Hubert Naich (Huberti, Huberto; Naixh, Naxhe) (c. 1513 – c. 1546) was a composer 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 ide ...

, probably of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

origin, principally 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 ...

. He was mainly a composer of

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...

s, some in the ''

note nere Note nere (English: black note) was a style of madrigal composition, which used shorter note values than usual and had more black note-heads. The style was introduced around 1540, and had a short vogue among composers publishing in Venice includi ...

'' style.Haar, Naich, Grove online

Life

He was probably from

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, although the details of his early life are uncertain, since several musicians bearing the name "Naich" were active at the church of St. Martin during the time he would have been growing up. Details of his life for the period in which he was in Rome are equally uncertain. It is known that he was active as a composer of madrigals from approximately 1540 to 1546, during which time he almost certainly knew the renowned madrigal composer

Jacques Arcadelt Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 14 October 1568) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music. Although he also wrote sacred vocal music, he wa ...

, then singing in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...

choir, since they were both members of an "academy of friends" gathered around a Florentine banker who was resident in Rome (Arcadelt's membership in the group is uncertain, but considered probable). One of Arcadelt's Venetian publications, his ''Il quinto libro di madrigali'' (Fifth Book of Madrigals) (1544), includes six pieces by Naich, further indicating a connection between the two. A painting entitled "The Three Ages of Man" (now lost), possibly by

Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; c. 1485 – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerism, Mannerist periods famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian School (art), Venetian ...

, was believed to have shown a likeness of Naich, as the eldest of the three figures in the painting.

Music

All of Naich's known music is for voices, and almost all of it is secular. His entire surviving output has been published in volume 94 of ''

Corpus mensurabilis musicae The ''Corpus mensurabilis musicae'' (CMM) is a collected print edition of most of the sacred and secular vocal music of the late medieval and Renaissance period in western music history, with an emphasis on the central Franco-Flemish and Italian re ...

''. Forty-five compositions are known, including 30 in a volume of madrigals he published in Rome in 1540 (''Exercitium seraficum'', all for from four to six voices). He also published 12 madrigals in other collections, such as the one with Arcadelt. The other three compositions are a chanson in French, and two motets, evidently his only sacred compositions to survive. Some of his madrigals are in the ''

'' (black note) style. This style of composition, which began with the work of

Costanzo Festa Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490 – 10 April 1545) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music. He was the first native Italian polyphonist of international renown, and w ...

around 1540, used shorter note values than were previously used in madrigal composition (hence "filled in" note-heads, i.e. black notes) and quick syllabic declamation, often with syncopation. These Italian " patter-songs" had a burst of popularity in the 1540s, mainly in Venice and the surrounding cities, but Naich's compositions show that they were known and written in Rome as well. Naich's madrigals in this style usually begin with passages in longer note values, only gradually progressing into the quick "note nere" style. As such, they were part of an increasing trend in the 1540s among madrigal composers, who were seeking greater expressiveness by exploiting rhythmic and tonal contrast.Haar, Madrigal, Grove online

Notes

References

James Haar James Haar (July 4, 1929 – September 15, 2018) was an American musicologist and W.R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A specialist in Renaissance music, he was the Editor-in-chief of the ...

: "Hubert Naich", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 24, 2007)
(subscription access)
*James Haar: "Madrigal, II", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 24, 2007)
(subscription access)
*

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.
CMM
Corpus mensurabilis musicae volume descriptions and contents {{DEFAULTSORT:Naich, Hubert 1510s births 1540s deaths Renaissance composers Madrigal composers Prince-Bishopric of Liège musicians Male classical composers