guillaume de machaut wrote the oldest known polyphonic setting of the mass attributable to one composer and brought it into the christian church.
guillaume de machaut wrote the oldest known polyphonic setting of the mass attributable to one composer and brought it into the christian church.
who wrote the oldest known polyphonic setting of the mass attributable to one composer and brought it into the christian church?
guillaume de machaut
the oldest extant polyphonic setting of the mass attributable to one composer is guillaume de machaut's messe de nostre dame, dated to 1364, during the pontificate of pope urban v.









































more recently, the second vatican council (1962–1965) stated: "gregorian chant, other things being equal, should be given pride of place in liturgical services. but other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded... religious singing by the people is to be skillfully fostered, so that in devotions and sacred exercises, as also during liturgical services, the voices of the faithful may ring out”.
polyphony
the miserere was a frequently used text in catholic liturgical music before the second vatican council. most of the settings, which are often used at tenebrae, are in a simple falsobordone style. during the renaissance many composers wrote settings. the earliest known polyphonic setting, probably dating from the 1480s, is by johannes martini, a composer working in the este court in ferrara. the extended polyphonic setting by josquin des prez, probably written in 1503/1504 in ferrara, was likely inspired by the prison meditation "infelix ego" by girolamo savonarola, who had been burned at the stake just five years before. later in the 16th century orlande de lassus wrote an elaborate setting as part of his "penitential psalms", and palestrina, andrea gabrieli, giovanni gabrieli, and carlo gesualdo also wrote settings. antonio vivaldi may have written a setting or settings, but such composition(s) have been lost, with only two introductory motets remaining.
psalm 51