Editing Medieval music (section)

===France: ''Ars nova''===
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{{main|Ars nova}}
[[File:Charivari.jpg|thumb|250px|In this illustration from the satirical collection of music and poetry ''Roman de Fauvel'', the horse Fauvel is about to join Vainglory in the bridal bed and the people form a [[charivari]] in protest. ]]
The beginning of the ''[[Ars nova]]'' is one of the few clear chronological divisions in medieval music, since it corresponds to the publication of the ''[[Roman de Fauvel]]'', a huge compilation of poetry and music, in 1310 and 1314. The ''Roman de Fauvel'' is a satire on abuses in the medieval church, and is filled with medieval motets, [[Lai (poetic form)|lai]]s, [[Rondeau (music)|rondeaux]] and other new secular forms. While most of the music is anonymous, it contains several pieces by [[Philippe de Vitry]], one of the first composers of the [[isorhythm]]ic motet, a development which distinguishes the fourteenth century. The isorhythmic motet was perfected by [[Guillaume de Machaut]], the finest composer of the time.

During the ''Ars nova'' era, secular music acquired a polyphonic sophistication formerly found only in sacred music, a development not surprising considering the secular character of the early Renaissance (while this music is typically considered "medieval", the social forces that produced it were responsible for the beginning of the literary and artistic Renaissance in Italy—the distinction between Middle Ages and Renaissance is a blurry one, especially considering arts as different as music and painting). The term "''Ars nova''" (new art, or new technique) was coined by Philippe de Vitry in his treatise of that name (probably written in 1322), in order to distinguish the practice from the music of the immediately preceding age.

The dominant secular genre of the Ars Nova was the ''[[chanson]]'', as it would continue to be in France for another two centuries. These chansons were composed in musical forms corresponding to the poetry they set,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Wilkins |first=Nigel |others=Revised by [[David Fallows]], [[Howard Mayer Brown]] and Richard Freedman |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Chanson |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40032 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040032 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}</ref> which were in the so-called ''[[formes fixes]]'' of ''rondeau'', ''ballade'', and ''virelai''. These forms significantly affected the development of musical structure in ways that are felt even today; for example, the ''ouvert-clos'' rhyme-scheme shared by all three demanded a musical realization which contributed directly to the modern notion of antecedent and consequent phrases. It was in this period, too, in which began the long tradition of setting the mass ordinary. This tradition started around mid-century with isolated or paired settings of Kyries, Glorias, etc., but [[Guillaume de Machaut|Machaut]] composed what is thought to be the first complete mass conceived as one composition. The sound world of Ars Nova music is very much one of linear primacy and rhythmic complexity. "Resting" intervals are the fifth and octave, with thirds and sixths considered dissonances. Leaps of more than a sixth in individual voices are not uncommon, leading to speculation of instrumental participation at least in secular performance. Surviving French manuscripts include the [[Ivrea Codex]] and the [[Apt Codex]].

For information about specific French composers writing in late medieval era, see [[Jehan de Lescurel]], [[Philippe de Vitry]], [[Guillaume de Machaut]], [[Borlet]], [[Solage]], and [[Francois Andrieu|François Andrieu]].