Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sanctus from La Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaut (1300 - 1377)

I am listening to the peaceful and mostly very consonant sounds of the Sanctus from perhaps Machaut's most famous piece of music.  I was expecting it to be a little more dissonant than it is, since much of the Ars Nova music has a lot of dissonance between the voice parts.  It is very busy in the melodic movements which definitely fits in with what I have learned about the music from this time period so far.  La Messe de Nostre Dame is the earliest known complete setting of the mass by a single composer, which makes it that much more important to music historians.  The tenor is based on a plainchant melody, and uses an isorhythmic pattern as the foundation of the piece.  I think this is a beautiful work, not too complex that you can't follow it, rich enough in texture that it sounds almost like Bach style harmony at times.  This is Ars Nova at its best.
The words and translation to the Sanctus are:

     Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus                                           Holy, Holy, Holy
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.                                               Lord God of Hosts
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.                                 Heaven and Earth are Full of Thy Glory
Hosanna in excelsis.                                                    Hosanna in the Highest
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.                         Blessed is He That Cometh in the Name of the Lord
Hosanna in excelsis                                                     Hosanna in the Highest

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