Clement Janequin (1485 – 1558), was a prolific composer of a particular form called the Parisian chanson. These chansons, which were influenced to some extent by the Italian madrigal but were simpler and more homophonic, were intended to evoke particular imagery – in this case, birds. For aficionados of choral music, this piece is certainly the best-known work on the program. It is in four parts, each in ABA form, in which the A sections use combinations of two recurring themes and the B themes are made up of stylized calls of the blackbird, the nightingale and the cuckoo.