Gautier de Dargies

He was one of the most prolific of the early trouvères; possibly twenty-five of his lyrics survive, twenty-two with accompanying melodies, in sixteen separate chansonniers.

He was a major influence on contemporary and later trouvères, and one of the most recorded of medieval vernacular composers.

[5] Gautier was the son of Sagalo, himself a younger son or scion of a cadet branch of the Dargies family, since Gautier's coat of arms, depicted in the Chansonnier du Roi and the Chansonnier d'Arras both display martlets of gules not sable, the sign of the main branch of a family.

[7] As a poet and musician, Gautier demonstrates skill and originality in his handling of traditional themes, especially metrically.

[6] One melodic setting of his song "Se j’ai esté lonc tens hors du päis" has the largest range of any surviving medieval lyric, the highest note lying a full two octaves above the final.