Pérotin

Pérotin (fl. c. 1200), French composer attributed with the earliest polyphonic masterworks. Like Léonin, he was referred to in the treatise known as Anonymous IV (c. 1280), and has become associated with the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Biographical facts are lacking, but two alternatives have been proposed: either, he was born c. 1160, studied with Léonin and revised his master's Magnus liber organi (Great Book of Organum) around 1185, later composed three- and four-voice works, and died c. 1205; or, he wrote the three- and four-voice pieces early in his career in the 1190s, revised the Magnus liber organi around 1205, and died c. 1225. The revisions consisted of shortened substitute sections (clausulae) in discant organum to replace those in florid style. The three- and four-voice organa, such as Viderunt omnes and Sederunt principes, are widely regarded as the first masterpieces in the history of Western music. They demonstrate the composer's textural, rhythmic, formal, and tonal skills, and employ sophisticated devices such as voice-exchange (a precursor of imitative writing in which material is swapped between voices). Pérotin is also attributed with the composition of nonliturgical Latin songs, and he and his contemporaries inspired the creation of the medieval motet through their addition of new texts to clausulae.