Pérotin (12th c.-13th c.); FRA

Pérotin, active around the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, was a French composer associated with the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris and one of the earliest European composers whose individual musical achievements can be discerned. Almost nothing certain is known of his life, and much of what is inferred about him derives from the writings of the later theorist known as Anonymous IV. He is traditionally regarded as the successor to Léonin within the musical tradition now called the Notre-Dame school.

Pérotin expanded the possibilities of organum by writing elaborate polyphony in three and four voices on sustained chant foundations. His monumental four-part works Viderunt omnes and Sederunt principes are landmarks in the history of Western polyphony. His command of rhythmic organization and large-scale vocal architecture represents a decisive stage in the development of notated polyphonic music.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.