Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377) composed Messe de Nostre Dame around 1365. It was a landmark in musical history as it was the earliest known polyphonic mass written by one composer. The texture of the Kyrie is written for four voices which complements each other harmonically and highlight the harmonic structures through its neutrality. The upper lines are moving in independent rhythmic motion and long rhapsodic melodic sections over a tenor in isorhythm. In the tenor line there is a four-note motif can be heard. This movement uses only a single text which sang by all four voices. In the Triplum line we can discover that the weak beats are stressed which gives the melody a little skipping feel. Kyrie sounds like a Gregorian chant. It is peaceful and relaxing due to its conjunct melody with long melisma on the last syllable of Kyrie.

Reference:

Machaut, G., 1365. Guillaume De Machaut: La Messe De Nostre Dame – Kyrie. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47JdUI_PhE&gt; [Accessed 30 May 2020]

Newworldencyclopedia.org. Guillaume De Machaut – New World Encyclopaedia. [online] Available at: <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Guillaume_de_Machaut&gt; [Accessed 30 May 2020]