Jehan Fresneau

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Jehan Fresneau (also Fresnau, Frasnau, Franeau, Franier, de Frania), (* before 1450, † after 1505) was a Franco-Flemish composer , singer and cleric of the early Renaissance . He was a member of the royal chapel under Louis XI. and Charles VIII.

Live and act

After a certain "Jehan de Frosnes" was recorded as a member of the chapel of Marie d'Anjou, the wife of the French King Charles VII, in the first quarter of 1454 , it has been assumed that this could be Jehan Fresneau, but there is one for it no confirmation. The first reliable documents go back to June 24, 1468, when “Jo. Fremniau ”is mentioned as“ petit vicaire ”at the Cathedral of Cambrai ; this has led to the suspicion that it could have come from this region. In the following year, however, it is no longer recorded in the church register there; From 1469, Fresneau belonged to the chapel of King Louis XI. in Tours as "chapelain ordinaire" until September 1475. Perhaps on the advice of the composer Johannes Ockeghem , Fresneau left France and became a member of the chapel of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in Milan for a short time as "Johannes de Frania" . He had such important colleagues here as Gaspar van Weerbeke , Alexander Agricola , Loyset Compère and Jean Cordier . Fresneau is described here as "a priest from Cambrai, our singer, a humble and artful person". At the Duke's instigation, he received various benefices in the Diocese of Como near Milan.

After the Duke was murdered on December 26, 1476, his widow, Bona von Savoyen, decided to downsize the chapel, and Fresneau was no longer employed. On February 6, 1477 he received a passport for the duty-free travel; his traveling companions were Loyset Compère and Colin de Lannoy . Fresneau returned to France and apparently found his next job in the court chapel of the French king in Tours. On February 28, 1480, it is referred to as "capellanum et cantorem serenissimi et christianissimi regis Francorum". Johannes Ockeghem held the important office of treasurer at St. Martin in Tours . The French king requested some benefices for his cantores capellani , including one for Jehan Fresneau at Rouen Cathedral ; here he is referred to as a canon at St. Martin in Tours. Apparently Fresneau spent the remainder of his years as a member of the royal chapel and canon of the royal basilica ; whose chapter appointed him provost of Mayet in 1494 . In the last documents in which he is mentioned (June 10, 1494, February 9, 1500 and February 10, 1505), his stay at Chartres as procurator of the chapter of St. Martin is confirmed; in the second document mentioned Fresneau is named notary and procurator of the ecclesiastical court. After the death of Johannes Ockeghem (February 6, 1497), he was given the privilege of setting the pattern that was decisive for the lamentations (deplorations) of all other composers. How long he lived after 1505 is not known.

meaning

The traditional work of Jehan Fresneau consists of a mass and five chansons , with three of the chansons, each in a different manuscript, also being ascribed to other composers, so that their authenticity is uncertain. They can be dated between 1475 and 1480, and stylistically they are within the framework that was common in the second half of the 15th century, i.e. rather conservative. His mass shows him as a pupil of Ockeghem. Due to the various imitations and long two-part sections, it appears relatively modern. The recurrence of the initial motif in all sections and the similarity of the motifs in the top voice ("Superius") and in the tenor led to the assumption that this is based on a polyphonic model that has not yet been identified in musicology.

Traditional works

  • Missa quarti toni to four voices
  • “C'est vous seulle”, chanson with three voices
  • “De vous servir”, chanson with three voices ( attributed to Fresneau and Hayne van Ghizeghem )
  • "Ha qu'il m'ennuye", chanson for three voices (attributed to Fresneau and Alexander Agricola)
  • "Nostres assouemen", chanson with three voices (attributed to Fresneau and Alexander Agricola)
  • “Nuit et jour” / “Perget” ( counterfactor ), chanson with three voices

Literature (selection)

  • F. Lesure: Some Minor French Composer of the 16th Century , in: Festschrift für Gustave Reese, edited by J. La Rue and others, New York 1966, pp. 538-544
  • L. Perkins: Musical Patronage at the Royal Court of France under Charles VII and Louis XI (1422−83) , in: Journal of the American Musicological Society No. 37, 1984, pp. 507-566
  • David Fallows: A Catalog of Polyphonic Songs 1415-1480 , Oxford 1999

Web links

swell

  1. ^ The Music in Past and Present (MGG), Person Part Volume 7, Bärenreiter Verlag Kassel and Basel 2002, ISBN 3-7618-1117-9
  2. ↑ Allan W. Atlas / Jane Alden: "Fresneau, Jehan", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (subscription access)
personal data
SURNAME Fresneau, Jehan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fresnau, Jehan; Frasnau, Jehan; Fremniau, Jehan; Franeau, Jehan; Franier, Jehan; de Frania, Jehan; de Frosnes, Jehan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the early Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH before 1450
DATE OF DEATH after 1505