- Jacques Arcadelt
Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt) (1504 or 1505 –
October 14 ,1568 ) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the middle to late Renaissance, principally of madrigals andchanson s. Most likely he was born in Liège, and he died inParis .Little is known about his early life, but he is known to have been in
Rome by 1539, at which time he was made a member of theJulian Chapel . Shortly thereafter he joined theSistine Chapel , where he was appointed "magister puerorum" (director of the boys choir), and later was promoted to choirmaster. In the same year he published four of his total of six books of madrigals for four voices. Probably around 1553 he moved toFrance , where he spent the remainder of his life; his numerous chansons date from this and subsequent years. In 1557 he published a book of masses, dedicated to his employer, Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine (Arcadelt was "maître de chapelle", i.e. choirmaster for him).Arcadelt's style is refined, pure, melodious, and simple, and his music was immensely popular in
Italy and France for more than a hundred years; his first book of madrigals was reprinted 58 times between c1538 and 1654, a spectacular print run for the time. An additional hint to his popularity is the frequency with which anonymous compositions were attributed to him. Likely his popularity was due to his gift for capturing the Italian spirit and marrying it with the technical perfection of the Franco-Flemish harmonic and polyphonic style; in addition he wrote catchy tunes which were easy to sing.His most famous madrigal is the delightful "Il bianco e dolce cigno", which is notable for its clear
phrasing , exquisite singability, and clever use of repetition. The style represented in this madrigal was influential on the next generation of madrigal composers, including Palestrina.Arcadelt published a total of 24
motet s, 3 books of masses, 126 French chansons, and over 200 madrigals.Media
External links
*ChoralWiki
*IckingArchive|idx=Arcadelt|name=Jacques ArcadeltReferences and further reading
*
Gustave Reese , "Music in the Renaissance". New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
*"The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians", 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 0-02-872416-X
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