In 1567, Baïf created in Paris the Academy of Music and Poetry with the scope of sharing views and exchanging good offices between musicians and poets. The Academy met in the poet’s house, rue des Fossés-Saint-Victor, where the house of English nuns from the order of St Augustine was built, and where George Sand will grow up, a real house for scholars. Under every window beautiful inscriptions were written down in large characters, taken from Anacreon, Homer, Pindare

 

pleasantly drawing the attention of the learned passersby.

                                            

The dream of Baïf was not restricted to revitalize French poetry according to the ancient models. The founder of the Academy wished to reform the language by simplifying orthography and by identifying long and short syllables of every word by a system of accents. Baïf wanted to combine Poetry “mesurée à l’antique”, with Music “mesurée à l’antique”. In order to achieve this, he invited in his Academy the best poet et the most talented polyphonist of his time: Pierre de Ronsard and Claude le Jeune.

 

Compared to the divine Rolando (di Lasso) for his maestria, Le Jeune managed to accomplish this miracle:

 

Clodin’s music is not only equal to the one of the Ancients, but also much more excellent and able to create beautiful effects, in such a way that one can listen to the body married to its soul, which until then had always been separated from it. (Le Printemps, 1603)

 

 

Many musicians of this time with solemn and soft chords

And beautiful singing ravish everybody’s soul.

The one who came to listen to such a song

Remained in ecstasy at this sweet sound.

But as soon as Claudin with measured movements

Honored the chords of this beautiful and harmonious song,

What ravished hearts and minds,

Seemed suddenly worthless.

With the efforts of his song, he sends the soul wherever he wants to:

Now in grief, death he drains it, now in joy he moves it.

He can reanimate the saddest heart,

He can bring back sweetness to the furious.

(Odet de la Noue)