Jacquet de Berchem
Encyclopedia
Jacquet de Berchem was a Franco-Flemish
composer of the Renaissance
, active in Italy. He was famous in mid-16th-century Italy for his madrigals
, approximately 200 of which were printed in Venice
, some in multiple printings due to their considerable popularity. As evidence of his widespread fame, he is listed by Rabelais in Gargantua and Pantagruel
as one of the most famous musicians of the time, and the printed music for one of his madrigals appears in a painting by Caravaggio
(The Lute Player
).
Berchem was born around 1505 in Berchem
(now part of Antwerp), in the southern Netherlands
(modern-day Belgium
). No archival records have yet been found covering his early life; the first mention of him dates from 1539, by which time he had come to Venice, as did so many of his musical compatriots from the Low Countries
. By 1538 or 1539 his madrigals were being published in Venice, largely by Antonio Gardano
. Between then and 1546 he lived in Venice, steadily increasing in reputation, and in 1546 he published his first book of madrigals; previously his works had been in collections consisting mostly of music by others (for example, Jacques Arcadelt
, whose first book of madrigals for four voices, published in 1539, included some music by Berchem). He most likely was a student of fellow Netherlander Adrian Willaert
, the founder of the Venetian School and one of the most famous musicians of the time, and through Willaert met other musicians and nobility; to some of these aristocrats, including a future Doge
of Venice (Marcantonio Trevisan, Doge in 1553–54, and also a patron of the arts), he dedicated some of his music.
Between 1546 and 1550 Berchem served as maestro di cappella at Verona Cathedral
. Some of his music written during this time and the early 1550s is dedicated to Alfonso II d'Este
; he may have been looking for employment with the Este
court in Ferrara
, but no evidence of his employment there has turned up.
Around 1550 Berchem left Verona
, and began seeking employment elsewhere in Italy. His exact activities in the early 1550s are not known, but he made the acquaintance of patrons in Rome
and Monopoli
, and through one of these patrons met his future wife, Giustina de Simeonibus, to whom he was married in 1553. He seems to lived the remainder of his life in Monopoli, a town near Bari
on the heel of the Italian "boot", where he lived in relative affluence, since both the governor and bishop of Monopoli were his patrons, and his wife was from an aristocratic family. His exact date of death is not known, but he is mentioned as being alive by Guicciardini in his Descrittione (pub. 1567, but likely written around 1565), and had died by March 2, 1567.
and nine motet
s have been securely attributed to him – it is on his more than 200 secular works that his reputation rests. Most of his secular works are Italian madrigals, with the rest being chanson
s in French. The sacred works are relatively conservative in style, using cantus firmus
techniques, canon
, and other devices common a generation earlier.
In his secular music, his style varied throughout his career, with his earlier madrigals, such as in the 1546 collection, tending towards polyphonic
textures as was the common practice of the Franco-Flemish school, and the later madrigals, such as those in the 1561 collection, being more homophonic
and syllabic, often with quick text declamation. His preferred subject matter was love, typically unrequited, and he set texts by Petrarch
, Ariosto, Luigi Tansillo
, Luigi Cassola, and others. One of his most ambitious projects was a setting of 91 stanzas of Ariosto's Orlando furioso
, entitled Capriccio (this is the earliest known use of "Capriccio" as a musical title). This work first appeared in his 1561 madrigal collection, published by Antonio Gardano, and was dedicated to Alfonso II d'Este.
His Alla dolc'ombra, published in 1544, may be the earliest attempt to create a madrigal cycle, preceding similar groups of madrigals by Jan Nasco
and Vincenzo Ruffo
, madrigalists also active in northern Italy at the same time. Madrigal cycles were one of several precursors to opera
.
Berchem's madrigals were widely printed and distributed. Many of them were subsequently printed in instrumental versions, for example lute
intabulation
s; it is one of these scores which appears in Caravaggio's painting The Lute Player
, which was painted approximately fifty years after the music's first publication. Music by Berchem continued to appear in collections well into the 17th century.
Confusion of his name with other composers named "Jacquet" or "Jacques" (for example Jacquet of Mantua
, Jacques Buus
, and Jacquet Brumel, organist at Ferrara and son of Antoine Brumel
) was as common then as now, and may have been one of the reasons he sought to have his madrigals printed in editions containing only his own works. In the preface to his 1546 publication of madrigals for five voices he specifically mentions "crows who dress up in swan's feathers" and implies that plagiarists and those who misattribute his compositions will be corrected.
François Rabelais
mentions Berchem in the prologue to the Fourth Book of Gargantua and Pantagruel (probably written in 1546), putting Berchem last on the list of the most distinguished musicians of the time, a list which begins with Josquin des Prez
and Johannes Ockeghem
. These distinguished musicians sing, in the story, and in the context of a long tale by Priapus
in which he boasts of his extraordinary male endowment, a ribald song involving the use of a mallet to deflower a new bride.
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...
composer of the 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...
, active in Italy. He was famous in mid-16th-century Italy for his madrigals
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
, approximately 200 of which were printed in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, some in multiple printings due to their considerable popularity. As evidence of his widespread fame, he is listed by Rabelais in Gargantua and Pantagruel
Gargantua and Pantagruel
The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...
as one of the most famous musicians of the time, and the printed music for one of his madrigals appears in a painting by Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
(The Lute Player
The Lute Player (Caravaggio)
The Lute Player is a composition by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It exists in three versions, one in the Wildenstein Collection, another in the Hermitage Museum, St...
).
Life
Berchem
The 'Ring', Antwerp's circular motorway which follows the track of the former city defense walls, cuts Berchem in two parts, separating the urban inner city area of Oud-Berchem from the more residential and suburban areas Groenenhoek en Nieuw Kwartier .-Demography:Berchem's total surface is over ,...
(now part of Antwerp), in the southern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(modern-day Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
). No archival records have yet been found covering his early life; the first mention of him dates from 1539, by which time he had come to Venice, as did so many of his musical compatriots from the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. By 1538 or 1539 his madrigals were being published in Venice, largely by Antonio Gardano
Antonio Gardano
Antonio Gardano was an Italian composer and important music publisher based in Venice. He arrived in in the city as a musico francese whose musical compositions had been published in Lyons by Moderne from 1532...
. Between then and 1546 he lived in Venice, steadily increasing in reputation, and in 1546 he published his first book of madrigals; previously his works had been in collections consisting mostly of music by others (for example, Jacques Arcadelt
Jacques Arcadelt
Jacques Arcadelt was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music...
, whose first book of madrigals for four voices, published in 1539, included some music by Berchem). He most likely was a student of fellow Netherlander Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there....
, the founder of the Venetian School and one of the most famous musicians of the time, and through Willaert met other musicians and nobility; to some of these aristocrats, including a future Doge
Doge
Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....
of Venice (Marcantonio Trevisan, Doge in 1553–54, and also a patron of the arts), he dedicated some of his music.
Between 1546 and 1550 Berchem served as maestro di cappella at Verona Cathedral
Verona Cathedral
Verona Cathedral is a church in Verona, northern Italy.It was erected after two Palaeo-Christian churches on the same site had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1117. Built in Romanesque style, the cathedral was consecrated on September 13, 1187...
. Some of his music written during this time and the early 1550s is dedicated to Alfonso II d'Este
Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara
Alfonso II d'Este was duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the house of Este.-Biography:...
; he may have been looking for employment with 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 in 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...
, but no evidence of his employment there has turned up.
Around 1550 Berchem left Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, and began seeking employment elsewhere in Italy. His exact activities in the early 1550s are not known, but he made the acquaintance of patrons in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Monopoli
Monopoli
Monopoli is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Bari, region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies about 40 km southeast from Bari. It has about 50,000 inhabitants....
, and through one of these patrons met his future wife, Giustina de Simeonibus, to whom he was married in 1553. He seems to lived the remainder of his life in Monopoli, a town near Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
on the heel of the Italian "boot", where he lived in relative affluence, since both the governor and bishop of Monopoli were his patrons, and his wife was from an aristocratic family. His exact date of death is not known, but he is mentioned as being alive by Guicciardini in his Descrittione (pub. 1567, but likely written around 1565), and had died by March 2, 1567.
Works
While Berchem wrote a few sacred works – two 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...
and nine 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 have been securely attributed to him – it is on his more than 200 secular works that his reputation rests. Most of his secular works are Italian madrigals, with the rest being chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
s in French. The sacred works are relatively conservative in style, using cantus firmus
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
techniques, canon
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
, and other devices common a generation earlier.
In his secular music, his style varied throughout his career, with his earlier madrigals, such as in the 1546 collection, tending towards polyphonic
Polyphony
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 ....
textures as was the common practice of the Franco-Flemish school, and the later madrigals, such as those in the 1561 collection, being more homophonic
Homophony
In music, homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic...
and syllabic, often with quick text declamation. His preferred subject matter was love, typically unrequited, and he set texts by Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
, Ariosto, Luigi Tansillo
Luigi Tansillo
Luigi Tansillo was an Italian poet of the Petrarchian and Marinist schools. Born in Venosa, he entered the service of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo in 1536 and in 1540 entered the Accademia degli Umidi , afterwards called della Fiorentina.He was associated with the Court of Naples and served as Captain...
, Luigi Cassola, and others. One of his most ambitious projects was a setting of 91 stanzas of Ariosto's Orlando furioso
Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
, entitled Capriccio (this is the earliest known use of "Capriccio" as a musical title). This work first appeared in his 1561 madrigal collection, published by Antonio Gardano, and was dedicated to Alfonso II d'Este.
His Alla dolc'ombra, published in 1544, may be the earliest attempt to create a madrigal cycle, preceding similar groups of madrigals by Jan Nasco
Jan Nasco
Jan Nasco was a Franco-Flemish composer and writer on music, mainly active in Italy. He was the first director of the Veronese Accademia Filarmonica, and his writings, particularly a group of letters he wrote to the Academy in the 1550s, are important sources of information on performance...
and Vincenzo Ruffo
Vincenzo Ruffo
Vincenzo Ruffo was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the composers most responsive to the musical reforms suggested by the Council of Trent, especially in his composition of masses, and as such was an influential member of the Counter-Reformation.Vincenzo Ruffo was born at...
, madrigalists also active in northern Italy at the same time. Madrigal cycles were one of several precursors to opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
.
Influence
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
intabulation
Intabulation
Intabulation, from the Italian word intavolatura, refers to an arrangement of a vocal or ensemble piece for keyboard, lute, or other plucked string instrument, written in tablature. It was a common practice in 14th-16th century keyboard and lute music...
s; it is one of these scores which appears in Caravaggio's painting The Lute Player
The Lute Player (Caravaggio)
The Lute Player is a composition by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It exists in three versions, one in the Wildenstein Collection, another in the Hermitage Museum, St...
, which was painted approximately fifty years after the music's first publication. Music by Berchem continued to appear in collections well into the 17th century.
Confusion of his name with other composers named "Jacquet" or "Jacques" (for example Jacquet of Mantua
Jacquet of Mantua
Jacquet of Mantua was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent almost his entire life in Italy...
, Jacques Buus
Jacques Buus
Jacques Buus was a Franco-Flemish composer and organist of the Renaissance, and an early member of the Venetian School. He was one of the earliest composers of the ricercar, the predecessor to the fugue, and he was also a skilled composer of chansons.-Life:Buus was probably born in Ghent around...
, and Jacquet Brumel, organist at Ferrara and son of 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....
) was as common then as now, and may have been one of the reasons he sought to have his madrigals printed in editions containing only his own works. In the preface to his 1546 publication of madrigals for five voices he specifically mentions "crows who dress up in swan's feathers" and implies that plagiarists and those who misattribute his compositions will be corrected.
François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
mentions Berchem in the prologue to the Fourth Book of Gargantua and Pantagruel (probably written in 1546), putting Berchem last on the list of the most distinguished musicians of the time, a list which begins with 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...
and Johannes 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...
. These distinguished musicians sing, in the story, and in the context of a long tale by Priapus
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus or Priapos , was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his absurdly oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism...
in which he boasts of his extraordinary male endowment, a ribald song involving the use of a mallet to deflower a new bride.