Jeff Ashton playing his new Maxwell Sipe guitar. Recorded at the 2014 Marylhurst Handmade Instrument Show.

Jeff plays two versions of Josquin des Prez’s Mille Regretz. He starts with his own guitar arrangement of the original four-part chanson by Josquin.

Jeff follows with the 1538 vihuela adaptation by Luis de Narváez, called Cancion del Emperador, later transcribed for guitar and made famous by Segovia.

As a reference for Jeff’s arrangement of Mille Regretz, here’s the work for four voices:

Text:
Mille regretz de vous abandonner
Et d’eslonger vostre fache amoureuse,
Jay si grand dueil et paine douloureuse,
Quon me verra brief mes jours definer.

In Modern French:
Mille regrets de vous abandonner
et d’être éloigné de votre visage amoureux.
J’ai si grand deuil et peine douloureuse
qu’on me verra vite mourir.

English Translation:
A thousand regrets at deserting you
and leaving behind your loving face,
I feel so much sadness and such painful distress,
that it seems to me my days will soon dwindle away.