Nymphes des bois

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A lament composed by Josquin des Prez on the occasion of the death of his predecessor Johannes Ockeghem in February 1497. The piece, based on a poem by Jean Molinet and including the funeral text Requiem Aeternam as a cantus firmus, is in five voices. In the first of its two parts Josquin cleverly mimics the contrapuntal style of the older man. This chanson is one of Josquin's best-known works, and one of the most haunting and moving memorial works ever penned.