MHST 570C Topics in the Renaissance: Music of Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Du Fay (c.1397-1474) is a seminal figure in the history of fifteenth-century music. The course will examine his long career working in major musical institutions throughout western Europe, as well as his music, which reflects the broad shifts in aesthetics and compositional approach that mark the transition between the late medieval and early renaissance periods. While considering his contributions to all the major genres of his time, including masses and motets, a central focus will be his more than eighty songs with French or Italian texts, works remarkable for their compositional sophistication and expressive range. A principal aim of the course is an understanding of the salient features of music by Du Fay and his contemporaries through the study of manuscripts, notation, and musico-poetic genres, as well as various analytical and performance approaches. Readings, analytical and transcription assignments, presentations, and a final research paper.