(b Haut-Wignes, by 1459; d St Quentin, 30 Oct 1522). French composer. He was appointed a singer and teacher in the collegiate church of Notre Dame, Nesle, in 1477 and maître de chapelle there in 1483. By 1500 he was maistre des enfans at Amiens Cathedral, and in 1502 had taken charge of the music in the collegiate church of St André, Grenoble. In 1502 he became associated with Louis XII's court, to which he remained attached for the rest of his life.

He is one of the most important motet composers of the early 16th century. Over 100 motets,c 15 masses and over 20 chansons by him survive, many published in his lifetime. Though he shared many of Josquin's techniques - paired imitation, canonic cantus firmi etc- it seems unlikely he was Josquin's pupil. His music is characterized by smooth, flowing melody and clear, sharply profiled motifs. He favoured full sonorities but kept textures clear by keeping the voice ranges separate. His motets are often built on a canon and show his dazzling contrapuntal skill, especially in those in which all the voices are canonic(e.g. Nesciens mater virgo virum). His masses span the transition from cantus firmus to the newer procedures of paraphrase and parody; his chansons (like his motets) display a variety of styles.

The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.