Cornelis Verdonck

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cornelis Verdonck (* 1563 in Turnhout ; † July 5, 1625 in Antwerp ) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the late Renaissance .

Live and act

The author Frans Sweerts reported in 1628 that Cornelis Verdonck spent his early years in the house of the patrician Cornelis Pruenen; this has particularly encouraged him. Verdonck received his first musical training as a chapel boy at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Antwerp under Gérard de Turnhout . In the course of recruiting choir boys for the Capilla flamenca , Verdonck and Philippe Rogier came to Madrid in 1572 to the court orchestra of King Philip II of Spain , where he stayed for about eight years. Due to his talent, he was given the opportunity to study after his voice broke . The Spanish king wrote to his nephew Alessandro Farnese on February 16, 1580 about the study of Verdonck and two other previous chapel boys at the University of Douai . From this time on, Verdonck was also a student of Séverin Cornet , who had been singing master at Antwerp Cathedral since 1572. This made his pupil acquainted with the newer Italian style developments; in addition, he included the first compositions of his pupil in his three prints from 1581.

From 1584 onwards, Cornelis Verdonck worked again for a number of years as a singer at the Spanish court in Madrid, until the death of King Philip II in 1598. The dedication of Verdonck's chanson print shows that he will return to Antwerp in April 1599 has returned. When Archduke Albrecht and his wife Isabella entered Antwerp this year , he wrote the motet “Prome novas, hymnae faces” for the occasion ; According to eyewitness reports, this is said to have been sung by six boys sitting on an artificial elephant. In the following years the composer was in the service of various Antwerp officials. After Verdonck's madrigal book from 1603 was dedicated to the nephew of his former patron Cornelis Pruenen, Johannes Carolus de Cordes, governor of Wichelen and Serskamp, ​​it is possible that he was also in his service. He was the owner of a benefice in Eindhoven until his death . Cornelis Verdonck died in Antwerp in July 1625 at the age of 62; Here a tomb was donated to him by his employers.

meaning

Among the sacred works of Cornelis Verdonck, his two pictorial motets , “Ave gratia plena” and the Magnificat , deserve special mention; they can be found in the copperplate engravings by Marten de Vos . The motet “Amor Jesu dulcissime” is an early example of chants for Christmas ( cantiones natalitiae ). Verdonck's contributions to the group of madrigals belong to the compositions of Hubert Waelrant , Cornelis Schuyt (1557–1616) and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck , who belong to the type of Italian madrigal cultivated in Antwerp and whose craftsmanship reached a comparatively high level. In the set texts, representatives of regional poetry come into their own, for example the aforementioned Cornelis Pruenen in the madrigal "Donna bella e gentile" by Verdonck.

A late special form of the chanson is the Franco-Flemish chanson of the Spanish Netherlands , which was current up to 1600, many years longer than the Paris chanson, and was represented in the editions of the Antwerp publisher Pierre Phalèse , among others . Andreas Pevernage and Cornelis Verdonck in particular practiced a chanson style that did not follow the Parisian tendency and maintained the preference for polyphonic composition. In his piece “Helas quel jour” Verdonck briefly quotes the chanson of the same name by Orlando di Lasso and then lets the composition take a completely independent course.

Works

  • Spiritual works
    • Motet “Quam pulchra es” for six parts in the Cantiones musicae collection , Antwerp 1581
    • Motet “Ave gratia plena”, pictorial motet for four voices, 1584
    • Magnificat, motet for five voices, 1585
    • Motet “Prome novas, hymnae faces” with six voices, in the Historia narratio collection by J. Bochius, Antwerp 1602
    • 1 further motet for five parts in the collection Florilegium sacrarum cantionum , Antwerp 1609
    • Hymn “Amor Jesu dulcissime” in the collection Laudes vespertinae Beatae Mariae virginis for four to six voices, Antwerp 1629
  • Secular works
    • 1 chanson in the Chansons françoyses collection with five to eight voices, Antwerp 1581
    • 1 madrigal in the Madrigali collection with five to eight voices, Antwerp 1581
    • 2 madrigals in the Symphonia angelica collection for four to six voices, Antwerp 1585
    • 3 madrigals and 1 chanson in the Bicinia collection , sive cantiones suavissimae duarum vocum for two voices, Antwerp 1590
    • 3 madrigals in the Melodia olympica collection for four to eight voices, Antwerp 1591
    • 4 chansons in the Chansons collection for five voices, Antwerp 1594
    • 1 madrigal in the Madrigali a otto voci collection for eight voices, Antwerp 1596
    • 1 madrigal in the Paradiso musicale di madrigali et canzoni collection , Antwerp 1596
    • 3 chansons in the collection Le Rossignol musical des chansons , Antwerp 1597
    • 1 madrigal in the collection Il vago alboreto di madrigali et canzoni , Antwerp 1597
    • Collection “Poésies françoises de diverse autheurs, mises en musique par Corneille Verdonq” with five to ten voices, Antwerp 1599
    • 1 madrigal in the collection De floridi virtuosi d'Italia madrigali for five voices, Antwerp 1600
    • 1 madrigal in the Ghirlanda di madrigali collection for six parts, Antwerp 1601
    • Collection “Madrigali” for six parts, Antwerp 1603
    • 1 madrigal in the Novi frutti musicali madrigali collection for five voices, Antwerp 1610
    • 2 more chansons

Literature (selection)

  • M. Seiffert: Images from the 16th century for the instrumental accompaniment of the song and the origin of the musical engraving. In: Archives for Musicology No. 1, 1918/19, pages 49–67
  • P. Bergmans: La Biographie du compositeur C. Verdonck , Brussels 1919
  • B. Huys: Twee huldemotetten the occasion van Blijde Intreden de Antwerpen, printed by Plantijn. In: Festschrift RB Lenaerts, edited by J. Robijns, Löwen 1969, pages 149–153
  • R. Rasch: De Cantiones natalitiae en het kerklijke Muziekleven in de zuidelijke Nederlanden gedurende de zeventiende eeuw , Utrecht 1985
  • G. Hoekstra: The Reception and Cultivation on the Italian Madrigal in Antwerp and the Low Countries, 1555-1620. In: Musica disciplina No. 48, 1994, pages 125-187
  • Thierry Levaux: Le Dictionnaire des Compositeurs de Belgique du Moyen-Age à nos jours , page 679–680, Edition: “Art in Belgium” 2006, ISBN 2-930338-37-7

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Michael Zywietz :  Verdonck, Cornelis. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 16 (Strata - Villoteau). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2006, ISBN 3-7618-1136-5  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 8: Štich - Zylis-Gara. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1982, ISBN 3-451-18058-8 .
personal data
SURNAME Verdonck, Cornelis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Verdonck, Corneille; Verdonch, Cornelis; Verdonk, Cornelis; Verdoncq, Cornelis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH 1563
PLACE OF BIRTH Turnhout
DATE OF DEATH July 5, 1625
Place of death Antwerp