Guillaume Du Fay ( / dj uː ˈ f aɪ / dyoo- FEYE , French: [ɡijom dy fa(j)i] ; also Dufay , Du Fayt ; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist from the early Renaissance period. He is often described as French or Franco-Flemish. He was considered the most important European composer of his time, and his music was widely performed and copied. Du Fay was closely connected to composers of the Burgundian School, especially his colleague Gilles Binchois, but he was never a regular member of the Burgundian chapel.

Although Du Fay is one of the best-recorded composers of his era, details about his birth and family are unclear. However, he was likely the child of a priest who was not married. He studied at Cambrai Cathedral, where his teachers included Nicolas Grenon and Richard Loqueville. For the next ten years, Du Fay worked in many places across Europe: as a subdeacon in Cambrai, under Carlo I Malatesta in Rimini, for the House of Malatesta in Pesaro, and under Louis Aleman in Bologna, where he became a priest. As his reputation grew, he moved to Rome in 1428 to join the papal choir, first serving Pope Martin V and later Pope Eugene IV. In Rome, he composed motets such as Balsamus et munda cera, Ecclesie militantis, and Supremum est mortalibus. During the 1430s, when Rome faced financial and political challenges, Du Fay took a break from the choir to work for Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy.

In 1436, Du Fay returned to Italy and wrote his most famous work, the complex motet Nuper Rosarum Flores, which honored the completion of Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome for the Florence Cathedral. Later, he joined the papal court in Bologna and became associated with the House of Este in Ferrara. For the next eleven years, he worked in Cambrai under Philip the Good, where he may have written lost works on music theory. After brief returns to Savoy and Italy, Du Fay settled in Cambrai in 1458. His focus shifted from songs and motets to composing English-inspired cyclic masses based on a fixed melody, such as Missa Ave regina celorum, Missa Ecce ancilla Domini, Missa L'Homme armé, and Missa Se la face ay pale. During his final years in Cambrai, Du Fay wrote a lost requiem and worked with influential musicians of his time, including Antoine Busnois, Loyset Compère, Johannes Tinctoris, and especially Johannes Ockeghem.

Du Fay is often described as the first generation of European musicians whose main job was to compose music. His career took him across Western Europe, leading to a style that blended many musical influences. His work included examples of nearly every type of polyphonic music from his time. Like Binchois, Du Fay was deeply influenced by the contenance angloise style of John Dunstaple and combined it with other styles, such as the famous Missa Caput, and the techniques used by his younger contemporaries, Ockeghem and Busnois.

Life

Du Fay's life is better recorded than most other European composers from the 15th century. This is because the institutions he was connected to kept detailed records, and many stories about his life are included in his music. Also, while many records from northern French cathedrals were lost, those from Cambrai Cathedral were preserved.

Modern scholars usually write his last name as "Du Fay." Before the late 20th century, it was often spelled as "Dufay." Discoveries in archives showed that documents from the 14th and 15th centuries usually spelled the name as two words, not one. It seems his parents wrote their name as "Du Fayt," but Du Fay changed the spelling while he was in Italy. Some early records from Cambrai spelled his first name as "Willaume" or similar forms like "Willermus," "Willem," or "Wilhelm."

Evidence from his will suggests he was born in Beersel, near Brussels, as the child of an unknown priest and a woman named Marie Du Fayt. Marie moved to Cambrai with her son and stayed with a relative who was a canon at the cathedral. The connection between the Du Fay family and Cambrai Cathedral is why so much is known about Du Fay's early life, as the cathedral kept detailed records of its members. His musical talent was noticed by cathedral leaders, who trained him in music. He studied with Rogier de Hesdin in 1409 and was listed as a choirboy from 1409 to 1412. He also studied with Nicolas Malin, and in 1411, the cathedral gave him a copy of Villedieu's Doctrinale Puerorum, a rare gift for someone so young. By 16 years old, in 1414, he was given a position as a chaplain at St. Géry, near Cambrai. Later that year, he likely attended the Council of Konstanz, where he met members of the Malatesta family. He stayed there until 1418, then returned to Cambrai.

From November 1418 to 1420, Du Fay was a subdeacon at Cambrai Cathedral. In 1420, he left for Italy, first to Rimini and then to Pesaro, where he worked for the Malatesta family. Some of his compositions from this time include references to Italy. There, he met composers Hugo and Arnold de Lantins, who were also part of the Malatesta household. In 1424, he returned to Cambrai after the death of the relative who had been caring for his mother. By 1426, he went back to Italy and joined the service of Cardinal Louis Aleman in Bologna. While there, he became a deacon and was ordained a priest by 1428.

Cardinal Aleman was forced to leave Bologna in 1428 by the rival Canedoli family, and Du Fay left with him, going to Rome. He joined the Papal Choir, the most respected musical group in Europe, serving Pope Martin V and later Pope Eugene IV after Martin's death in 1431. By this time, Du Fay was widely respected as a musician. He received positions from churches in his homeland, including being appointed maistre de chappelle in Savoy in 1434, where he served Duke Amédée VIII. He left Rome due to financial issues in the papal choir and to avoid the conflict between the papacy and the Council of Basel. By 1435, he was back in the papal chapel in Florence, where Pope Eugene had been driven out by an insurrectionary republic. In 1436, Du Fay composed the famous motet Nuper rosarum flores, performed at Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, which features Filippo Brunelleschi's dome. At this time, Pope Eugene lived in exile at Santa Maria Novella.

The papal court moved to Bologna in 1436, and by May 1437, Du Fay had received a law degree from the university there. There is no evidence he studied law, so the degree was likely given by the pope. In September 1436, Du Fay received a valuable position near his birthplace after a bishop named Jehan Vivien left Cambrai. Du Fay was given Vivien's position by papal order. Although the law degree was not required for the position, Du Fay considered both titles important enough to include on his funeral monument.

During this time, Du Fay began working with the Este family in Ferrara, important Renaissance music patrons. He likely met them through the Malatesta family, as Rimini and Ferrara are close and the families were related by marriage. He composed at least one ballade for Niccolò III, Marquis of Ferrara. In 1437, Du Fay visited Ferrara. After Niccolò's death in 1441, the next Marquis continued supporting Du Fay and shared his music.

The conflict between the papacy and the Council of Basel continued into the 1430s. Du Fay realized his position might be at risk, especially after Pope Eugene was replaced by Duke Amédée of Savoy as Antipope Felix V in 1439. Du Fay returned to Cambrai by December 1439. A document from December 27, 1440, shows he received wine for a cathedral feast.

Du Fay stayed in Cambrai through the

Music

Guillaume Dufay composed music in many common forms of his time, including sacred pieces such as masses, motets, Magnificats, hymns, simple chant settings in fauxbourdon, and antiphons. He also wrote secular music, including rondeaux, ballades, virelais, and other types of chansons. None of his surviving music is specifically for instruments, though instruments were likely used in some of his secular works. Surviving compositions include seven complete masses, 28 individual mass movements, 15 chant settings for Mass propers, three Magnificats, two Benedicamus Domino settings, 15 antiphon settings (six of which are Marian antiphons), 27 hymns, 22 motets (13 of which use isorhythmic techniques in a style common in the 14th century), and 87 chansons definitely written by him. Two of his masses, Missa se la face ay pale and Missa L'Homme armé, are listed as essential compositions on AllMusic. Editions of his music include:

• Guillaume Dufay, Opera omnia (collected works in six volumes), edited by Heinrich Besseler with revisions by David Fallows. Corpus mensurabilis musicae CMM 1, Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1951–1995.
• Die frühen Messenkompositionen von Guillaume Dufay, edited by R. Bockhold, 1960, Tutzing.

Many of Dufay’s compositions were simple settings of chant, likely used in religious services as replacements for plain chant. These often used a technique called fauxbourdon, which involved parallel harmonies. An example is his setting of the Marian hymn Ave maris stella. Dufay may have been the first composer to use the term "fauxbourdon" to describe this style, which was common in 15th-century liturgical music, especially in the Burgundian school.

Most of Dufay’s secular songs followed the formes fixes (rondeau, ballade, and virelai), which were popular in 14th- and 15th-century European music. He also wrote a few Italian ballate, likely while in Italy. Many of his songs were written for specific events and can be dated, providing useful information about his life.

Most of his songs were for three voices, with the highest voice carrying the melody and the other two voices likely played by instruments. Occasionally, he used four voices, though some of these were later added by other composers. He often used the rondeau form for love songs. His later secular works show influence from composers like Busnois and Ockeghem, with less rhythmic and melodic contrast between voices, reflecting a trend toward smoother polyphony that became common later in the 15th century.

A typical ballade is Resvellies vous et faites chiere lye, written in 1423 for the marriage of Carlo Malatesta and Vittoria di Lorenzo Colonna. The musical form follows an aabC structure for each stanza, with "C" being the repeating refrain.

Two music theory works by Dufay have been documented, but neither has survived. The first is mentioned by theorist Gaffurius, who referenced a treatise called Musica in the margins of his writings. However, Gaffurius’s notes are brief and provide no additional details. The second reference comes from 19th-century musicologist François-Joseph Fétis, who claimed to have seen a 16th-century copy of a treatise titled Tractatus de musica mensurata et de proportionibus ("A Treatise on Measured Music and Proportions"). This work was last recorded as being sold to a London book dealer in 1824. Fétis’s account is unclear, as no other details about the treatise are known.

If Dufay wrote these works, he would be part of a tradition of composer-theorists, including Johannes Ciconia, Franchinus Gaffurius, and Tinctoris. Some scholars suggest the references to Musica and Tractatus de musica may describe the same treatise, while others believe they are separate works. Different scholars list them as either the same or distinct in their catalogs.

Portraits

Two known images of Du Fay from his lifetime still exist. Both are described by Planchart as "simple drawings" that clearly show the same person.

The earlier and more famous image is a small picture of Du Fay and Binchois from a handwritten book titled Le champion des dames by Martin le Franc. This book was created before 1451. The picture shows Du Fay on the left next to a portable organ, with Binchois on the right holding a small harp. This image is on page 98 of the book, which is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (inventory number 12476). Compared to the later image, Fallows says this picture uses more general symbols. The artist who created the image is unknown, but it may have been Barthélemy Poignare, who wrote the book. Whether or not the artist knew Du Fay personally, their work appears in other books from Cambrai.

The other image is a carving on Du Fay’s tomb. In the carving, Du Fay is kneeling in the bottom left corner. Saint Waltrude of Mons, the namesake saint of the church in Mons where Du Fay worked, stands behind him. To Du Fay’s right, three soldiers and an angel watch the resurrected Christ. Art historian Ludovic Nys believes the carving was based on a woodcut from around 1460 in Florence. However, art historian Douglas Brine does not find this idea convincing.

Legacy

Before Du Fay lived, the idea of a "composer"—a person whose main job was to write music—was not well known in Europe. In the 15th century, musicians who focused on writing music rather than performing or other musical tasks began to appear, and Du Fay was one of the most important examples of this change.

Du Fay and Binchois were often grouped together during their lifetimes because their work was important. However, musicologist Reinhard Strohm says this grouping can be confusing. He explains that Binchois became famous for excelling in one specific type of music, while Du Fay's work covered many different styles. Strohm also notes that Du Fay's body of work is more varied than that of any composer since the 14th century composer Machaut.

Du Fay was one of the last composers to use complex musical structures from the late Middle Ages, such as isorhythm. He was also one of the first to use the smoother harmonies, melodies, and phrasing found in early Renaissance music. His compositions in large forms like masses, motets, and chansons are similar to each other. His fame came from his skill in mastering these forms and creating memorable, easy-to-sing melodies. In the 15th century, he was widely considered the greatest composer of his time, a view that continues today.

Du Fay is the namesake of the Dufay Collective, an early music group that performs historical music in a way that reflects how it was played in the past.

Editions

• Haberl, Franz Xaver (1885–1888). Building Blocks for Music History. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. OCLC 9572903.
• Stainer, John Frederick Randall; Stainer, Cecie, editors (1898). Dufay and His Contemporaries: Fifty Compositions (Covering Works from Around A.D. 1400 to 1440). Introduction by Edward Nicholson; musical analysis by John Stainer (first edition). London: Novello & Co. OCLC 1120811734. Archive.org. Stainer, John Frederick Randall; Stainer, Cecie, editors (1963). Dufay and His Contemporaries: Fifty Compositions (Covering Works from Around A.D. 1400 to 1440). Introduction by Edward Nicholson; musical analysis by John Stainer (second edition). Amsterdam: Frits A.M. Knuf. OCLC 21452928.
• Besseler, Heinrich (1932). Guillaume Dufay: Twelve Sacred and Secular Songs. Das Chorwerk (in German). Volume 19. Wolfenbüttel: G. Kallmeyer Verlag. OCLC 1240177.
• Gerber, Rudolf (1937). Guillaume Dufay: Complete Hymns. Das Chorwerk (in German). Volume 49. Wolfenbüttel: Möseler Verlag (in German). OCLC 917168.
• Van, Guillaume de (1947–1949). Guglielmi Dufay: Opera Omnia. Corpus mensurabilis musicae. Rome: American Institute of Musicology. OCLC 2998172. Volume I: Motetti qui et cantiones vocantur (1947); Volume II: Motetti isorithmici dicti (1948); Volume III: Missa sine nomine (1949); Volume IV: Missa Sancti Jacobi (1949).