Dufay’s music flows more smoothly than the characteristically complex rhythmic textures of the late Medieval period, and is marked by graceful melodies and a compelling sense of direction.
c. 1400 – 1474 CE
Dufay was one of the most highly regarded composers of his generation, and one of those principally responsible for inaugurating the Renaissance in music. Dufay was born in Cambrai, currently in France, and then in the Duchy of Burgundy – one of the primary musical centers of the era, and a highly significant staging ground for the structural principles of the high Renaissance. He spent a considerable portion of his life in Italy, in various cities, and so not only contributed to a refinement in the musical life of bustling Italy, but also brought ideas on lively Italian textures to the intellectual centers of Northern Europe. Dufay was one of the most cosmopolitan composers of his or any age, and his large musical output contains masterpieces in every genre from cyclic masses to isorhythmic motets to simply ornamented hymns and dramatic cycles.
cambrai, france
How far back?
2020 | Present
