Josquin des Prez

1450 - 1521

Josquin is one of the first composers we know of whose fame outlasted his life. From the Franco/Flemish school of composers that emerged in the late 15th century, he was possibly a pupil of Johannes Ockeghem.

For someone who was so highly regarded in his time and the century after, very little is known about him. His exact name has been questioned, little is known of his father beyond his repeated misdemeanours (he was a policeman!) and nothing of his mother.

To complete the set it is not clear where he was born either, though Hainaut in southern Belgium seems a distinct possibility.

What is clear is that his talent as a singer and later as a composer was sought after. He left Belgium to work first in Vienna and then for the pope in Rome and the Sforza family in Milan. The latter’s arms feature a viper swallowing a human which was often said to be relevant to the character of the family who for several centuries served as Dukes of Milan.

Most of his work is religious polyphony and the way he blended the voices in his compositions was thought outstanding in his day. It sounds pretty remarkable today as the following piece, written to make the death of Ockeghem reflects.