I found several recordings of this. In class we were given a copy of the score and the composer was listed as Anonymous, but everything I found said that it is generally attributed to Phillipe de Vtiry. This piece is an isorhythmic motet, which means that there are repeated rhythms (talea) and melodic patterns (color) throughout. It is a three voice motet. The bottom voice or tenor is based on an original Gregorian chant.
In the original score there was red ink to indicate a change from tempus perfectum (triple meter) to tempus imperfectum (duple meter) and then back again. (When the red ink ends it means that the triple meter resumes).
This piece was interesting to listen to because of all of these details, but musically speaking, I didn't find it to be very compelling. It seemed to lack direction and sophistication. I didn't think that the three parts really even fit together very well. It just sounded very chaotic. I know that de Vitry was enjoying the freedom of creating something new and not being bound by so many rules, but to me it seemed like he was using a bit too much freedom. I like the idea, but it sounded like it needed to be refined a bit. I do believe that there is such a thing as "too much freedom" in music and this piece is an example of that.
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