Joan Albert Ban (1597–1644) was a Dutch Catholic priest and composer.

Life

From 1628-42 he was canon priest of the

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

chapter (Kapittel). In 1630 he became priest of the Begijnhof in Haarlem, across the street from the

Janskerk (Haarlem) The Janskerk or St. John's Church is a former church in the Dutch city of Haarlem. Today it houses the North Holland Archives (''Noord-Hollands archief''). History Gerard van Tetrode donated land in 1310 in the centre of Haarlem to build St. Joh ...

. Musically self-taught, he corresponded with

Marin Mersenne Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for ...

. This correspondence was begun thanks to

Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...

, who later joined the correspondence, as did Descartes, of whom Ban was a great admirer. Ban also wrote a ''Dissertio epistolica de musicae natura'' in 1637 on musical evolution and 'musica flexanima' ( melodic intervals and their emotional effects), sending copies to his correspondents. Ban sent Mersenne some of his compositions and, though the latter criticised them heavily and though Mersenne later weighted a musical competition between Ban and

Antoine Boësset Antoine Boësset, Antoine Boesset or Anthoine de Boesset (1586 – 8 December 1643), sieur de Villedieu, was the superintendent of music at the Ancien Régime French court and a composer of secular music, particularly airs de cour. He and his fathe ...

in favour of the latter, he and Ban continued to correspond. He also corresponded with

P. C. Hooft Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (16 March 1581 – 21 May 1647) - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright who lived during the Dutch Golden Age in literature. Life Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, often abbreviat ...

and later

Joost van den Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

wrote a poem in honor of his compositions that were published in 1642 under the title ''Zangh-Bloemzel Van Ioan Albert Ban Haerlemmer, Dat is, Staeltjes van den zinroerenden zangh, Met dry stemmen, En den Gemeene-Grondstem. Boovezangh. t'Amsterdam, by Paulus Matthijsz. Voor Louys Elzevier op 't Water, inden Olm-Boom 1642. Neffens een kort Zangh-bericht, Ten dienste van alle Vaderlandtsche Zangh-lievers.'' File:Geertgen_tot_Sint_Jans_006.jpg, Geertgen painted ''The Lamentation of Christ'' for the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

of the church of the

Knights of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

. File:Geertgen lamentation copy Jacob Matham 1620.JPG, Mirror image engraving in 1620 by Jacob Matham, includes a Latin poem by Joan Albert Ban, a dedication to

Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Dutch Golden Age, Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and wit ...

, and Latin quote by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, three men inspired by this painting.

References

External links

''Companion to Baroque Music''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ban 1597 births 1644 deaths Dutch composers 17th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests Canons (priests) Clergy from Haarlem Dutch music theorists