La chanson & la danse. Paris, vers 1540

Mid-16th-century Paris was a very active and innovative musical center, with profane vocal polyphony as a major focus under the aegis of such figures as Clément Janequin and Claudin de Sermisy. As intellectual property was a completely anachronic idea at this time, these pieces widely circulated throughout the country, in the form of arrangements or transcriptions often meant for dancing, aroused from the first magnates of nascent musical printing presses such as Pierre Attaingnant.