L'homme armé
L'homme armé was probably the most widely set of the secular songs used as a cantus firmus for the Mass. Thirty-one such settings are known. Most early renaissance masters each set at least one mass on this melody; and the practice lasted into the seventeenth century, with a late setting by Carissimi.
The earliest known use of the melody is as a chanson by Robert Morton.
The song's opening chorus is:-
- L'homme, l'homme l'homme armé
- l'homme armé doibt on doubter, doibt on doubter
- and
- On a fait partout crier
- Que chascun se viengne armer
- D'un haubregon de fer...
The origins of the popularity of the song and the importance of the armed man are the subject of various theories. Some have suggested that the 'armed man' represents St Michael the Archangel (1), whilst others have suggested it merely represents the name of a popular tavern (Maison L'Homme Arme) near Dufay's rooms in Cambrai (2). It may also represent the arming for a new crusade against the Turks (3).
References
- 1 Penguin History Of Music Vol 2 ed Robertson & Stevens (1963)
- 2 Pryer's article on Dufay in New Oxford Companion to Music ed Arnold (1983)
- 3 Lockwood in New Grove (quoted by Peter Phillips)