Guillaume Dufay

around the 10th century near Burgundy, east-central France and later discovered in the 14 century. Although the cantus firmus L’homme armé formed the basis for masses of the renaissance era, this French secular song continues to inspire composers of the 21st century. Guillaume DuFay (c.1397- 1474), a native of the Cambrai…

of Fine Arts. The following year, he enrolled at the Zvantseva School, studying with set designer Léon Bakst, whose work had been featured in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. This early experience would prove important to Chagall’s later career as well. Despite this formal instruction, and the widespread popularity of realism in Russia at the time, Chagall was already establishing his own personal style, which featured a more dreamlike unreality and the people, places and imagery that were…

How do poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon present their ideas of war in their poems, Exposure and Does It Matter? Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are two famous war time poets, who conveyed their first-hand experiences of war through the form of poems to enlighten people towards the reality of war, as shown in “Exposure” and “Does It Matter?”. Exposure is an emotionally powerful poem that expresses the reality of the brutal weather conditions that were endured by the soldiers in the…

For my visit to the St. Louis Art Museum, I chose to view one of my favorite paintings that I have been admiring for years. Currently on view in Gallery 215, hangs the oil on canvas by Marc Chagall titled Temptation (The piece is also known as Adam and Eve). This painting is significant to the Surrealist movement, Jewish Artists, and to the popularity of Marc Chagall. Once you understand some of the details of the history of this work and its creator, that might not sound like such a grand…

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Guillaume de Machaut There are many unknown things can be about Guillaume de Machaut, but one thing for sure he embodied the 14th century artistically. Guillaume de Machaut was born around 1300 somewhere near Réthel in the Champagne of France. The ordinary mass has come a long way since it was created. Guillaume de Machaut created the first polyphonic cycle by a single composer, Messe de Nostre Dame was revolutionary not only because it was the first polyphonic…

The Renaissance is perhaps known most for its extraordinary art. This was certainly unlike the Middle Ages, were there exists little documentation. On the contrary, the most artistic figures lived during this time. Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the artistic icons during this time. He is the artist that made the great statue of David. According to the textbook, this great structure was built between 1501 and 1504 (Benton et al 22) and a stands at 13’5” long (23). In addition, it was not only…

The greatest challenge in studying the life of Johannes Ockeghem is the discouraging absence of concrete evidence of the date of his birth and death, specifics of life activity, and even original manuscripts. This lack of records and information results from the cultural practices of preserving this sort of data, which are not as meticulous compared to today’s. Scholars and musicologists however study Ockeghem because he “had added something to the musical knowledge of his time” (Krenek, 7)1. In…

words combine to form representation of images. Composers tired to craft the music to express their feelings. A composer Josquin wrote a song called “Ave Maria Virgo Serena,” and there were men and women singing with no instruments. In the Rennesance, the motet is sacred and in the Middle Ages, the motet is secular. The mass was the most widely approach in music. The most popular set of prayers was the ordinary mass. Likewise, the Reformation was in 1521 when Martin Luther was a movement away…