Chansonnier Cordiforme

The Chansonnier Cordiforme (1470s), or Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu, is a cordiform (heart-shaped) music manuscript, Collection Henri de Rothschild MS 2973, held in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.^[3]

Chansonnier cordiforme
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Ms. Rothschild 2973
Paris, BnF, Ms. Rothschild 2973 f. 8v: O rosa bella by John Bedyngham
Also known as	Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu
Type	Chansonnier
Date	c.1475[1]
Place of origin	France, Savoy
Language(s)	French
Patron	Jean de Montchenu, Bishop of Agen then of Viviers[1]
Material	Parchment, ink, tempera, gold
Size	72 ff.; codex: 22×16 cm, leaves: 18.5×16 cm[2]: 12
Format	Cordiform
Contents	Music
Illumination(s)	2 miniatures, 254 illuminated initials; foliate borders with grotesques, all in colours and gold[2]: 14–15

The manuscript was commissioned in Savoy between 1460 and 1477 by canon Jean de Montchenu, later Bishop of Agen (1477) and Bishop of Vivier (1478–1497). An edition was prepared by Geneviève Thibault de Chambure in 1952, and the complete manuscript was recorded by Anthony Rooley and the Consort of Musicke.^[4]

Songs

The chansonnier comprises 43 songs by Dufay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Busnoys and others including several unica.