Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Flemish chapel was one of two choirs employed by Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

, the other being the Spanish chapel (or capilla española).

La Grande Chapelle

Philip I of Castile

Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...

, "Philip the Handsome", son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

and Mary of Burgundy

Mary of Burgundy

Mary of Burgundy ruled the Burgundian territories in Low Countries and was suo jure Duchess of Burgundy from 1477 until her death...

, enlarged the Grande Chapelle in the Netherlands whose members included Alexander Agricola

Alexander Agricola

Alexander Agricola was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. 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 Pierre de La Rue

Pierre de La Rue

Pierre de la Rue , called Piersson, was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. A member of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, and a long associate of the Habsburg-Burgundian musical chapel, he ranks with Agricola, Brumel, Compère, Isaac, Obrecht, and Weerbeke as one of the...

. Following his marriage to Juana of Castile (1496) the chapel accompanied him to the summit in Toledo, Spain

Toledo, Spain

Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

in 1502 and again to Spain in 1505 where he died suddenly at Burgos

Burgos

Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...

in 1506, though was not buried for three years until his widow Juana "the mad" was committed to an asylum in 1508, when the Grand Chapelle, or capilla, returned to Brussels.

Under the regency of Margaret (regent 1506-1517)

Philip's sister Archduchess Margaret of Austria became regent for the infant Charles V, and she reestablished the Burgundian musical establishment at Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

, with the composers Antoine Brumel

Antoine Brumel

Antoine Brumel was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his generation....

, Pierre de La Rue

Pierre de La Rue

, Antoine de Longueval

Antoine de Longueval

Antoine de Longueval was a French singer and composer of the Renaissance. A contemporary of Josquin des Prez, he was singing master of the French royal chapel under King Francis I, and was important in the history of the polyphonic setting of the Passion.-Life:Little is known about his early...

, and Pierrequin de Thérache

Pierrequin de Thérache

Pierrequin de Thérache also Pierre or Petrus de Therache was a French renaissance composer from Nancy.He served as master of the children from 1500–1527, was maître de chapelle of René II and Antoine de Lorraine and musician in the chapel of Louis XII...

and Marbrianus de Orto

Marbrianus de Orto

Marbrianus de Orto was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend of Josquin des Prez, and was one of the first composers to write a completely canonic setting of the Ordinary of the Mass.-Life:The illegitimate child of a priest,...

as director of the court chapel, la Grand Chapelle. Margaret ensured a full musical education fro her nephew Charles and his older sister Mary of Austria. After Margaret died Charles appointed his sister governor of the Netherlands 1531–1555 at Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, where Benedictus Appenzeller

Benedictus Appenzeller

Benedictus Appenzeller was a Franco-Flemish singer and composer of the Renaissance, active in Bruges and Brussels...

was master of the court chapel. Another favourite composer of Margaret was Josquin des Prez

Josquin Des Prez

Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...

Under Charles V (reigned 1517-1556)

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

attained his majority in 1515, and to the throne of Spain in 1517 when he also the chapel choir of his grandmother Isabel the Catholic. Then in 1519 Charles became Holy Roman Emperor, his maestros de capilla including Adrien Pickart, Thomas Crecquillon

Thomas Crecquillon

Thomas Crecquillon was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He is considered to be a member of the Netherlands school. While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably within the region loosely known at the time as the Netherlands, and he probably died at Béthune.-Biography:Very...

, Cornelius Canis

Cornelius Canis

Cornelius Canis was a Franco-Flemish composer, singer, and choir director of the Renaissance, active for much of his life in the Grande Chapelle, the imperial Habsburg music establishment during the reign of Emperor Charles V...

and Nicolas Payen

Nicolas Payen

Nicolas Payen was a Franco-Flemish composer and choirmaster of the Renaissance, associated with the Grande Chapelle, the Habsburg imperial chapel, at the end of the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:Payen was born in Soignies, and received his earliest musical training in that town, in...

. Nicolas Gombert

Nicolas Gombert

Nicolas Gombert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex polyphonic style of this period in music history.-Life:Details of his early life are...

held the post of master of the choristers until his disgrace. In 1526 when Charles married Isabel of Portugal she also had her own household including the organist Antonio de Cabezón

Antonio de Cabezón

Antonio de Cabezón was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as performer and was eventually employed by the royal family...

. Charles appointed his son Philip regent of Spain in 1543 then abdicated entirely in 1556 with Philip receiving Spain, the Netherlands and the possessions in the New World, while his younger son Ferdinand received the Austro-Hungarian lands of the Empire. Charles retired to the monastery of Yuste where his maestro de capilla was the monk Juan de Villamayor. Before Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

inherited the capilla flamenca from his father, he had already inherited part of his mother's chapel in 1539, and from 1548 two chapels like those of the emperor, one in Castile one in Burgundy, the capilla flamenca, though in 1554, following his marriage to Mary Tudor

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

, most of the chapel, with the exception of Cabezón, moved to the Flemish chapel.

Under Philip II (reigned 1556-1598)

In 1556 Philip became King of Spain, both his and his father's flemish chapels, and that of Spain were amalgamated into one capilla real española, though the dominant influence was still Flemish. Philip's maestros de capilla were Nicolas Payen

Nicolas Payen

, Pierre de Manchicourt

Pierre de Manchicourt

Pierre de Manchicourt was a Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish School.Little is known of his early life other than that he was a choirboy at Arras in 1525; later in life he had a succession of posts in Arras, Tours and Tournai, before going to Spain to be master of the Flemish chapel at...

, Jean de Bonmarché

Jean de Bonmarché

Jean de Bonmarché was a composer of the Franco-Flemish school.Bonmarché was born in Douai. He became dean of Lille Cathedral, then in 1560 master of the choirboys at Old Cambrai Cathedral...

, Geert van Turnhout

Geert van Turnhout

Geert van Turnhout was a Flemish composer, who became master of the Flemish chapel in Spain.He was born in Turnhout...

, George de La Hèle

George de La Hèle

George de La Hèle was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, mainly active in the Habsburg chapels of Spain and the Low Countries. Among his surviving music is a book of eight masses, some for as many as eight voices...

(assisted in his last years by Géry de Ghersem

Géry de Ghersem

Géry de Ghersem was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active both in Spain at the court of Philip II and Philip III, and in his native Netherlands...

) and Philippe Rogier

Philippe Rogier

Philippe Rogier was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active at the Habsburg court of Philip II in Spain...

. Aside from Burgundian-Flemish repertory, the chapel performed music of the Roman (e.g. Palestrina

Palestrina

Palestrina is an ancient city and comune with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome...

) and Venetian (e.g. Andrea Gabrieli

Andrea Gabrieli

Andrea Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School of composers, and was extremely influential in spreading the Venetian style in Italy as...

) schools.

The capilla coexisted in parallel with the Capilla Real de Granada, led by composers such as Rodrigo de Ceballos

Rodrigo de Ceballos

Rodrigo de Ceballos was a Spanish composer.He was born in Aracena , and was ordained a priest in Seville in 1556. He was named maestro di capella in Malaga in 1554, in the cathedral of Córdoba in 1556, and in Royal Chapel of Granada in 1561.He is among the composers of the Andalusian school,...

(ca. 1530–1581), and Ambrosio Cotes

Ambrosio Cotes

Ambrosio Cotes was a Spanish renaissance composer.Cotes was born in Villena, Alicante around 1550 of noble birth. He studied theology with the Theatines of Yecla. In 1573 he was maestro de capilla at the church of St. James Church in his hometown...

(1550?-1603). Philip also sponsored Tomás Luis de Victoria

Tomás Luis de Victoria

Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...

to study in Rome in 1556, from where he returned 1586 to serve Philip's sister the dowager empress Maria of Austria at the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid.

Under Philip III (reigned 1598-1621)

During the whole of the reign of Philip III of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

the maestro de capilla was Mateo Romero, with assistants including Géry de Ghersem

Géry de Ghersem

Géry de Ghersem was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active both in Spain at the court of Philip II and Philip III, and in his native Netherlands...

, Gabriel Díaz Bessón

Gabriel Díaz Bessón

Gabriel Díaz Bessón was a Spanish composer.Díaz Bessón was maestro de capilla of the Royal Convent of La Encarnación, Madrid, capellán for Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma favourite of Philip III of Spain at the Church of Saint Peter at the Colegiata de Lerma, Burgos...

and Juan Bautista Comes

Juan Bautista Comes

Juan Bautista Comes , aka per Valencian spelling Joan Batiste Comes, was a Spanish Baroque composer who was born and died in Valencia....

. Philip hispanicized the capilla and created a group of chamber musicians, including Juan Blas de Castro

Juan Blas de Castro

Juan Blas de Castro was a Spanish singer, musician, and composer.Born in Barrachina, in the province of Teruel, Spain, he was the second of four brothers. In 1592, he became part of the court of the Duke of Alba in Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, together with his friend, the poet and playwright Lope...

, along with the court violinists introduced by Philip's favourite Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma

Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma

Don Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma , a favourite of Philip III of Spain, was the first of the validos through whom the later Habsburg monarchs ruled. He was succeeded by Don Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares.-Biography:The family of Sandoval was ancient and powerful...

.

The Duke of Lerma's own musical establishment flourished in Burgos

Burgos

at the Church of Saint Peter (Colegiata de Lerma), with Gabriel Díaz Bessón

Gabriel Díaz Bessón

(previously maestro de capilla of the Royal Convent of La Encarnación

Royal Convent of La Encarnación

The Royal Monastery of the Incarnation or Real Monasterio de la Encarnación is a convent of the order of Recolet Augustines located in Madrid, Spain. The institution mainly interned women from noble families, and was founded by the Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, and thus was well...

, Madrid), serving as Lerma's capellán from 1616 till the Duke's fall from grace in 1618.

Under Philip IV (reigned 1621–1665)

Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

had been taught as a child by Romero, who was succeeded as maestro in 1634 by Carlos Patiño

Carlos Patiño

Carlos Patiño was a Spanish baroque composer.Patiño was a choirboy at Seville Cathedral where he studied with Alonso Lobo. He married in 1622 but his wife's death in 1625 led to his entry into the priesthood...

, who was promoted from the junior capilla real at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación

Royal Convent of La Encarnación

. The capilla continued in the same vein as under Philip III. However under Philip secular music developed as instrumental compositions and Spanish Villancicos and tonos humanos were composed by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco and others, in parallel with the early development of the zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

. The first zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

is considered to be El Laurel de Apolo (lost) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...

with music by Hidalgo in the hunting lodge the Palacio de la Zarzuela

Palacio de la Zarzuela

Zarzuela Palace is the principal residence of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia and their family. The palace is on the outskirts of Madrid, near the Royal Palace of El Pardo. The complex also houses the official residence of the Prince and Princess of Asturias in a nearby mansion...

, so called because of the thick zarzas (Spanish for brambles). The maestros of the Royal Convent of La Encarnación

Royal Convent of La Encarnación

and Convent of Las Descalzas Reales, Madrid, also contributed to the development of theatre music.

Under Charles II (reigned 1665-1700)

Charles II of Spain

Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...

was the last of the Habsburg kings of Spain. The maestros of the capilla in his time were Carlos Patiño

Carlos Patiño

(d.1675), Cristóbal Galán

Cristóbal Galán

Cristóbal Galán was a Spanish baroque composer.The first record of Galán is that in 1651 he was rejected as maestro de capilla in Sigüenza because he was married. From 1653 singer and organist, then later maestro de capilla in Cagliari, Sardinia. Then from 1656 to 1559 in Morella, Castellon...

(maestro de capilla 1680-1684) and Diego Verdugo (from 1697). Though the chapel took second place to the italianate court and theatre music of Joseph de Torres, Antonio Literes, and Sebastián Durón

Sebastián Durón

-Life and career:Sebastian Duron was, with Antonio de Literes, the greatest Spanish composer of stage music of his time. He was born in Brihuega, Guadalajara, Spain, and was taught by his brother Diego Duron, also a composer...

{| class="wikitable"

! King
! Masters of the Habsburg chapel
! From (and position)
! Until
|-
|

Margaret of Austria

Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Philip II of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

Marbriano de Orto

Antoine de Bergues

Adrian Thiebault dit Pickart

Nicolaas Carlier

Jacques Champion

(ca.1495–ca.1560)

(1505–ca.1557)

(ca.1506–1562)

(1512–1559)

Pierre de Manchicourt

(ca.1510–1564)

Jean de Bonmarché

Jean de Bonmarché was a composer of the Franco-Flemish school.Bonmarché was born in Douai. He became dean of Lille Cathedral, then in 1560 master of the choirboys at Old Cambrai Cathedral...

(ca.1520/25–1570)

Gérard de Turnhout

Geert van Turnhout

Geert van Turnhout was a Flemish composer, who became master of the Flemish chapel in Spain.He was born in Turnhout...

(ca.1520–1580)

George de la Hèle

George de La Hèle

(1547–1586)

Philippe Rogier

Philippe Rogier was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active at the Habsburg court of Philip II in Spain...

(ca.1561–1596)

Géry de Ghersem

Géry de Ghersem was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active both in Spain at the court of Philip II and Philip III, and in his native Netherlands...

(ca.1574–1630)

Mateo Romero (1575/76-1647)

Carlos Patiño

(1600–1675)

1512, first chapel master

first chapel master

ca. 1516

ca. 1522

in 1526 singer, 1529 maistre des enffans

1539, maestro de capilla

1542 maître des enfants, 1547 maestro de capilla

1551, maestro de capilla

1559, maestro de capilla

1565, maestro de capilla

1572, maestro de capilla

1582, maestro de capilla

1586, maestro de capilla

1598, assistant

1598, maestro de capilla

1634, maestro de capilla

1522

ca. 1530

ca. 1524

ca. 1535

ca. 1538

ca. 1550

1555

1559

1564

1570

1580

1586

1596

1604

1633

1637

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