14th Century Ars Nova. Motet and Mass

FOURTEENTH CENTURY
MUSIC
Increased attention to time, secular

song, though much sacred music
continued to be composed.
WHAT’S “NEW” IN ARS NOVA?
ARS ANTIQUA ARS NOVA
Note values determined by Note values are intrinsic to the
context note shape
Values subdivided by 3 only Values subdivided by 2 or 3.
(Trinity=perfection) 5 Note values:
4 note values: Double long
Double long Long
Long Breve
Breve Semibreve
Semibreve Minim
Patterned tenors Isorhythmic tenors
FOURTEENTH CENTURY
ROMAN de FAUVEL
Flatterie (Flattery)
Avarice (Greed)
Villanie (Villany)
Variété (Fickleness)
Envie (Envy)
Lâcheté (Cowardice)
FOURTEENTH CENTURY
ROMAN de FAUVEL
Avarice (Greed)
Villanie (Villany)
Envie (Envy)
ROMAN de FAUVEL
Avarice (Greed)
Villanie (Villany)
Envie (Envy)
Fond Français 146, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale

ROMAN de FAUVEL
Avarice (Greed)
Villanie (Villany)
Envie (Envy)
Fond Français 146, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale

ARS NOVA: TWO TREATISES
Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361)
Ars Nova (c. 1320)
Jean de Muris (c1290- c1355)
Ars Novae Musicae (1319)

ARS NOVA: 2 TREATISES
Ars Nova (c. 1320)

“This completes the ars nova of
Magister Philippe de Vitry”
ARS NOVA
Ars Nova (c. 1320)

“This completes the ars nova of
Magister Philippe de Vitry”
Vitry’s compositions among the 169 pieces of

music in Fauvel
ARS NOVA
MENSURATION SIGNS
MODE = Division of the Long

TIME = Division of the Breve
PROLATION= Division of the Semibreve

Major / Minor
MODE TIME PROLATION
Division of Long Division of Breve Division of Semibreve
Perfect : Imperfect Major : Minor
ARS NOVA
MENSURATION SIGNS
Temporary changes of Mode or Time

are indicated by
COLORATION
Use of Red Ink, rather than Black

ARS NOVA
Shifting emphasis to duple meters was
criticized by Jacque de Liège
“Perfection is brought low, and imperfection

exalted.”
ISORHYTHM
Motets of Philippe de Vitry some of the earliest

uses of ISORHYTHM
ISORHYTHM
Motets of Philippe de Vitry some of the earliest

uses of ISORHYTHM
Rhythmic structure of the tenor of motet

ISORHYTHM
TALEA
“cuttings” (pl. taleae)
Rhythmic pattern
COLOR
“color” (pl. colores)
The melodic notes of the tenor
ISORHYTHM
TALEA
Rhythmic pattern
The tenor is laid out in segments of

identical rhythm.
ISORHYTHM
TALEA
Rhythmic pattern
Taleae in tenors in 1200s = short patterns

Taleae in tenors in 1300s = longer patterns
ISORHYTHM
TALEA
Rhythmic pattern
The slow pace of the tenor makes it less a

melody and more of a foundational
structure.
ISORHYTHM
COLOR
“color” (pl. colores)
The melodic notes of the tenor
The color may repeat,

but not necessarily in line with the rhythm.
ISORHYTHM
“In arboris / Tuba sacre fidei / Virgo sum”

attributed to Vitry
ISORHYTHM

attributed to Vitry
Tenor refers to the Virgin Mary

Duplum (Motetus) and Triplum also refer to
Virgin Mary
ISORHYTHM

attributed to Vitry
The tenor includes

two statements of the color
6 repetitions of the talea

ISORHYTHM

attributed to Vitry
Coloration indicates changes from duple to

triple
Introitus
HOCKET
“Hiccup”
Two voices alternating in rapid

succession, each resting while the other
sings
The device was developed in the thirteenth

century
ARS NOVA HARMONIC PRACTICES
Greater prominence of imperfect consonances
Cadences required perfect consonances,

but their resolution could be delayed
Parallel octaves and fifths continued to be used

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
The leading composer of the French Ars Nova
Born in northeastern France, middle-class
family Educated as a cleric and took Holy
Orders
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
1323–1340, worked as secretary for

John of Luxembourg, King of
Bohemia,
Resided in Reims after 1340
Royal patrons supported him, including the

kings of Navarre and France
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
First composer to compile his

complete works
and to discuss his working method
He wrote his poems first, then the music

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
First composer to compile his

complete works
and to discuss his working method
He wrote his poems first, then the music
Liked music “sweet and pleasing”

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
He paid for the preparation of

several illuminated manuscripts of his
works
He composed many major musical works

and numerous narrative poems
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
23 motets, most from early in his
career 20 are isorhythmic, 3 of which
use
secular songs as tenors.
Often include hockets

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
Messe de Nostre Dame
“Mass of Our Lady”
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
Probably the earliest polyphonic setting of the

Mass Ordinary to be composed by a single
composer and conceived as a unit
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Santus, Agnus Dei

&
Ite missa est
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
In the fourteenth century, anonymous

composers in France, England, and Italy
set individual movements polyphonically.
A few mass “cycles” were assembled from

individual movements
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
Composed for the cathedral in

Reims
Performed at a Mass for the Virgin Mary

celebrated every Saturday
After Machaut’s death, an oration for

Machaut’s soul was added to the service,
and performed until fifteenth century
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
UNIFYING DEVICES
Recurring motives
Tonal focus on D in the first three

movements and on F in the last
three
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
UNIFYING DEVICES
All six movements are for four voices,

including a contratenor (“against the
tenor”) that moves in the same range as the
tenor.
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
UNIFYING DEVICES
Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and

Ite, missa est are isorhythmic.
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
KYRIE
Chant Kyrie Cunctipotens

Genitor
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
KYRIE
TENOR: 28 notes of chant, 4-note

talea x 7
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
KYRIE
TENOR: 28 notes of chant, 4-note talea x 7

Contratenor also isorhythmic
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
KYRIE
TENOR: 28 notes of chant, 4-note talea x 7

Contratenor also isorhythmic
Upper voices partially isorhythmic
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
Kyrie I: Polyphony, Chant,

Polyphony
Christe: Chant, Polyphony, Chant
Kyrie II: Polyphony, Chant

Kyrie III: Polyphony
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
Polyphonic songs (chansons,

“songs”) in the formes fixes
GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
“Treble-dominated” songs
major innovation of the Ars
Nova
The treble or cantus carries the text

Slower untexted tenor supports the
cantus.
A contratenor may be added,

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
RONDEAUX
Two musical phrases ( A and B)
Text includes a “refrain” (AB)
Form: [AB] aA [ab] [AB]

GUILLAUME de
MACHAUT (c. 1300-
1377)
RONDEAUX
“Rose, liz, printemps, verdure”

A Rose, liz, printemps, verdure,
Fleur, baume et tres douce odour,
B Bele, passés en douçour,
a Et tous les biens de Nature,

Avez dont je vous aour.
Fleur, baume et tres douce
oudour.
a Et quant toute creature
Seurmonte vostre valour,
b Bien puis dire et par honnour:

Fleur, baume et tres douce oudour,
B Bele, passés en douçour.
ARS NOVA ARS SUBTILIOR
Composers at the court of the Avignon popes

across southern France and northern Italy
cultivated complex secular music.
Palace of the Popes,
Avignon
ARS SUBTILIOR a continuation of Ars Nova

in
secular polyphonic songs in the formes fixes
and
developing the complexities of Ars Nova notation
Love songs intended for an elite

audience
Pieces notated in fanciful shapes
Rhythmically complex
“Belle, bonne, sage”
Baude Cordier
Coloration
“Tout par
compas” Baude
Cordier
“Tout par
compas” Baude
Cordier
It’s a
Rondeau!
Performing Fourteenth-Century Music
There was no uniform way to perform

polyphonic music.
Pictorial and literary sources indicate vocal,

instrumental, and mixed groups.
All vocal performance was most common.

INSTRUMENTS
Instruments separated into 2 categories:
HAUT and BAS

INSTRUMENTS
HAUT (“high”) instruments were

loud, for outdoors and dancing.
Cornetts
Trumpets
Shawms
Sackbuts
INSTRUMENTS
BAS (“low”) instruments were soft in

volume and were played indoors
Stringed instruments: harps, lutes, and vielles

Portative organs
Transverse
Flutes Recorders
INSTRUMENTS
Percussion instruments were common in

all kinds of ensembles
“FALSE MUSIC”
MUSICA FICTA, or Chromatic Alterations

“FALSE MUSIC”
Raising or lowering a note by a half-

step to avoid the tritone
Pitches altered to make a smoother melodic

line, especially at cadences.
“FALSE MUSIC”

Pitches altered to make a smoother melodic line,

especially at cadences.
The resulting pitches lay “outside the gamut” and

were thus “false”, or ficta
“FALSE MUSIC”

Pitches altered to make a smoother melodic line.
The resulting pitches lay “outside the gamut” and

were thus “false” or ficta
“FALSE MUSIC”
Medieval singers were trained to recognize

situations in which a ficta were
needed, so accidentals were rarely
notated.
(Modern editions ficta accidentals above the

staff, to indicate editorial intervention)

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How did music notation change between Ars Antiqua and Ars Nova?

How did music notation change between Ars Antiqua and Ars Nova?

What is isorhythm and how was it used in the music of Philippe de Vitry?

What is isorhythm and how was it used in the music of Philippe de Vitry?

FOURTEENTH CENTURY

Increased attention to time, secular

Fond Français 146, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale

Fond Français 146, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale

Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361)

Ars Nova (c. 1320)

Jean de Muris (c1290- c1355)

Ars Novae Musicae (1319)

Ars Nova (c. 1320)

Ars Nova (c. 1320)

Vitry’s compositions among the 169 pieces of

MODE = Division of the Long

PROLATION= Division of the Semibreve

Temporary changes of Mode or Time

Use of Red Ink, rather than Black

“Perfection is brought low, and imperfection

Motets of Philippe de Vitry some of the earliest

Motets of Philippe de Vitry some of the earliest

Rhythmic structure of the tenor of motet

The tenor is laid out in segments of

Taleae in tenors in 1200s = short patterns

The slow pace of the tenor makes it less a

The color may repeat,

“In arboris / Tuba sacre fidei / Virgo sum”

“In arboris / Tuba sacre fidei / Virgo sum”

Tenor refers to the Virgin Mary

“In arboris / Tuba sacre fidei / Virgo sum”

The tenor includes

6 repetitions of the talea

“In arboris / Tuba sacre fidei / Virgo sum”

Coloration indicates changes from duple to

Two voices alternating in rapid

The device was developed in the thirteenth

Greater prominence of imperfect consonances

Cadences required perfect consonances,

Parallel octaves and fifths continued to be used

The leading composer of the French Ars Nova

Born in northeastern France, middle-class

family Educated as a cleric and took Holy

1323–1340, worked as secretary for

Resided in Reims after 1340

Royal patrons supported him, including the

First composer to compile his

He wrote his poems first, then the music

First composer to compile his

He wrote his poems first, then the music

Liked music “sweet and pleasing”

He paid for the preparation of

He composed many major musical works

23 motets, most from early in his

career 20 are isorhythmic, 3 of which

Often include hockets

Probably the earliest polyphonic setting of the

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Santus, Agnus Dei

In the fourteenth century, anonymous