Pierre de Manchicourt (c. 1510 – 5 October 1564) was a

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 ...

composer of 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 ...

. De Manchicourt was born at

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department. Geography Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...

. Little is known of his early life other than that he was a choirboy at

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

in 1525; later in life he had a succession of posts in Arras,

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

and

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

, before going to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to be master of the

Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca) The Flemish chapel (Spanish: capilla flamenca) was one of two choirs employed by Philip II of Spain, the other being the Spanish chapel (or capilla española). La Grande Chapelle Philip I of Castile, "Philip the Handsome", son of Maximilian I, ...

at the court of

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. Similar to many composers of the early to mid 16th century, he predominantly wrote masses,

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 and

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s. His motets are particularly significant as they show the three separate stages of early sixteenth century motet development, highly unusual to find in the work of a single composer. In his earliest motets one can hear the influence of Ockeghem; in his middle period works, the paired imitation style of

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

; and in his late works the stylistic refinement, well-crafted melodic lines and pervasive imitation recall

Gombert Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495 – c. 1560)Atlas, p. 396 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex ...

. Manchicourt is an excellent example of a Franco-Flemish composer who learned his craft and art in northern Europe, and then assisted in the diffusion of the style by traveling to another region and composing and performing there. The movement of these many skilled composers out of Flanders and northern France created what was one of the first truly international styles since the original diffusion of

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

during the reign of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and was succeeded as maestro de capilla by

Jean de Bonmarché Jean de Bonmarché (ca. 1525September 1570) was a composer of the Franco-Flemish school. Bonmarché was born in Douai. He became dean of Lille Cathedral, then in 1560 master of the choirboys at Old Cambrai Cathedral. On 30 November 1564, followin ...

Recordings

*Manchicourt, ''Missa Cuidez vous que Dieu'' (The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice (conductor)) on Hyperion CDA67604 *Manchicourt, ''Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus, Motets, Chansons'' (

Huelgas Ensemble The Huelgas Ensemble is a Belgian early music group formed by the Flemish conductor Paul Van Nevel in 1971. The group's performance and extensive discography focuses on Renaissance polyphony. The name of the ensemble refers to a manuscript of poly ...

Paul Van Nevel Paul Van Nevel (born 4 February 1946) is a Belgian conductor, musicologist and art historian. In 1971 he founded the Huelgas Ensemble, a choir dedicated to polyphony from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Van Nevel is known for hunting out lit ...

) on Sony Classical SK 62694 *Manchicourt, ''Missa Reges terrae'' and Motets (The Choir of St. Luke in the Fields, David Shuler (director)) on MSR Classics MS 1632 *Manchicourt, ''Missa de Requiem'' and 4 Motets (The Choir of The Church of the Advent, Boston, Edith Ho (director)) on Arsis SACD 406 *Manchicourt, ''Missa Non conturbantur cor vestrum'' and 5 Motets (The Choir of the Church of the Advent, Boston, Edith Ho (director) on Arsis SACD 400. *Manchicourt, ''Missa Quo abiit dilectus tuus'' (Les Chanteurs De Saint-Eustache, R.P. Emile Martin (director)) on BAM Records (Éditions De La Boîte À Musique) LD 022 *Manchicourt, ''Missa Nisi Dominus'' (Egidius Kwartet & College) on Etcetera KTC 1415

References and further reading

*"Pierre de Manchicourt", in ''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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Manchicourt, Pierre de 1510s births 1564 deaths People from Béthune French composers Renaissance composers French classical composers French male classical composers 16th-century Franco-Flemish composers