Berchem, Jachet (EN)

Berchem Jachet (de), Giachet, Giachetto, Jacquet, Jakob (van), *ca. 1505 in Berchem-lez-Anvers near Antwerp, †ca. 1567 in Monopoli near Bari, Flemish composer and organist. Nothing is known about his life prior to his activities in Italy. He was already active in Venice before 1538, possibly as a pupil of Adrian Willaert. From 1546 to the early 1550s, he directed the cathedral choir in Verona; he was then associated with the Apulian town of Monopoli near Bari. Presumably, his patrons during this period were Andrea Marzato, the local governor, or Bishop Ottaviano Preconio. No later than 1553, Jachet married Giustina, a native of Monopoli, and died there. The literature mentions Jacheta de Berchem’s employment at the court of the d’Este princes in Ferrara around 1555, but there is no clear evidence of this in the surviving sources. The composer’s connections with Rome, where his works were published several times in the late 1550s and early 1560s, also remain unclear. In earlier literature, as well as in 16th-century prints and manuscripts, he was very often identified with Jachet de Mantua, hence the disputed authorship of numerous compositions by both composers. Distinguishing between the works of these two composers and several lesser-known composers named Jachet, who were active at the same time, is a complex attribution problem in Renaissance music research. However, it is widely believed that Jachet de Mantua composed exclusively sacred music, while Jachet de Berchem mainly wrote madrigals and a small number of motets. Some of the masses formerly attributed to Jachet de Berchem are now considered to be compositions by Jachet de Mantua.

Jachet de Berchem’s madrigals are typical examples of this genre, sometimes showing influences of the French chanson déclamatoire. They are generally arrangements of light-hearted texts on the theme of love, taken from the works of Petrarch, Cassola, Ariosto, Transillo, and others. The composer’s madrigal works include a cycle of 93 pieces, called capriccio, based on Ariosto’s poem Orlando furioso. Most of his sacred compositions are based on cantus firmus in identical, long values; in two masses, these melodies were created according to the syllables of the text in honor of Hercules, Duke of Ferrara, and Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria, in accordance with the practice known as soggetto cavato delle parole.

Literature: A. Einstein The Italian Madrigal, Princeton 1949; K. Widmaier Jachet von Mantua und sein Motettenschaffen, thesis, Universität Freiburg, 1953; P.T. Jackson The Masses of Jachet of Mantua, thesis, University of North Carolina, 1968; D. Hall The Italian Secular Vocal Works of Jacquet Berchem, thesis, Ohio State University, 1973; G. Nugent The Jacquet Motets and their Authors, thesis, Princeton University, 1973; D. Hall Jacquet Berchem and his Capriccio, “Studies in Music” XII, 1978; D.E. Hall An Unknown Example of Modal Ordering in Cinquecento Music, “Studies in Music” XXI, 1987; J. Haar The Capriccio of Giachet Berchem. A Study in Modal Organization, “Musica Disciplina” XLII, 1988; J.A. Taricani The Early Works of Jacquet de Berchem. Emulation and Parody, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” XLVI, 1992; S. Norman Cyclic Musical Settings of Laments from Ariosto’s „Orlando furioso”, thesis, University of North Carolina, 1994; S. Boorman Some Non-Conflicting Attributions, and Some Newly Anonymous Compositions, from the Early Sixteenth Century, in: Studies in the Printing, Publishing and Performance of Music in the 16th Century, Burlington 2005.