Richafort, Richauffort, Rycefort, Ricartsvorde, Jean, *ca. 1480, †after 1547 Bruges (?), Franco-Flemish composer. From at least December 1507 to May (or August) 1509, he worked in Mechelen as maître du chant of the choir of St Rombaut’s Collegiate Church, where his brothers Guillaume and François sang. Around 1512, he was probably associated with the French court of Anne of Brittany, wife of Louis XII; he dedicated his motet to the king (†1515) and, as a singer in chapel of Francis I chapel, stayed in Bologna in January 1516, where he obtained a privilege from Pope Leo X. In 1542–47, he was maître de chapelle at St Gilles Church in Bruges (his successor was hired in 1548). The prevailing opinion today is that Richafort should not be identified with the musician Joachim Richafort, who was active in Brussels in 1531 at the court of queen-regent, Mary, the widow of Louis II of Hungary.
The only two publications devoted exclusively to Richafort are posthumous editions – we list the earliest sources. Motets and chansons have often survived with double and triple attributions – we provide a list according to the findings in «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae».
The dissemination of Richafort’s work in over 100 preserved prints (including organ and lute intabulations) and over 120 manuscripts indicates that it was highly valued in the 16th century; it also gained recognition from the leading composers, who based their missae parodiae on Richafort’s motets. A remarkable record is represented by the motet Quem dicunt homines, preserved in 30 sources and serving as the model for 9 masses. Both of Richafort’s masses belong to the parody type, one using his own motet, the other that of L. Compère. In each of the seven parts of the Requiem (according to the Sarum rite, i.e. with the gradual Si ambulem and without a sequence), the composer introduced (following the example of Josquin des Prés) as a cantus firmus in the canon responsory Circumdederunt, and four times after the words “dolores inferni” (“the sorrows of hell”), he inserted the phrase “c’est douleur non pareille” (“[it] is sorrow unequalled”) from Josquin des Prés’ chanson Faulte d’argent; these clear references to the master’s work suggest that the piece was composed on the occasion of his death (1521); as a second cantus firmus, chant melodies of the corresponding Mass sections appear in the upper voice; both cantus firmi are rhythmized and – exceptionally – ornamented. Richafort also introduced a choral cantus firmus in the canon in the middle voice of the motet Pater noster, individual cantus firmus appear in four motets or fragments thereof (in Sufficiebat it is the tenor voice from Heyne van Ghizeghem’s chanson), and one motet is based on an ostinato, which is a quotation from Josquin des Prés. In several others, choral melodies provide material for imitation, but in most cases no melodic connections with the chorale have been detected. Imitations clearly predominate in the texture of the motets, with dialogue between pairs of voices and, quite exceptionally, short homorhythmic sections. The texture of many of Richafort’s chansons indicates that they are arrangements of popular pieces for one voice (in three cases, this type of cantus firmus has been identified), while others are close to the style of ‘Parisian chanson.’ Richafort is considered a creative successor to Josquin des Prés, whose pupil he may have been.
Literature: Y. Rokseth Un fragment de Richafort, “Revue de musicologie” VII, 1926; G. van Doorslaer Jean Richaford, maître de chapelle-compositeur, 1480?-c1548, “Bulletin de l’Académie Royale d’Archéologie de Belgique”, 1930; M.E. Kabis The Works of Jean Richafort, Renaissance Composer, dissertation, New York University, 1957; A.F. Block The Early French Parody Noël, 2 vols., Ann Arbor 1983; L. Bernstein La couronne et fleur des chansons a troys, 2 vols., New York, 1984; R. Sherr The Membership of the Chapels of Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne in the Years Preceding their Deaths, “Journal of Musicology” VI, 1988; J. Brobeck The Motet at the Court of Francis I, dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1991; R. Heyink Zur Wiedererkennung der Motu proprio-Erlasse Papst Leos X. an Jean Mouton und weitere Mitglieder der französischen Hofkapelle, “Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch” LXXVI, 1992; A. Tacaille Philomena praevia de Jean Richafort: la complexité du modele au défi de l’analyse, in: Théorie et analyse musicales (1450–1650), Louvain 1999; P. Andriessen Die van Muziken gheerne horen. Muziek in Brugge 1200–1800, Bruges 2002; J. Milsom Sense and Sound in Richafort’s Requiem, “Early Music” XXX, 2002; I. Bossuyt Missa pro defunctis: Jean Richafort, ca. 1521–1532, in: Dies Irae. Kroniek van het Requiem, eds. P. Bergé and J. Christiaens, Leuven 2011; T.G. Ranson Early parody Masses, their composers, and the French connection in Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Musica Ms. F, “Journal of the Alamire Foundation” XI, 2019; M.J. Bloxam Richafort’s Requiem: Beyond Josquin, “Early Music” XLVIII, 2020; M.J. Bloxam Jean Richafort (c.1480–c.1550): Missa pro Defunctis, in: The Book of Requiems, 1450–1550, ed. D.J. Burn, Leuven 2022.
Compositions:
sacred:
Missa “O Genitrix” for 4 voices, in: Quartus liber tres missas continet…, Paris 1532 P. Attaingnant
Missa “Veni sponsa Christi” for 4 voices, w: Liber decem missarum…, Lyon 1532 J. Moderne
Requiem for 6 voices, w: Sextus liber duas missas habet…, Paris 1532 P. Attaingnant
2 Magnificats for 4 voices (even-numbered lines): sexti toni in manuscript from Leiden and octavi toni in: Liber sextus (…) Magnificat…, Paris 1534 P. Attaingnant, two parts for two voices from other octavi toni in: Il primo libro a due voci…, Venice 1543
11 other Magnificats were mistakenly attributed to Richafort
7 motets for 4 voices and 3 motets for 5 voices in manuscripts and prints from around 1515–20
motet Consolator… (established before 1516) for 4 voices, in: J. Richafort Modulorum (…) liber primus, Paris 1556 (Tenor lost)
motet Miseremini mei (authorship uncertain) for 4 voices, in: Mottetti della corona, libro secondo, Venice 1519
11 motets for 4 voices, 9 motets for 5 voices, 2 motets for 6 voices and motet for 3 voices (including 5 incomplete works and 2 of uncertain authorship) in prints from 1532–56 (mainly in books 1, 2 and 8 of motets published in 1534 by P. Attaingnant and in 2 books of motets published in 1532 by J. Moderne) and in manuscripts.
secular:
9 chansons for 3 voices (including 1 of uncertain authorship), 5 chansons for 4 voices and 4 chansons for 5 voices (including 1 of uncertain authorship) in 3 manuscripts from approx. 1509–23 and in 9 prints (French, Italian, German, Flemish) from 1529–69
1 song preserved only in the intabulation by L. Narváez, 1538
2 pieces with Latin lyrics for 2 and 5 voices, in collective publications, Nuremberg 1543 and 1553
Editions:
J. Richafort Opera omnia, ed. H. Elzinga, «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae» LXXXI, Neuhausen, vol. 1: masses and requiem, 1979, vol. 2: Motets, 1999, vol. 3: Magnificats and Chansons, 1999
7 motets and a Magnificat in Treize livres de motets parus chez P. Attaingnant en 1534 et 1535, Paris i Monako, vols. 1, 2, 6, ed. A. Smijers, 1934–60, vol. 8, ed. A.T. Merritt, 1962
J. Richafort Requiem, ed. A. Seay, «Das Chorwerk» CXXIV, Wolfenbüttel 1976
6 motets, printed 1520–21 in The Motet Books of A. Antico, ed. M. Picker, «Monuments of Renaissance Musie» VIII, Chicago 1987
9 chansons in F. Regnard, J. Richafort (…), Chansons Issued by Le Roy and Ballard, ed. J.A. Bernstein, «The Sixteenth-Century Chanson» XXI, New York–London 1991
