Born: circa 1450/1455; Hainaut
(modern-day Belgium) or immediately across the border in modern-day France
Died: August 27, 1521; Condé-sur-l'Escaut,
France.
Nationality: French
Occupation: composer
Josquin des Prez was a French composer of the Renaissance, born circa 1450/1455 and died on August 27, 1521.
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| Location of the County of Hainaut, his birthplace (1350) |
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| Location of Condé-sur-l'Escaut, his death place |
He was the most famous European composer between Guillaume Dufay and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and is generally regarded as the central figure of the Franco-Flemish School. Josquin is widely regarded as the first master of the Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerged during his lifetime.
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| Guillaume Dufay |
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| Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina |
Josquin gained the reputation as the greatest composer of the age during the 16th century. His mastery of musical technique and expression was widely imitated and admired, and many famous writers such as Baldassare Castiglione and Martin Luther wrote about his reputation and fame.
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| Baldassare Castiglione |
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| Martin Luther |
He was so admired that copyists
attributed many anonymous compositions to his works, and thus more than 370
works were attributed to him. However, despite his great reputation, little is
known about his life.
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| Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Josquin's employer in 1503 and 1504 |
Josquin wrote both sacred and secular music, and in all the significant vocal forms of the age, including masses, motets, chansons and frottole, and was praised for his supreme melodic talent and use of ingenious technical devices.
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| Manuscript showing the opening Kyrie of the Missa de Beata Virgine |
In modern
times, scholars have tried to ascertain his life in detail, and attempted to
define the key characteristics of his style in order to correct misattributions
that have been erroneously attributed to his work.
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| A 1611 woodcut of Josquin des Prez |
Thank
you.
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