Marbrianus de Orto
Encyclopedia
Marbrianus de Orto ( – January or February 1529) 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
.
, and spent the early part of his life there. While his original surname was Dujardin, he used "de Orto" (the Italian translation of Dujardin) throughout his life. In June 1482, in the household of Ferry de Clugny
, Cardinal-Bishop of Tournai (who died 7 October 1483), he went to Rome
, where he became a singer in the papal chapel; he may have become an accomplished composer around this time, since his Missa ad fugam seems to have been written in response to the similar composition by Josquin des Prez, tentatively dated to the early 1480s, and Orto's mass
was copied for the Capella Sistina between 1487 and 1490.
While he served in the Sistine Chapel
choir until at least 1499, during the papacies of Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, he began to acquire other posts and benefices. He was particularly popular with Innocent, who awarded him benefices and allowed him to rise in the hierarchy in spite of his illegitimacy. During this time he and Josquin worked closely together, even seeking similar positions at Cambrai
in their mutual homeland. One of the things he may have done in collaboration with Josquin was a revision of a cycle of hymns by Guillaume Dufay
, composed around 1430, which had fallen out of use. At some time in the early 1490s Orto acquired the post of dean at the collegiate church of St Gertrude of Nivelles
, present-day Belgium
; he was to remain closely associated with this institution for the rest of his life. It is not known exactly when he moved there, but he left Nivelles in late 1504 in order to join the choir of Philip the Handsome
, la Grande Chapelle, a distinguished musical body which included Pierre de La Rue
, and which went to Spain
in 1506.
Orto joined the choir at a very high level, becoming premier chapelain in short order—by November 30, 1505—indicating the high level of respect as both composer and singer he had attained. After Philip's death in September 1506 the choir was kept on by Juana of Castile, "Juana the Mad", and Orto was one of the singers who left shortly after, between October and December 1506, leaving the duties of premier chapelain to Pierre de La Rue
. During this time and for the next three years Juana traveled with her singers, each night singing a requiem to her husband's corpse which went with them in its coffin, in a bizarre journey through Castile
until Juana's father Ferdinand finally imprisoned her in the fortress at Tordesillas
.
Back in the Low Countries
, Orto remained in the employ of the Habsburgs, from at least 1509 until 1517, during which time he shared the duties of premier chapelain with Anthoine de Berghes. Sometime during this period he was likely the teacher of Arnold von Bruck
, who was a choirboy. No certain documentation of Orto's activities during 1507 and 1508 is known.
In the later years of his life he acquired additional posts, as canon both at the Antwerp Church of Our Lady and at Ste Gudule
in Brussels
, and a record from 1518 lists him as the "first chaplain" in the Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca)
of Charles V
. He possibly died of the plague which swept through Nivelles in 1529, and was buried in the church of Ste Gertrude, where he worked for the longest time. His tomb in the choir had an inscription which remained legible until the church was destroyed by the Germans on May 14, 1940, during the Second World War.
s, lamentations
, and chanson
s, many of which have survived. He was famous enough that Ottaviano Petrucci
published a book of his masses in 1505—one of his earliest publications, and one of the earliest collections of printed music. De Orto's book of masses followed after those by Josquin, Jacob Obrecht
, Antoine Brumel
, Johannes Ghiselin
, Pierre de La Rue, and Alexander Agricola
.
Petrucci published five of de Orto's masses in this collection. All are cantus firmus
masses, and include a Missa L'homme armé
, based on the famous tune, probably composed in the early to mid 1480s.
Among his masses is the unusual Missa [Ad fugam], one of only two completely freely composed canonic masses
from the period, the other being Johannes Ockeghem
's Missa prolationum
, based entirely on mensuration canons. De Orto's Missa [Ad fugam] may be related to the "Missa Ad fugam" attributed to Josquin but probably not by him. The former mass uses strict canon at the fifth between superius and tenor, as well as a head motive in most movements.
De Orto's motets also usually use cantus firmus technique. The Salve regis mater sanctissima, though anonymous in its only surviving source, is probably by de Orto and was composed for the accession of Alexander VI in 1492.
Some of the chanson
s are akin to the typical French style of the early 16th century—quick, light, and imitative; others are more in line with the Burgundian
style of the formes fixes
. De Orto also wrote an early setting of Dido's lament, Dulces exuviae, from the Aeneid
(iv.651–4), containing extensive chromatic
writing.
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...
. He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend 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...
, and was one of the first composers to write a completely canonic
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...
setting of the Ordinary of the Mass
Ordinary of the Mass
The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Eucharist or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed...
.
Life
The illegitimate child of a priest, Orto was probably born in TournaiTournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
, and spent the early part of his life there. While his original surname was Dujardin, he used "de Orto" (the Italian translation of Dujardin) throughout his life. In June 1482, in the household of Ferry de Clugny
Ferry de Clugny
Ferry de Clugny, Cardinal and Bishop of Tournai was a highly-placed statesman and ecclesiastic in the service of the Dukes of Burgundy....
, Cardinal-Bishop of Tournai (who died 7 October 1483), he went to 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...
, where he became a singer in the papal chapel; he may have become an accomplished composer around this time, since his Missa ad fugam seems to have been written in response to the similar composition by Josquin des Prez, tentatively dated to the early 1480s, and Orto's mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
was copied for the Capella Sistina between 1487 and 1490.
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
choir until at least 1499, during the papacies of Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, he began to acquire other posts and benefices. He was particularly popular with Innocent, who awarded him benefices and allowed him to rise in the hierarchy in spite of his illegitimacy. During this time he and Josquin worked closely together, even seeking similar positions at Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
in their mutual homeland. One of the things he may have done in collaboration with Josquin was a revision of a cycle of hymns by Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.-Early life:From the evidence of his will, he was probably born in Beersel, in the vicinity of...
, composed around 1430, which had fallen out of use. At some time in the early 1490s Orto acquired the post of dean at the collegiate church of St Gertrude of Nivelles
Gertrude of Nivelles
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Nivelles, in present-day Belgium.She was a daughter of Pepin I of Landen and Saint Itta, and a younger sister of Saint Begga, Abbess of Andenne, Saint Bavo and Grimoald I.One day, when she was about ten years of age, her father...
, present-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...
; he was to remain closely associated with this institution for the rest of his life. It is not known exactly when he moved there, but he left Nivelles in late 1504 in order to join the choir of Philip the Handsome
Philip I of Castile
Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...
, la Grande Chapelle, a distinguished musical body which included 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...
, and which went to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1506.
Orto joined the choir at a very high level, becoming premier chapelain in short order—by November 30, 1505—indicating the high level of respect as both composer and singer he had attained. After Philip's death in September 1506 the choir was kept on by Juana of Castile, "Juana the Mad", and Orto was one of the singers who left shortly after, between October and December 1506, leaving the duties of premier chapelain to 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...
. During this time and for the next three years Juana traveled with her singers, each night singing a requiem to her husband's corpse which went with them in its coffin, in a bizarre journey through Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
until Juana's father Ferdinand finally imprisoned her in the fortress at Tordesillas
Tordesillas
Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....
.
Back in 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....
, Orto remained in the employ of the Habsburgs, from at least 1509 until 1517, during which time he shared the duties of premier chapelain with Anthoine de Berghes. Sometime during this period he was likely the teacher of Arnold von Bruck
Arnold von Bruck
Arnold von Bruck was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in several Habsburg courts...
, who was a choirboy. No certain documentation of Orto's activities during 1507 and 1508 is known.
In the later years of his life he acquired additional posts, as canon both at the Antwerp Church of Our Lady and at Ste Gudule
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".In 1047, Lambert II, Count of...
in 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...
, and a record from 1518 lists him as the "first chaplain" in the Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca)
Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca)
The Flemish chapel was one of two choirs employed by Philip II of Spain, the other being the Spanish chapel .- La Grande Chapelle :...
of Charles V
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...
. He possibly died of the plague which swept through Nivelles in 1529, and was buried in the church of Ste Gertrude, where he worked for the longest time. His tomb in the choir had an inscription which remained legible until the church was destroyed by the Germans on May 14, 1940, during the Second World War.
Music and influence
Marbrianus de Orto was a moderately prolific composer of masses, motetMotet
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, lamentations
Lamentations (music)
The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet have been set by various composers.-England: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. The settings are of the first two lessons for...
, and 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, many of which have survived. He was famous enough that Ottaviano Petrucci
Ottaviano Petrucci
Ottaviano Petrucci was an Italian printer. His Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, a collection of chansons printed in 1501, is commonly misidentified as the first book of sheet music printed from movable type. Actually that distinction belongs to the Roman printer Ulrich Han's Missale Romanum of 1476...
published a book of his masses in 1505—one of his earliest publications, and one of the earliest collections of printed music. De Orto's book of masses followed after those by Josquin, Jacob Obrecht
Jacob Obrecht
Jacob Obrecht was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was the most famous composer of masses in Europe in the late 15th century, being eclipsed by only Josquin des Prez after his death.-Life:...
, 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....
, Johannes Ghiselin
Johannes Ghiselin
Johannes Ghiselin was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in France, Italy and in the Low Countries. He was a contemporary of Josquin des Prez, and a significant composer of masses, motets, and secular music...
, Pierre de La Rue, and 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...
.
Petrucci published five of de Orto's masses in this collection. All are 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...
masses, and include a Missa L'homme armé
Missa L'homme armé
Over 40 settings of the Ordinary of the Mass using the tune L'homme armé survive from the period between 1450 and the end of the 17th century, making the tune the most popular single source from the period on which to base an imitation mass....
, based on the famous tune, probably composed in the early to mid 1480s.
Among his masses is the unusual Missa [Ad fugam], one of only two completely freely composed canonic masses
Cyclic mass
In Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
from the period, the other being 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...
's Missa prolationum
Missa prolationum
The Missa prolationum is a musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, by Johannes Ockeghem, dating from the second half of the 15th century...
, based entirely on mensuration canons. De Orto's Missa [Ad fugam] may be related to the "Missa Ad fugam" attributed to Josquin but probably not by him. The former mass uses strict canon at the fifth between superius and tenor, as well as a head motive in most movements.
De Orto's motets also usually use cantus firmus technique. The Salve regis mater sanctissima, though anonymous in its only surviving source, is probably by de Orto and was composed for the accession of Alexander VI in 1492.
Some of the 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 are akin to the typical French style of the early 16th century—quick, light, and imitative; others are more in line with the 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 Burgundy. The main names associated with this school are Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois,...
style of the formes fixes
Formes fixes
A Forme fixé is any one of three fourteenth and fifteenth centuries French poetic forms, the ballade, rondeau and virelai...
. De Orto also wrote an early setting of Dido's lament, Dulces exuviae, from the Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
(iv.651–4), containing extensive chromatic
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
writing.