Guillaume Du Fay (/djuːˈfaɪ/ dew-FY, French: [dy fa(j)i]; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Regarded as the leading European composer by his contemporaries, his music was widely performed and copied. Du Fay held various music positions during his lifetime, and was associated with the Burgundian School as well as among the first composers, or at least a predecessor to the Franco-Flemish School.

His most famous and celebrated work, the complex motet Nuper Rosarum Flores, was written for the consecration of Filippo Brunelleschi's dome on the Florence Cathedral and is considered an icon of Western culture. Du Fay left behind an extensive oeuvre, including pieces representative of virtually every genre of polyphonic music from his time. His music effectively synthesized a wide variety of styles: that of the famous Missa Caput, the Contenance angloise of his older contemporary John Dunstaple, and the techniques of his younger contemporaries Johannes Ockeghem and Antoine Busnois.

Du Fay was one of the last composers to make use of late-medieval polyphonic structural techniques such as isorhythm, and one of the first to employ the more mellifluous harmonies, phrasing and melodies characteristic of the early Renaissance. His compositions within the larger genres (masses, motets and chansons) are mostly similar to each other; his renown is largely due to what was perceived as his perfect control of the forms in which he worked, as well as his gift for memorable and singable melody. During the 15th century, he was universally regarded as the greatest composer of his time, an opinion that has largely survived to the present day.[citation needed]

Dufay is the namesake of the Dufay Collective, an early music ensemble of historically informed performances.

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