Messe de Nostre Dame

   Composed by Guillaume de Machaut, this is the first surviving polyphonic mass cycle, that is, a polyphonic setting of the mass ordinaries apparently conceived as a uni-fied musical structure and intended to be sung as one liturgy. It was composed almost certainly between 1350 and 1372, likely in the early 1360s. The traditionally cited occasion—the coronation of Charles V at the Cathedral at Reims on 19 May 1364—has no documentary support but cannot be ruled out. The traditional chants used by Machaut as tenor melodies all have connections to the Virgin Mary, and it is possible that Machaut wrote the work to be sung at Saturday masses in her honor at the Reims Cathedral, a local tradition. The shorter ordinary texts—Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Ite Missa Est—Machaut sets in the texture of isorhythmic motets, with isorhythmic elements sometimes extending to all voices. The longer texts—Gloria and Credo—are set in homorhythmic texture and divided into clear sections articulated by cadence patterns according to the structure of the texts. The "Amen" sections of these prayers are isorhythmic.

   Machaut composed the mass for four voices, and a performance requires about a half hour, depending on which liturgical elements are included. How many singers should sing each part and whether instruments should double them are disputed matters.

   See also Lady Mass.