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On Sunday, Jun 1 at 3 p.m., Early Music Michigan<\/a> will present a concert of medieval music at the First Congregational Church in downtown Kalamazoo. The program is titled \u201cDouce Jolie: Christine de Pizan and Guillaume de Machaut in Dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll the music you will hear will be Machaut,\u201d says Luke Conklin, Early Music Michigan\u2019s artistic and executive director. \u201cAnd that is not a hardship because Machaut wrote so much music\u2026 you could go to concerts for weeks and you would still be hearing different performances of Machaut.\u201d<\/p>\n Known as the \u201clast troubadour,\u201d Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is also credited as the first known composer to create a complete polyphonic setting of the Catholic Mass. \u201cHe\u2019s the first person that we know\u2014the biographical information, his name is signed on the paper\u2014for the mass,\u201d says Conklin. \u201cThat opens the gates to 700 years of mass composition.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine de Pizan, an Italian-born writer at the French court, was also a celebrated writer in 14th century France. \u201cShe was responding in large part to centuries of courtly love and lyrics\u2026 and says, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s not really how it is,\u2019\u201d Conklin explains. \u201cShe was able to say, \u2018Women aren\u2019t treated that well, and this is what we have to say.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n De Pizan\u2019s poetry and prose will provide a counterpoint to Machaut\u2019s songs of courtly love. \u201cWe\u2019ll have members of the group\u2026 reading some of those responses to Machaut,\u201d Conklin says. \u201cIn that way, this concert will have a dialogue.\u201d Highlights include Machaut\u2019s setting of the mass, and a selection of his secular love songs.<\/p>\n More details are available at earlymusicmichigan.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n