Pérotin was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century. He was the most famous member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony. World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (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. ... 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. ... 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). ...

Pérotin's works are preserved in the Magnus Liber, the "Great Book" of early polyphonic church music, which was in the collection of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The Magnus Liber also contains the works of his slightly earlier contemporary Léonin. However, attempts by scholars to place Pérotin at Notre Dame have been inconclusive, all evidence being circumstantial, and very little is known of his life. His dates of activity can be approximately established from some late 12th century edicts of the Bishop of Paris, Odo of Sully, which mention organum triplum and organum quadruplum, and his known collaboration with poet Philip the Chancellor, whose Beata viscera he could not have set before about 1220. The bishop's edicts are quite specific, and suggest that Pérotin's organum quadruplum Viderunt omnes was written for Christmas 1198, and his other organum quadruplum Sederunt Principes was composed for St. Stephen's Day (December 26), 1199), for the dedication of a new wing of the Notre Dame Cathedral. His music, as well as that of Léonin and their anonymous contemporaries, have been grouped together as the School of Notre Dame. A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The archbishop of Paris is one of twenty-three archbishops in France. ... Centuries: 12th century - 13th century - 14th century Decades: 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s - 1220s - 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s Years: 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 - 1220 - 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 See also: 1220 state leaders The world in 1220 Middle Ages in Europe Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) Events Mongols... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Toba of Japan Emperor Tsuchimikado ascends to the throne of Japan January 8 - Pope Innocent III ascends Papal Throne Births August 24 - Alexander II of Scotland (d. ... December 26, the day following Christmas Day, is called St. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... Events John Lackland, becomes King of England Births Deaths 6 April - Richard I of England, from a crossbow during a minor siege in France Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan Heads of states England - Richard I the Lionheart, King of England (reigned 1189... 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. ...

Perotin composed organum, the earliest type of polyphonic music; previous European music, such as Gregorian and other types of chant, had been monophonic. He pioneered the styles of organum triplum and organum quadruplum (three- and four-part polyphony); in fact his Sederunt principes and Viderunt omnes are among only a few organa quadrupla known. He was one of very few composers of his day whose name has been preserved, and can be reliably attached to individual compositions; this is due to the testimony of an anonymous English student at Notre Dame known as Anonymous IV, who wrote about him. Organum (stress is on first syllable: OR-ga-num) is a technique of singing developed in the Middle Ages and is an early form of polyphonic music. ... 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). ... Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves organized sound, though definitions may vary. ... Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong, and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ... A chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, either on a single pitch or with a simple notes and often including a great deal of repetition or statis. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... Anonymous IV was an English student working at Notre Dame in Paris, most likely in the 1270s or 1280s. ...

A prominent feature of his compositional style was to take a simple, well-known melody and stretch it out in time, so each syllable was hundreds of seconds long, and then use each of those held notes (the tenor, Latin for "holder", or cantus firmus) as the basis for rhythmically complex, interweaving lines above it. The result was that one or more vocal parts sang free, quickly moving lines ("discants") over the chant below, which was extended to become a slowly shifting drone. In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as a countertenor). ... In music, cantus firmus is the basic material to be set using polyphony. ...

His music influenced modern "minimalist" composers such as Steve Reich, indeed, it can be argued that Perotin himself was a proto-minimalist. His works include the four-voice Viderunt omnes and Sederunt principes; the three-voice Alleluia, Posui adiutorium, Alleluia, Nativitas, and nine others attributed to him by contemporary scholars on stylistic grounds, all in the organum style; the two-voice Dum sigillum summi Patris, and the monophonic Beata viscera in the conductus style. (The conductus sets a rhymed Latin poem called a sequence to a repeated melody, much like a contemporary hymn.) Anonymous IV called him "Perotin Magister", which means Pérotin the master or expert. This article is about minimalism in art and design. ... Steve Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Organum (stress is on first syllable: OR-ga-num) is a technique of singing developed in the Middle Ages and is an early form of polyphonic music. ... In medieval music, conductus is a type of liturgical vocal composition for one or more voices. ... Latin is the language that was originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... This is a page about mathematics. ... See also hymn - a program to decrypt iTunes music files. ...

References and further reading

• Article "Pérotin", 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
• Author: "Pérotin", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed February 6, 2005), (subscription access) (http://www.grovemusic.com)
• (1) Paul Hillier, program notes to Perotin, CD ECM New 837-751-2

Recordings

• Perotin. The Hilliard Ensemble, CD ECM New Series, 837-751-2