Très belle version !

[@imawaffle148]

If I'm not wrong, this is the Civilization 6 France theme!

[@user-ik5rp7dj9w]

La musica que expones en tus videos si capta la esencia que busca transmitir, ¡¡eres un grande en tu trabajo!!

[@ugurcansinturk8145]

How do you speak with such beautiful diction while imitating every language?

[@skillmaster4333]

Браво👏👏Браво искусство...

[@Sharcos1498]

Farya is watching my KZbin search history and making vids from it I swear.

[@gryfalis4932]

À cause de civilisation VI cette chanson est devenue le symbole de la France à l'internationale

[@kathleenkayk]

I believe I was born on the wrong century. I so love this era of music and all the arts. Thank you for posting. Enjoying this immensley.

[@clementboutaric3952]

We often sing this song with my friends when we feast. Very cool thing to do.

[@spinophrenic-fr7024]

Very sweet rendition, I also really like that you correctly explained the Pierre Attaignant confusion

[@merlekiss]

Great song, great voice, great arrangement, great video, great outfit!

[@ol.l.2167]

This is the first song that brought me to your channel and now I'm totally hooked! We sing this one with a choir of which I'm a member and I was looking for some additional information about the song. I found the information you provide here fascinating. Needless to say that I've now totally fallen into the rabbit hole, listening to all of your songs and traveling with your music through places and time. Congratulations on your work and thank you for the real music!

[@iberius9937]

The end was gold. 👌

[@marlenest-pierre3719]

Wow quel party 🥳 je me suis bien amusée!!! C’était splendide les gars !! Bravo 👏

[@nolitenemo]

I love your natural approach and so witty. The B section's phrasing was a revelation ( my French is very limited,mostly to fromage). Thanks! You cats are fierce. Meow! 🐒👑

[@balkanskikauboj]

J’adore ! N’arrête jamais 😍

[@glishev]

So beautiful! And then, so hilarious :D