Messe de Notre Dame - Machaut

Messe de Notre-Dame is a scared work which was composed my Guillaume de Machaut in the 14^th century.

 

The melody has a pivotal/wave shape. This is clear because the melody is based around a central 'line of music', with minimal movement of the range. The range of the piece moves in a stepwise motion, and goes from high C to low C#. There is a build and release of tension in many sections of the piece including in bars 1-6.

 

This piece is based on the plain chant. This is because of the free rhythm and the unaccompanied meldoy. The structure of it follows the mass ordinary. Its first movement is the Kyrie, then the Gloria, Cred, Sanctus and Anus Dei. The Kyrie is iso-rhythmic. The talea is first sung in bars 1-4, and the color is first sung in bars 1-4 also. This repeats for the rest of the movement.