Ars nova

For other uses, see Ars nova (disambiguation).

Ars nova (Latin for 'new art')^[2] refers to a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of France and its surroundings during the Late Middle Ages. More particularly, it refers to the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel (1310s) and the death of composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377. The term is sometimes used more generally to refer to all European polyphonic music of the fourteenth century. For instance, the term "Italian ars nova" is sometimes used to denote the music of Francesco Landini and his compatriots, although Trecento music is the more common term for the contemporary 14th-century music in Italy. The "ars" in "ars nova" can be read as "technique", or "style".^[3] The term was first used in two musical treatises, titled Ars novae musicae (New Technique of Music) (c. 1320) by Johannes de Muris, and a collection of writings (c. 1322) attributed to Philippe de Vitry often simply called "Ars nova" today.^[4] Musicologist Johannes Wolf first applied to the term as description of an entire era (as opposed to merely specific persons) in 1904.^[2]

Page of the French manuscript Roman de Fauvel, Paris, B.N. Fr. 146 (c. 1318), "the first practical source of Ars nova music".^[1]

The term ars nova is often used in juxtaposition to two other periodic terms, of which the first, ars antiqua, refers to the music of the immediately preceding age, usually extending back to take in the period of Notre Dame polyphony (from about 1170 to 1320). Roughly, then, ars antiqua refers to music of the thirteenth century, and the ars nova that of the fourteenth; many music histories use the terms in this more general sense.^[2]

The period from the death of Machaut (1377) until the early fifteenth century, including the rhythmic innovations of the ars subtilior, is sometimes considered the end of, or late, ars nova but at other times an independent era in music.^[2] Other musical periods and styles have at various times been called "new art." Johannes Tinctoris used the term to describe Dunstaple;^[5] however, in modern historiographical usage, it is restricted entirely to the period described above.^[2]

Phillipe de Vitry

The Ars nova is a medieval music treatise written around 1320 and usually connected to the composer Philippe de Vitry. The English translation is based mostly on the Vatican manuscript Barberini 307, with a few corrections from other medieval sources. The treatise explains the major musical ideas that helped change music from the older Ars vetus style to the newer Ars nova style, which was more flexible and rhythmically complex in fourteenth-century France^[6]

The first part of the treatise reviews basic music theory. Vitry talks about the three classical types of music: music of the universe, human music, and instrumental music. He focuses mainly on instrumental music and explains how intervals and scales work, including how the monochord is divided to show different pitches. He also reviews the medieval system of solmization, which used syllables like ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la. Vitry explains how musicians used note names, clefs, staff lines, and the signs for flat, natural, and sharp, which were tied to different versions of the note B. Much of this information comes from the earlier work of Guido d’Arezzo^[7].

Vitry then explains musica falsa, which means adding accidentals that are not written in the music in order to avoid unpleasant or incorrect sounding intervals. Even though it is called false, Vitry says it is necessary to make the music sound right. The most important part of the treatise is his explanation of mensural notation, which was the system musicians used to show rhythm. Vitry describes perfect and imperfect tempus, which represent triple and duple divisions of time. He also explains how larger notes are grouped and how smaller notes are divided. He introduces early versions of mensuration signs, such as the circle and semicircle, and creates rules for how notes can change value in different situations^[8][9].

Another major idea in the treatise is coloration. Vitry explains that red notes were used to show special rhythmic changes, like shifting to a different meter or shortening the value of notes. This helped composers include several rhythmic patterns at the same time. He also describes different types of rhythmic divisions, explaining minimum, medium, and major forms of tempus in both perfect and imperfect time. He ends the treatise by explaining how long notes and rests work in different rhythmic settings^[10]

Several points show why the Ars nova treatise is historically important. Vitry helped introduce duple meter into written music at a time when triple meter was used almost all the time. His explanations of mensuration signs influenced the development of modern time signatures. He also established the minim as a note smaller than the semibreve, which allowed for more detailed and expressive rhythm. His rules for alteration and imperfection helped performers understand how to read complex mixtures of duple and triple rhythms^[11]

Vitry’s explanation of coloration improved rhythmic notation by giving a clear way to show changes in rhythm, structure, or even pitch placement. He also clarified how to use musica falsa by giving instructions on when to add accidentals that were not written in the manuscript. Finally, the treatise connects older music theory traditions with the new ideas of the fourteenth century, showing how musical thinking was changing during this time^[12].

Overall, the Ars nova treatise is one of the most important documents in the history of Western music notation. Its new ideas helped lead to more complex rhythms, greater precision in notation, and the early development of modern meter. It marks a major turning point in medieval music, showing how composers and theorists moved away from the older Ars vetus style and toward a new system that allowed for more creativity and rhythmic freedom (, ).

Not only was Philippe de Vitry a prolific composer during the time of Ars Nova, but he was also a great theorist on this style of music. In a translation by the Duke University Press, Philippe de Vitry goes on to break down his theoretical analysis of the Ars Nova style of music. He references some very specific characteristics of the Ars Nova style of music in this work, such as notation, mode, key structure, and common harmonization. Two examples of Philippe de Vitry manuscripts are also included. These two manuscripts have visible differences to one another, showing us the development of Ars Nova notation over time ().

Versus ars antiqua

Stylistically, the music of the ars nova differed from the preceding era in several ways. Developments in notation allowed notes to be written with greater rhythmic independence, shunning the limitations of the rhythmic modes which prevailed in the thirteenth century; secular music acquired much of the polyphonic sophistication previously found only in sacred music; and new techniques and forms, such as isorhythm and the isorhythmic motet, became prevalent. The overall aesthetic effect of these changes was to create music of greater expressiveness and variety than had been the case in the thirteenth century.^{[13][failed verification]} Indeed, the sudden historical change which occurred, with its startling new degree of musical expressiveness, can be likened to the introduction of perspective in painting, and it is useful to consider that the changes to music in the period of the ars nova were contemporary with the great early Renaissance revolutions in painting and literature.^[14]

The most famous practitioner of the new musical style was Guillaume de Machaut, who also had a distinguished career as a canon at Reims Cathedral and as a poet. The ars-nova style is evident in his considerable body of motets, lais, virelais, rondeaux and ballades.^[15]

In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a notable collective of composers and vocalists flourished under the patronage of Paris’s famed Notre-Dame Cathedral. Known as the Notre-Dame school, this group holds a vital place in the history of Western music for developing the first widely recognized and internationally circulated repertoire of polyphonic music. (“Motet | Vocal Music | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 15 Oct. 2012, www.britannica.com/art/motet. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.)

Towards the end of the fourteenth century, a new stylistic school of composers and poets centered in Avignon in southern France developed; the highly mannered style of this period is often called the ars subtilior, although some scholars have chosen to consider it a late development of the ars nova rather than separating it into a separate school. This strange but interesting repertory of music, limited in geographical distribution (southern France, Aragon and later Cyprus), and clearly intended for performance by specialists for an audience of connoisseurs, is like an "end note" to the entire Middle Ages.^[16]

List of composers

Composers of the ars nova style

Name	Lifetime	Works that survive	Ref(s)
Philippe de Vitry	1291–1361	Many works	[17]
Jehan de Lescurel	fl. early 14th century	Many ballades and rondeaus; two "Diz entez"	[18]
Guillaume de Machaut	c. 1300 – 1377	Substantial amount in various forms Notably Messe de Nostre Dame, Ma fin est mon commencement and Rose, liz, printemps, verdure	[19]
P. des Molins	fl. mid 14th century	The ballade De ce que fol pensé and the rondeau Amis, tout dous vis	[20]
Jehan Vaillant	fl. 1360–1390	Three rondeau a ballades and virelai Notably Par maintes foys	[21]
Grimace	fl. mid-to-late 14th century	Three ballades, a virelai and rondeau Notably A l'arme A l'arme and Se Zephirus/Se Jupiter	[22]
F. Andrieu	fl. late 14th century	The (double) ballade Armes amours	[23]
Briquet	fl. early 15th century	The rondeau Ma seule amour et ma belle maistresse	[24]

Discography

• Chants du XIV^ème siècle. Mora Vocis Ensemble. France: Mandala, 1999. CD recording MAN 4946.
• Denkmäler alter Musik aus dem Codex Reina (14./15. Jh.). Syntagma Musicum (Kees Otten, dir.). Das Alte Werk. [N.p.]: Telefunken, 1979. LP recording 6.42357.
• Domna. Esther Lamandier, voice, harp, and portative organ. Paris: Alienor, 1987. CD recording AL 1019.
• La fontaine amoureuse: Poetry and Music of Guillaume de Machaut. Music for a While, with Tom Klunis, narrator. Berkeley: 1750 Arch Records, 1977. LP recording 1773.
• Guillaume de Machaut. Je, Guillaumes Dessus Nommez. Ensemble Gilles Binchois (Dominique Vellard, dir.). [N.p.]: Cantus, 2003. CD recording 9804.
• Guillaume de Machaut. La Messe de Nostre Dame und Motetten. James Bowman, Tom Sutcliffe, countertenors; Capella Antiqua München (Konrad Ruhland, dir.). Das Alte Werk. Hamburg: Telefunken, 1970. LP recording 6.41125 AS.
• Guillaume de Machaut. La messe de Nostre Dame; Le voir dit. Oxford Camerata (Jeremy Summerly, dir.). Hong Kong: Naxos, 2004. CD recording 8553833.
• Guillaume de Machaut. Messe de Notre Dame. Ensemble Organum (Marcel Pérès, dir.). Arles: Harmonia Mundi, 1997. CD recording 901590.
• Guillaume de Machaut. Messe de Notre Dame; Le lai de la fonteinne; Ma fin est mon commencement. Hilliard Ensemble (Paul Hillier, dir.). London: Hyperion, 1989.
• Guillaume de Machaut. Motets. Hilliard Ensemble. Munich: ECM Records, 2004.
• Philippe De Vitry and the Ars Nova—Motets. Orlando Consort. Wotton-Under-Edge, Glos., England: Amon Ra, 1990. CD recording CD-SAR 49.
• Philippe de Vitry. Motets & Chansons. Sequentia (Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton, dir.) Freiburg: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1991. CD recording 77095-2-RC.
• Roman de Fauvel. Jean Bollery (speaker), Studio der Frühen Musik (Thomas Binkley, dir.). Reflexe: Stationen europäischer Musik. Cologne: EMI, 1972. LP recording 1C 063-30 103.
• Le roman de Fauvel. Anne Azéma (soprano, narration), Dominique Visse (countertenor, narration), Boston Camerata and Ensemble Project Ars Nova (Joel Cohen, dir.). France: Erato, 1995. CD recording 4509-96392-2.
• The Service of Venus and Mars: Music for the Knights of the Garter, 1340–1440. Gothic Voices (Christopher Page, dir.). London: Hyperion, 1987. CD recording CDA 66238.
• The Spirit of England and France I: Music of the Late Middle Ages for Court and Church. Gothic Voices (Christopher Page, dir.). London: Hyperion Records, 1994. CD recording CDA66739.
• The Study of Love: French Songs and Motets of the 14th Century. Gothic Voices (Christopher Page, dir.). London: Hyperion Records, 1992. CD recording CDA66619.