Pérotin

France, 1180–1220

Notre-Dame master who expanded polyphony to three and four voices. Viderunt omnes and Sederunt principes are the earliest monuments of four-part composition.

MusicRoots documents 1 artist who influenced Pérotin and 2 artists Pérotin influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Pérotin?

• Léonin — The theorist Anonymous IV records that Pérotin revised and expanded Léonin's Magnus Liber Organi — the direct documented succession of the Notre-Dame school.

Which artists did Pérotin influence?

• Guillaume de Machaut — Machaut's polyphonic art descends from the Notre-Dame tradition of measured polyphony that Pérotin brought to its height.
• Steve Reich — Reich has named Pérotin's 12th-century organum a direct model — the augmented cantus firmus under Proverb is his acknowledged homage.