Chanter sur le livre - 4e édition, revue et augmentée: Manuel pratique d’improvisation polyphonique de la Renaissance
Chanter sur le livre - 4e édition, revue et augmentée: Manuel pratique d’improvisation polyphonique de la Renaissance
A practical manual for cantus firmus counterpoint and vocal improvisation
Book Description
Chanter sur le livre by Barnabé Janin is a practical manual for Renaissance polyphonic improvisation, cantus firmus counterpoint, and historical vocal practice. It teaches how singers can add voices to a written melody and turn counterpoint into a living musical skill.
Who this book is for?
This book is ideal if you want to:
Learn Renaissance improvisation through practice.
Sing above a cantus firmus with confidence.
Study polyphony as a living craft.
Improve your counterpoint beyond rules.
Explore historical composition from within.
What will you learn?
In Chanter sur le livre, you will learn how Renaissance singers, improvisers, teachers, and composers could create polyphony directly from a written melody.
The book shows that counterpoint was not only a written exercise. It was also a real time skill, based on listening, memory, consonance, dissonance, and melodic invention around a cantus firmus.
You will also learn how improvised polyphony connects theory with performance. Instead of treating Renaissance music as a beautiful museum object, Janin invites you into the workshop where the music was actually made.
Book Overview
This review of Chanter sur le livre can be summarized simply: it is one of the most practical modern gateways into Renaissance counterpoint, vocal improvisation, and historical composition methods.
The full title is Chanter sur le livre - 4e édition, revue et augmentée: Manuel pratique d’improvisation polyphonique de la Renaissance. This fourth edition was published by Symétrie in 2025 and presents the book as an expanded practical manual for Renaissance polyphonic improvisation.
The core idea is wonderfully direct. In Renaissance practice, to sing on the book meant to add one or more voices to a written melody. That melody could be plainchant, a psalm, a chanson, or another form of cantus firmus.
As a summary, the book helps the reader move from basic contrapuntal thinking toward more fluent musical invention. It deals with canons, simple counterpoint, florid counterpoint, and the habits needed to sing polyphony in real time.
Is it worth it? Yes, especially if you want to stop seeing Renaissance counterpoint as a page full of prohibitions. This book makes the old art feel active, vocal, and surprisingly alive.
Topics Covered
Practical training in Renaissance improvisation over a written melody.
Exercises for singing above a cantus firmus with control.
Methods for building simple counterpoint in real time.
Work on canons, imitation, and contrapuntal memory.
Introduction to florid counterpoint and melodic ornament.
Historical insight into vocal polyphony as practice.
A bridge between music theory, performance, and composition.
About the Author
Barnabé Janin is a French musician, teacher, singer, and specialist in early music, Renaissance vocal practice, and improvised counterpoint. He is associated with the revival of super librum cantare, the historical practice of improvising polyphony over a written melody.
Janin’s profile is important because Chanter sur le livre is not a purely academic book. It comes from a musician who treats counterpoint, polyphony, improvisation, and historical theory as things to be sung and practiced, not only described.
The book also involves two major names in this field. Philippe Canguilhem is closely linked with research on Renaissance improvisation and sixteenth century musical practice. Jean-Yves Haymoz is strongly associated with the modern teaching and revival of Renaissance improvised counterpoint.
Why this book is worth it
Chanter sur le livre is worth it because it restores a missing dimension of counterpoint. Many students learn Renaissance style by writing exercises in notebooks. This book reminds us that much of that knowledge once lived in voices, ears, memory, and practice.
For composers, it offers a direct route into historical composition. You learn how one line can generate another, how a cantus firmus can become a full polyphonic texture, and how rules can slowly become musical reflexes.
For performers, it opens a more active relationship with Renaissance vocal music. Instead of only reproducing written pieces, you begin to understand the habits that made such pieces possible.
For readers of Musicus Practicus, this book fits naturally beside partimento, counterpoint, harmony, and practical historical methods. It teaches the same essential lesson: music theory becomes powerful when it becomes something you can do.
Buy this Book on Amazon
You can buy Chanter sur le livre by Barnabé Janin on Amazon. If you study Renaissance counterpoint, polyphonic improvisation, cantus firmus, or historical composition methods, this is a highly relevant book to add to your working library.
FAQ on this Book
What is Chanter sur le livre about?
The book is about singing improvised polyphony over a written melody. It teaches how Renaissance musicians could create counterpoint directly from a cantus firmus.
Is this book useful for singers?
Yes. The book is especially valuable for singers interested in early music, Renaissance vocal practice, and creating polyphony in real time.
Is this book only for specialists?
No. It is detailed, but it is also practical. It can help students, teachers, performers, and composers explore Renaissance polyphony from the inside.
Continue Your Journey as a Musicus Practicus
If you desire to stop looking at early music from the outside and wish to step inside the musical mind of the 15th and 16th centuries, there are three distinct ways we can work together to elevate your skills:
- 1-to-1 Musical Apprenticeship: For a personalized, tailor-made path, book private lessons with me. We will work directly on your specific goals, from counterpoint to improvisation, Renaissance and Baroque composition, theory and practice, exactly as a master and apprentice would have done centuries ago.
- Patreon Support & Exclusive Content: Join our growing community of true Musici Prattici on Patreon!
Gain access to exclusive insights, behind-the-scenes materials, and support the ongoing creation of these deep-dive musical analyses.- The Musicus Practicus Academy (MPA): Enroll in my comprehensive on-demand courses.
Start with the free levels, and master the art of Renaissance and Baroque music step-by-step at your own pace.
All Rights Reserved - Richardus Cochlearius 2026