Ars nova is a 14th‑century European musical style that originated in France and spread to Italy, marking a decisive break from the earlier Ars antiqua. It is distinguished by innovations in rhythmic and mensural notation that allowed composers to write complex, syncopated, and independently moving parts.
Typical genres and forms include the isorhythmic motet, mass movements, and secular chansons in the formes fixes (ballade, virelai, and rondeau). Textures are primarily vocal and polyphonic (often three to four voices), with techniques such as isorhythm (talea and color), hocket, and frequent use of mensural proportions.
Its French wing coalesced around the theories and works of Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut, while the Italian Trecento (often considered an Italian Ars nova) cultivated parallel secular song forms and characteristic cadences (e.g., the Landini cadence).
The term “Ars nova” (“new art”) comes from a treatise attributed to Philippe de Vitry (c. 1320s) and denotes a set of notational and stylistic advances that emerged in France in the early 1300s. Building on the polyphonic practices of Ars antiqua and the sacred traditions of Gregorian/plainchant, composers adopted mensural notation that clearly distinguished duple from triple divisions and introduced smaller note values (including the minim).
Ars nova enabled precise rhythmic independence between voices, syncopation, coloration, and proportional relationships (prolations). Composers explored isorhythm—repeating rhythmic patterns (talea) and melodic segments (color) in different voice parts—most famously in motets. Hocket passages, contratenor writing, musica ficta accidentals, and more flexible cadential formulas became hallmarks.
Alongside sacred motets and mass movements, secular music flourished in the formes fixes: the ballade, virelai, and rondeau. Courtly love poetry and refined rhetoric shaped the French chanson, while Italy pursued the Trecento song types (madrigal, caccia, ballata), sharing the broader Ars nova toolkit but developing distinct melodic and cadential idioms.
In Italy, composers such as Francesco Landini, Jacopo da Bologna, and Gherardello da Firenze cultivated elegant, melodically flowing textures and characteristic “Landini cadences.” The Italian scene paralleled and interacted with the French, together defining the century’s musical profile.
By the late 14th century, the style’s complexity intensified into Ars subtilior, with extreme rhythmic color and notational playfulness. Ars nova practices laid the groundwork for the cyclic polyphonic mass and influenced Renaissance polyphony, shaping the evolution of the motet and secular song well into the 15th century.
Write primarily for voices (3–4 parts typical), with optional soft instruments (harp, lute, vielle, recorder) doubling or replacing lines in performance. Aim for clear polyphony with independent rhythmic profiles across parts.
