Philippe Basiron (Philippon de Bourges) (c. 1449just before 31 May 1491) was a French composer, singer, and organist of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

. He was an innovative and prominent composer of the late 15th century, and was praised by many of his contemporaries.

Life

He was probably born in Bourges, and received his early training there, becoming a

choirboy A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble. As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" (also derisively) refers to someone who is considered honora ...

at the attached to the royal palace (now the ) in October 1458, along with his brother Pierron. Between October 1458 and 31 March 1459 the brothers were assigned to the care of Jehan Gaudier, and in 1462 the composer Guillaume Faugues became briefly ''magister puerorum'' (master of the choirboys); he may have been a formative influence on the young Philippe. The boy's musical gifts were sufficiently distinguished that he had a

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...

purchased for him in 1462, an extremely rare occurrence for a

of 12 or 13 years old. Ockeghem also visited Bourges that year, but if the boy made his acquaintance then is not known; however the influence, and possibly friendship, of the older composer was to become clear later. In 1464 he already had a position of authority, being given the responsibility for the musical instruction of the other boys. In 1466 he became vicar-choral, and on 5 February 1469 he became ''magister puerorum'' himself. His tenure as master of the choirboys was not without difficulty; several times he was reprimanded by the chapel authorities for failing to keep his charges out of trouble. However, he was the first person to hold the position for five years; in the preceding three years, no less than five separate people had tried and failed to maintain the unruly choir. In 1474 he left Ste Chapelle, but the circumstances are not known. His successor there was François Maugis. Sometime before 1490 he returned to Ste Chapelle, but since all records from the chapel between 1476 and 1486 are lost, the exact date cannot be determined. Basiron was vicar of a nearby church in 1490, and had to have died shortly before 31 May 1491, since a benefice of his passed to a brother on that date.

Music and influence

Basiron's music was widely distributed in Europe, and was highly praised by his contemporaries. In addition he was precocious: many of his chansons were written in his teens, and probably much more of his early music has been lost. A total of four masses, three motets and six chansons have survived, and also one mass which has an uncertain attribution to him. Stylistically Basiron's music resembles that of Ockeghem, and is innovative in several ways. He used sequential repetition, and was perhaps the first composer to write a piece in which imitation was the main structural device from beginning to end (the ''Regina celi''). He also was capable of creating long movements by juxtaposing sections of varying texture, but without disunity; his ''Messa de Franza'' is the most famous example.

Ercole I d'Este Ercole I d'Este KG (English: ''Hercules I''; 26 October 1431 – 25 January 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the House of Este. He was nicknamed ''North Wind'' and ''The Diamond''. Biography Ercole was born i ...

, duke of Ferrara, heard of Basiron's fame, and asked that his ''Missa l'homme armé'' be sent to him.

Eloy d'Amerval Eloy d'Amerval ( fl. 1455 – 1508) was a French composer, singer, choirmaster, and poet of the Renaissance. He spent most of his life in the Loire Valley of France. From his poetic works, especially his enormous 1508 poem ''Le livre de la deabl ...

mentioned Basiron in 1508 as among the "20 great composers of the 15th century"; both Pierre Moulu and theorist Gaffurius praised him highly; and most famously, poet

Guillaume Crétin Guillaume Dubois or Guillaume Crétin (c. 1460 – 30 November 1525) was a French poet who is considered to belong to the school of the Grands Rhétoriqueurs ("rhetoricians"). Life He was treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, then cantor ...

, in his ''Déploration sur le trépas de Jean Ockeghem'', listed Basiron among the sweetly singing angels in heaven welcoming Ockeghem to join them.

Works

Masses

# Missa de Franza (4vv); # Missa l'homme armé (mentioned as a new composition on 24 March 1484, in Ferrara) (4vv); # Missa Regina caeli (4vv); # Missa tetradi pladis (lost; described by

Franchinus Gaffurius Franchinus Gaffurius (Franchino Gaffurio; 14 January 1451 – 25 June 1522) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was an almost exact contemporary of Josquin des Prez and Leonardo da Vinci, both of whom were his per ...

) (voicing unknown)

Mass (attributed)

# Missa D'ung aultre amer (4vv)

Motets

# Inviolata integra et casta (4vv); # Regina celi (4vv); # Salve regina (4vv) (also, erroneously, attributed to

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was the most influential European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with hi ...

Chansons

# De m'esjouir plus n'ay puissance (3vv) (Rondeau); # D’ung aultre amer I (4vv) (uses "L'homme armé" in the tenor); # D’ung aultre amer II (4vv); # Je le sçay bien (3vv) (Rondeau); # Nul ne l'a tele (3vv) (Bergerette, based on "Je ne viz onques la pareille" by

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

Gilles Binchois Gilles de Bins dit Binchois (also Binchoys; – 20 September 1460) was a Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music. A central figure of the Burgundian School, Binchois and his colleague Guillaume Du Fay were deeply influenced by the ...

, or

Antoine Busnois Antoine Busnois (also Busnoys; – before 6 November 1492) was a French composer, singer and poet of early Renaissance music. Busnois and colleague Johannes Ockeghem were the leading European composers of the second half the 15th century, and ...

); # Tant fort me tarde (3vv) (Rondeau).

Recording

* 1996 - ''Oh Flanders Free. Music of the Flemish Renaissance: Ockeghem, Josquin, Susato, De la Rue.''

Capilla Flamenca Capilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th century music from Flanders and takes its name from the historical Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca), the choir of the c ...

. Alamire LUB 03, Naxos 8.554516.

References

*Jeffrey Dean: "Philippe Basiron", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 13, 2005)
(subscription access)
* *Martin Picker, "Philippe Basiron," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. *

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.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basiron, Philippe 1449 births 1491 deaths French classical composers French male classical composers Renaissance composers 15th-century French people