Regnart, Regnard, Regnardt, Jacob, Jacques, *between 1540 and 1545 Douai, †16 October 1599 Prague, Flemish composer active mainly in Austria and Bohemia. Probably from 1557, and certainly from 1560, he sang in the chapel of Maximilian Habsburg, who resided as Archduke in Prague and from 1564, as Emperor, in Vienna. In 1568–70, Regnart studied in Italy. In November 1570, he returned to the court in Vienna and was a teacher of choristers. After the death of Maximilian II, he sang in the chapel of Emperor Rudolf II, which was soon moved to Prague; in 1579, he became its vice-kapellmeister. On 9 April 1582, he took up the same position at the court of Archduke Ferdinand II in Innsbruck and in 1585, he became its kapellmeister and gradually reformed the ensemble, which gained European fame. A year after Ferdinand’s death, he returned to Prague in November 1596 to the court of Rudolf II as vice-kapellmeister of the ensemble led by F. di Monte and held this position until the end of his life. Regnart was highly valued by his employers, which was reflected, among other things, in his high salary and the nobility he was given.
Regnart’s three brothers, born in Douai, were also composers. François (ca. 1540–after 1589) sang in the choir of the cathedral in Tournai, and ca. 1573, he may have been active at the court of Archduke Matthias of Habsburg. He published 50 chansons for 4–5 voices (Douai 1575, lost?), reprinted as Poesies de P. de Ronsard & autres Poëtes…, ed. Paris 1579, and 24 4–6-voice motets in the collection Novae camiones sacrae (…) tum instrumentorum (…) tum vivac voci aptissimae, published in Douai in 1590, which also contains 10 pieces by Jacob Regnart, three by Pascasius, three by Charles (both of whom were active in 1562–65 in the chapel of the King of Spain, Philip II) and a preface by the fifth brother, Augustin.
Regnart gained extraordinary popularity, lasting many years after his death, by introducing the genre of the 3-voice canzona alla napolitana to German-speaking countries. He was probably the creator of most of the translations and original texts of these songs, also in the style of Italian poetry (love, less often satirical), of which very simple, homophonic texture, primitive harmony and graceful melodies in the highest voice encouraged crowds of amateurs to sing. Polyphony and imitations play a greater role in his canzonas and German 5-voice songs, but he showed real talent and excellent mastery of craft in his religious works; here, we encounter extensive polyphonic structures, skilful use of polychoral technique and symbolic and musical illustration techniques to emphasise the content of the texts. Regnart’s masses are generally of the missa parodia type and are based on motets, madrigals and German songs. Among the motets, there are many 2–5-part ones, and the most elaborate ones have 8 (5-voice Marian cycle from the 1588 print) and 7 parts (4-voice from the 1605 print, ending with 10-voice). The 9-voice motet comes from Regnart’s music (from 1584) for a moralising comedy by Archduke Ferdinand.
Literature: H. Osthoff Eine unbekannte Schauspielmusik Jacob Regnarts, in: Festschrift für Johannes Wolf, ed. W. Lott et al., Berlin 1929; F. Mossler Jakob Regnarts Messen, dissertation, Universität Bonn, 1964; W. Pass Jacob Regnart und seine lateinischen Motetten, dissertation, Universität Wien 1967; J. Tichota Deutsche Lieder in Prager Lautentabulaturen des beginnenden 17. Jahrhunderts, “Miscellanea musicologica” XX, 1967; K. Wegerer Musik und Komödie um 1580, “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift” XXIII, 1968; W. Pass Thematischer Katalog sämtlicher Werke Jacob Regnarts, Vienna 1969; S. Gut Particularités du langage musical de Jacobus Regnart, “Revue musicale de Suisse Romande” XXV, 1972; W. Pass Jakob Regnarts Sammlung “Mariale” und die katholische Reform in Tyrol, in: Festschrift Walter Senn zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. R. Egg and E. Fässler, Munich 1975; R.B. Lynn Eine deutsche Orgeltabulatur des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts in Besitz der University of Michigan, “Die Musikforschung” XXXIV, 1981; C.P. Combieriati Late Renaissance Music at the Habsburg Court. Polyphonic Settings of the Mass Ordinary at the Court of Rudolf II, 1576–1612, New York 1987; S.E. Dumont German Secular Polyphonic Song in Printed Editions 1570–1630. Italian Influences on the Poetry and Music, New York 1989; M. Cordes Die lateinischen Motetten des Iacobus Regnart im Spiegel der Tonarten- und Affektenlehre des 16. Jahrhunderts, dissertation, Universität Bremen, 1991; M. Hulková Central European Connections of Six Manuscript Organ Tablature Books of the Reformation Era from the Region of Zips (Szepes, Spiš), “Studia Musicologica” LVI, 2015; M. Hulková The reception of the œuvre of composers active at the court of Rudolf II in Prague in the contemporaneous musical repertoire of historical Upper Hungary, “Hudební věda” LII, 2015; A. Leszczyńska Jacob Regnart’s Connections with Silesia and Poland, “Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis” LXVII, 2017; A.J. Fisher Die Teutsche Nation: Musical Links between the Habsburg Courts and the German States of the Empire and J. Pfohl The Court Chapels of the Austrian Line (I): From Emperor Ferdinand I to Emperor Matthias, in: A Companion to Music at the Habsburg Courts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. A.H. Weaver, Lejda 2021; J. Pfohl Motetten am Hof Maximilians II. (1527–1576). Komponieren im Zeitalter der Konfessionalisierung, Vienna 2022.
Compositons:
secular:
Il primo libro delle canzone italiane…, 15 pieces for 5 voices, published in Vienna 1574, 2nd ed. Nuremberg 1574, 3rd ed. 1580, 4th ed. 1585; book 2, 18 pieces for 5 voices, published in Nuremberg 1581; both with German texts, entitled Threni Amorum, 1595
Kurtzweilige teutsche Lieder zu dreyen stimmen…, 22 pieces, published in Nuremberg 1574, 2nd ed. 1576, entitled Der erste Theyl Schöner Kurtzweiliger…, 3rd ed. Nuremberg 1578, 4th ed. 1580; book 2 entitled Der ander Theyl Kurtzweiliger…, 22 pieces, published in Nuremberg 1577, 2nd ed. 1578, 3rd ed. 1580; book 3 entitled Der dritte Theyl Schöner Kurtzweiliger…, 23 pieces, published in Nuremberg 1579, 2nd ed. 1580; 3 books together as Teutsche Lieder mit dreyen stimmen (…) in ein Opus zusamen druckt, published in Munich 1583, 2nd ed. 1587, 3rd. ed. 1590, 4th ed. 1597, 5th ed. 1611, and as Tricinia. Kurtzweilige…, published in Nuremberg 1584, 2nd ed. 1588, 3rd ed. 1593
Neue Kurtzweilige Teutsche Lieder mit fünff Stimmen…, 16 pieces published in Nuremberg 1580, 2nd ed. 1586
Kurtzweilige neue Teutsche Lieder mit vier Stimmen…, 18 pieces published in Nuremberg 1591 (preserved C)
madrigal for 5 voices and German song for 4 voices in collective prints (in., 5- and 8-voice incomplete)
5 secular motets for 5–7 voices in collective prints from 1568
2 Latin odes for 5 and 6 voices, incomplete
Sacred:
masses:
Missae sacrae…, 8 cycles for 5, 6 and 8 voices, published in Frankfurt 1602
Continuatio missarum sacrarum…, 9 cycles for 4–6, 8 and 10 voices, published in Frankfurt 1603
Corollarium missarum sacrarum…, 7 cycles for 4–6 and 8 voices, published in Frankfurt 1603
8 masses in manuscripts: for 8 voices, Bologna, for 5 and 8 voices in 2 manuscripts from Wrocław (currently in Berlin), for 6 voices in Prague, for 5 voices in Vienna; 3 preserved residually, Ljubljana, Munich and Tübingen
motets:
Sacrae aliquot cantiones…, 25 pieces for 5–6 voices, published in Munich 1575
Aliquot cantiones…, 24 pieces for 4 voices, published in Nuremberg 1577
Mariale…, 22 pieces for 4–6 voices and Magnificat for 8 voices, published in Innsbruck 1588
Sacrarum cantionum (…) liber primus, 24 pieces (including with 2- and 7-parts) for 4–8, 10 and 12 voices, published in Frankfurt 1605
21 pieces for 4–6 voices in vol. 1–4 of anthology by P. Giovanelli from 1568
7 pieces for 3–7 voices and 5 with German text for 5 voices, in collective prints from 1564–1646 (others incomplete)
***
9 psalms for 4 voices and 11 motets for 5 voices, manuscript in Augsburg
19 pieces for 5 voices, manuscript in Regensburg
5 pieces for 5–6 voices and one for 9 voices in a few manuscripts from (currently in Berlin)
a dozen or so pieces with Latin and German texts in other manuscripts, also in those preserved incompletely, or in organ intavolations (2 motets in Pelpin Tablature are copies of prints from 1568 and 1575)
litany for 6 voices in Thesaurus litaniarum…, published in Munich 1596
passion for 8 voices in a manuscript from 1583 from Wrocław (currently in Berlin)
Editions:
Jacobi Regnart opera omnia, ed. W. Pass, «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae» LXII, Rome, vol. 4: Sacrae aliquot camiones, 1575, 1975, vol. 5: Aliquot camiones, 1577, 1973 [!]
J. Regnart’s Deutsche dreistimmige Lieder…, 67 pieces, ed. R. Eitner, «Publikationen Älterer Praktischer und Theoretischer Musikwerke der Gesellschaft für Musikforschung» XIX, Leipzig 1895, reprint New York 1966
German motets in Acht Lied- und Choralmotetten, «Das Chorwerk» XXX, Wolfenbüttel 1934
litany and 3 motets, «Thesauri Musici» I, IV, X, XXVII, Vienna 1971–74
secular motets in Novus thesaurus musicus, ed. A. Dunning, «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae» LXIV, Rome 1974
Missa super Christ ist erstanden (5-voice, from print 1603) in “Leise” Settings of the Renaissance and Reformation Era, ed. J. Riedel, «Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance» XXXV, Madison 1980
