Guillaume de Machaut: Mass of our Lady

He wrote to us: “On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I had a little more time to reading the Bible and then remembered a stupendous composition consecrated to Mary: Messe de Notre Dame, the work of Giullaume de Machaut. To tell the truth, this is the first mass that was composed by one person and preserved until today. It is also the first work to treat the mass as one work and not as disparate musical parts throughout the prayer.

It was written to be performed during the Saturday mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the Cathedral choir of Reims (France). It is considered an exemplary composition of the music of the Late Middle Ages and there is something in it quite different from later compositions of the mass.

Simply listening to it provokes a sensation of holiness”.

Listen to the Kyrie here

Listen to the Gloria here

Listen to the Credo here

Listen to the Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Ite missa est here