Jean l'Héritier

Jean l'Héritier (also: Lhéritier, Lirithier, Heritier and other variants) (* around 1480 , † after 1552 ) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance . He gained fame primarily through his motets , stylistically he belongs to a group of composers of the first half of the 16th century who anticipated the style of Palestrina .

Life

Jean l'Héritier was born around 1480 in the now dissolved diocese of Thérouanne in the Pas-de-Calais department . Little is known about his youth and education. According to a contemporary note, l'Héritier was a student of Josquin des Prez . This should have been shortly after 1500, since Josquin was at the French court at that time. In 1506 L'Héritier went to Ferrara . Shortly before, the court conductor of Alfonso I d'Este , Jacob Obrecht , had died there, and Antoine Brumel , older and more renowned than l'Héritier, set out to take Obrecht's position. Presumably l'Héritier's walk to Ferrara followed a recommendation from Brumel.

All other sources about l'Héritier's life come from Italy, so it can be assumed that he spent the rest of his life there. After Duke Alfonso dismissed him from his service in Ferrara, l'Héritier entered the service of Pope Leo X in 1514. In 1521 and 1522 he was maestro di cappella at San Luigi dei Francesi , the French Church in Rome. Many of his surviving compositions come from Roman manuscripts of that time. In 1522 he left Rome and went to Mantua , where he appeared in 1525 as the singer of the Gonzaga court orchestra . In July 1525 he traveled on to Verona , where he was in the unspecified service of the local bishop. During this period, the Cardinal of Auch , François de Clermont , became l'Héritiers' patron. The cardinal awarded him several benefices , the good relationship seems to have existed until Clermont's death in 1541.

The further path of l'Héritier's life is difficult to understand. He maintained connections to Ferrara, where he continued to publish. He may also have been in or around Venice ; Pietro Gaetano , a singer at St. Mark's Basilica , reports that he studied with him. In 1555 a volume of motets by Jean l'Héritier was published in Venice. According to a message from the papal envoy in Avignon , l'Héritier was still alive in 1552, after which his trace is lost.

Compositional creation

L'Héritier wrote mainly motets , 48 of which are mentioned in sources, but not all of which have survived. A musical setting by him has also been preserved. Some of his works have been incorrectly attributed to other composers such as Adrian Willaert , Jean Mouton and Philippe Verdelot . Stylistically, l'Héritier's works are in the transition between Josquin and Palestrina . In the course of his work, there is a development towards more equality between the voices and a greater balance of counterpoint. In order to create contrasts in his works, he likes to alternate between polyphonic and homophonic passages - a technique that was often used by Franco-Flemish composers of the time.

Most of the motets are based on common liturgical texts such as psalms, hymns, responsories, etc. They are mostly in one movement, some also in two movements. Sometimes l'Héritiers composed for an above-average number of voices, for example in the nine-part motet Locutus est Dominus . One of his three arrangements of Nigra sum served Palestrina as the source for his Mass Nigra sum, composed in 1590 .

Apparently l'Héritier also composed secular works. Of these, however, only two songs have survived , including one based on a very erotic poem ( Cum rides mihi basium negasti).

Jean l'Héritier was instrumental in spreading the Franco-Flemish style in Italy at the time. Due to his work in Rome, where many compositions remained in the Vatican archives, he can be seen among the composers from across the Alps as one of those who had the greatest influence on the emergence of the Palestrina style . His importance for the musical creation of that time is also evident in the widespread use of his compositions. They can be found in at least 66 manuscripts and 45 printed editions across Western and Central Europe.

More name bearers

Two other French composers of the 16th century bear the name l'Héritier: Antoine ( fl. 1508–1532) and Isaac (fl. Around 1540). Antoine l'Héritier was also from Pas-de-Calais and could be related to Jean. He has been attested as a singer at the Sainte-Chapelle since 1508 and was in the service of Charles V from 1520 to 1532 . No details are known about Isaac l'Héritier's life and possible family connections. Three chansons by him have come down to us, which were published by Jacques Moderne in Lyon in 1541 .

literature

• Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan Publishers Ltd., London 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
• Gustave Reese . Music in the Renaissance . WW Norton & Co., New York 1954, ISBN 0-393-09530-4
• Leeman L. Perkins. Jean Lhéritier. In: L. Macy (Ed.): Grove Music Online (Paid Access, accessed December 30, 2005)

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Jean l'Héritier in the International Music Score Library Project
• Sheet music in the public domain by Jean l'Héritier in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)