Barbireau, Barbarian, Barbicola, Barbingant, Barbiriau, Barbirian, Barbyrianus, Barwyrianus, Jacques, Maître Jacques, *ca. 1455 (?) Mons (?), †8 August 1491 Antwerp, Franco-Flemish composer. On 21 November 1447, he was appointed conductor of the boys’ choir at the Church of Notre-Dame in Antwerp. After his death, J. Obrecht took over this position. Barbireau’s students included J. Ockeghem and Jacotin. Barbireau was friends with the humanist R. Agricola, who dedicated one of his most important works, De formando studio, written in the form of a letter, to him.
Literature: J. du Saar Het Leven en de Composities van Jacobus Barbireau, Utrecht 1946; Ch. W. Fox Barbireau and Barbingant, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XIII, 1960; E. Kooiman The Biography of J. Barbireau (1455–1491) reviewed, “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muzieksechiedenis” XXXVIII, 1988.
Compositions:
Terribilment, mass for 3 voices
Virgo parens Christi, mass for 5 voices
Faulx perverse, mass for 4 voices
Kyrie paschale for 4 voices
Osculetur me, motet for 4 voices
6 chansons for 3 voices
Der pfoben swancz, chanson for 4 voices
Editions:
Opera omnia, ed. B. Meier, «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae» VII, 2 vols., Rome 1954–57
