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  • Bach's World
    • 2022-2023 Concerts >
      • Travels with Sebastian
      • The Old Bach Archive
      • Christmas with Bach
      • The Little Organ Book
      • Bachapella
      • Arnstadt & Mülhausen
      • Bach Through the Years
    • 2022-23 Educational Events >
      • BachTalks
      • Saturday Sings!
    • 2022-23 Virtual Offerings >
      • The Choir Loft >
        • Dec. 18 - Bach’s Instruments Part 8: Concerto, Suite, Sonata; One Each - Dan Solter
        • Dec. 25 - Bach’s Instruments 9 - Easy Listening for Christmas - Dan Solter
        • Jan. 8 - Max Reger - Steve Osborn
        • Jan. 15th - Understanding the Orgelbüchlein - Anne Laver
      • Repertoire Exploration Projects
    • Tickets
    • Donate today!
  • Who we are and What we do
    • Mission Statement
  • Our Ensembles
    • Sonoma Bach Choir
    • Circa 1600
    • Green Mountain Consort
    • Live Oak Baroque Orchestra
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a Singer!
    • Escrip & Amazon Smile
  • Resources
    • Virtual Offerings - Archive >
      • The Choir Loft
      • Virtual BachTalk
      • Adventures in Sightsinging
      • Parliamo Italiano! Language Workshop
      • Madrigal Mondays
      • Chorale Wednesdays
      • Motet Fridays
      • Virtual Recording Projects
      • Virtual Concerts >
        • Live Oak Baroque Orchestra
        • Music for these Distracted Times - Barefoot All-Stars
        • Agave Baroque American Originals
        • Bach's Long Walk to Lübeck - Anne Laver, organ
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Messe de Notre Dame - Guillaume de Machaut
Have you ever heard the 'Messe de Notre Dame', by Guillaume de Machaut? It's an amazing artifact of 14th-century polyphony. It is a Ladymass, with shorter-texted movements built upon the chant which would have been performed for that liturgy. The chant is in the tenor line, which is organized in rhythmic groups called taleae. The other sections decorate around the long-note chant,
and their rhythmic patterns repeat cyclically as well. 

I'm not sure why we didn't include a movement of Machaut's Mass in our 'Music of the Spheres' program in 2013 (except that the music is basically written for solo voices, or at most a few per part). This piece should be the theme song for the Flammarion engraving. Those gears and wheels seem to actually BE the music the guy is looking at in wonder!

Take it for a spin. I'm providing an edited recording of the Kyrie, having removed repeats of each thrice-sung section. (It is sometimes also done with the chant, called 'Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor', sung without the polyphony in alternate verses.)

I'm also attaching the old Leo Schrade edition of the entire mass, in case you're moved now or in the future to listen to the entire piece. And as an extra bonus, I'm attaching the first page of one of the surviving manuscripts of the piece.

Now get a cup of tea or cocoa and spend a little time in a strange, ancient world!
Click here to download learning materials
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