Classical Music History Post 05: Concluding the Fifteenth Century

Classical Music History Series: John Dunstable, Guillaume Dufay, and Josquin des Prés

A little housekeeping:

Friends of Biblioll, for those who don’t know my other blog, Don Carlo and the Seamstress, I’m excited to be transferring (gradually) all of those music-loving posts over here, under its own heading. The main project that I’ve begun on the separate blog is a journey, as someone NOT musically trained, through classical music history, using David Ewen’s book, The Complete Book of Classical Music, as a guide—along with suggestions from readers, fellow music lovers, and those far more expert on the subject than I am. I will be closing down my separate Don Carlo Substack in late-January or early-February, 2026. (Note: It might take a bit of time to transfer old Don Carlo posts here to Biblioll. Thanks in advance for your patience!) The reasons for this transfer are numerous. Partially, it is because this whole journey with classical music history—being one of several autodidact projects like the Great Books Challenge and the Dispatches from Dickens—will take longer than anticipated, and it is worth giving more time to each composer than I had first planned. And we want all of our subscribers to find all the info and essays that we have to share in one place. The whole music history endeavor also fits in well with our Dispatches mission of self-directed learning.

It makes sense, then, to have everything under one umbrella, though under its own heading (Don Carlo and the Seamstress). If you have no interest in this classical music history journey, feel free to ignore or uncheck updates from this heading.

Friends, today I wanted to share a few notes and thoughts on the next three of the composers in David Ewen’s The Complete Book of Classical Music—John Dunstable, Guillaume Dufay, and Josquin des Prés—before we fully transition into the sixteenth century. Here we continue to explore the development of polyphony as the musicians of the age veered away from Gregorian chants of the middle ages, and the overall transition from medieval to Renaissance music, both sacred and secular.

Again, these are not curated lists of pieces of my own; I’m no musical expert. With Ewen’s guidance, I’m just sharing my own journey with these composers and some of their notable works—or the works that I stumble on in the process.

Enjoy!

John Dunstable (1370-1453)

John Dunstable, or “Dunstaple”. Par Maître de Bedford — British Library: MS 18850, Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33668954

“John Dunstable was England’s first significant composer, England’s leading exponent of ‘Ars Nova.’ He wrote almost exclusively for the church—motets, Masses, and other settings of liturgical texts. His only contribution to secular music came with three delightful ballads in a chanson style: ‘Durer ne puis,’ ‘Puisque m’amour,’ and ‘O rosa bella.’

“To his polyphonic writing, Dunstable brought an eloquence and beauty unknown in his time. Even more than Machaut he sought out the musical equivalent of his text in his attempt to interpret words through music. One of his innovations was the adaptation of the rhythm of his declamation to that of the spoken word.”

~David Ewen, The Complete Book of Classical Music, pgs. 2-3

Dunstable is, according to Wikipedia contributors, “the leading English composer of his time, and is often coupled with William Byrd and Henry Purcell as England’s most important early music composers,” contributing to “the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods”; “Epitaphs written upon Dunstaple’s death identify him as not only a musician, but as well as respected mathematician, astronomer and astrologer.”

His works were very influential, having many characteristics of what would become recognizably Renaissance composition. The contributors also note that we’ve had to recover a good deal of his music from continental Europe—thereby giving evidence of his widespread influence—due to the destruction of so many original manuscripts during the Reformation.

Unfortunately, very little is really known of his life. He might have worked for the brother of Henry V, and so might have spent time in France. He was educated, but we don’t have records of his attendance at the great universities of the day. We do know that he died on Christmas Eve, 1453 (Wikipedia contributors).

According to the History of Creativity site:

“He died on Christmas Eve 1453, as recorded in his epitaph, which was in the church of St Stephen Walbrook in London (until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666). This was also his burial place. The epitaph—stating that he had “secret knowledge of the stars”—had been recorded in the early 17th century, and was reinstated in the church in 1904.”

The very first thing that I noticed about the work of John Dunstable (or “Dunstaple”) was his masterful polyphony.

Ewen considers Quam Pulchra Est antiphon and Veni Sancte Spiritus motet to be two of Dunstable’s most notable works. I listened to the Hilliard Ensemble’s remastered version of the first one here:

I also loved this collection of Masses and motets:

In this piece, O rosa bella (often attributed to John Bedingham), we find one of his possible secular works—possible, because of doubtful attribution—a piece of courtly love:

This piece, in a cello suite, is regrettably just over four minutes long…I wish I had at least an hour of similar works:

And Ave Maris Stella is a beautiful hymn to Mary, “Star of the Sea”:

Guillaume Dufay (1400-1474)

Guillaume Dufay. From https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-one-of-the-great-ones/

Influenced by Dunstable was the polyphonic composer of the “Burgundian school,” Guillaume Dufay, “born in Hainault, Burgundy, in or about 1400….he served as Maitre de Chapelle in Cambrai, and for many years after that, he was a singer in the papal choir” (Ewen 4). (Note: Britannica online has his birthplace as Beersel.) After holding several important musical positions, Dufay ultimately ended his days as the canon at the Cambrai Cathedral.

Ewen credits Dufay with establishing the four-part harmony and introducing “secular tunes [e.g. L’Homme arme] into the Mass as a replacement for Gregorian chants” (4).

This gorgeous piece, Nuper Rosarium Flores (Recent Rose Blossoms) was inspired by the newly-built Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, a marvel of construction. Talk about a thing of beauty not only being a joy forever, but inspiring another Thing of Beauty to be created!

Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, from https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-one-of-the-great-ones/

Ewen considers Dufay’s Chansons as among his most significant works; several are “influenced by Dunstable’s ballades”: “Ce jour de l’an”; “Se la face ay pale”; “Je Languis en piteux martire” (5).

The following is a lovely collection of Chansons by Dufay and Johannes Ciconia:

Interestingly, the Missa Caput, which Ewen considers “the most significant of Dufay’s seven Masses,” is now not considered to be attributable to Dufay, but is mostly listed as “Anonymous” (4).

Josquin des Prés (1450-1521)

“There speaks in his music a warm sensitiveness, a capacity for urgent emotion, a mystic awe of worship.”

~Ambros, historian (Ewen 5)

Josquin des Prés was “the dominating figure” of the Flemish school of polyphony which succeeded and surpassed the Burgundian; he, according to Ewen, “was one of the first composers anywhere to give importance to melody and harmony, and to endow both with such warm, rich colors….He was truly a child of the Renaissance; his music reflects the Renaissance in its serenity, grandeur, sentiment, and humanity” (5). His masses, according to Britannica online, “laid the foundation for the rapid musical development of the mass in the second half of the 15th century.”

Like Dufay, but about fifty years later, des Prés was born in Hainault, Burgundy. He worked as a musician at the courts of Milan and Florence, and also, like Dufay, sang in the papal choir, and later served at Cambrai Cathedral as its choirmaster.

Illustration of the OLD Cambrai Cathedral, now lost. By Edgard Rogé(?) - https://books.google.fr/books?id=abwWAAAAQAAJ, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46261318

His Missa L’Homme Armé, utilizing a popular secular tune, is presented here by the Tallis Scholars with serene beauty:

Here is a gorgeous version of the too-brief “Mille regretz”—“A Thousand Regrets” (which Early Music Sources, in a special video on the topic, calls “unsatisfyingly sweet”):

I loved Mille regretz; its melancholy haunts long after one has listened. And I listened to it many times.

To close out this little beginning journey with the end of the fifteenth century as we move into the sixteenth, here’s des Prés’s gorgeous “Ave Maria” performed by Stile Antico:

What are your favorites among Ewen’s recommended works and the others you’ve discovered, friends? What favorites have I missed?

Here’s to a 2026 filled with music and learning. Happy listening!

Classical Music History Series Links

Introduction • Composers List • Alfonso X el Sabio • Guillaume de Machaut • John Dunstable, Guillaume Dufay, & Josquin des Prés

Works Cited

Britannica Editors. “Guillaume Dufay”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Nov. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-Dufay. Accessed 4 January 2026.

Ewen, David. The Complete Book of Classical Music. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1965.

History of Creativity. John Dunstaple. Web. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “Ars nova.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Nov. 2025. Web. 24 Nov. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “John Dunstaple.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Aug. 2025. Web. 19 Dec. 2025