Hellinck, Lupus (EN)

Hellinck Lupus Wulfaert, Wulfardus, *ca. 1494 Axel in the diocese of Utrecht, †ca. 14 January 1541 Bruges, Flemish composer. In 1506–1511, he was a choirboy at St. Donatian’s Collegiate Church in Bruges. After two years of study, probably outside the city, he returned to the collegiate church and between 1513 and 1515 was one of two virgiferi chori, or choirboys. Between 1515 and 1519, he was ordained a priest; despite this, in November 1519, he was accepted into the chapel of St. Donatian only as one of 18 clerici installati. In 1521, he moved to the Church of Notre Dame in Bruges, where he led the chapel as phonascus. From 17 June 1523 until his death, he worked again at the collegiate church of St. Donatian, this time as the succentor, the head of the chapel. In 16th-century music sources, he was sometimes confused with the French composer Johannes Lupus, which makes it very difficult to compile a list of the works of both composers and causes considerable confusion in musicological literature.

All of Hellinck’s masses belong to the missa parodia type. The composer based them on motets, mainly by J. Richafort and his own, but also by A. Brumel, Josquin des Prés, and J. Mouton. Hellinck does not adopt the entire structure of the model, but freely manipulates the melodic material, adding or omitting counterpoints to thematic phrases or (unlike the model) carrying out a strict imitation of a single, selected phrase, sometimes transformed. J. Graziano observed in Hellinck’s masses characteristic features of a formal scheme consisting, among other things, in the fact that at the words “Domine Deus,” “Et resurrexit” and ‘Benedictus’ there is always a reduction to two or three voices, that “Hosanna” is always maintained in triple meter, which otherwise appears only at the end of the Gloria, Credo, and Angus Dei II; in many masses, the texture approaches homorhythm in the section up to the words “Et incarnatus est,” which is repeated exactly or transformed in the words “et homo factus est” and “passus et sepultus est,” giving this section the character of a refrain. Both in Hellinck’s masses and motets, homorhythm appears rarely, with imitative or free constructions with very independent voice leading definitely predominating. Among the harmonies, there are a considerable number of dissonances, often approached or resolved by leaps. The texture of Hellinck’s works is dense, with few pauses. The earlier motets show greater influence from Josquin des Prés (including clearer and more frequent caesuras), while the later ones are closer to the style of N. Gombert. The works with German texts are simpler in texture; the melodies of the Lutheran chorales appear in them as cantus firmus in the tenor.

Literature: A.C. de Schrevel Histoire du séminaire de Bruges, vol. 1, Bruges 1895; J. Schmidt-Görg Vier Messen aus dem XVI Jarhundert über die Motette „Panis quem ego dabo” des Lupus Hellinck, “Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch” XXV, 1930; R.B. Lenaerts Het Nederlands polifonies lied in de zestiende eeuw, Amsterdam 1933; H. Albrecht Lupus Hellinck und Johannes Lupi, “Acta Musicologica” VI, 1934; H. Osthoff Die Niederländer und das deutsche Lied, 1400–1640, Berlin 1938; R. Lenaerts Les messes de Lupus Hellinck du manuscrit 766 [sic!] de Montserrat, in: Miscelánea en homenaje a Monseñor Higinio Anglés, vol. 1, Barcelona 1958; L. Lockwood A Continental Mass and Motet in a Tudor Manuscript, “Music and Letters” XLII, 1961; A. Viane Zangmeester Wulfaert Hellinc van Brugge op het rederijkersfeest te Gent 1539, “Biekorf” LXVIII, 1967; M. Antonowycz Das Parodieverfahren in der Missa „Mater Patris” von Lupus Hellinck, in: Renaissance-muziek 1400–1600. Donum natalicium René Bernard Lenaerts, Leuven 1969; B.J. Blackburn The Lupus Problem, thesis, University of Chicago, 1970; J. Graziano Lupus Hellinck. A Survey of Fourteen Masses, “The Musical Quarterly” LVI, 1970; A. Viane Wulfaert Hellinck van Axel, zangmeester van de Sint-Donaaskerk te Brugge: zijn optreden te Gent in 1539, “Biekorf” LXXI, 1970; A. Dewitte Wulfaert Hellinck van Axel, zangmeester van Sint-Donaas te Brugge: uitvoering van zijn testament 1541–1542, “Biekorf” LXXIII, 1972; B.J. Blackburn Johannes Lupi and Lupus Hellinck, “The Musical Quarterly” LIX, 1973; L. Lockwood Jean Mouton and Jean Michel. New Evidence on French Music and Musicians in Italy 1505–1520, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXXII, 1979; J.W. Bonda De meerstemmige Nederlandse liederen van de vijtiende en zestiende eeuw, Hilversum 1996; P. Macey Italian Connections for Lupus Hellinck and Claude Le Jeune, “Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation” III, 1999; P. Andriessen Die van Muziken gheerne horen. Muziek in Brugge 1200-1800, Bruges 2002.