Crecquillon, Thomas (EN)

Crecquillon, Créquillon, Crechillon, Griquillon, Thomas, *between 1480 and 1500, †probably 1557 Béthune, Franco-Flemish composer. From around 1540 he was active in the chapel of Emperor Charles V in Brussels (in 1548–49 he published, together with other imperial musicians, a collection of motets dedicated to Charles). It is difficult to determine his exact position, as documents refer to him as a singer, kapellmeister, court composer, and chaplain; he most likely served as the master of the boys’ choir as the successor to N. Gombert. At the same time, between 1540 to 1552 he was parish priest in Dendermonde, and in 1550 he received a benefice at the Church of St Peter in Leuven. It is possible that from 1552 he was also a canon at the Church of St Aubin in Namur, and from 1555 in Béthune, where he died – perhaps as a result of the plague that was rampant there at the time.

Crecquillon is one of the best-known and most popular composers of the 16th century. Along with N. Gombert and Clemens non Papa – with whom he shares much in common as a composer – he represents the last generation of Dutch musicians before O. di Lasso. Crecquillon’s works, particularly his chansons and motets, enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe, even in the regions furthest removed from cultural centres, and were among the most frequently published and copied works of the time. They were also frequently arranged for various instruments, such as the vihuela, the lute (including by V. Bakfark), and keyboard instruments (including in the tablature of Jan Fischer z Morąga), and served as models for numerous missae parodiae (including T. Szadek’s Missa Puis ne me peult venir). Crecquillon’s chanson Ung gay bergier occupied one of the leading places in the European musical repertoire of the Renaissance period for many years. Crecquillon’s work was highly esteemed by music theorists and writers of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as H. Finck, A. Coclicus, P. Cerone, Sweertius, M.H. Schacht, and A. Berardi. Crecquillon did not develop his own creative concept in terms of either form or compositional technique; rather, he made extensive use of, refined and developed existing means, drawing on his outstanding talent, inventiveness and comprehensive mastery of his craft. A characteristic feature of his work is the harmonious combination of the mid-16th-century Dutch polyphonic style with new trends, involving an intensified emotional and personal relationship with the musical work, which is evident both in the overall expression of the piece and in the technical aspects of the text-music relationship.

Crecquillon’s masses – with the exception of one, based on a cantus firmus from the German song Kein Adler in der Welt – belong to the missae parodiae genre; eight are based on chanson models, the remainder on motet models, though the composer also drew upon his own works (three chansons and two motets). Generally, Crecquillon uses the entire model in the mass, sometimes only fragments of it (Missa Domine Deus omnipotens, Missa Mort m’a privé), whilst at other times certain parts of the mass constitute merely a distant variation on the model’s theme (the Credo from Missa Se dire je l’osoie). The masses are written in free counterpoint; in passages of greater significance, in accordance with the custom of the time, homophonic passages appear. Five-voice texture predominates, with a sixth voice often added in the Agnus. In the 6-voice mass Do-mine Deus omnipotens, Crecquillon even introduces an 8-voice Agnus.

Crecquillon’s motets rank among his greatest artistic achievements. They are characterised by a strict imitative style, building on Gombert’s innovations, and frequently employ the older cantus firmus technique. The composer pays attention to the clarity of the counterpoint, the balance of the themes, the expressiveness of the text’s delivery, and the emotional impact of the piece. A prime example of Crecquillon’s motet style is the six-voice motet Congregati sunt inimici nostri.   Occasionally, Crecquillon constructs a motet by deriving subsidiary phrases from the main theme, thereby achieving considerable unity (Super montem, Dum aurora finem daret); he also employs register effects, such as shifting a relevant phrase by an octave (Unus panis, Ingenuit Susanna). Musical illustration of the text is rare (Domine Deus qui conteris). Crecquillon uses chromaticism to enhance expression (Verbum iniquum et dolosum). The frequent use of tonal responses in imitative passages indicates a breaking of modal conventions (Carole, magnus erat, Quis te victorem dicat). Characteristic are the sharp intonational entries of the voices, which heighten the drama of the piece through intervallic leaps (the first lamentation, the motet Ave virgo).

Crecquillon’s chansons draw on the tradition of polyphonic chanson initiated by C. de Sermisy and C. Janequin; Crecquillon developed syntactic imitation within the chanson, introduced a range of contrapuntal techniques (e.g. the canon in Si pour aymer) and increased the number of voices to five. Homophony forms the basis of the structure relatively rarely (Qui la dira), which Crecquillon employs only in short passages to create contrast (Ung gay bergier, Le coeur cruel). Rhythm serves a similar purpose (Contrainct je suis, C’est à grand tort). The formal structures of the chansons are varied; Crecquillon employs musical and textual repetitions at the beginning and end of a piece, devoting considerable attention to variation; he composes songs in three-part structures (Puis ne me peult venir), less frequently in two-part structures (A la fontaine), and occasionally arranges more sections. Some chansons bear the formal characteristics of dances, such as the villanelle (Si me tenez) or the pavane (Par trop souffrir), or resemble the style of the Italian madrigal (Petite fleur coincte et jolie). Crecquillon set exclusively French texts, including those by C. Marot and Mellin de Saint-Gelais, composing lyrical, elegiac, humorous and other songs. They stand out in the song repertoire for their elegance and lightness (Puis que vous ayme, Belle donne moy ung regard), but above all by their technical perfection and precision in the refinement of details.

Literature: H. Quittard L’Hortus Musarum de 1552–1553, “Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” VIII, 1906–07 (contains Crecquillon’s works); W. Lueger Ein vergessener Meister des 16 Jahrhunderts. Th. Crecquillon, “Zeitschrift für Kirchenmusik” LXXIV, 1954; R.M. Trotter The Chansons of Th. Crecquillon. Texts and Form, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” XIV, 1960; H.L. Marshall The Four-voice Motets of Th. Crecquillon, “Musicological Studies” XXI, 1970–71; G.R. Walter The Five-voice Motets of Th. Crecquillon, thesis, West Wirginia University 1975; C.A. Elias Imitation, Fragmentation and Assimilation of Chansons in the Masses of Gombert, Clemens and Crecquillon. A Kaleidoscopic Process, thesis Chicago Univrsity, 1994; B.J. Blackburn Th. Crecquillon’s “Salamander”. An Italian Import, in: Musicologia humana, Festschrift for W. and U. Kirkendale, ed. S. Gmeinwieser, D. Hiley and J. Riedlbauer, «Historiae Musicae Cultores Biblioteca» LXXIV, Florence 1994.