51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

Begin with the Notre Dame School composers in Paris at the end of the 12th century. Construct a narrative for the shape of musical thought as it progresses into the ornate musical experimentation of the French Ars Nova in the late 1400s. Study (and sing!) works by Pérotin and teacher Léonin, then compare our findings to the more contemporaneous theories of the prolific monk Anonymous IV. Follow musical and theoretical development in 13th-14th-century France until we arrive at Ars Nova poet-songwriter-composers—elegant radical Philippe de Vitry, James Bond-like genius Guillaume de Machaut and outrageous but chic Solage, court composer to the Duc de Berri. Through musical analysis, performance, research and imaginative reconstruction, our hope is to understand better the roots of our own time.