Ludovicus Episcopius

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Ludovicus Episcopius (* around 1520 in Mechelen ; † April 29, 1595 in Straubing ) was a Franco-Flemish composer , singer and cleric of the Renaissance .

Live and act

Ludovicus Episcopius was the son of the sexton and singer Antonius de Bisschop at the church Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dilje in Mechelen. He probably received his training as a chorister at the collegiate church of St. Rombout in his hometown from Theo Verelst, who was also the teacher of Philippe de Monte and Cipriano de Rore . He then studied from 1538 to 1541 at the Artes Faculty of the University of Leuven , where he completed his studies as a theologian . He was ordained a priest and then worked from October 19, 1545 as a zangmeester at the collegiate church of St. Servatius in Maastricht . He received several charities and became a member of the Brotherhood of Chaplains as one of the scriptores chori . He gave up this position in 1566, among other things because of the religious unrest there. His successor went to Rome a short time later , and his successor, the composer Jean de Chaynée , was murdered after a while by his colleague, the organist Hector Constantini. Thereupon Episcopius returned on October 18, 1577 to his previous position as Kapellmeister and Cantor at St. Servaas for almost five years. From July 1, 1582 he then worked as court chaplain and singer at the Bavarian royal court in Munich under Orlando di Lasso ; at the same time he is responsible as a teacher ( praeceptor ) for the training of the choirboys. Later, from 1591, he is listed in the records of the Collegiate Church of St. Jakob in Straubing as a canon , cantor and scholastic scholar; he died in this city at the end of April 1595. There is a posthumous portrait of Ludovicus Episcopius in the portrait book of the Straubing Priestly Society, painted in 1598 by Nicolas Juvenel.

meaning

The compositions by Ludovicus Episcopius are only partially preserved. In the traditional works he is recognizable as an experienced composer who knows how to use the different compositional techniques confidently for the various musical genres (Dutch songs, motets , masses ). The eleven songs with three to eight voices, eight of which were published by the Maastricht publisher Jacob Baethen in 1554 , range in style from melancholy singing to extremely playful drinking songs and alternate between conventional polyphony and more recent homophony . Most of the sacred works were most probably written by Ludovicus Episcopius after 1580 during the German period. In his motets he uses cantus firmus techniques and free imitations ; in the motet “O beata Caecilia” he uses an ostinato based on Gregorian material. The inventory of the Collegiate Church of St. Odulfus in Borgloon from 1638 lists a choir book with Hymni et Missae by Episcopius and Lambertus de Monte ; However, it is not certain whether this is also available in the inventory.

Works (all vocal music)

  • measure up
    • Missa super “Si mon service a merite” with four voices
  • Motets
    • “Exurgens Maria” to four voices
    • "In splendenti nube" to five voices (incomplete)
    • “O beata Caecilia” to five voices
    • “Regnum mundi” to five voices
    • Salve regina super “Doulce memoire” with four voices
    • Salve regina to four votes
    • "Sum Deus nisi christicolas" to three votes in the Premier Livre du recueil des fleurs produictes de la divine , Leuven 1560
  • Dutch songs
    • “Een bier, een bier, een bierenbroyken” (A porridge of beer) to five voices, in Dat ierste boeck vanden nieuwe Duijtsche liedekens , Maastricht 1554
    • "Ghequetst ben ic van binnen" (I'm hurt inside) to eight votes (incomplete)
    • "Ick seg adieu, wij twee wij moeten divide" (I say goodbye, we both have to part) to four votes, in Een Duijtsch musijck boeck , Leuven / Antwerp 1572
    • “Ick sou studeren in eenen hoeck” (I would have studied in a corner) to six votes
    • “Laet varen alle fantasie” (give up all imagination) to four voices
    • "O wreede fortuijne" (O cruel fate) to three votes (incomplete)
    • “Princersselijck greijn, die ic ghern aenschouwe” (handsome grain that I want to see) to five votes
    • “Princersselijck greijn, die ic ghern aenschouwe” (Stately grain that I want to see), published by Pierre Phalèse , a revised version of the previous composition
    • "Schoon ran uut charitaten" to six votes (incomplete)
    • "Schoon ran daer alle mijnen troost" (nice dear, you all my consolation) to six votes (incomplete)
    • “Susanna heur baeinde in een fontein” to four voices
    • “Vruecht en duecht mijn hert Verhuecht” (My heart rejoices in fun and virtue) to four votes

Literature (selection)

  • G. van Doorslaer: Ludovicus Episcopus maître de chapelle-compositeur. 1520 (?) † 1595 , Mechelen 1932
  • RB Lenaerts: Het Nederlands polifonies lied in de zestiende eeuw , Mechlin / Amsterdam 1932
  • A. Scharnagl: Ludovicus Episcopius. In: Church Music Yearbook No. 34, 1950, pp. 55–62
  • W. Boetticher: From Orlando di Lasso's sphere of activity: new archival studies on Munich music history , Kassel 1963, pages 74 and 133 and the following
  • J. Quitin: Studies on Maastricht's music care in the XVI. Century. In: Contributions to the music history of the city and the district of Erkelenz, edited by G. Göller, Cologne 1968, page 42 and following (= Contributions to the Rhenish Music History No. 73)
  • Jan Willem Bonda: De seaerstemmige Nederlandse liederen van de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw , Hilversum 1996
  • Eugeen Schreurs: Aspecten van het muziekleven in Maastricht in de 15e en 16e eeuw. In: Polyfonie in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden, edited by E. Meyer, Maastricht 1996, page 8 and following

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ The Music in Past and Present (MGG), Person Part Volume 6, Bärenreiter and Metzler, Kassel and Basel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1116-0
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 3: Elsbeth - Haitink. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1980, ISBN 3-451-18053-7 .
  3. ^ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , edited by Stanley Sadie, 2nd Edition, Volume 8, McMillan, London 2001, ISBN 0-333-60800-3
personal data
SURNAME Episcopius, Ludovicus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES de Bisschop, Ludovicus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH around 1520
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechlin
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1595
Place of death Straubing