14th Century and Ars Nova

Context

"world is a mess"

1300's

-diverse, contrastive, highly secularized
-1347-1400: Black Plague-1/3 of Europe died
-100 years war between England and France: 1335-1453; responsible for spread of disease north
-Babylonian captivity: 1305-1378; Pope forced from Italy, resided in Avignon; clash between political leaders and the Pope
-period quite decadant: lavish palaces, no religious themes
-no one could read, no learning
-anything could be bought
-Great Schism: 1378-1417; 2-3 people claiming to be Pope

Renaissance was somehow born in the midst of all this turmoil: 1300's

-great humanistic reforms

France

-Ars Nova
-de Vitry treatise
-Roman de Fauvel manuscript; isorhythmic motets, polyphonic secular song
-Machaut

Italy

-Trecento: Italian Ars Nova

Machaut

-formes fixes: mixture of polyphonic & monophonic
-Messe de Notre Dame
-Isorhythmic Motets

Trecento

-various treatises
-Squarcialupi Codex
-3 generations of composers (Landini)
-Caccias (canonic)
-Ballatta (like Virelai) secular
-Madrigals

Ars Nova

De Vitry Treatise-1316-1318

-duple meter
-notational reforms
-extended Franconian notation
-mensuration signs:

-smaller note values

Roman de Fauvel

-long poem: allegorical story of a donkey who encounters 7 sins (1310)
-music added later
-contemporary w/ de Vitry
-does not show all of de Vitry's innovations
-drawn from previous repertoire
-isorhythm, polyphonic settings of secular songs

Isorhythm

-rhythm "stays the same"
-applied to the tenor:
talea
colura
-not the same length
-outgrowth from ordo concept
-lasted until 1420-1430