Machaut Essay- Messe de Notre Dame

"Analyse and discuss what you hear in this extract in terms of the musical elements."

This piece was written in the Medieval period, probably before about 1365, which means that there are a number of elements in it that are common to the period. It is also a 'Kyrie'- sacred piece, and a movement from a mass. Because of these things, the piece is written in a specific way.

The meter of the piece is triple, because it represents the Holy Trinity. There are also three main sections in the piece, 'Kyrie', 'Christe' and another 'Kyrie'. These three sections are each repeated three times. These uses of Three all represent the Holy Trinity. The fact that the piece is sacred is the reason for these references to the Holy Trinity. People thought that this idea of three was 'perfect' and beautiful because of it represented the Holy Trinity.

There is a Cantus Firmus taken from the plainchant melody, "Kyrie Cunctipotens Genitor". It can be found in the Tenor part. Tenor means 'hold' in Latin, which is why it is used as the Cantus Firmus part. In this part there is a four-note Talea, with a dotted semibreve, a minim, a semibreve and another dotted semibreve, (however these rhythms would not have been written into the original score) This is called Isorhythm.

There are other parts of the piece which indicate that it was written in the Medieval period, for example in Bars 6 and 7, there is what is known as a DLT (double leading tone) cadence, ending in open fifths. These fifths are very typical of Medieval music. More open fifths can be found in bars 15, 21, 27, 32 and throughout the piece. The use of the modal tonality also indicates the Medieval period (The piece is in Dorian mode). Each section begins and ends with a perfect cadence, that is stable. 

The different parts have different roles in the piece. The Tenor and Contra tenor provide the upper voices with harmonies. The upper voices move quicker, with note lengths like crotchets and quavers, which the other two parts do not have. 

There are other musical features that do not necessarily indicate the Medieval period, like how there are many thirds and sixths used to give a sense of forward motion in the piece. These, however, always resolve to perfect chords in order to maintain the feeling of the mode. The text setting is very melismatic, and the voices move in small intervals (the widest interval being a fifth). In the 'Christe', both the Tenor and Contra tenor parts are isorhythmic and there is the use of 'hocketing' also.