Gilles Binchois

Gilles Binchois was a 15th-century Franco-Flemish composer whose sacred and secular works helped shape the musical culture of the Burgundian court.

Burgundian School: A group of composers associated with the Burgundian court and its musical culture in the fifteenth century. Binchois is a leading early figure in the school’s courtly sound.
Guillaume Dufay: A Franco-Flemish composer whose career spanned the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Dufay and Binchois were celebrated contemporaries whose music shaped Burgundian taste.
Missa solemnis (Binchois): A Mass setting attributed to Gilles Binchois and preserved in fifteenth-century musical sources. It offers a substantial example of his sacred composition.
Le Champion des dames: A long French poem by Martin le Franc, completed around 1442, that includes commentary on contemporary musicians. Its famous comparison of Binchois and Dufay helped define their reputations.
Chanson: A French-language song tradition encompassing several forms and styles across the medieval and Renaissance periods. His secular reputation rests especially on French chansons.
John Dunstaple: An English composer whose music influenced continental European styles in the early fifteenth century. His music represents an English influence heard in the broader sound world surrounding Binchois.
De plus en plus: A French chanson by Gilles Binchois, set to a rondeau poem about increasing love and devotion. Its elegant refrain form exemplifies his secular song craft.
Burgundian court chapel: The musical institution that provided liturgical services and employed singers and composers for the Burgundian ruler. The chapel preserved the professional setting of Binchois’s career.
Cantus firmus: A pre-existing melody used as the structural basis for a polyphonic composition. The technique provides context for some sacred works associated with his era.
Philip the Good: Duke of Burgundy from 1419 to 1467, under whom the Burgundian court reached great political and cultural prominence. Binchois served in the duke’s court chapel.

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