Du Caurroy, François Eustache (EN)

Du Caurroy François Eustache, baptised 4 February 1549 Beauvais, †7 August 1609 Paris, French musician and composer, priest. He came from a knightly background; he was probably a singer in the royal chapel in Paris from 1569; from 1578 he served there as sous-maître de la chapelle, and in 1595 he was appointed royal composer. He came from a knightly family; he was probably a singer in the royal chapel in Paris from 1569; from 1578 he served there as sous-maître de la chapelle, and in 1595 he was appointed royal composer. On three occasions (1575, 1576, 1583) he was awarded prizes at the Puy d’Evreux music competition in Evreux for his four-voice chansons (including Beaux jeux) and the motet Tribularer si nescire. At the royal court, Du Caurroy secured a number of lucrative benefices – he was a canon at the churches of Sainte-Chapelle in Dijon and Sainte-Croix in Orléans, and prior of Saint-Ayoul in Provins, Passy and Saint-Cyr in Bourg.

As a composer, Du Caurroy was not an innovator, and his works are of purely local significance; he was, however, highly regarded by his contemporaries, as evidenced, for example, by the comments of M. Mersenne. He is remembered in the history of French music primarily as the first exponent of the polyphonic style and one of the leading composers of instrumental ensemble music at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Among Du Caurroy’s best-known works is a funeral mass, composed in the style of a tenor motet, based on a cantus firmus from a Gregorian chant (including the melody of Lux aeterna), performed at the funeral ceremonies of French kings in the Cathedral of St-Denis until the end of the 17th century. Du Caurroy also employed the same technique in numerous motets, settings of psalms and religious songs, written to Latin and French texts (e.g. the noël Un enfant du ciel nous est né), as well as in fantasias based on a plainchant cantus firmus that runs through the entire piece (e.g. on Requiem aeternam, Regina coeli, Ave maris Stella, Conditor alme siderum) or taken from a secular song and freely paraphrased (e.g. the melody of Une jeune fillette, Je suis déshéritée). A distinctive feature of Du Caurroy’s motets is the variation in vocal texture (e.g. Virgo Dei genitrix), with the number of voices increasing to the point of creating polychoral effects (5–8-part motets, e.g. In exitu Israel). Noteworthy are the works (motets, psalms, chansons) written in the style of musique mesurée à l’antique and drawing on the tradition of the Académie de Baïra and the works of C. Le Jeune. They are characterised primarily by strict adherence to rules, rather than a concern for the beauty of expression. Other chansons do not deviate from the models of earlier simple polyphonic songs. Notable among them are Ninfe qui tient tant from 1600, written to mark the marriage of Henry IV to Maria de’ Medici, Rosette pour un peu d’espoir to a text by Desportes, and Déliette mignonne, a four-part metrical song displaying the beginnings of the accompanied monody style in its treatment of the voices. The instrumental fantasias are not intended for a specific set of instruments; some may be performed on the organ or another keyboard instrument, whilst a few indicate a string ensemble.

Literature: H. Quittard E. du Caurroy, les “Meslanges”, “La Revue Musicale” IV, 1904; N. Dufourcq A propos d’E. du Caurroy, “Revue de Musicologie” XXXII, 1950; F. Lesure La carrière et les fonctions de Du Caurroy, “Revue de Musicologie” XXXIV, 1952; J. Bonfils Les fantaisies instrumentales d’E. Du Caurroy, in: Recherches sur la musique française classique, vol. 2, Paris 1962; M. Huglo A propos du “Requiem” de Du Caurroy, “Revue de Musicologie” LI, 1965; N. Dufourcq F.-E. Du Caurroy (1549–1609) et son entourage familial et professionnel, «Recherches sur la Musique Française Classique» XXI, 1983.