Jan Belle ( fl. 1545 - 1566) was a Flemish composer from the

Franco-Flemish School 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 ...

and a

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

.Godelieve Spiessens, "Jan Belle", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

and John Tyrrell, London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001

Live

Between 1546 and 1547, Belle was a ''magister duodenorum'' (master of the choirboys) at the Holy Cross Church in

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 ...

. He was referred to as 'de Lovanium' which indicates that he was originally from

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

. He may also have been a ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' (succentor) at the Church of Our Lady in

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

Works

Jan Belle was a composer as well as a

. In 1552, the publisher and editor

Jacob Bathen Jacob Bathen or Jacob Baethen, Latinised as Jacobus Bathius, Iacobus Batius and Jacobus Bathenius (likely Leuven or Heverlee, in or before 1516 - Leuven ?, 1558), was a Flemish bookseller, printer and publisher of the 16th century, mainly known no ...

, who lived in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, published Belle’s probable first work relating to music. This was the ''Musices encomion'', a book on music theory.Jan Willem Bonda, ''De meerstemmige Nederlandse liederen van de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw''.

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, Verloren, 1996. No copies of the book have been preserved. In 1572,

Petrus Phalesius the Elder Peeter van der Phaliesen, Latinised as Petrus Phalesius, French versions of name Pierre Phalèse and Pierre de PhaleysSusan Bain and Henri Vanhulst, "Phalèse Family", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by ...

and

Johannes Bellerus Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

jointly published under the title ''Een Duytsch musyck boeck'' an anthology of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

songs by various composers. The book contains six songs for four voices composed by Belle. These songs are: #Fluer van alle vrouwen soet (Flower of all sweet women) #Ick en can mij niet bedwinghen (I cannot control myself) (In a 1554 edition by

, this song is credited to

Joannes Zacheus Joannes Zacheus ( fl. 1554/1569) was a composer of the Franco-Flemish School. Not much is still known about Zacheus. When the publisher and editor Jacob Bathen published an anthology of Dutch songs titled ''Dat ierste boeck vanden nieuwe Duijtsche ...

) #Int groen, int groen, met u alderliefste (In the green, in the green, with you, my sweetest) #Laet ons nu al verblijden in desen soeten tijt (Let us already rejoice in this sweet time) #O amoureusich mondeken root (Oh enamored red mouth) #O doloreux herte met druck beladich (Oh aching heart weighed down with pressure)Copy of the ''Duijtsch musijck boeck''
jointy published in 1572 by

in (

) and Johannes Bellerus in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in the

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the bigg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle, Jan 16th-century Franco-Flemish composers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Flemish composers Flemish music theorists