Good morning again, fine people. We reconvene today to discuss the task of preservation items. We have been meeting on these topics for some time now. Secretary, please note for the record that the date is in the year 2100 A.D. The earth is still uninhabitable. There have been some advancements in relation to inhabitability, but none significant enough to warrant launching exploration teams back to Earth. Our children will need inspirational items to focus on.  The third item I want to submit to the review committee is the Franco-Flemish composer Guillame Dufay. <!--more-->He was the author of the piece entitled Missa L’ homme arme’. I submit this piece due to the fact that Missa L’homme arme’ was the most popular tune used for musical settings of the Ordinary Mass. “Dufay was the first to explore combining two or more cantus firmi into one mass.”( Oxford Music Online- Cantus Firmus) The works by Guillame Dufay should be preserved because they represent the change from “ Gregorian chant as the backbone of compositions to using popular songs of the day.” ( Professional Careers in Music, Performer, Composer, Conductor: Your Passion for Making Music Can Become a Fulfilling Lifelong Career) Netlibrary Ebook. “ Polyphony was to become , over the next few centuries, one of the most intricately artistic achievements in all of sacred art.” ( Brown)

Guillame Dufay’s Missa L’homme arme’ was composed in 1453. This date coincides with the fall of Constantinople. For the Missa L’homme arme’ Dufay “ followed the common practice of borrowing melodies from popular folk tunes. In it , he employed the best known of all fifteenth- century  folk songs, “ the armed man” as the cantus firmus for all sections of the piece.”(Fiero)  Cantus firmus were widely used in Latin masses. A Cantus Firmus is a pre-exisiting melody used as a basis of a new polyphonic composition. A polyphonic composition is something that consists of two or more independent melodic voices. During the Renaissance, music was composed by amateurs and professionals alike. The printing press had been invented, so publishing works of music became prevalent. During the renaissance, music was an essential ingredient in gatherings, celebrations and festivals.  Music is still a very important part of our lives through time. Even today, we celebrate the beginning of life with music. We also mourn our deceased at ceremonies that include music. While Italian visual artists lead the field, the French and Franco- Flemish composers were way ahead of their time. The reason Dufay’s piece carries such significance is because pieces were written based on it up to three centuries later.

“ Like renaissance art, renaissance music was increasingly secular in subject matter and function.” (Fiero) Dufay’s piece was the first to depart away from this. Missa L’homme arme’ translates into the Mass of the Armed Man. Weapons had recently been invented that would enable individuals to carry them. Masses were an important part of life, not only for religious reasons , but for social and political reasons as well. The fact that a Mass was dedicated to an armed man or a soldier showed the significance of fighting for ones beliefs.

“During both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance a clear line existed between music’s role as a branch of the sciences on the one hand and musical composition and performance on the other. “ ( Bleiberg) . Dufay’s Missa L’homme arme’ is of importance because this piece helps define the new era of having mutliple voices in one piece of music. He was a pioneer of composing. Today more than 200 pieces of his work still remain.

“ According to executors of Dufay’s will, his homeland was the town of Brusells.  His name was originally spelled Du_Fayt. The earliest mention of Dufay is in 1409 where he is listed as Willemet. He was taught by two people in Cambrai. Dufay became a residentiary canon of the cathedral in 1408. He caught the attention of the cathedral authorities early on. His instruction in music and grammar followed the rigid curriculum common to most French cathedral schools in the late Middle Ages.  Dufay became a canon in 1436. In 1437 it is mentioned that he obtained a Bachelor of Law degree by papal decree. As a canon of St. Donation, he had trouble with the chapter over the collection of his revenues. in 1447 he resigned at St. Donation and was installed as canon of Ste. Waudru in Mons.” (Bloxam)

A composer who competed with Dufay during his time was Josquin Des Prez.  Dufay and Des Prez were similar in that they both “ unified each polyphonic Mass around a single musical theme.” (Fiero) “Des Prez was different than Dufay in that his compositions contrived complex designs in which melody and harmony were distributed symmetrically and with geometric clarity. “ (Fiero) Des Prez motets are thought to represent his work the best. Dufay’s cantus firmus are his best pieces.

Another composer in the time of Dufay was Adrian Willaert. Willaert also had legal training similar to Dufay. Willaert was famous for his motets. Willaert’s works didn’t include any cantus firmus like Dufay’s. Unlike Dufay, Des Prez’ technical innovations “include a closer relationship between words and music and the use of imitation ( repetition by one voice of a melody sung by another voice). “( Encyclopedia of World Biography , Vol 16 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale,2004. P287-288, Willaert) Des Prez was similar to Dufay in that he was sought after by churches throughout Europe.

Today Dufay’s works are studied by musical scholars as well a just the general public interested in musical history and how modern day music evolved from the days of the Gregorian chants.  Dufay is held as a genius of his time. He is compared to many other composers during his era. He stands above the rest in that the Missa L’ homme arme’ was the first of its kind. It became the model that was used by composers well into three centuries later. Dufay’s works mark what has come to be known as renaissance music.
“The author of the song, an ingenious poet and composer, describes in a semi-dramatic , semi-narrative form what he heard in a late medieval town: the warning sound of the watchmen’s horn from the tower as a hostile army is approaching from across the plains- L’homme arme’” ( Planchart)
This would apply even in today’s world as news spreads about wars throughout the lands.

Works cited :

Planchart, Alejandro e. The Origins and Early History of L'homme arme'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. Print.
Planchart, Alejandro e. “ Dufay Guillaume” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 28
Mar .2011 http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/08268
“Music and the Renaissance.” Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Ed.Edward I. Bleiberg, et al. Vol. 4 : Renaissance Europe 1300-1600. Detroit: Gale,2005. 173-176. Gale Virtual Reference Library.  Web. 29 Mar. 2011.
M. Jennifer Bloxam. “ Cantus Firmus.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 28 Mar. 2011 http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/04795
"Professional Careers in Music, Performer, Composer, Conductor: Your Passion for Making Music Can Become a Fulfilling Lifelong Career." chicago institute for career research 11 (2005): 6. netlibrary.com. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
“Josquin des Prez." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 361-363. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
"Adrian Willaert." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 16. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 287-288. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011. 75-76. Print.