Thomas Crecquillon (c. 1505 – probably early 1557)
was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He is
considered to be a member of the Netherlands school.
While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably
within the region loosely known at the time as the
Netherlands, and he probably died at Béthune.
Very little is known about his early life. He was a
member of the chapel of Emperor Charles V, but whether
he was maître de chapelle or merely a singer there is
still a matter ...(+)
Thomas Crecquillon (c. 1505 – probably early 1557)
was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He is
considered to be a member of the Netherlands school.
While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably
within the region loosely known at the time as the
Netherlands, and he probably died at Béthune.
Very little is known about his early life. He was a
member of the chapel of Emperor Charles V, but whether
he was maître de chapelle or merely a singer there is
still a matter of dispute; the surviving documents are
contradictory. Later he seems to have held positions at
Dendermonde, Béthune, Leuven, and Namur. Unlike many
of the composers of the Netherlandish school he seems
never to have left his home region for Italy or other
parts of Europe. Most likely he died in 1557, probably
a victim of the serious outbreak of plague in Béthune
that year.
Crecquillon's music was highly regarded by his
contemporaries, and shows a harmonic and melodic
smoothness which prefigures the culminating polyphonic
style of Palestrina. He wrote twelve masses, over 100
motets and almost 200 chansons. Stylistically he uses
points of imitation, rather in the manner of Josquin
des Prez, in almost all of his sacred works (the masses
and motets), following the contemporary trend towards
pervading imitation and polyphonic complexity. Unlike
Josquin, however, Crecquillon rarely varies his texture
for dramatic effect, preferring smoothness and
consistency.
His secular chansons, unlike most of those by other
composers of the same time, also use pervading
imitation, although as is normal in a lighter form of
music, they make considerable use of repetition (for
example of the final phrase). Because they were
imitative, it was Crecquillon's chansons which provided
some of the best models for the later development of
the instrumental canzona, the instrumental form which
developed directly from the chanson. Many of his
chansons were arranged for instruments, especially
lute.
The printers Pierre Phalèse (of Leuven) and Tielman
Susato (of Antwerp) published more music by him than by
any other composer, which shows the extent of his
reputation at the time, though his music is not as
often recorded today as is that of many of the
Netherlanders working at the same time.
Although originally written for Voice, I created this
arrangement for Oboe & Bassoon Quartet (2 Oboes & 2
Bassoons).
SHEET MUSIC