Heinrich Isaac
Encyclopedia
Franco-Flemish School
In music, the Franco-Flemish School or more precisely the Netherlandish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it...
Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs (in French, German and Italian), and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of 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...
, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany. Several variants exist of his name: Ysaac, Ysaak, Henricus, Arrigo d'Ugo, and Arrigo il Tedesco among them. (Tedesco means "Flemish" or "German" in Italian.)
Early life
Little is known about Isaac's early life (or indeed his real name), but it is probable that he was born in FlandersFlanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, likely in Brabant. During the late 15th century, standards of music education in the region were excellent, and he likely was educated in his homeland, although the location is not known. Sixteenth-century Swiss music theorist and writer Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean
Heinrich Glarean was a Swiss music theorist, poet and humanist. He was born in Mollis and died in Freiburg....
claimed Isaac for Germany by dubbing him "Henricus Isaac Germanus", but in his will Isaac called himself "Ugonis de Flandria". A writer in the Milanese Revista critica della literatura italiana, June 1886, speculated that this 'Hugo' might be connected to 'Huygens' and discovered the name "Isaacke" in the town archives of Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
.
Career
Heinrich Isaac’s career spanned well over thirty years and allowed him to travel far from his homeland of Flanders into Germany, Italy, and Austria, as well as other parts of central Europe. While the absence of plentiful primary sources makes it hard for us to map out Isaac’s life, piecing together the sources we do have along with the works he wrote give us a good picture of just how popular this Franco-Flemish composer was in his time. Isaac was probably writing music by the 1470s, and the first document mentioning his name dates back to 15 September 1484, placing him in InnsbruckInnsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
as a singer for Duke Sigismund
Sigismund, Archduke of Austria
Sigismund of Austria, Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria was a Habsburg archduke of Austria and ruler of Tirol from 1446 to 1490....
of Austria, of the House of Habsburg. The following year Isaac migrated to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, since documents show that by July of 1485 Isaac had become employed as a singer at the church Santa Maria del Fiore. By the middle of 1491, he was designated as a singer at Santissima Annunziata, a position that he held until 1493.
Several documents illustrate Isaac’s long stay in Florence under the employment of Santa Maria del Fiore and Santissima Annunziata as a singer, and also suggest that he may have developed a close working-relationship with Lorenzo de’ Medici. It is speculated that it was Medici who may have summoned Isaac to Florence from Innsbruck in 1484. Previously, Isaac had been identified as an organist to Lorenzo but the Isaac who served at this post is now known to have been Isaac Argyropoulos. During his presence in Florence from 1484 until the end of 1496, Isaac probably composed several masses, motets and secular songs, including missa “J’ay pris amours” and the carnival song “Hora è di Maggio”. In 1487 Isaac composed the piece “A la battaglia” to commemorate the battle between Genoa and Florence for the castle Sarzanello although there is much debate over the exact date and purpose of the piece. Isaac’s relationship with Lorenzo de’ Medici must have been fairly close, because allegedly between 1488 and 1489 he composed the music for a play called “San Giovanni e San Paolo”, written by Medici himself. Moreover, when Lorenzo died in April of 1492 Isaac composed two motets in his memory. Lorenzo’s son Piero inherited everything he owned, including his musical groups. In September 1492 Piero took his musical groups to Rome to perform for the coronation of Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
. Records show that Isaac was one of the three singers for whom clothing was purchased for the trip, implying that he probably performed for the Pope.
During his first stay in Florence Isaac also had dealings with a Florentine named Piero Bello, whose daughter was Isaac’s wife. Although the actual date of the marriage is unknown, records imply that it may have been arranged for Isaac by Lorenzo de’ Medici when he summoned Isaac from Flanders. There is record of Piero Bello giving Isaac a dowry for his daughter, Bartolomea in January 1495.
In November of 1496 after Isaac and his wife spent some time in Pisa, they moved to Vienna and became employed by Emperor Maximilian I. By the winter of 1496 Isaac and Bartolomea had gone from Pisa to Vienna to Innsbruck, and on 3 April 1497, Isaac was appointed court composer for Maximilian I. He remained under the Maximilian's employment from 1496 until his death, although he did not remain stationary during that period. In fact, Isaac traveled extensively around Europe north of Italy. Payment documents from Maximilian’s court imply Isaac traveled with the court to Torgau, Augsburg, Nürnberg, Wels, and back to Innsbruck between 1497 and 1501.
In 1502, Isaac returned to Italy, going to Florence to make arrangements with the hospital Santa Maria Nuova; payments were made to the hospital in return for health and food provisions. Recently discovered documents offer evidence that Isaac began making yearly payments to the confraternity of Santa Barbara for mutual assistance. On 15 August 1502, Isaac wrote his first will which included names of his proprietors, alluding to the fact that he was doing well to care for his wife and property should anything happen to him. He then traveled to Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
to the Este
Este
The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...
court where he wrote the motet “La mi la sol la sol la mi” in merely two days and competed with Josquin for employment: a famous letter from the agent of the Este family compared the two composers, saying that "[Isaac] is of a better disposition among his companions, and he will compose new works more often. It is true that Josquin composes better, but he composes when he wants to and not when one wants him to."
Between 1505 and 1512 there are records of Isaac having dealings in Augsburg, Florence and Constance (see Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
), the latter in which he compiled his largest set of works: Choralis Constantinus
Choralis Constantinus
The Choralis Constantinus is a collection of over 375 Gregorian chant-based polyphonic motets for the proper of the mass composed by Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl...
. This monumental collection of mass propers was commissioned by the Constance cathedral on April 14, 1508 and completed by Isaac and his student Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and was an influential figure in the development of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic style in...
by the winter of 1509. Isaac and Bartolomea were almost definitely back in Florence by this time since the completed Choralis Constantinus had to be mailed to the cathedral.
On 4 January 1512 Isaac bartered his house in Florence for a smaller one, signifying his settling down. He and his wife probably remained there except for a few short trips until his death. Isaac also made a point to revise his will on 24 November 1512 in which he requested that a mass be said every year forever at Santissima Annunziata or another church should Annunziata be unable. Bartolomea would be able to pay for these masses with provisions. He was given an honorary position as chief of the polyphic chapel at Santa Maria del Fiore on 30 May 1514, which served as a pension. Isaac also continued to receive payments from the court of Maximilian I regardless of his living in Florence. In 1517, Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
made a visit to Florence, where he almost certainly would have heard Isaac’s music performed. Shortly before his death, Isaac wrote a third and final will, which shortened his previous request to instead have a commemorative mass said every year for ten years. Isaac died on 26 March 1517. Santissima Annunziata received payment the following day to hold his funeral. A last posthumous donation was made to the confraternity of Santa Barbara in the amount of five florins, which was equal to one quarter the value of Isaac's home. Bartolomea survived her husband by just over seventeen years and died on 30 May 1534.
Compositions
Isaac was one of the most prolific composers of the time, producing an extraordinarily diverse output, including almost all the forms and styles current at the time; only Lassus, at the end of the 16th century, had a wider overall range. Music composed by Isaac included massesMass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
, motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology: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...
s, songs in French, German, and Italian, as well as instrumental
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
music. His best known work may be the lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen
Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen
Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen is a German-language song written by Heinrich Isaac . It is famously associated with the city of Innsbruck in Tyrol . The lyrics express his sorrow at having to leave his post at court. The melody was later used in a Lutheran chorale by J. S...
, of which he made at least two versions. It is possible, however, that the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
itself is not by Isaac, and only the setting is original. The same melody was later used as the theme for the Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, which was the basis of works by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
.
Of his settings of the ordinary of the mass, 36 survive; others are believed to have been lost. Numerous individual movements of masses survive as well. But it is composition of music for the Proper of the Mass
Proper (liturgy)
The Proper is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the Liturgical Year, or of a particular saint or significant event...
– the portion of the liturgy which changed on different days, unlike the ordinary, which remained constant – which gave him his greatest fame. The huge cycle of motets which he wrote for the mass Proper, the Choralis Constantinus
Choralis Constantinus
The Choralis Constantinus is a collection of over 375 Gregorian chant-based polyphonic motets for the proper of the mass composed by Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl...
, and which he left incomplete at his death, would have supplied music for 100 separate days of the year.
Isaac is held in high regard for his Choralis Constantinus
Choralis Constantinus
The Choralis Constantinus is a collection of over 375 Gregorian chant-based polyphonic motets for the proper of the mass composed by Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl...
. It is a huge anthology of over 450 chant-based polyphonic motets for the Proper of the Mass. It had its origins in a commission that Isaac received from the Cathedral in Konstanz, Germany in April of 1508 to set many of the Propers unique to the local liturgy. Isaac was in Konstanz because Maximilian had called a meeting of the Reichstag (German Parliament of nobles) there and Isaac was on hand to provide music for the Imperial court chapel choir. After the deaths of both Maximilian and Isaac, Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and was an influential figure in the development of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic style in...
, who had been Isaac's pupil as a member of the Imperial court choir, gathered all the Isaac settings of the Proper and placed them into liturgical order for the church year. But the anthology was not published until 1555, after Senfl's death, by which time the reforms of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
had made many of the texts obsolete. The motets remain some of the finest examples of chant-based Renaissance polyphony in existence.
Isaac composed a 6-voice motet Angeli Archangeli for the Feast of All Saint’s Day, honoring angels, archangels, and all other saints. Another famous motet by Isaac is Optime pastor (Optime divino), written for the accession to the papacy of Medici pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
. This motet compares the Pope to a shepherd capable of soothing all of his flock and binding them together.
While in the service of the Medici in Florence, Isaac wrote a lament on the death of Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...
, Quis dabit capiti meo aquam (1492), which set words by Lorenzo's favorite poet, Angelo Poliziano.
Influence
The influence of Isaac was especially pronounced in Germany, due to the connection he maintained with the Habsburg court. He was the first significant master of the Franco-Flemish polyphonicPolyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
style who both lived in German-speaking areas, and whose music was widely distributed there. It was through him that the polyphonic style of the Netherlands became widely accepted in Germany, making possible the further development of contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
music there.
The Austrian serialist composer Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
(1883–1945) gained his Ph.D on Isaac's Choralis Constantinus, with Prof. Guido Adler
Guido Adler
Guido Adler was a Bohemian-Austrian musicologist and writer.His father Joachim, a physician, died of typhoid fever in 1857...
, the doyen of musicology in Austria and Germany.
Media
Recordings
- 1996 - Oh Flanders Free. Music of the Flemish Renaissance: OckeghemJohannes OckeghemJohannes 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...
, JosquinJosquin Des PrezJosquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...
, SusatoTielman SusatoTielman — or Tylman — Susato was a Renaissance composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp.-Biography:...
, de La RuePierre de La RuePierre 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...
. Capilla FlamencaCapilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a 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...
. Alamire LUB 03, Naxos 8.554516. Contains a recording of Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen by Heinrich Isaac. - 2001-Margaretha-Maximilian I, Capilla FlamencaCapilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a 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...
together with La Caccia, Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino, Schola Gregoriana Lovaniensis and Joris Verdin. Orf CD 265. Contains proper chants from the Choralis ConstantinusChoralis ConstantinusThe Choralis Constantinus is a collection of over 375 Gregorian chant-based polyphonic motets for the proper of the mass composed by Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl...
along with several pieces of secular music (among which A la battaglia). - 2003 - Canticum Canticorum. In Praise of Love: The Song of SongsSong of songsSong of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
in the Renaissance. Capilla FlamencaCapilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a 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 a recording of Tota pulchra es by Heinrich Isaac.
External links
- Listen to a free recording of song from Umeå Akademiska Kör.
- Free access to high-resolution images of manuscripts containing works by Isaac from Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music