Virelai

One of the most famous composers of virelai is Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377), who also wrote his own verse; 33 separate compositions in the form survive by him.

Other composers of virelai include Jehannot de l'Escurel, one of the earliest (d. 1304), and Guillaume Dufay (c. 1400–1474), one of the latest.

Within each stanza, the structure is that of the bar form, with two sections that share the same rhymes and music (Stollen), followed by a third (Abgesang).

"Douce Dame Jolie" by Guillaume de Machaut is an example of a virelai with rhymes AAAB in the refrain, and AAB (with a shortened second verse) in each of the stollen sections.

From the 15th century onwards the virelai was no longer regularly set to music but became a purely literary form, and its structural variety proliferated.