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Guillaume de Machaut
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Guillaume de Machaut was a poet and composer, served as secretary to King John of Bohemia and became a canon of Reims cathedral. He had his work collected in costly manuscripts, as a result of which more of his work has survived than that of any contemporary. His Messe de Nostre Dame, from the early 1360s, is the oldest complete polyphonic mass by a single composer. He also wrote love songs in fixed forms such as the ballade, rondeau and virelai.
Listening
Listening tip. Listen to the Kyrie and hear how four voices make raw, open sonorities that sound very different from later harmony.
Messe de Nostre Dame: Kyrie (Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès) · Guillaume de Machaut, 1360
Douce dame jolie (Early Music Consort of London, David Munrow) · Guillaume de Machaut, 1350- Ma fin est mon commencement (Early Music Consort of London, David Munrow) · Guillaume de Machaut, 1370
Mentioned in other articles
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Guillaume de Machaut, a canon in Reims, built motets on recurring rhythmic patterns, called isorhythm.