Why Perotin of Notre Dame Wrote No Sonnets

Perotin of Notre Dame

Source: Classical Archives

Cathedral of Notre Dame (Notre-Dame de Reims)

Flourishing around 1200 in France, Pérotin the Great succeeded his mentor, Leonin, at the Notre Dame School of Polyphony in Paris. Notre Dame was yet in early construction at Perotin's time, begun in 1163, so looked little like its complete structure above. It took about a century to build Notre Dame, another to complete modifications toward its whole state. Perotin's birthdate itself isn't known, estimated c 1155 at Discogs, c 1155/60 per Wikipedia. Though Pérotin may have been relatively close to the same age as Léonin, the latter was his teacher, both of them arriving during the period known in scholarship as ars antiqua stretching from the latter 12th through 13th century.

Perotin expanded the 'Magnus Liber Organi' ('Great Book of Organum') that was a compilation of polyphonic compositions applied to the liturgical plainchant begun circa 1170 by Léonin. Plainchant melodies for two or more voices were at that time called organum or, harmonic symphoniae. Pérotin distinguished himself from Léonin largely by his use of tenor amidst multiple (three and four) voices versus Leonin's two. That is, Leonin composed organa duplum; Perotin composed organa triplum and quadruplum. As Perotin's work at Notre Dame was an embellishment of forms created by Leonin, Perotin also expanded upon the motet which was basically a secular alteration of sacred clausulae, the latter being existent plainchants brought to par form in the "measured" organa of Notre Dame, that is, having been notated with metered rhythm. Of examples below, 'Pascha nostrum immolatus' and 'Viderunt Omnes' were originally composed for duplum by Leonin. 'Mors' ('Death') is thought to be by Perotin. They were written by Perotin circa 1200, specific dates unknown, thus stacked alphabetically below:

It isn't known when either Léonin or Pérotin died. Given a date of c 1200/05 at Wikipedia, Perotin is also thought to have been alive in 1220, perhaps living to as late as c 1230 [Discogs] or c 1238. He may have lived long enough to be an elder contemporary of Giacomo da Lentini born c 1210. Lentini is thought to have arranged the first sonnets in the early 13th century in Palermo, Italy, perhaps as early as  c 1220. (It doesn't seem likely that Lentini was writing sonnets at age ten, so "circa" comes in handy.) Among his sixteen canzoni, twenty-two sonnets and a discordo is 'Io m'aggio posto in core a Dio servire' ('I place myself in the heart of God to serve') on an unknown date. Lentini was also senior among poets to the court of Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, under whom the Sicilian School of poetry was formed possibly 1230 or later. Though the Sicilian School drew its inspiration from troubadours, Lentini's sonnets were meant for silent reading rather than performance. References to Lentini below will have been sometime during Perotin's latter years if not closely following his death.