Background
Guillaume was born into a wealthy bourgeois family of Arras, the son of Philippe le Vinier and Alent.
Guillaume was born into a wealthy bourgeois family of Arras, the son of Philippe le Vinier and Alent.
He has left compositions in all the major subgenres of trouvère poetry: chansons d"amour, jeux-partis, a lai, a descort, a chanson de mal mariée and a ballade. He wrote Marian songs and even an imaginary dialogue with a nightingale. His work can be dated with some precision: the poem "En tous tens" is quoted in the Roman de la violette, which was written around 1225.
The two exchanged at least two jeux-partis: "Frere, ki fait mieus" and "Sire frere, fetes m"un jugemen".
(The first served as a model for the anonymous song "A ce que je vuel comencier") Although a clergyman, Guillaume was also married. Guillaume was well-connected to the other trouvères active in and around Arras.
He composed jeux-partis, Andrieu Contr and Adam de Givenchi for certain, and may also have collaborated with Moniot d"Arras, Thomas Herier and the King of Navarre. Colart, Adam and Jehan Erart all dedicated works to him.
The unaccredited Marian song "Vierge pucele roiaus", which is modelled on the Old Occitan piece "Lo clar tems vei brunezir" by Raimon Jordan, may belong to Guillaume.
Most of Guillaume"s music is in bar form, although "" is given partially in mensural notation in the Chansonnier Cangé. His melodies typically have a range greater than an octave. According to Karp, "modal interpretation of the melodies does not seem appropriate".