Note 8 — Chapter I · MUSIC OF THE EARLY AND MEDIÆVAL CHURCH AND EARLY SECULAR MUSIC

The melody of the celebrated ‘Lament’ over the death of Charlemagne, composed in 814 and sung by both Franks and Germans, is fortunately preserved to us. This remarkable melody (quoted by Naumann in his ‘History of Music,’ Vol. I, p. 199) has a compass of practically only three tones, yet in its simple outlines there is eloquent and dignified expression of the popular love for the great emperor. The melody of the more famous ‘Roland’s Song,’ also of Charlemagne’s time, has not survived, although it was sung as late as the battle of Poictiers in 1356.