Guillaume de Machaut (French: [ɡijom də maʃo], Old French: [ɡiˈʎawmə də maˈtʃaw(θ)]; also spelled Machau and Machault; born around 1300 – died April 1377) was a French composer and poet who played a key role in the ars nova style of late medieval music. His influence was so strong that modern music experts use the year of his death to mark the end of the ars nova style and the beginning of the later ars subtilior movement. He is considered the most important French composer and poet of the 14th century and is often viewed as the leading European composer of that time.

Machaut is one of the earliest European composers for whom detailed biographical information exists. A large number of his musical works have survived, partly because he personally helped create and protect the manuscripts containing his music. He represents the final stage of the tradition of poets who also composed music, a tradition that began with troubadours and trouvères. His poetry was highly praised and copied by other poets, such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Eustache Deschamps, even into the 15th century.

Machaut wrote music in many styles and forms and was essential in developing the motet and secular songs, especially the lai and the formes fixes: rondeau, virelai, and ballade. His only surviving sacred work, Messe de Nostre Dame, is the earliest known complete version of the Ordinary of the Mass created by a single composer. Other well-known works include the rondeaux "Ma fin est mon commencement" and "Rose, liz, printemps, verdure," as well as the virelai "Douce Dame Jolie."

Life

Guillaume de Machaut was born around 1300. He was one of seven children and received his education near Reims. His last name likely comes from the nearby town of Machault, which is 30 kilometers northeast of Reims in the Ardennes region. He worked as a secretary to John I, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, from 1323 to 1346. He also became a canon in 1337. He often traveled with King John on trips across Europe, including military campaigns in Prague. He was named a canon in Verdun in 1330, Arras in 1332, and Reims in 1337. In 1346, King John died during the Battle of Crécy. After this, Machaut, who was well-known and highly respected, began working for other important people, including King John’s daughter Bonne, her sons Jean de Berry and Charles (later Charles V, Duke of Normandy), and others like Charles II of Navarre.

Machaut survived the Black Death, a deadly disease that spread across Europe. In his later years, he lived in Reims, where he wrote poetry and oversaw the creation of manuscripts containing his complete works. His poem Le voir dit (likely written between 1361 and 1365) describes a late love affair with a 19-year-old girl named Péronne d'Armentières. However, some people question whether the poem is based on real events.

Machaut died sometime in 1377, possibly in April.

Music

Guillaume de Machaut's music includes a wide range of styles, from complex religious compositions to short songs. Although his works vary in genre, many share common musical patterns known as "typical Machaut motifs." He lived after the peak of the secular troubadour and trouvère song traditions and the older ars antiqua style of church music. Musicologist Gilbert Reaney observed that before Machaut, composers typically focused on either secular songs or religious music. Machaut, however, created both, though he may have focused less on liturgical church music. Most of his surviving works, aside from his mass, Hoquetus David, and a few Latin motets, are secular in nature. Reaney noted that Machaut's ability to master both secular and sacred Western music is only matched by the work of Adam de la Halle.

The lyrics in Machaut's compositions often focus on themes of courtly love. A few pieces, such as M18, "Bone Pastor/Bone Pastor/Bone Pastor," were written to honor specific events. Machaut composed primarily in five genres: the lai, virelai, motet, ballade, and rondeau. In these forms, he followed standard structures but often used creative ways to set text and create musical endings. For example, many rondeau phrases end with a long melisma on the second-to-last syllable. However, some of his rondeaux, like R18 "Puis qu'en oubli," use simpler, syllabic text settings.

Machaut's motets often include sacred texts in the lowest voice, such as in M12 "Corde mesto cantando/Helas! pour quoy virent/Libera me." The top two voices in these three-part compositions sing secular French lyrics, creating interesting connections between sacred and secular themes. In other genres, he did not use sacred texts.

Machaut's Mass, known as the Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady), was likely composed in the early 1360s for Rheims Cathedral. While not the first cyclic mass (the Tournai Mass predates it), it was the first composed by a single person and intended as a unified work. Machaut may have been familiar with the Tournai Mass, as his mass shares similar features, such as textless interludes.

Whether Machaut's mass is truly cyclic remains debated among scholars. However, it is widely agreed that this mass is an early example that influenced later 15th-century cyclic masses, such as those by Josquin des Prez. Machaut's mass differs in several ways: (1) it does not maintain a single tonal center throughout, instead using two distinct musical modes; (2) it lacks a continuous melodic theme or the parody technique; and (3) evidence suggests the mass was not composed in one continuous creative session. The fact that the movements were grouped together does not necessarily mean they were intended as a unified whole.

Despite these differences, the mass is considered stylistically consistent, with all selected chants celebrating Mary, the mother of Jesus. The possibility that the mass was written for a specific event, such as the coronation of Charles V (though this is now considered unlikely), adds to the debate. Scholars generally agree that Machaut intended the Messe de Nostre Dame to be performed as a complete mass setting, leading to its classification as a cyclic composition.

Poetry

Guillaume de Machaut wrote about 400 poems, including 235 ballades, 76 rondeaux, 39 virelais, 24 lais, 10 complaintes, and 7 chansons royales. He helped make these poetic forms more structured and clear. Some of his poems appear in longer stories called "dits," such as Le remède de fortune ("The Cure of Ill Fortune"), which includes one example of each type of lyric poetry, and Le voir dit ("A True Story"). Most of his lyrics are found in a section called Les loanges des dames. Since most of his poems are not set to music in manuscripts, it suggests he usually wrote the words first and then chose some to be set to music.

Most of Machaut’s poems, except for religious Latin motets and some war-related poems, follow the traditions of courtly love. These poems often describe a poet’s devotion to a lady and the emotions of love and sorrow. Machaut was skilled at using complex rhyme patterns, which made him an important influence on later poets called the Grands Rhétoriqueurs in the 15th century.

Machaut’s longer stories, called "dits," are poems meant to be read rather than sung. These first-person poems, written mostly in rhymed lines of eight syllables, follow traditions similar to The Romance of the Rose. They often include dreams, symbolic characters, and a narrator trying to win the love of a lady.

Machaut also wrote a poem about the brave deeds of Peter I of Cyprus, called The Prise d'Alexandrie, and poems about comfort and moral lessons. His use of himself as the narrator in his "dits" allows readers to see personal reflections and ideas.

At the end of his life, Machaut wrote a poem called Prologue, which explains how he organized his poetry into different types and rhyme patterns. This focus on order is shown in a list in a manuscript called Vesci l'ordonance que G. de Machaut veut qu'il ait en son livre ("Here is the order that G. de Machaut wants his book to have").

The poem below, Puis qu'en oubli, is his 18th rondeau.

Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amis,
Vie amoureuse et joie a Dieu commant.
Mar vi le jour que m'amour en vous mis,
Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amis.
Mais ce tenray que je vous ay promis,
C'est que ja mais n'aray nul autre amant.
Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous amis,
Vie amoureuse et joie a Dieu commant.

Translation:
Since I am forgotten by you, sweet friend,
I say goodbye to love and joy.
Unlucky was the day I placed my love in you,
Since I am forgotten by you, sweet friend.
But I will keep my promise to you,
That I will never love anyone else.
Since I am forgotten by you, sweet friend,
I say goodbye to love and joy.

Examples of Machaut’s works:
– Le remède de fortune ("The Cure of Ill Fortune") (c. 1340s, before 1357) – The narrator is asked by his lady if a poem she found is his. He runs away to a garden where "Hope" comforts him and teaches him how to be a good lover. He returns to his lady.
– Jugement du roy de Behaigne ("Judgement of the King of Bohemia") (before 1346) – The narrator hears a debate between a lady (whose lover is dead) and a knight (betrayed by his lady). He asks the King of Bohemia for advice, and the knight is declared the most unhappy.
– Dit du Lyon ("Story of the Lion") (1342) – The narrator arrives on a magical island where a lion guides him to a beautiful lady. An old knight explains the meaning of what he sees and gives him advice about love.
– Dit de l'Alérion ("Story of the 4 Birds") (before 1349) – The narrator raises four birds, but each one flees him. Later, the second bird returns to him.
– Jugement du roy de Navarre ("Judgement of the King of Navarre") (1349) – A lady accuses the narrator of unfairly choosing the knight as the most unhappy. The King of Navarre condemns the poet.
– Confort d'ami (1357) – This poem comforts Charles II of Navarre, who was a prisoner. It uses examples from the Bible and ancient times to show courage.
– Dit de la fontaine amoureuse ("Story of the Amorous Fountain") (1361) – The narrator meets a sad lover who must leave his lady. They sleep at a magical fountain, and in a dream, the lady comforts her lover.
– Le voir dit ("A True Story") (c. 1362–65) – Often considered Machaut’s best work, this story mixes real and fictional events. It describes the narrator’s separation from his lady and false rumors about him. The poem includes letters and lyrics that the narrator claims were written by the lovers. It satirizes medieval love stories by making the narrator an old, sick poet who is loved by a young woman for his reputation.
– Prologue (c. 1372) – Written near the end of his life, this poem explains Machaut’s views on poetry, music, and language, as taught to him by Nature and Love.
– Prise d'Alexandrie (after 1369) – A poem about the brave actions of Peter of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem and Cyprus.

Legacy

When he died in 1377, other composers like F. Andrieu wrote songs that expressed sadness about his death.

Machaut’s poetry strongly influenced the works of Eustache Deschamps, Jean Froissart, Christine de Pizan, René d'Anjou, and Geoffrey Chaucer, among others. There is a possible but unlikely chance that Chaucer and Machaut met when Chaucer was taken prisoner near Reims in 1359 or in Calais in 1360. Both men were on official business to help agree to the Treaty of Brétigny: Machaut was with his patron Jean de Berry, who was traveling to England, and Chaucer was delivering messages to Prince Lionel.

According to food historian William Woys Weaver, nobles at the French-speaking Lusignan court in Nicosia, Cyprus, often listened to stories from Machaut’s Prise d’Alexandrie during royal banquets in the 14th century. Stories like Machaut’s, which described brave Crusader figures, helped Lusignan courtiers feel more connected to Jerusalem.

Recordings

• 1936 – Guillaume de Machaut. Messe de Notre-Dame, dite du sacre de Charles V. Les Paraphonistes de St-Jean des Matines (choir and brass); Guillaume de Van, director. Standard-groove recording, 2 discs: 78 revolutions per minute, 12 inches, monaural. Anthologie sonore 31: AS 74; AS 75; AS 76; AS 77; [Paris]: L'Anthologie Sonore.
• 1938 – Guillaume de Machaut. Hoquetus David. Jean Archimbaud (soprano); André Lafosse (bass trumpet); Tudesq (trombone); Guillaume de Van, director. Standard-groove recording, 1 disc: 78 revolutions per minute; 12 inches, monaural. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre OL 3; 1059; M6-91643; 1063. M6-91647. [Paris]: Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre.
• 1938 – Guillaume de Machaut. Quant Theseus (double ballade); Je puis trop bien (ballade); De tout sui si confortée (virelai). Henriette Guermant, soprano; La Société Pro Musica Antiqua de Bruxelles; Safford Cape, director. Standard-groove recording, 1 disc: 78 revolutions per minute, 12 inches, monaural. (Anthologie sonore 67 (AS-140, AS-135). [France]: L'Anthologie sonore, 1938.
• 1943 – Guillaume de Machaut. Si je soupire; Douce dame jolie; He! Dame de vaillance. Pierre Deniau, tenor; instrumental accompaniment. Standard-groove recording, 1 disc, 78 revolutions per minute, 10 inches, monaural. Lumen XC 462; XC 463; 33405; France: Lumen.
• Guillaume de Machaut. Rose lys; Anon (Montpellier no. 189, 13th century). A la clarté; Anon (Montpellier no. 184, 13th century). Hui main; Anon (14th century). Amour que vous ai-je fait; Anon (15th century). Trop penser. Simone Gebelin, voice; H. Akoka, clarinet; G. Bon, flute; P. Hongne, bassoon. Standard-groove recording, 1 disc: 78 revolutions per minute; 312 inches, monaural. BAM 44. [N.p.]: Boîte à Musique, 1948.
• 1956 – Guillaume de Machaut. Messe de Notre Dame: dite "du Sacre de Charles V". Jean Archimbaud, soprano; Pierre Deniau, haute-contre; Georges Cathelat, tenor; Eugène Bousquet, baritone; Marcel Vigneron, bass; l'Ensemble Vocal er Instrumental, Roger Blanchard, director. LP recording, 1 disc: 33 revolutions per minute. 10 inches, monaural. Ducretet Thomson 270C085. [Paris]: Ducretet Thomson.