The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1170 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony. Notre Dame de Paris, Western Facade. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Events December 29: Assassination of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury cathedral Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves the court of Henry II because of a string of infidelities. ... Events December 13 - Death of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IX of France is captured by Muslims and has to ransom himself Mabinogion appears Albertus Magnus isolates the element arsenic Vincent of Beauvais writes proto-encyclopedic The Greater Mirror City of Stockholm founded Alphonso III of Portugal takes Algarve...

The only composers whose names have come down to us from this time are Léonin and Pérotin. Both were mentioned by an anonymous English student, known as Anonymous IV, who was either working or studying at Notre Dame later in the 13th century. In addition to naming the two composers as "the best composers of organum," and specifying that they compiled the big book of organum known as the Magnus Liber, he provides a few tantalizing bits of information on the music and the principles involved in its composition. Pérotin is the first composer of organum quadruplum--four-voice polyphony--at least the first composer whose music has survived, since complete survivals of notated music from this time are spotty at best. Léonin (b. ... Pérotin was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Anonymous IV was an English student working at Notre Dame in Paris, most likely in the 1270s or 1280s. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... This article is about a style of music. ... The Magnus Liber or Magnus Liber Organi (Latin for Great Book of Organum) is a compilation of the medieval music known as organum. ... 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). ...

Léonin, Pérotin and the other anonymous composers whose music has survived are representatives of the era of European music history known as the ars antiqua. The motet was first developed during this period out of the clausula, which is one of the most frequently encountered types of composition in the Magnus Liber. Ars antiqua is a term which refers to the music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310, covering the period of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the subsequent years which saw the early development of the motet. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals (a caesura) or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ...

While music with notation has survived, in substantial quantity, the interpretation of this music, especially with regard to rhythm, remains controversial. Three music theorists describe the contemporary practice: Johannes de Garlandia, Franco of Cologne, and Anonymous IV; however they were all writing more than two generations after the music was written, and may have been imposing their current practice, which was quickly evolving, on music which was conceived differently. In much music of the Notre Dame School the lowest voices sings long note values while the upper voice or voices sing highly ornamented lines, which often use repeating patterns of long and short notes known as the "rhythmic modes." This marked the beginning of notation capable of showing relative durations of notes within and between parts (Hoppin 1978, p.221). Johannes de Garlandia (Johannes Gallicus) (fl. ... Franco of Cologne (fl. ... In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms) imposed on written notes which otherwise appeared to be identical. ...

Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt cite the music of the Notre Dame School as an influence on their work. Steve Reich (born October 3, 1936; last name pronounced []) is an American composer. ... Arvo Pärt photographed by Tonu Tormis Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer, often identified with the school of minimalism. ...

Sources and Further Reading

• 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. Frangipani Press, 1986. (ISBN 089917034X)
• Articles "Notre Dame School," "Organum," "Léonin," "Pérotin," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. (ISBN 1561591742)