The Grammy-winning vocal ensemble offers a first taste of its forthcoming album devoted to the great 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut.
For this week’s Moto Recs, we travel back to the 14th century with Chanticleer and one of Guillaume de Machaut’s best-known secular songs, Douce dame jolie.
Led by Music Director Tim Keeler, the American vocal ensemble brings its distinctive sound to Machaut’s celebrated chanson of courtly love, in a new video produced by Fine Grain Pictures. Built around the lover’s devotion to an unattainable lady, Douce dame jolie belongs to the secular side of a composer whose music encompassed both the sacred world of the Church and the refined culture of medieval courtly poetry.
The performance is also the first single from Chanticleer’s forthcoming album Machaut, due for release on 11 September 2026 on Delos. The recording places Douce dame jolie alongside other secular chansons exploring desire, infatuation, despair and hope, as well as Machaut’s monumental Messe de Nostre Dame, one of the defining works of medieval polyphony.
The album follows Chanticleer’s first release for Delos, Joy to the World.
Watch Chanticleer perform Douce dame jolie in the video below.
Those wishing to hear more can stream or pre-save Machaut ahead of its September release.
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