大象传媒

Donald Macleod considers why Dufay was seen as a practictioner of music, and a glimpse across the centuries into his character, through the only letter of his that survives.

The beauty, originality and technical mastery of Guillaume Dufay鈥檚 music illustrate why the Florentine ruler Piero de鈥橫edici gave him the epithet 鈥渢he greatest ornament of our age鈥�. Undoubtedly he is one of the 15th century鈥檚 most distinctive voices. He was in his late 70s by the time he died in 1474; a long life by medieval standards. His outstanding talent transported him from an uncertain start in life as the illegitimate son of a servant and an unknown man, to being a musician who was feted at court, and respected by the church and the papacy alike. As his fame spread across Europe, he commanded the admiration of his fellow composers, influencing not only his direct contemporaries but also the generation of composers who succeeded him, among them Johannes Ockeghem.

Donald Macleod is joined by William Lyons, an historical music researcher and the artistic director of the ensemble The Dufay Collective. Pulling together what鈥檚 known about Dufay, across the series of five programmes, they build a picture of the man behind this illustrious figure, assess the key relationships he fostered, and consider how his music flourished as he navigated the turbulent political currents of the age.

In the concluding part of this week's series Donald and William look at how Dufay's view of his role changed over the years and how the world in which he lived would have understood it.

Ce moys de may
Continens Paradisi

Bon jour, bon mois
Continens Paradisi

Il sera par vous combatu
Cut Circle
Jesse Rodin, director

Missa L鈥檋omme arm茅 - Kyrie
Oxford Camerata
Jeremy Summerly, director

S鈥檌l est Plaisir
Diabolus in Musica
Antoine Guerber, director

Je me complains
Blue Heron
Scott Metcalfe, director

Par le regard
Diabolus in musica
Antoine Guerber, director

Ave regina caelorum II
Cantica Symphonia
Kees Boeke and Giuseppe Maletto, directors

Sanctus Ave verum corpus
Blue Heron
Scott Metcalfe

Gaude virgo
Ensemble Musica Nova