Was Guillaume de Machaut a troubadour?
Music. As a composer of the 14th century, Machaut’s secular song output includes monophonic lais and virelais, which continue, in updated forms, some of the tradition of the troubadours.
What was Guillaume de Machaut education?
He probably received his early education in Reims, and he may have received a master of arts degree from the University of Paris, but the evidence for that degree is weak. By about 1323 he had entered the service of John, king of Bohemia, working first as a clerk but eventually rising to the rank of secretary.
Why are Gregorian chants so important?
Gregorian chant played a fundamental role in the development of polyphony. Gregorian chant was traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys in churches, or by women and men of religious orders in their chapels. It is the music of the Roman Rite, performed in the Mass and the monastic Office.
What does Messe de Nostre Dame mean?
Mass of Our Lady
Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377).
Who was Guillaume de Machaut and what did he do?
Guillaume de Machaut. Machaut is one of the earliest composers on whom substantial biographical information is available, and Daniel Leech-Wilkinson called him “the last great poet who was also a composer”. Well into the 15th century, Machaut’s poetry was greatly admired and imitated by other poets, including Geoffrey Chaucer .
What kind of music did Jean Machaut write?
He is a part of the musical movement known as the ars nova. Machaut helped develop the motet and secular song forms (particularly the lai and the formes fixes: rondeau, virelai and ballade). Machaut wrote the Messe de Nostre Dame, the earliest known complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer.
When did Guillaume de Machaut compose the mass of Our Lady?
Machaut’s cyclic setting of the Mass, identified in one source as the Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady), was composed in the early 1360s probably for Rheims Cathedral.
What are some examples of Machaut’s formes fixes?
In these genres, Machaut retained the basic formes fixes, but often utilized creative text setting and cadences. For example, most rondeau phrases end with a long melisma on the penultimate syllable. However, a few of Machaut’s rondeaux, such as R18 “Puis qu’en oubli,” are mostly syllabic in treatment.