Franco-Flemish School

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Franco-Flemish School

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, the Franco-Flemish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic

Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voice , as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord s ....
vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it. See Renaissance music

Renaissance music

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In music

Music

Polyphony

Renaissance music

Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600. Dates of classical music eras, given the lack of abrupt shifts in musical thinking during the 15th century....
for a more detailed description of the musical style, and links to individual composers from this time.

The composers of this time and place, and the music they produced, are also known as the Dutch School. As the country borders in this period can not be compared with any national borders today, the term "Dutch" may be confusing. Few of the artists originated in what is now the Netherlands. Instead, the word "Dutch" refers to the Low Countries

Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
, roughly corresponding to modern Belgium

Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
with for instance Adriaan Willaert and Jacob Obrecht or Wallonia

Wallonia

Wallonia is the Francophone southern part of Belgium. This region makes up about 31% of the Belgian population.Since 1970, Wallonia has approximately coincided with the territory of the Walloon Region, which is a federated component of the Belgian state and provides a government and a parliament to both Wallonia and the smaller German-s...
with for instance Josquin des Prez

Josquin Des Prez

Josquin des Prez , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish School composer of the Renaissance music. He is also known as Josquin Desprez, a French rendering of Dutch language "Josken Van De Velde", diminutive of "Joseph Van De Velde" , and Latinized as Josquinus Pratensis, alternatively Jodocus Pratens...
and Orlande de Lassus

Orlande de Lassus

Orlande de Lassus was a France-Flanders composer of late Renaissance music. Along with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina , he is today considered to be the chief representative of the mature polyphony style of the Franco-Flemish School, and he was the most famous and influential musician in Europe at the end of the 16th century....
, northern France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
and the Netherlands. Most artists were born in Hainaut

County of Hainaut

The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of what is now the Belgium province of Hainaut and the southern part of the French d?partement Nord ....
, Flanders

County of Flanders

The County of Flanders was a historical region in the Low Countries.It consisted not only of the two actual Belgium provinces of East-Flanders and West-Flanders but also much of the present-day France d?partement of the Nord , in parts of which there is still a minority speaking the French Flemish dialect of Dutch language, and the sout...
and Brabant

Duchy of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of not only the three modern-day Belgium provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp as well as the Brussels-Capital Region, but also the present-day Netherlands province of North Brabant....
. During periods of political stability, this was a center of cultural activity for more than two hundred years, although the exact centers shifted location during this time, and by the end of the sixteenth century the focal point of the musical world shifted from this region to Italy.

While many of the composers were born in the region loosely known as the Netherlands, they were famous for working elsewhere. Dutchmen moved to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, to Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, to towns in Germany and France and other parts of Europe, carrying their styles with them. The diffusion of their technique, especially after the revolutionary development of printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, produced the first true international style since the unification of Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, a form of monophony liturgy chant in Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services....
in the 9th century.

Following are five groups, or generations, that are sometimes distinguished in the Franco-Flemish school. It should be noted that development of the musical style was continuous, and these generations only provide useful reference points.

The First generation (1420-1450), dominated by Dufay
Guillaume Dufay

Guillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish school composer of the early Renaissance music. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century....
, Binchois
Gilles Binchois

Gilles Binchois, also known as Gilles de Binche or Gilles de Bins , was a Franco-Flemish School composer, one of the earliest members of the Burgundian School, and one of the three most famous composers of the early 15th century....
and Antoine Busnois
Antoine Busnois

Antoine Busnois was a France composer and poet of the early Renaissance music Burgundian School. While also noted as a composer of sacred music, such as motets, he was one of the most renowned 15th-century composers of secular chansons....
; this group of composers is most often known as the Burgundian School
Burgundian School

The Burgundian School is a term used to denote a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Duchy of Burgundy....
The Second generation (1450-1485), with Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem

Johannes Ockeghem was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most influential composer between Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez....
as its main exponent
The Third generation (1480-1520): Obrecht
Jacob Obrecht

Jacob Obrecht was a Franco-Flemish School composer of the Renaissance music. He was the most famous composer of mass es in Europe in the late 15th century, being eclipsed by only Josquin Desprez after his death....
, Isaac
Heinrich Isaac

Heinrich Isaac was a Franco-Flemish School composer of the Renaissance music, of south Netherlandish origin. He is regarded as one of the most significant contemporaries of Josquin des Prez, and had an especially large influence on the subsequent development of music in Germany....
and Josquin
Josquin Des Prez

Josquin des Prez , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish School composer of the Renaissance music. He is also known as Josquin Desprez, a French rendering of Dutch language "Josken Van De Velde", diminutive of "Joseph Van De Velde" , and Latinized as Josquinus Pratensis, alternatively Jodocus Pratens...
The Fourth generation (1520-1560): Gombert
Nicolas Gombert

Nicolas Gombert was a Franco-Flemish School composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin Desprez and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and best represents the fully-developed, complex polyphony style of this period in music history....
, Willaert and Clemens non Papa
Jacob Clemens non Papa

Jacobus Clemens non Papa was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance music based for most of his life in Flanders. He was a prolific composer in many of the current styles, and was especially famous for his polyphony settings of the psalms in Dutch language known as the Souterliedekens....
The Fifth generation (1560-1600): Lassus. By this time, many of the composers of polyphonic music were native to Italy and other countries: the Netherlandish style had naturalized on foreign soil, and become a true European style.

The Franco-Flemish Motet

Composed between 1450 and 1500, these motets were typically written for four voices with all voices being equal. The low range was extended and the texture was thick and dark. Composers include Ockeghem, Josquin, and Isaac

Isaac

According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac The New Testament contains few references to Isaac. The Early Christianity views Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to Binding of Isaac as an example of faith and obedience....
. An example of a Franco-Flemish motet is De profundis clamavi ad te, composed by Josquin Des Prez between 1500 and 1521.