Pierre de La Rue
( b ?Tournai, c 1460; d Courtrai, 20 Nov 1518). Flemish composer. He was a tenor at Siena Cathedral (1482/3-5) and at ′s-Hertogenbosch Cathedral (1489-92). He served the Burgundian court chapel and went with Philip the Fair to Spain (1501-3, 1506); on his journeys he met leading composers in France and Germany. Later he worked at Marguerite of Austria's court in Mechelen and in Archduke Karl's private Kapelle (1514-16). La Rue stands alongside Josquin, Obrecht, Isaac, Compère and Brumel as one of the leading Flemish composers of the period, and is significant for the extent and diversity of his work, as well as for its quality and individuality. Central to his outpost are his masses (which include 31 cycles, two Kyries and five Credos); they feature cantus firmus treatments (La Rue preferred plainchant to secular models), canon and simple two-voice sections used to contrast with the fuller four- and five-voice texture. Most of his motets are for four voices; his chansons are usually for four voices and range in style from the late-Burgundian type with textless lower parts to the 16th-century type with vocal parts of equal design. He also composed seven Magnificats and a set of Lamentations. His music, which is probably closest to Josquin's in style, influenced the succeeding generation.
works:
Sacred Music
- 31 masses
- 7 mass movts
- 7 Magnificats
- 1 Lamentations
- 26 motets
- c 30 chansons
