Firmin Lebel (early 16th century – 27–31 December 1573) was a French composer and choir director of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, active in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. While relatively little of his music survives, he was notable as one of the likely teachers of

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...

. He was born in

Noyon Noyon (; pcd, Noéyon; la, Noviomagus Veromanduorum, Noviomagus of the Veromandui, then ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise (river), Oise, a ...

, but nothing is known of his early life. He was a chaplain at Santa Maria Maggiore, and was ''maestro di cappella'' of its Liberian chapel by 1540; while at this post, from late 1540 and possibly continuing for several years, he is thought to have been a teacher of the young Palestrina. In 1545 he became ''maestro di cappella'' at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, a position he kept until 1561, at which time

Annibale Zoilo Annibale Zoilo (c. 1537–1592) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance Roman School. He was a contemporary of Palestrina, writing music in a closely related style, and was a prominent composer and choir director in Rome i ...

was appointed in his place. On 4 September 1561, he joined the papal chapel; evidently he was highly regarded as a choir director and composer, for the entrance examination was waived in his case, by

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

himself. After only four years, however, the chapel choir was dramatically reduced as part of the reforms of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

, and Lebel was dismissed, along with many other singers, including

Ghiselin Danckerts Ghiselin Danckerts (c. 1510 – late September 1567) was a Dutch composer, singer, and music theorist of the Renaissance. He was principally active in Rome, in the service of the Papal Chapel, and was one of the judges at the famous debate between ...

. Lebel remained in Rome for the rest of his life, and a

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was sung in his honor in 1574 at the chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi. Only three of Lebel's works survive, all

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s. Two, a setting of the ''Ave verum corpus'' and ''Sancta Maria succurre miseris'', are for five voices, and the other, ''Puer natus est'', is for six. Stylistically they are typical of the generation before Palestrina, during which the

Franco-Flemish The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition or ...

rather than Italians dominated the musical scene in Rome.

References and further reading

*Allan W. Atlas: "Firmin Lebel", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 6, 2006)
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Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; 29 November 1899 – 7 September 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940) ...

, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebel, Firmin 16th-century births 1573 deaths People from Noyon French classical composers French male classical composers Renaissance composers