Josquin des Prés (EN)

Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prés, Despres, *ca. 1450, †27 August 1521 Condé-sur-l’Escaut (Hainaut Province, French-speaking Hainaut, currently a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region) composer, singer and priest. Various sources use different names to describe him; Latin: Jusquinus, Judocus, Jodocus Pratensis, de pratis, de prez, de prezis, desprets; French: Josquin, [Jossequin], Josse des Prés, de Pres, Després, Desprez; Italian: Giusquino, [Gosse, Gossequin], Juschino, Juschinus, Justino, Jusquino, Judocho, etc. The composer himself presumably used the version Josquin, which is a diminutive form of the then popular Josse (Latin: Judocus, the name of a Breton saint active in the 7th century in northern France and Flanders), and the nickname “Desprez,” which was also used by his father and grandfather, and that eventually replaced the actual family name. This spelling appears in the form of the acrostic IOSQVIN Des PREZ in part 1 of his motet Illibata Dei virgo, whose text is believed to have been written by Josquin himself (the joint spelling of “Desprez” is confirmed by a letter from Josquin and the chapter of the collegiate church of Notre Dame in Condé-sur-l’Escaut to Margaret of Austria, dated 3 May 1508). Italian sources describe the composer’s origin as de frantia, francese, gallus. Josquin also regarded himself as French, since in his inheritance statement made before the town councillors of Condé-sur-l ‘Escaut, who visited him on 23 August 1521 – a few days before his death – he referred to himself as an aubain, a term denoting a foreigner without local citizenship but with the right to dispose of his real property (the province of Hainaut, including Condé-sur-l’Escaut, belonged at that time to the Netherlands and thus to the Holy Roman Empire). 

Researchers point to a striking disparity between Josquin’s fame and the limited knowledge of his life. In the mid-1990s, his early biography underwent a drastic revision: newly discovered documents indicate that in the last decades of the 15th century, two musicians with that name were active in Milan. The “Josquin,” whose activities in Milan Cathedral between 1459 and 1472 and in the court chapel of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in Milan from 1473 onwards were well documented by C. Sartori (1956), was not the famous composer, but a singer, also from Picardy – Josquin de Kessalia (“Judocus de Francia/de Alemania/Joschino de Picardia”), who died in 1498. Meanwhile, Josquin – the composer, was the son of Gossard Lebloitte (dit Desprez) and was born near Saint-Quentin in the county of Vermandois (Picardy). A testamentary record from 1466 concerning the transfer of property to him by his uncle and aunt (the married couple Gilles Lebloitte, known as Desprez, and Jacque Banestonne) was drawn up in Condé-sur-l’Escaut; but neither Josquin’s presence nor his age at the time is known. It is also unknown where he received his early education. In 1466, Josquin (“Gossequin de condet”) was already listed as a singer in the choir of the collegiate church of Saint Géry in Cambrai. He is also mentioned, among other musicians, in L. Compère’s motet Omnium bonorum plena, probably composed for Cambrai Cathedral between 1468 and 1472. In 1475, “Jusquinus Pratensis” became a member of a group of musicians at the artistically vibrant court of René of Anjou in Aix-en-Provence. After the death of this ruler in 1480, Josquin presumably joined the service of King Louis XI of France at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris; the motet Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo was probably a kind of musical testament to the king, who died in 1483. In the same year, the composer returned to Condé-sur-l’Escaut to legalise his inheritance from his uncle and aunt and appoint a procurator to administer his estates. The earliest copies of Josquin’s works (six chansons), although made in Italy, date from this period. In the mid-1480s, the composer may have stayed at the Hungarian court of [King] Matthias Corvinus, as mentioned by the papal nuncio in 1539 (Király, 1992). This is not confirmed by any other document and may reflect a confusion of Josquin with “Johannes de Pratis” (i.e. Johannes Stokem, who was employed there in 1481–86), but other circumstantial evidence points to this possibility (Fallows, 2009).

From mid-1484, Josquin stayed in Italy as a musician for Ascanio Maria Sforza, an influential cardinal who served as the diplomat of the Duchy of Milan in Rome. This is confirmed by a sonnet by Serafino de’Ciminelli dell’Aquila (Aquilano) dedicated to Josquin (“Ad Jusquino suo compagno musico d’Ascanio”), which proves that the composer served Ascanio at the same time as the poet (1484–91), as well as the Venetian prints of O. Petrucci’s frottolas from 1504 (Frottole libro primo) and 1505 (Frottole libro tertio), in which the composer is referred to as “Josquin Dascanio.” In 1489, Josquin stayed twice with Ascanio’s entourage at the court of Milan, and later probably accompanied the cardinal, as papal legate in Avignon, on his numerous trips to France. A document of 1489 describes Josquin as “cantorem duchalem,” indicating that he was nominally in the service of the young Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza in Milan, even though political authority was in fact held by his uncle, Ludovico il Moro (brother of Ascanio Maria Sforza). It was probably during this period that Josquin composed three so-called “motetti missales” – motet cycles consisting of 5–7 parts (Vultum tuum, O domine Jesu Christe and Qui velatus facie fuisti), as well as several individual motets (including the famous Ave Maria … virgo serena and Tu solus qui facis mirabilia); he also presumably had contact with the choirmaster of Milan Cathedral, F. Gaffurius, who mentions him in one of his treatises.

From mid-1489, Josquin is listed in the accounts of the papal chapel choir – a group of choir chaplains comprised of 20–24 singers, established to embellish services in the Sistine Chapel. From then on, the composer presumably divided his time between the private musical ensemble of Cardinal Ascanio, who resided in Rome, and the papal chapel choir during the pontificates of Innocent VIII and Alexander VI. He certainly composed the tractus Domine, non secundus for this choir and wrote new parts to the Dufay’s hymns; at that time, he probably also composed motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix for 5 voices and Josquin’s masses, the earliest recorded in Vatican manuscripts, including the famous Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales. During this period, he received many benefices. Conservation work carried out in 1997–98 in the Sistine Chapel choir loft revealed the names of papal singers engraved on the wall, including the name “Josquinj” (Pietschmann, 1999), but there is no certainty that the composer himself did this. 

It is not known when Josquin left Italy. From May 1494 until the end of 1500 the accounts of the papal chapel are missing, and in documents dating from 1501, the composer’s name no longer appears; however, it cannot be excluded, that he remained in Rome for some time after 1494. In August of that year, he visited Cambrai, so it is equally likely that he spent the following years in the north, perhaps at the French royal court of Louis XII. Letters from Bartolomeo de’ Cavalieri, ambassador of the Duchy of Ferrara at the French court, to Duke Ercole I d’Este confirm Josquin’s stay in France in the early 16th century. In a letter dated 13 December 1501, Cavalieri reported that the composer was in Blois during the meeting between Louis XII and Archduke Philip the Fair, that Josquin had just returned from Flanders, where he had been recruiting singers for Ercole d’Este’s ensemble, and that Philip the Fair had invited him to travel with his court to Spain. However, Josquin is not mentioned in the registers of Archduke’s ensemble from that period, so it is unclear whether he accepted the offer. Both of Cavalieri’s letters, dated 13 and 17 April 1503, mention that the composer was staying in Lyon with Louis XII’s court at that time. The theorist Glareanus, in his treatise Dodecachordon (1547), mentions him as the leading singer at the court of Louis XII, whereas C. Hémeré in Tabella chronologica (…) S. Quintin (1633) calls Josquin “magister symphoniae regiae.” However, as there are no documents confirming the composer’s permanent employment at any particular place, it must be hypothetically assumed that at that time he freely offered his services to various institutions.

In 1503, Josquin travelled to Ferrara to assume the position of maestro di cappella at the court of Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, following the death of J. Martini in 1497. Negotiations regarding the composer’s move to the ducal court had been ongoing since 1502, conducted through the Ferrara courtier Girolamo da Sestola, also known as “Coglia.” Josquin finally arrived in Ferrara in the middle of April 1503 and remained there until April 1504. He received 200 ducats a month, making him the highest-paid musician in the history of the court chapel. Presumably at this time (if not already in the 1480s, commissioned by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza) Josquin composed the famous and often imitated Missa Hercules dux Ferrarie, with a cantus firmus formed from the vowels of the name of Duke Ercole d’Este and his title, as well as the two-text motet Virgo salutiferi / Ave Maria, using a poem by Ercole Strozzi, a poet working at the Ferrara court. He also composed, at the duke’s special request, the monumental and contemplative motet Miserere mei, Deus, referring to the martyrdom of G. Savonarola, with whom the prince sympathised. Josquin left Ferrara due to an epidemic that broke out in July 1503, and his position was taken over by J. Obrecht, who, however, fell victim to the plague after a few months.

Josquin travelled directly from Ferrara to Condé-sur-l’Escaut. His name appears in the records of the registers of the collegiate chapter of the Notre Dame from 3 May 1504. Under this date, there is information about the admission of four canons to the chapter, including “messire Josse des pres.” Elsewhere in the document, Josquin is additionally referred to as ‘monsieur le prevost…’, which indicates that he became the provost of the collegiate church – he held this position until his death. In his will, he bequeathed his house and all his possessions to the collegiate church of Notre Dame, where he was buried (the church was completely destroyed during the French Revolution), founding perpetual masses for himself. These were to consist of reciting the Salve Regina on all Marian Feast days and every Saturday of the year, and singing his own composition, the six-voice motet Pater noster – Ave Maria, in front of Josquin’s house during solemn processions. According to contemporary accounts, the collegiate church of Notre Dame in Condé-sur-l’Escaut had the largest clergy in the entire province of Hainaut: a parish priest, a dean, a treasurer, 25 canons, 18 chaplains, 16 vicars, other priests and 6 choirboys. The liturgy was celebrated mainly by the vicars, so they and the choirboys could form a choir of 22 singers and perform 6-voice polyphony. The later chronicler Jacobus Lessabeus noted that the fame of the music at this collegiate church was surpassed only by that of the choirs of Cambrai Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Vincent in Soignies. It can be assumed that a significant part of Josquin’s works, which were created during his 17 years of activity in Condé-sur-l’Escaut, were written for the Notre Dame choir or performed first by this choir.

Josquin’s work was highly regarded by both his contemporaries and later generations. This is evidenced by numerous statements by poets and writers who dedicated their works to him (including Serafino dall’Aquila, J. Molinet, G. Cretin, G. Spataro, B. Castiglione, R. Rabelais, P. Ronsard), as well as music theorists who spoke of him with the utmost admiration (H. Glareanus, F. Gaffurius, Hermann Finck, G. Zarlino). M. Luther’s enthusiastic opinion contributed greatly to his popularity in the German-speaking world. Josquin’s works were used by other composers as models for parody masses (A. Brumel, J. Mouton, A. Fevin, Ph. Verdelot, L. Senfl, A. Willaert, Th. Crecquillon, N. Gombert, C. Morales, S. Calvisius). They were also arranged by adding voices (e.g. Miserere mei, Deus, with sexta vox added by A. Bidon) as well as for various instruments (including two Polish organ tablatures, by Jan of Lublin and from the monastery of the Holy Spirit, and the tablature by V. Bakwark) or reworked in various ways (e.g. the anonymous Missa Pater Patris in the collection of the vocal ensemble of the Wawel Rorantists, which is a reworking of the Missa Mater Patris attributed to Josquin). 

Josquin rose to fame at a time when printing revolutionised the circulation of polyphonic music. His compositions appeared in the earliest printed collections; he was also the first composer in history to have monographic publications devoted to him – three books of masses (1502, 1505, 1514) published by O. Petrucci, all reprinted during the composer’s lifetime. The great popularity of his music until the end of the 16th century is evidenced by numerous copies of his compositions (or those attributed to him) preserved in various countries, both in manuscripts (a total of 360) and in prints (a total of 500). At the beginning of the 16th century, he became a composer known throughout Europe, from Portugal to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (the so-called “Lviv choir book” [The Lvov Fragments] from the end of the 15th century contains fragments of two masses – L’ami Baudichon and L’homme armé sexti toni), and his fame lasted until the early 18th century (he is still mentioned by W.C. Prinz in 1690, A. Berardi in 1693 and A.A. de Bolsena in 1711). Almost two-thirds of the works bearing the composer’s name come from manuscripts and prints made after his death. Many works attributed to Josquin were in fact not composed by him, and the body of his authentic compositions represents only a portion of the more than 340 works ascribed to him in different periods. The difficulties in establishing his actual oeuvre stem from errors made by copyists or outright forgeries, and in the case of printed editions, from the desire to promote publications that actually contain works by little-known composers or pieces of uncertain authorship. Already in the first edition of Josquin’s works (Werken van Josquin des Près, ed. A. Smijers et al., 1921–69, abbreviation: WW, 54 volumes), many works under Josquin’s name considered inauthentic were omitted. In the latest edition (Josquin des Prez: New Edition of the Collected Works, 1987–2017, ed. W. Elders et al., abbreviation: NJE, 30 volumes), the editors introduced a distinction between authentic works, works of doubtful attribution, and those falsely ascribed to Josquin, identifying 158 compositions as inauthentic. Ongoing scholarly reassessment has continued to raise doubts concerning the authenticity of a number of his compositions, which are periodically reassigned between the categories of “probably [authentic]” to “probably not.” Lists of Josquin’s works in the latest music encyclopaedias demonstrate a continuing lack of consensus on both the works considered authentic and those of doubtful attribution. J. Noble and J. Dean (New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, entry “Josquin (Lebloitte dit) des Prez,” 2001/2011) list 153 authentic works, including 18 masses, 7 mass sections and 6 other liturgical works, as well as 47 motets (or motet cycles) and 75 secular (and instrumental) compositions; the rest are works of dubious authenticity, incorrectly attributed or attributed to the composer only hypothetically. Similarly, L. Finscher (Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 2nd ed., 2003, entry “Josquin Desprez”) includes 154 works among the authentic works: in addition to 18 masses and 8 mass sections (including the problematic Credo from Chascun me crie), there are 53 motets (or motet cycles) and 5 motet-chansons, as well as 63 secular and instrumental works; the rest fall into the category of works of doubtful authorship, inauthentic or of hypothetical attribution. In 2021, another attempt was made to establish the body of Josquin’s works (Rodin, 2021). The core group, comprising works of unquestionable authorship, includes only 54 compositions: 12 masses and one isolated section of the Credo, 26 motets and 15 secular works. The second group of works, whose authorship is no longer entirely certain, includes 49 compositions (6 masses or mass sections, 14 motets and 29 secular works). The third group contains 35 works of doubtful authorship (17 sacred and 18 secular works, including two in Italian), and the fourth group contains works considered inauthentic (205 works, including 135 presumably and 70 definitely composed by other musicians). However, even if all works of doubtful authorship were removed from Josquin’s oeuvre, the artistic value of his remaining body of works would certainly suffice to justify the composer’s exceptionally high reputation, both during his lifetime and after his death. The current state of research does not yet allow for a chronological ordering of Josquin’s works and a tracing of the evolution of his compositional style, although such attempts have been made from time to time since Ambros’s time. A few sacred works contain references to circumstances that make it possible to determine their place of origin, and in such cases, they can be linked to successive periods of Josquin’s activity: Milan (from ca. 1484 to 1489), Rome (from 1489 to ca. 1494), Ferrara (1503–04) and Condé-sur-l’Escaut (1504–21). It remains difficult, however, to fill the gap at the turn of the 15th and 16th century, which is linked only hypothetically to the composer’s stay at the French royal court.

Josquin composed almost exclusively vocal music, within which he pioneered the application of new technical and stylistic principles. His oeuvre encompasses the basic genres of sacred music of the period: the mass and motet, as well as secular chanson. Three compositions with Italian texts (two attributed to Josquin’s service at the court of Ascania Sforza) constitute a marginal part of his creative output and were probably written during Josquin’s early Italian period. Each of them represents a different type of poetic-musical form characteristic of the Italian Renaissance. Scaramella va alla guerra features the characteristics of an early villota: a polyphonic setting of a popular melody placed as a cantus firmus in the tenor, a simple texture, two sections ending in cadences, the first on 5th scale degree, the second on the finalis (Dorian mode). In te, Domine, speravi (followed by Italian text, Macaronic) is similar to a frottola: a concise arrangement for four voices with homorhythmic texture, the text placed in the superius, the other voices are instrumental in nature. El grillo è buon cantore is a musical setting of a humorous text (referring to a cricket or a Milanese singer of that name), in which Josquin introduced onomatopoeic effects. Of the works preserved without text, only four compositions deserve to be called original instrumental works: La Bernardina, Fortuna d’un gran tempo, Ille fantazies de Josquin and Vive le roy.

Josquin’s entire oeuvre bears the distinct mark of his individuality. It is characterised by a wealth of melodic inventiveness and a variety of compositional techniques, extraordinary clarity of structure and attention to the comprehensibility of the text, which the composer achieved by avoiding elaborate melismas and simplifying the contrapuntal texture. The structure of the text is the determining factor in the course of the work. Josquin’s individual approach to the musical architectonics lies in his treatment of successive movements: sentences, phrases, sometimes single words, in poetic works, as well as verses or parts of verses, were given different musical setting. The clarity of form and, as well as its structural coherence, is determined by the contrasting treatment of separate fragments. Josquin used melodic and textural contrasts (alternating imitative, free and note-against-note polyphony), metrical and rhythmic contrasts (alternating duple and triple metres, small rhythmic values contrasted with larger ones), as well as contrasts achieved by introducing different voice settings within the set adopted for a given composition. The latter differentiation, particularly characteristic of Josquin, was the result of a conscious search for colouristic values and thus contributed to the diversity of the sound structure of his works. He was particularly fond of using two-voice passages, juxtaposing them in an antiphonal manner, using contrasting registers, or contrasting them with a larger ensemble of voices. The sections thus distinguished were entrusted with a decisive role in shaping the polyphonic texture; they served to implement novel solutions in the field of imitative polyphony, which in this period were gradually coming to dominate other compositional techniques. Josquin’s works are usually written compositions for four voices, but there are also three-voice works, especially in chanson settings, as well as five- and six-voice settings. The introduction of a fifth voice into imitation was a central compositional problem in the first two decades of the 16th century. In the musical practice of the time, five-voice piece was treated as a four-voice setting with one voice performing the cantus firmus or as the effect of canonic doubling of one of the four voices; such solutions prevail in Josquin’s compositions. However, there are works, such as the chansons Je ne me puis tenir d’aimer, En non saichant, and Mi larés vous, which indicate an attempt to integrate the fifth voice, giving it equal importance in the polyphonic structure (their authenticity is sometimes questioned, however, as is the authenticity of several of the nine six-voice chansons; Fallows, 2009).

Josquin was a professional singer, which influenced the way in which he composed his melodic lines. His melodies are mostly based on successions of second intervals, with interval leaps appearing as well. As a rule, leaps of a fourth or fifth appear at the beginning of motifs that serve as models for imitation, but also in the course of the melody. Spaced triads occur most often when introducing strict imitation of three or more voices. Occasionally, there are also leaps of a sixth, octave, tenth, seventh and ninth. Masses and motets often feature wide-ranging melodic lines that require a long breath. Josquin shapes such melodies, for example, by reaching the climax several times, by gradually approaching it or reaching it relatively quickly and then slowly descending to the cadence. In developing long phrases, the composer uses progressions of motifs, their multiple repetitions, which are often modified by shifting accents, extending these motifs or their variations (e.g. Pleni sunt caeli from the Di dadi [= N’aray je jamais mieulx]) mass. Within the framework of such melodies, there are also declamatory fragments (multiple repetitions of individual notes) introduced to emphasise the expressive value of the text (motet Tu solus qui facis mirabilia) and fragments based on rapid scale passages (Credo from the Hercules dux Ferrarie mass). The phrases intended for imitation are particularly distinctive in their form. These are generally two-part melodic structures with a clearly outlined initial motif, which contrasts with the next motif (Inviolata, integra et casta es, Maria). In terms of style, Josquin’s compositions display a wide range of techniques, which vary even within individual works. Imitative technique dominates in Josquin’s musical setting. In an effort to unify his compositions, Josquin introduces syntactic imitation (the so-called pervading imitation technique), basing entire compositions on a series of imitations involving all voices, with individual textual units being formulated into shorter or longer melodic phrases. Subsequent beginnings of phrases most often occurred in octaves or unison, fifths, and fourths, less frequently in other intervals. Josquin used syntactic imitation especially in motets (particularly consistently in Rubum quem viderat Moyses, the third part of O admirabile commercium), and to a lesser extent in other compositions. He used various types of imitation: limited to a few notes (initial) extending over longer melodic passages; imitation in which successive entries of voices occur very quickly (stretto) or at greater temporal distance; involving all voices or only some; free or strict. Canon, the last of the types mentioned, is the imitative form most characteristic of Josquin. Two-voice canons are of particular significance, and the composer introduces them in several ways: (1) a two-voice canon is repeated by two other voices; (2) two voices carry two separate, simultaneous counterpoint melodies, strictly imitated by another pair of voices – in this case, the shifting of the melodies relative to each other produces double counterpoint, e.g. Gloria from the De Beata Virgine mass; (3) two independent two-voice canons are combined simultaneously (e.g. in the four-voice chansons Baisiez moy and En l’ombre d’ung buissonnet). Josquin’s works also feature three-voice canons. The masses Ad fugam and Sine nomine are entirely composed as canons, while Benedictus (two-voice) and Agnus Dei II (three-voice) from the L’homme armé super voces musicales mass are examples of a mensuration canons). Josquin also used canon in relation to cantus firmus, especially in chansons and some motets. These were usually two-voice canons, which determined the shape of the entire piece and very often showed motivic and rhythmic integration with the other voices (Petite camusette and Faulte d’argent). The cantus firmus technique appears in many of Josquin’s works, often in conjunction with the imitation technique. The counterpointing voices then interact with the cantus firmus, taking over its fragments as imitative motifs. Some works of this type feature multitextuality, with the cantus firmus contributing its own text in addition to the melody. Josquin generally gave both the text and the melody of the quoted cantus firmus a symbolic meaning that complemented or contrasted with the theme of the basic text. Sometimes this quotation served as the composer’s personal commentary on the content of the poem, as in the chanson Que vous madame with the cantus firmus In pace in id ipsum. The primary and most important source of cantus firmus melodies is the chorale, used not only in sacred compositions but also in chansons. Josquin introduces the cantus firmus in its entirety or in part, in short or long values, quotes it literally or with changes, adds ornaments it or paraphrases it. He also subjects it to techniques characteristic of polyphony, such as diminution or augmentation, arranges it canonically or transfers it from voice to voice (cantus firmus migrans). A particularly intriguing case is the simultaneous introduction of two cantus firmi within a single work: in the motet with two texts Alma Redemptoris Mater / Ave Regina caelorum, the highest voice sings the choral melody of the first antiphon, while the tenor sings the second. Another source from which Josquin draws cantus firmus are the melodies of secular songs, which, treated in a similar way to choral cantus firmus, become the basis for both sacred works (both L’homme armé Masses) and chansons. In some compositions, he also uses melodic structures artificially formed from solmisation tones (e.g. la sol fa re mi in the mass with the same title, fa re mi re in the Faisant regretz mass) and the so-called “soggetto cavato” (in the Hercules dux Ferrarie mass, in the motet Illibata Dei virgo), which Josquin most often treats as ostinato. These structures are repeated many times throughout the piece, but not always literally. The ostinato pattern sometimes is occasionally modified rhythmically, transposed into different hexachords or onto successive degrees of a single hexachord, transferred to different voices, and also imitated and developed canonically. An interesting example of an ostinato canon can be found in the motet Ut Phoebi radiis. In the first section, the bass and tenor proceed canonically through successive ascending degrees of the hexachord, adding one syllable with each repetition: ut, ut re, ut re mi, etc., and in the second section, this technique is repeated in descending order. At the end of each part, the alto quotes the entire hexachord in abbreviated values. The realisation of this pattern is determined by the text (possibly written by Josquin), as the successive verses begin with the syllables of the hexachord: Ut Phoebi radiis, Ut reges Salomon, Ut remi pontum, etc. Josquin’s compositions are characterised by clarity of sound, resulting mainly from the succession of full triads not only in cadential phrases, but also throughout the course of a piece. This is most evident in fragments and works arranged homorhythmically, using the nota contra notam technique. In addition to cadences, which are the result of the melodic clauses of individual voices, cadences with a predominance of the harmonic factor and a specific sequence of chords can often be observed. Although in pieces composed using imitation technique all voices contribute to the handling of thematic material, the outer voices nevertheless play a greater role in shaping the sonority and tonality of the piece. Josquin often introduced parallel movement in tenths between these voices (as noted by Gaffurius in Practica musicae, 1496). Gradually, a process of polarisation of the outer voices takes place: the highest voice acquires a melodic, primary character, while the bass, due to numerous fourth and fifth leaps, becomes a kind of harmonic foundation (Credo from the De Beata Virgine mass, chanson N’esse pas ung grant desplaisir). The character of the sonority is also influenced by the type of dissonances and the way they are introduced. Josquin’s attitude towards dissonances must be considered in relation to the general trends prevailing at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, which were directed toward the standardization and clarification of the rules that later became normative in so-called classical counterpoint. Progress was therefore manifested in the limitation and regulation of the use of dissonances, rather than their emancipation. This is exactly the direction in which Josquin’s style developed. Many dissonances, resulting from accidental clashes of voices, appear frequently in his earlier works, but only sporadically in his later ones.

Josquin was the first composer to place the motet at the forefront of sacred music; earlier composers (such as Ockeghem) considered the mass to be the most important form of religious music. Historians emphasize that Josquin drew texts for his motets from various sources – a practice he initiated– in particular the use of psalm texts and gospel passages (Liber generations). The vast majority of motets were intended for liturgical use – their texts appear in liturgical books from the 14th to 16th centuries. These are texts from Canonical or votive Offices [Officia] (lessons, responsories, Marian antiphons, psalms, canticles, hymns) and Mass Propers (lessons, Gospel passages, sequences, tracts) as well as texts of various prayers from Masses and Offices. In each motet whose text has its own chant melody, the composer used it as a cantus firmus. Some motets with texts based on recitative formulas begin with a literal or paraphrased quotation of a given tone (psalm or lecture), while others quote only individual motifs or phrases of the corresponding tone. In several motets, Josquin used such quotations as ostinato motifs, emphasizing their symbolic meaning (Miserere mei, Deus; Domine, Dominas noster). Josquin treated the selected complete “song,” i.e., the text with the melody, as “given” material, cantus prius factus. The non-liturgical texts used by Josquin in his motets often refer to Christ or Mary; they contain biblical passages which sometimes convey the composer’s feelings (Memor esto verbi tui czy Domine, ne projicias me in tempore; however, the authorship of the latter is sometimes questioned). The vast majority of motets consist of two, three, or four parts (the four-part Planxit autem David, although its authenticity is sometimes questioned), some are included in larger cycles – characteristic of the Milanese center, the “motetti missales,” whose successive parts were substitutes for the mass sections (the five-part O domine Jesu Christe, the six-part Qui velatus facie fuisti, and the seven-part Vultum tuum). All the motets in the cycle are closely related to each other, both in terms of text (with a central theme for each cycle) and music (modus, metrical relationships, motivic material), which proves that they were not created as ad hoc compilations of previously composed works, but were conceived as unified wholes from the beginning. However, they could be used independently; in some sources they appear in a different order or even separately, such as the popular Menta tota – the fifth part of the Vultum tuum motet cycle, on which A. Fevin based his mass. During his early Italian period, Josquin drew on the Milanese tradition not only in his “motetti missales,” but also by preferring a vertical type of arrangement (block chords) with a very clear form, alternating duets of high and low voices, interpolations of triple meter, simultaneous pauses emphasizing the syntax of the text, and a vivid presentation of the verbal text. The D’ung aultre amer mass and the innovative and extremely popular (25 copies and several intabulations) motet Ave Maria… virgo serena, with which O. Petrucci opens his anthology of motets (Motetti A) from 1502, are in a similar style.

According to current research, Josquin’s mass compositions include 18 complete ordinaries and 7 mass sections. Most of the compositions are based on cantus firmus, either liturgical or secular (popular songs and borrowings from the works of other composers). In his late De Beata Virgine mass, the most popular work in Josquin’s oeuvre (69 transcriptions of the entire mass or fragments thereof), he freely arranged choral material. In two other masses (La sol fa re mi, Hercules dux Ferrarie) he used ostinato motifs, and in two others (Ad fugam, Sine nomine) canons play a fundamental role; and one mass, probably the latest, is entirely pervasively imitative (Pange lingua). Two, maintained in free counterpoint, belong to the missa parodia type and illustrate the initial stages of the development of this technique. The mass Malheur me bat is based on a three-voice chanson attributed to Ockeghem or J. Martini; however, all three voices of the model appear simultaneously only once, at the opening of the Sanctus. The remaining borrowings come from individual voices and are used in various parts of the mass. The parody technique was used more consistently in the problematic Mater Patris mass, based on a three-voice motet by A. Brumel, in which Josquin (if he is indeed the author) used the model in all parts of the cycle, though not always in all voices. In the Fortuna desperata mass, Josquin combined the cantus firmus technique with the parody technique. The model was a three-voice chanson by A. Busnois, from which Josquin used both the cantus firmus and the other voices either as cantus firmi of the mass or as their counterpoints. The beginning of the Agnus Dei II of this mass is identical to the beginning of the Hosanna of Obrecht’s mass of the same title, but there is no such passage in Busnois’ chanson. Josquin established architectural principles which, over time, became the norm within the musical setting of the mass Ordinary: (1) Christe contrasts with Kyrie, (2) the first verses of Gloria and Credo are always left for choral intonation, (3) Gloria is arranged in two parts (part 2 – Qui tollis), and Credo – in three parts (part 2 – Et incarnatus est, part 3 – Et in spiritum sanctum), (4) important words of Credo: “Et incarnatus est” and “Et homo factus est” are highlighted by homorhythmic texture, and “Crucifixus etiam pro nobis” is characterized by an arrangement with increased dramatic expression, (5) in Pleni and Benedictus, there is a reduction of voices (if the Mass is based on cantus firmus, it does not appear in these parts), (6) in the final Agnus Dei, the cast is enlarged by the addition of one or more voices. When composing Mass texts, Josquin seems to pay less attention to correct declamation than when composing motets, although even in the latter, accented syllables sometimes fall on shorter rhythmic values or are placed in a metrically weaker position. Some scholars (e.g. N. Bridgman) have suggested that this may have been due to the way the French pronounced Latin words – such inconsistencies do not occur in the chansons, and this phenomenon can also be observed in works by other French composers of the time – as well as to Josquin’s interest in interpreting the general meaning and mood of the entire text rather than individual words.

Josquin’s chansons display a wide variety of formal structures. The composer created text settings from almost all poetic forms and thematic types of the time. He was able to fully exploit all the literary and musical possibilities inherent in the selected texts, adapting the music to the thematic requirements “in countless masterful ways” (Glareanus). He usually chose texts that had already been set by other composers, using their melodies as cantus firmi. From a literary point of view, some of the texts of his chansons show connections with earlier “formes fixes” in the style of the so-called Great Rhetoricians but are treated quite freely by the composer. Others can be described as “popular” or “folk” text. They are particularly characteristic of Josquin and are distinguished by several features: (1) the verse texts of the poems he employed were not fixed and often appear in different versions in various sources, depending on their purpose and context; (2) with the exception of certain narrative poems, individual verses were more independent of one another than in purely literary poetry, and the choice of which verses to sing lay with the performers; (3) texts from different poems could be combined within a single musical setting on the basis of specific associations; and (4) strict adherence to syllabic count or verse structure was not required in musical setting. Most of the texts are in rondo form; however, only in La plus des plus this pattern is consistently followed. None of Josquin’s ballads have an envoy, and their themes are always popular. In Que vous madame, the composer combined the bergerette form with the Latin text In pace in idipsum, which is a responsory. Some chansons are strophic, sometimes with a refrain, others are recomposed, following the model of motets. Most of the chansons were first printed long after the composer’s death. Many of them, especially in sources of German provenance, have survived as contrafacta – in the form of motets with Latin texts. They often appeared during Josquin’s lifetime as well, and before a particular chanson was published in print. Very often they were signed with other names (or only initials) and functioned as works by other composers. For example, the chanson Je ne me puis tenir d’aimer has been preserved in Spanish, German, and Eastern European sources as a motet with various texts and attributed to various composers (C. de Sermisy, Ph. Verdelot, N. Gombert, L. Zinsmeister). This work also appears under the title Date siceram moerentibus in many tablatures, including the Tabulatura Jana z Lublina, where it is marked with the initials N.C., and thus long considered in Polish musicological literature to be a composition by Mikołaj of Krakow; although this chanson was included in the NJE, it is not currently considered to be a work by Josquin (Rodin, 2021).

Josquin, the greatest composer of the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, was appropriately named the prince of musicians by A.P. Coclico (Compendium musices, 1552). One of his significant achievements was the use of counterpoint to express the expressive values of the text. His compositions display almost all the technical solutions used in contemporary compositional practice. Whereas his predecessors, and even his contemporaries (e.g. Obrecht), were primarily focused on technical issues and the intricacies of contrapuntal technique, Josquin, building on and perfecting their achievements, was the first to realise the fundamental ideal of the Renaissance, namely imitazione. He paid particular attention to developing the principles of syntactic imitation and tonal qualities, i.e. the use of different voice settings. Josquin’s achievements in this area became a starting point for subsequent generations: syntactic imitation became the dominant technique in the 16th century, while the use of various voice settings within the same composition laid the foundations for the development of the future polychoral technique.

Literature: Josquin des Prez: Proceedings of the International Josquin Festival-Conference Held at the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center in New York City, 21–25 June 1971, ed. E.E. Lowinsky, London 1976 (includes: F. Blume Josquin des Prez. The Man and the Music, H.M. Brown Accidentals and Ornamentation in Sixteenth-century Intabulations of Josquin’s Motets, C. Dahlhaus On the Treatment of Dissonance in the Motets of Josquin des Prez, S. Novack Tonal Tendencies in Josquin’s Use of Harmony, M. Picker Josquiniana in Some Manuscripts at Piacenza, E.H. Sparks Problems of the Authenticity in Josquin’s Motets; W. Elders Plainchant in the Motets, Hymns, and Magnificat of Josquin des Prez, L. Lockwood Josquin at Ferrara, E.E. Lowinsky Ascanio Sforza’s Life: A Key to Josquin’s Biography and an Aid to the Chronology of His Works, J. Noble New Light on Josquin’s Benefices, H. Kellman, Josquin and the Courts of the Netherlands and France: the Evidence of the Sources, W. Kirsch Josquin’s Motets in the German Tradition, B. Jeffery The Literary Texts of Josquin’s Chansons, J. Snížková Josquin in Czech Sources of the Second Half of the Sixteenth, R. Stevenson Josquin in the Music of Spain and Portugal); “Musik-Konzepte” iss. 26/27 (dedicated to Josquin), Munich 1982, also includes a list of works, discography and bibliography; Proceedings of the International Josquin Symposium Utrecht 1986, eds. W. Elders, F.de Haen, Utrecht 1991; The Josquin Companion, ed. Richard Sherr, Oxford 2000; Josquin and the Sublime: Proceedings of the International Josquin Symposium at Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg, 12–15 July 2009, eds. A. Clement, E. Jas, Turnhout 2011; Die Messen Josquins: eine Einführung, ed. Ch. Wiesenfeldt, Würzburg 2020; “Musik-Konzepte,” Sonderband (dedicated to Josquin), ed. U. Tadday, München 2021; E. van der Straeten La musique aux Pays-Bas avant le XIXe siècle, Brussels 1867–88, reprint 1969; E. Motta Musici alla corte degli Sforza, “Archivio Storico Lombardo,” 2nd series, IV, 1887; M. Antonowycz Die Motette “Benedicta es” von Josquin des Prez und die Messen “Super Benedicta” von Willaert, Palestrina, de la Hèle und de Monte, Utrecht 1951; H. Osthoff Besetzung und Klangstruktur in den Werken von Josquin des Prez, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” IX, 1952; B. Meier The “Musica reservata” of Adrian Petit Coclico and its Relationship to Josquin, “Musica Disciplina” X, 1956; C. Sartori Josquin des Prés cantore del Duomo di Milano, “Annales Musicologiques” IV, 1956; M. Antonowycz Die Josquin-Ausgabe, “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” 19, 1960/61; J.A. Mattfeld Some Relationship Between Texts and Cantus Firmi in the Liturgical Motets of Josquin des Prez, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XIV, 1961 ; J.M. Chomiński Polifonia Josquina des Prés, in: Historia harmonii i kontrapunktu, vol. 2. Krakow 1962; E.E. Lowinsky Tonality and Atonality in Sixteenth-century Music, Berkeley 1962; H. Osthoff Josquin Desprez, 2 t., Tutzing 1962–65 (vol. 2 contains 10 pieces by Josquin); E.H. Sparks Cantus Firmus in Mass and Motet, 1420–1520, Berkeley 1963; C. Titcomb The Josquin Acrostic Reexamined, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XVI, 1963; M. Antonowycz Zur Autorschaftsfrage der Motetten “Absolve quaesumus Domine” und “Inter natos mulierum,” “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” XX, 1966; C. Dahlhaus Zur Akzidentiensetzung in den Motetten Josquin des Prez, in: Musik und Verlag, in the commemorative book by K. Vötterle, Kassel 1968; E.E. 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Finscher, H. Danuser, Mainz 2003); J. van Benthem Fortuna in focus. Concerning “Conflicting” Progressions in Josquin’s “Fortuna dun gran tempo,” “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” XXX, 1980; L. Finscher Josquin Desprez “Dominus regnavit” (Psalm XCII), in: Chormusik und Analyse. Beiträge zur Formanalyse und Interpretation mehrstimmiger Vokalmusik, Mainz 1983, Stuttgart 1983; R.Ch. Sydney Josquin des Prez. A Guide to Research, New York 1983; R. Toft Pitch Content and Modal Procedure in Josquin’s “Absalon, Fili mi” and T.R. Ward A Newly-discovered Josquin Attribution, “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” XXXIII, 1983; W. Kirkendale Circulatio-Tradition, Maria Lactas and Josquin as Musical Orator, “Acta Musicologica” XVI, 1984; J. van Benthem The Scoring of Josquin’s Secular Music, “Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” XXXV, 1985; W. Elders Josquin’s Gaudeamus Mass. 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