Pérotin was a highly influential French composer in the late 12th century who was seen as pioneering new musical styles and techniques. He is described as being like a "Mozart of his time" due to his scholarly approach to music and innovation. Pérotin is praised by many as transforming the Notre Dame school of polyphony by developing organum (the pairing of a plainchant melody with one or more added parts) into a new form that featured more independent vocal parts with complex rhythmic interplay between the voices.