Anna Li Mr.

Waters Honors World History 7th Period Guillaume Dufay One of the most influential composers of all time, Guillaume Dufay (1399-1474) was a Dutch composer who lived during the Renaissance period, a time of economic, social, and cultural flourishing. (His name is sometimes spelled Du Fay, but that isnt important here.) Dufay was born in Cambria, France, and spent most of his early career there. In his school years, Dufay was part of a choir with 15-20 other members at a time. He stayed in that choir for 4 years, at the end of which most of his friends left to make more money in other places. Unlike them, however, Dufay chose to stay and complete his musical education. Because of this, Dufay went on to become choirmaster, the highest rank for a musician, and was very respected and well known throughout the land. When he was only 17 years old, Dufay because chaplain of St. Gery, but decided he couldnt reach his full potential there, and moved under the service of the Bishop of Cambrai, where he composed his first piece: A Sanctus. In 1420, Dufay had become so well known for his musical talent that an Italian nobleman, for whom he continued his musical career and continued to write beautiful pieces of music, hired him. In his early life, Dufay was exposed to the world and he made many travels through Italy and France, even working under the service of the Pope for a time. However, he left the papal chapel in 1437 so

that he could return to Savoy and Papal Schism. He served his church well while in Savoy, and held multiple positions within it. While this may seem strange to us today, it was very common for people to hold multiple positions of power in churches back then. However, a minor but dangerous religious conflict flared up in Savoy, and Dufay left just in time to avoid the fray. Back home in Cambrai, Phillip III, the Duke of Burgundy, employed Dufay. This worked out perfectly, since Cambrai was Burgundian territory at that time. While his mother still lived there, she died shortly after he returned of old age and was buried in the cathedral. Dufay continued to write music for Phillip III, including one mass titled The Duke of Burgundys Order for the Golden Fleece. Style-wise, Dufay didnt specialize in any particular type of music, but rather preferred to try a bit of everything. His favorites were Dramatic Cycles Cycle Masses Isorhythmic Motets Simple Ornamented Hymns

Allow me to clarify exactly what all this meant. A dramatic cycle is a type of music written where one rhythm repeats itself using different notes. Typically, the cycle is repeated once every three measures of music, with a bit of dramatic music in between. This creates a sort of staircase effect, and draws the listener into the beat more. One of his most famous pieces, Lhomme arme, is a musical piece following the dramatic cycle genre. This piece focuses on every human beings need to protect themselves from some unknown threat, and has a very dark and sinister mood in some places, while it has a life goes on very

light mood in others. The chorus remains the same every few measures, though. The dramatic cycle is very similar to the isorhythmic motetthe isorhythmic motet refers to an entire song in which rhythmic cycles continue to repeat. On the other hand, dramatic cycles are a style and genre of music and typically do not continue for the whole song. Usually it goes on for a section, and then fades into another tune. Cyclic masses are a third type of musical pattern, where the same rhythm is repeated throughout a section of the song. However, in a simple cyclic mass, the music does not have to follow a specific mood (such as dramatic) and typically flows together much more. Imagine a cyclic mass as a poemit follows a set pattern and beat, but the theme can be just about anything. In addition to being a talented composer and musician, Dufay was strongly religious and followed the Roman Catholic Church. He would often write short hymns full of emotion and hope as a prayer to God. These short hymns are known as simple ornamented hymns. They do not follow any particular rhythm or beat, but are better known for the way they flow and the emotions they carry. Music really is a magical thing, and to this day it still has prowess over almost every person. For Guillaume Dufay, music was his way of letting out his emotions and prayers to God. Some of Guillaumes most famous masses, or groups of songs written to honor God in the Roman Catholic Church, are Se la face ay pale, Ecce ancilla Domini, and Ave regina caelorum. These are just a few of his most famous songs; throughout his life, Dufay wrote over 100 masterpieces for both band and orchestral arrangements. Dufays influences dont stop there; Guillaume Dufay triggered a whole new generation of music and fed on the revolutionary strength

of the renaissance to make his mark on the world.