A comparison between Guillaume
de Machaut’s La
Messe De Notre Dame, and Mutthuswamy Dikshitar’s Mahaganapathim – Naattai.
The medieval movement, or medieval music,
originated from the west, and was written during the Middle Ages. This happened
during the decline of the Roman Empire and ended in the early 15th
century. There were both sacred and secular music in this period. Monophony was
widely used, as seen in Gregorian chants, but was slowly developed into more polyphonic
styles as seen in the late medieval movement known as the Ars Nova. The Ars
Nova movement flourished in France in the 14th Century, and it encompassed
developments in rhythm, meter, harmony, and counterpoint that transformed the
art of composing music, as composers turned increasingly from religious to
secular themes. (Wulff)
Guillaume de Machaut was born in Champagne, France around the year 1300, and died in 1377. He held numerous high positions in Europe, such as the secretary of John of Luxembourg in 1323, as well as serving two kings of France during the wars and plagues in the 14th century. (McComb) Machaut was a well-known medieval poet and composer, whose musical works were part of the late medieval movement known as the Ars Nova. Polyphony was used. Machaut was one of the earliest known users of syncopated rhythm and isorhythm, and was at the forefront of rhythmic experimentation in both his religious and his secular music. (Wulff) Machaut was notorious for his most famous work, La Messe De Notre Dame, which was composed before 1365. This work broke boundaries, as it was written in a polyphonic structure instead of a typical monophonic way that most masses were written in. It is also one of the first few masses to be written wholly by a single composer, as most masses were usually assembled by different composers. Together with inventive rhythmic structural techinques, this mass is a “milestone in the evolution of the Mass as a musical form in its own right”. (Wulff)
Guillaume de Machaut was born in Champagne, France around the year 1300, and died in 1377. He held numerous high positions in Europe, such as the secretary of John of Luxembourg in 1323, as well as serving two kings of France during the wars and plagues in the 14th century. (McComb) Machaut was a well-known medieval poet and composer, whose musical works were part of the late medieval movement known as the Ars Nova. Polyphony was used. Machaut was one of the earliest known users of syncopated rhythm and isorhythm, and was at the forefront of rhythmic experimentation in both his religious and his secular music. (Wulff) Machaut was notorious for his most famous work, La Messe De Notre Dame, which was composed before 1365. This work broke boundaries, as it was written in a polyphonic structure instead of a typical monophonic way that most masses were written in. It is also one of the first few masses to be written wholly by a single composer, as most masses were usually assembled by different composers. Together with inventive rhythmic structural techinques, this mass is a “milestone in the evolution of the Mass as a musical form in its own right”. (Wulff)
