Guillaume Dufay(1397-1474)

EQ: Who was Guillaume Dufay and why was he an important composer?

Dufay Facts Was a composer in the late

medieval/early Renaissance time period (so yes, Guillaume Dufay probably knew who Guillaume Machaut was!)

He was considered the most influential composer of the 15th century

One of the few composers who was famous while he was still alive

Dufay was born in Brussels, Belgium in the year of 1397 and died in 1474. He spent the majority of his career in Cambrai. He joined a choir with fifteen to twenty other members, originally. As the years passed, members, including Dufay, moved to other choirs for money and other such reasons. Guillaume Dufay was a chief figure of music schools because of his completion of education as a choir master, as well as being very well-educated in most aspects of music.

Background Born somewhere near Brussels, Belgium His musical talents were noticed at an

early age He composed in every musical form

there was- both sacred and secular It's amazing how much his music was

distributed, considering he died many decades before the invention of the printing press

Dufay's Music Contributions

*He INVENTED the rules and imitations of the canon

*He was one of the first composers to write music just for instruments- no voice parts included

Instruments

* Lira da braccio

* Virginal

*Shawm

*Pipe and Tabor

His Most Famous Musical Compositions...

* “Se La Face Ay Pale” (If My Face Seems Pale)

* “Missa L'Homme Arme” (Mass of the Armed Man)