Guillaume DE Machaut

The motets of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) are complicated works. Even casual listeners will notice that each of the three lines of music has its own text – one rapid and wordy, one moderate in speed, and one just a few words long. Musically they contain structural intricacies to which scholars devote pleasant lifetimes of research in old French libraries. Yet the interpretation of even music as arcane as this depends on the spirit of the age. Rationalists of earlier decades performed Machaut with rather harsh exactitude, seeking to clarify the subtle repetition schemes of Machaut's motets and polyphonic songs. But the Hilliard Ensemble, of the Self generation, focuses on Machaut as a creative figure with, to quote the liner notes, "a morbidly sensitive inner life."

The motets of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) are complicated works. Even casual listeners will notice that each of the three lines of music has its own text – one rapid and wordy, one moderate in speed, and one just a few words long. Musically they contain structural intricacies to which scholars devote pleasant lifetimes of research in old French libraries. Yet the interpretation of even music as arcane as this depends on the spirit of the age. Rationalists of earlier decades performed Machaut with rather harsh exactitude, seeking to clarify the subtle repetition schemes of Machaut's motets and polyphonic songs.

The Mass by Machaut is the earliest complete setting of the Mass text that we have. It was composed for performance in a specific church (in which this recording is made) for a specific occasion and has performance connections to the composer and his family. The performance is excellent and the recording quite clear, especially the mass, using the acoustic of a large stone church.

Machaut's Genius is fully recognized, but his monodic works deserve to be better known. He was the last trouvere, poet and composer, and with him died the monodic world of the learned composers of the west. His virelais, or 'chansons balladees' as he preferred to call them, have a trace of folk art about them, while being exquisitely wrought products of a writer of poetry and melodies so natural as to create an impression of utter effortlessness. They are songs to dance to, to hum to oneself, with frequent repeated sections and a compelling charm.

The Remède de Fortune is one of Machaut's most famous publications, combining musical scores into a larger poetic narrative. This performance includes instrumental improvisation in some selections.