Grimace (composer)

Grimace (; ; also Grymace, Grimache or Magister Grimache) was a French composer-poet in the style of late medieval music. Virtually nothing is known about Grimace’s life other than speculative information based on the circumstances and content of his five surviving compositions of formes fixes; three ballades, a virelai and rondeau. His best known and most often performed work in modern-times is the virelai and proto-battaglia: A l’arme A l’arme. He is thought to have been a younger contemporary of Guillaume de Machaut and based in southern France. Three of his works were included in the Chantilly Codex, which is an important source of music. However, along with P. des Molins, Jehan Vaillant and F. Andrieu, Grimace was one of the post-Machaut generation whose music shows few distinctly features, leading scholars to recognize Grimace’s work as closer to the style of Machaut. Identity and career Almost nothing is known about Grimace’s life other than the authorship of five works: three ballades, a virelai and rondeau, all of which are formes fixes. Grimace’s identity remains unknown and his mononymous name is likely a sobriquet, similar to other composers of his time such as Zacar, T