Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. He was the most renowned composer of the 14th century, due to his wide range of style, form, as well as his enormous output; in addition he was the most famous and historically significant representative of the musical movement known as the ars nova. Machaut was especially influential in the development of motets and secular song (particularly the formes fixes, the lai, virelai and ballade), and he also wrote the earliest complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass which can be attributed to a single composer. Events Beginning of the Renaissance. ... Events January 17 – Gregory XI enters Rome. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... A musician plays the vielle in a 14th century medieval manuscript. ... The ars nova was a stylistic period in music of the Late Middle Ages, centered in France, which encompassed the period from the publication of the Roman de Fauvel (1310 and 1314) until the death of Machaut (1377). ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... A Lai was a song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century. ... A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. ... The ballade was a verse form consisting of three (sometimes five) stanzas, each with the same metre, rhyme scheme and last line, with a shorter concluding stanza (an envoi). ... This article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. ...

Life

Machaut was probably born and educated in Rheims. He was employed as secretary to John, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, from 1323 to 1346; in addition he became a priest sometime during this period. Most likely he accompanied King John on his various trips, many of them military expeditions, around Europe. He was named as the canon of Verdun in 1330, Arras in 1332 and Rheims in 1333. By 1340 Machaut was living in Rheims, having relinquished his other canonic posts at the request of Pope Benedict XII. In 1346, King John was killed fighting at the Battle of Crécy, and Machaut, who was famous and much in demand, entered the service of various other aristocrats and rulers including the future King Charles V. Reims (English traditionally Rheims) is a city of north-eastern France, 98 miles east-northeast of Paris. ... John the Blind of Luxemburg (German: Johann der Blinde; Czech: Jan Lucemburský; August 10, 1296 – August 26, 1346) was King of Bohemia and Count of Luxemburg. ... Bohemia This article is about the historical region in central Europe; for other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ... Events Canonization of Saint Thomas Aquinas Lithuania: Vilnius becomes capital August 12 - The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) is signed, regulating the border for the first time Pharos of Alexandira Lighthouse (one of the Seven Wonders of the world) is destroyed by a series of earthquakes... // Events Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe Foundation of the University of Valladolid Foundation of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge August 26 Battle of Crecy after which Edward the Black Prince honored the bravery of John I, Count of Luxemburg... Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ... Verdun, (German: Wirten) sometimes also called Verdun-sur-Meuse, is a city and commune in northeast France, in the Meuse département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Events The Bulgars under Michael III are beaten by the Serbs at Velbuzhd, and large parts of Bulgaria fall to Serbia. ... Arras is a town and commune in northern France, préfecture (capital) of the Pas-de-Calais département. ... Events November 7 - Lucerne joins the Swiss Confederation with Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. ... Events End of the Kamakura period and beginning of the Kemmu restoration in Japan. ... Events Europe has about 74 million inhabitants. ... Benedict XII, né Jacques Fournier ( 1280s – April 25, 1342), was pope from 1334 to 1342. ... // Events Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe Foundation of the University of Valladolid Foundation of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge August 26 Battle of Crecy after which Edward the Black Prince honored the bravery of John I, Count of Luxemburg... Combatants Kingdom of England France Commanders Edward III of England Philip VI of France Strength about 12,000 30,000 to 40,000 Casualties 150-1,000 killed and wounded 6,000-20,000 killed and wounded The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346, near Cr... Charles V the Wise (French: Charles V le Sage) (January 31, 1338 – September 16, 1380) was king of France (1364 to 1380) and a member of the Valois Dynasty. ...

Machaut survived the Black Death which devastated Europe, and spent his later years living in Rheims composing and recopying his manuscripts. Evidently he had a late love affair with a 19-year-old girl, Péronne d'Armentières, which he immortalized in his autobiographical poem Le Voir Dit (probably 1361-1365). When he died in 1377, other composers such as François Andrieu wrote elegies lamenting his death. Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411). ... Events Founding of the University of Pavia, Italy. ... Events Foundation of the University of Vienna Births John de Ros, 6th Baron de Ros (died 1394) Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk (died 1399) Deaths May 17 - Louis VI the Roman, elector of Brandenburg (born 1328) July 27 - Duke Rudolf IV of Austria (born 1339) Categories: 1365 ... Events January 17 – Gregory XI enters Rome. ... François Andrieu was a composer, most likely French, of the late 14th century. ...

Poetry

His poetic output includes two large cycles, Le Remède de Fortune (The Cure of Ill Fortune) and Le Voir Dit (A True Story).

Music

Machaut was by far the most famous and influential composer of the 14th century. His secular song output includes monophonic lais and virelais, which continue, in updated forms, some of the tradition of the troubadors. However, his work in the polyphonic forms of the ballade and rondeau was more significant historically. In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... A Lai was a song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century. ... A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. ... A troubadour was a composer and performer of songs in particular styles during the Middle Ages in Europe. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... The ballade was a verse form consisting of three (sometimes five) stanzas, each with the same metre, rhyme scheme and last line, with a shorter concluding stanza (an envoi). ... A Rondeau is a form of French poetry with 13 lines written on two rhymes, as well as a corresponding musical form developed to set this characteristic verse structure. ...

Machaut also wrote the first cyclic Mass which can be attributed to a single composer, his Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady). This article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. ...

References and further reading

• Article "Guillaume de Machaut," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. ISBN 0393090906
• Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana.

External links

• Guillaume de Machaut FAQ and discography
• Electronic version of Messe Nostre-Dame