Machaut's Messe de Notre Dame



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Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame, written during the Hundred Years’ War, was the first complete musical setting of the Mass by a single composer. Machaut used plainsong and recurring small fragments of melody to bind the movements together. Over the following 200 years the Mass became the pre-eminent form for composers wishing to exhibit their skill.

"Messe de Notre Dame, Kyrie" by Guillaume de Machaut performed by The Hilliard Ensemble, directed by Paul Hillier on Guillaume de Machaut, Messe de Notre Dame (Cat.# Hyperion CDA 66358) (p)1989 Hyperion Records Ltd., London. All rights reserved.

Appears in these articles

Machaut, Guillaume de; Mass, Musical Settings of; Music, Western; Early Music; French Literature

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