All Topics  
Gaspar van Weerbeke

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Gaspar van Weerbeke
 
 
  Topics Gaspar van Weerbeke Topic Home

Gaspar van Weerbeke (c.1445 – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance
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....
. He was of the same generation as Josquin Desprez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian
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....
 style with the older Burgundian
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....
 style of 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....
.

Life
He was born somewhere in the diocese of Tournai, evidently out of wedlock, and was educated at Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde is a Belgium Municipalities in Belgium in the Flemish Region Provinces of Belgium of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Belgium, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Belgium, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Volkegem, and Welden, Belgium....
. While little is known of the first two decades of his life, he probably knew or studied with Johannes Regis, and he may have studied 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....
; in addition it is likely he knew Dufay at the Burgundian court of Charles the Bold, since so much of his music follows in the model of the older composer.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Gaspar van Weerbeke'
Start a new discussion about 'Gaspar van Weerbeke'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Gaspar van Weerbeke (c.1445 – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance
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....
. He was of the same generation as Josquin Desprez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian
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....
 style with the older Burgundian
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....
 style of 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....
.

Life


He was born somewhere in the diocese of Tournai, evidently out of wedlock, and was educated at Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde is a Belgium Municipalities in Belgium in the Flemish Region Provinces of Belgium of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Belgium, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Belgium, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Volkegem, and Welden, Belgium....
. While little is known of the first two decades of his life, he probably knew or studied with Johannes Regis, and he may have studied 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....
; in addition it is likely he knew Dufay at the Burgundian court of Charles the Bold, since so much of his music follows in the model of the older composer. In 1471 he went to Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, where he joined the singers of the Sforza chapel, which included Johannes Martini
Johannes Martini

Johannes Martini was a Dutch School composer of the Renaissance music....
, Alexander Agricola
Alexander Agricola

Alexander Agricola was a Dutch School composer of the Renaissance music. A prominent member of the Grande chapelle, the Habsburg musical establishment, he was a renowned composer in the years around 1500, and his music was widely distributed throughout Europe....
, and Loyset Compère
Loyset Compère

Loyset Comp?re was a France composer of the Renaissance music. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicians to bring the light Italianate Renaissance style to France....
.

In 1472 and 1473 he went back north to Burgundy to find more singers for his Italian employer. Successful in his quest, he returned to Milan, and soon the Sforza chapel had one of the largest choirs in Europe. After the murder of Duke Sforza in 1476, however, the singers mostly disbanded. Weerbeke then joined the papal choir in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 under Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. He founded the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age....
 and Innocent VIII
Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII , born Giovanni Battista Cybo , was Pope from 1484 until his death....
, where he remained until 1489, at which time he returned to Milan.

For the next decade Weerbeke seems to have been associated with several courts, including Milan, the court of Philip the Fair, and possibly the Medici
Medici

The M?dici family was a powerful and influential Florence family from the 14th to 18th century. The family had three popes , numerous rulers of Florence and later members of the French and English royalty....
 in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
. After 1500 he was again in Rome singing in the papal choir. The last years of his life are obscure; he may have returned to the region of his birth, for he received appointments for posts at both Cambrai
Cambrai

Cambrai is a Communes of France in the Nord Departments of France in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France of the department.Cambrai is the seat of Archdiocese of Cambrai whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages....
 and Tournai
Tournai

Tournai is a Walloon Region city and Municipalities in Belgium of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut ....
; and in addition there is a record of his possibly holding a post at St. Maria ad Gradus in Mainz
Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
 in 1517.

Music


Weerbeke combined the styles of the Italians with some of the older techniques of the Burgundians. He was almost alone among the Franco-Flemish composers in avoiding the smooth, imitative polyphonic style which was developing at the time, best exemplified by the music of Josquin Desprez.

He composed sacred music: mass
Mass (music)

The Mass, a Musical form of sacred music, is a choir composition that sets the fixed portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music. Most Masses are settings of Mass in Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship h...
es, motet
Motet

In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choir musical compositions.The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is "motectum", and the Italian mottetto was also used....
s, motet cycles, a Magnificat
Magnificat

The Magnificat is a canticle frequently sung liturgy in Christian church services. The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth....
 setting, and a setting of the Lamentations
Lamentations (music)

The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet have been set by various composers.Thomas Tallis made two famous sets of the Lamentations. Scored for five voices , they show a sophisticated use of imitation, and are noted for their expressiveness....
, as well as a few secular chanson
Chanson

A chanson is in general any Lyrics-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specializing in chansons is known as a "chansonnier"; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier....
s; but the bulk of his work is sacred vocal music. Attribution of the chansons is controversial, and many scholars believe them to have been composed by composers such as Josquin, or Jean Japart
Jean Japart

Jean Japart was a Dutch School composer of the Renaissance music, active in Italy. He was a popular composer of chansons, and may have been a friend of Josquin Desprez....
.

In style, much of his motet writing is homophonic, incorporating some of the lightness of the contemporary Italian secular music. Most of his masses are based on chanson melodies, which are stated clearly in the tenor voice, and the other voices usually move in a simple, occasionally parallel manner, related to the manner of Dufay or the other Burgundians. Once in a while Weerbeke uses imitation
Imitation (music)

In music, imitation is when a musical gesture is repeated later in a different form, but retaining its original character. A Canon exists solely by grace of imitation....
 but never in the paired manner of Josquin or the pervasive manner of the later Franco-Flemish composers; his style of composition of masses is almost archaic in comparison to his contemporaries.

His music was much esteemed, especially in Italy, where it represented perhaps the popular aesthetic as opposed to the contrapuntal
Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more Register that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony....
, but foreign grandeur of most of the composers from the Low Countries.

Recording

  • 2003 - Canticum Canticorum. In Praise of Love: The Song of Songs in the Renaissance, Capilla Flamenca
    Capilla Flamenca

    Capilla Flamenca is a prominent vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th Century music from Flanders and takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V....
    . Eufoda 1359. Contains recordings of Tota pulchra es and Anima mea liquefacta est by Gaspar van Weerbeke.

Example