Vireli, Virelai. Like the ballette [see Ballade], the mid-13th-c. vireli and later virelai were originally dance-song forms extending the rondet de carole [see Rondeau] over several stanzas with intervening refrain, but lacking an internal refrain. Vireli was probably once an euphonic refrain based on virer, ‘to gyrate’, subsequently crossed with lai, ‘lay’. The virelai, whose popularity rose from the early 14th c. but waned in the 15th, was a less fixed form than the rondeau or ballade. It had generally shorter, heterometric lines and could be one to seven or more stanzas long. Length of refrain and stanza was also variable. Deschamps innovated by using two oneline refrains to end alternate stanzas.
[Peter Davies]
