Page "Adam de la Halle" Paragraph 3

At the court of Charles, after Charles became king of Naples, Adam wrote his Jeu de Robin et Marion, the most famous of his works.

Adam's shorter pieces are accompanied by music, of which a transcript in modern notation, with the original score, is given in Coussemaker's edition.

His Jeu de Robin et Marion is cited as the earliest French play with music on a secular subject.

The pastoral, which tells how Marion resisted the knight, and remained faithful to Robert the shepherd, is based on an old chanson, Robin m ' aime, Robin m ' a.

It consists of dialogue varied by refrains already current in popular song.

The melodies to which these are set have the character of folk music, and are more spontaneous and melodious than the more elaborate music of his songs and motets.

Fétis considered Le Jeu de Robin et Marion and Le Jeu de la feuillée forerunners of the comic opera .< ref > François-Joseph Fétis, Revue Musicale 1. 1, 1827.