Ad te suspiramus

Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) flourished about 150 years after Pérotin. Machaut’s name is significant for several reasons. He is perhaps the first composer in the Western tradition for which substantial biographical information has survived. His complete setting of the mass (Kyrie, Gloria, etc.) is the oldest extant. And through his commitment to the ars nova, he created a body of rhythmically adventurous, expressive secular music. However, Machaut and his contemporaries did not abandon sacred music. Indeed, among his most influential works are dozens of liturgical motets, including Ad te suspiramus. Modern ears are not accustomed to the striking dissonances, particularly the so-called “double leading tone,” at cadence points. But any listener can perceive the rhythmic vitality that enlivens such a work.

(c) Jason Stell