Léonin (b. 1150?) was the first-known composer; Pérotin (b. 1200??) was the second-known composer.
Having known so little about them, though, we've since dubbed the pair the patron saints of Classicalite's Cartoon Trivia with Léo & Péri...
Léo: "We're looking at Jan van Eyck's Portrait of Tymotheos from 1432. In his right hand, Tymotheos has a rolled scroll or parchment sheet with a few marks that resemble early musical notation from from the manuscripts of the 11th and 12th centuries--long before the staff had been introduced. For van Eyck, antiquity really meant remote times. So, if "Tymotheos" here was, in fact, a Burgundian court musician, who do you think we're actually looking, Péri?"
Péri: "It was common, Léo, in Burgundian court circles to assume the names of antiquity's more famous persons. Philip the Good was likened to Alexander the Great. Tymotheos, in the later Middle Ages, was considered Alexander's revolutionary court musician. (Heck, van Eyck, himself, was heralded as Apelles--the painter at the court of that Greek emperor.) So, should this be indeed a court musician from Burgundy, then it's either Guillaume Dufay or Gilles Binchois."
Do you know the answer to Léo's question here, Classicalites? If so, let us know in the comments.
As always, we'll post Péri's right response soon.
