François-Eustache du Caurroy (c.1549 – 1609) was a
French composer of the late Renaissance. He was a
prominent composer of both secular and sacred music at
the end of the Renaissance, including musique mesurée,
and he was also influential on the foundation of the
French school of organ music as exemplified in the work
of Jean Titelouze. According to Jean-Benjamin de La
Borde, writing in 1780, Du Caurroy was born in Gerberoy
and was baptised in Beauvais. He probably entered royal
service arou...(+)
François-Eustache du Caurroy (c.1549 – 1609) was a
French composer of the late Renaissance. He was a
prominent composer of both secular and sacred music at
the end of the Renaissance, including musique mesurée,
and he was also influential on the foundation of the
French school of organ music as exemplified in the work
of Jean Titelouze. According to Jean-Benjamin de La
Borde, writing in 1780, Du Caurroy was born in Gerberoy
and was baptised in Beauvais. He probably entered royal
service around 1569, and in 1575 is first mentioned in
documents from the royal court, when he won a song
competition: he was to win two more, in 1576 and 1583,
for a motet and a chanson respectively. He became
sous-maître de la chapelle royale, a post which he
held until 1595, at which time he was appointed to be
official composer of the royal chamber; in 1599 he also
acquired the post of composer at the royal chapel.
Du Caurroy accumulated wealth and honours in the first
decade of the 17th century, including benefices and a
large estate in Picardy. In his late years he also held
the post of canon at several churches, including
Sainte-Croix in Orléans, Sainte-Chapelle in Dijon, as
well as others in Passy and Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg. He was
a late practitioner of the style of musique mesurée,
the musical method of setting French verse (vers
mesurés) in long and short syllables, to long and
short note values, in a homophonic texture, as
pioneered by Claude Le Jeune under the influence of
Jean-Antoine de Baïf and his Académie de musique et
de poésie. Many of Du Caurroy's chansons written in
this style were not published until 1609, long after
the disbanding of the Académie, and they contrast
significantly with his otherwise more conservative
musical output. According to Du Caurroy, he was
initially hostile to writing in the style, but was so
moved by a performance of a composition of Le Jeune's,
a pseaume mesuré sung by a hundred voices, that he
wanted to attempt it himself.
Du Caurroy was primarily interested in counterpoint,
and was widely read in the theoretical work of the
time, including that of Gioseffe Zarlino, who provided
the best available summation of the contrapuntal
practice in the 16th century. His contrapuntal interest
is best shown in his sacred music, of which the largest
collection is the two volumes of motets, 53 in all,
entitled Preces ecclesiasticae, published in Paris in
1609. They are from 3 to 7 voices. His Missa pro
defunctis, first performed at the funeral of Henry IV
of France, was the requiem mass which was played at St.
Denis for the funerals of French kings for the next
several centuries. It is a long composition containing
the Libera me responsory, the chant for which is
similar to the famous Dies irae. Du Caurroy also used
the musique mesurée technique in his sacred
compositions, including seven psalm settings, published
in his Meslanges (Paris, posthumously, 1610): one is in
Latin, one of the few examples of a musique mesurée
setting in a language other than French.
Marin Mersenne's Harmonie universelle contains a
setting by Du Caurroy of Pie Jesu, which is a canon for
six voices. In this same book, Mersenne held that Du
Caurroy was the finest composer of musique mesurée,
outranking even the renowned Claude Le Jeune. Du
Caurroy also wrote instrumental music, including
contrapuntal fantasies for three to six instruments.
The collection of 42 such pieces, published
posthumously in 1610, is considered to be a strong
influence on the next generation of French keyboard
players, especially Jean Titelouze, the founder of the
French organ school.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustache_Du_Caurroy)
Although originally written for Voice (SAT), I created
this Interpretation of the Noël from "Sors de ton lit"
for Viola Trio.
SHEET MUSIC