The History of Music - 5

Hoday,

Some of the best Motets were written by Phillip DeVitry while Isorhythm continued as the dominant form in music composition.

Another composer who found notoriety during this time, Guilliame DeMachaut, 1300-1377 found his way through the modern years to become one of NPR Radio's the number one greatest composers of all time. So for those who think Michael Jackson was the greatest composer of all time you may want to wait 633 years to see if his name still 'pops' up.

Let's begin with the piece, Missa de Notre Dame. This piece was a major milestone in history as it was the first polyphonic setting of the mass ordinary. If you need more information of the history of church music please read Ideas and Styles of Western Musical Tradition by Douglas Seaton.

From the early composers Leonin and Perotin the use of polyphony was limited to alleluias and graduals but never on the Kyrie or anything in the mass proper. This was the first attempt, as we know it, to set the mass ordinary to polyphony. There are even motivic connections between the movements perhaps making this one of the first full scale pieces of music.

The piece is Isorhythmic and not only in the tenor but also in the contra tenor, which is a new voice we begin to see more of and what will eventually become known as the bass.

You can also see how DeMachaut has begun 4-part choral harmony. The tenor and contratenor interact and even cross voices. Go ahead and take a look at the piece below.





So we have secular text in the secular form and you can see 1,4,and 7 for the A section and then how the text interrelates. Measure 21 is the B section and so on; in measure 8-9 you'll see musica-ficta with the sharps. But one of the most interesting things about the piece is in the text. The text talks about the forms of the songs, "My end is my beginning." And you will see a retrograde from the beginning.

DeMachaut was also a trouvere in the northern part of France and wrote secular songs. Because he lived in a later period of time than DiVitry, and even though he was active as a sacred composer, he was one of a whole trend of composers who began to set secular songs polyphonically. He may have also used fixed compositional forms such as the Rondaeu or the Veralay as a base to his secular music. Remember however this was music in France so we should also talk about what was happening in Italy at this time as well. So next time we talk, let's make about the Italian Trecento.

See You.