P. des Molins (composer)

P. des Molins, probably Pierre des Molins, (fl. mid-to-late 14th c.) was a Parisian composer of the fourteenth century. His name is given as "P. des Molins" in the Chantilly Codex and as "Mulino" in the codex, Paris, Bibl. Nat. MS ital. 568. He is the composer of two works, both among the most transmitted pieces of fourteenth-century music, particularly in Italy and German-speaking lands: the ballade De ce que fol pensé and the rondeau Amis, tout dous [le] vis.

No secure biographical information about Molins exists. In several sources, the title of Amis, tout dous [le] vis is given as "The mills of Paris," (Molendium de Paris, Die molen van Pariis, and El Molin de Paris), probably misconstruing the name of the composer (Molins means mill) as the title of the piece.Craig Wright has suggested that he was the musician in the court of Jean II, King of France, named "Perotus de Molyno," placing him in England from 1357 to 1359. The reference to the "languid en estrange contrée" in De ce que fol could refer to the captivity of the court under King Edward III. Earlier, Suzanne Clercx and Richard Hoppin suggested that he could have been the Petrus de Molendino, civis parisiensis mentioned in connection with Pope Clement VI in 1345.Ursula Günther has connected him tentatively with a Perrotum Danielis alias del moli from a document from 1387 or as the chancellor of the Duke of Berry, Philippe de Moulins mentioned in 1368 and 1371.

De ce que fol pensé appears in twelve sources. In one of these sources, Strasbourg 222, it is attributed to Guillaume de Machaut, an ascription universally rejected by scholars. Amis, tous dous [le] vis appears in eight musical sources and is cited in Il Solazzo by Simone de' Prodenzani.

De ce que fol pensé has been recorded (among others) by Capilla Flamenca (Zodiac, 2004), Ensemble Alta Musica (Wolkenstein, 2002), Ensemble Project Ars Nova (Ars Magis Subtiliter), Liber Unusualis (Unrequited, 2003), and Alla Francesca (D'amours loial servant, 1999).

Amis, tous dous was recorded by Ensemble Alta Musica (Alta musica), Early Music Consort of London (Art of Courtly Love, 1973) and Andreas Scholl & Shield of Harmony (Oswald von Wolkenstein - Songs of Myself, 2010).

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