Jacques Mauduit

Jacques Mauduit (* September 16, 1557 in Paris, † August 21, 1627 ) was a French composer of the late Renaissance. He is considered one of the most innovative composers of the late 16th century who introduced the multiple choirs of the Venetian school in French music.

Life

Many of the biographical data on Mauduit can be found in the writings of Marin Mersenne. Mauduit was born the son of a noble family. He received an excellent education in the humanities, philosophy and languages, including Italian and Spanish. From his father he took over the office of registrar for petitions at the Paris Palace of Justice. His musical knowledge he acquired apparently self-taught. In 1581 he obtained a prize in Sainte- Cécile- competition of Évreux for the five-voice motet Afferte Domino.

Mauduit was a member of the " Académie de musique et de poésie ", founded by Jean -Antoine de Thibault de Courville Baif and Joachim circle for the care of mesurée Musique à l' Antique, ie the revival of rhetoric and ethics of the music of the ancient Greece in the contemporary French music and poetry. After Courville death in 1581 Mauduit led the musical chair of the Académie. He designed the St. Cecilia Festivals in Notre Dame de Paris and the court ballet under Henry IV and Louis XIII .. When Louis in 1614 moved to the capital, Mauduit conducted the performance of hard music.

Mauduit was described as courageous. During the siege of Paris ( 1589/90 ) at the end of the Wars of Religion, he helped Claude Le Jeune and himself to escape from the city. Risking their lives he saved while a large part of Le Jeunes music and Baïfs unpublished works. Mauduit survived all the composers of the Académie. He died in 1621 in Paris.

Work

Mauduit was a prolific composer of chansons in the then new style of Musique mesurée, the note values ​​exactly accessible to the metric of the French language. The fame Claude Le Jeune he did not win. This is also due to the fact that Mersenne Mauduits complete work promised to publish though, his plan but never put it into action. Mauduits composed in simple and clear style. In the setting he did not make any changes to the lyrics. A varied sound he achieved mainly by harmonic means.

One of his most famous works is a five-part Requiem (1585 ) for the funeral of the poet Pierre de Ronsard. It was performed on the anniversary of the death of Henry IV 1611 and again sounded too Mauduits own funeral. His first printed work was the four-part set Chanson Cute mesurées de Jean- Antoine de Baif ( 1586). This collection was the first, which consisted entirely of compositions of musique mesurée. The majority of his music from the late 16th century is considered lost. Among the lost works called Mersenne over 300 Psalm, several Vesper and settings of Tenebrae, 104 hymns, masses and motets. This Mauduit is among the major composers of the late Renaissance the one whose work is least documented.

Mauduit also emerged as a composer of airs de cour for voice and lute. 1617 he participated alongside Pierre Guedron, Antoine de Boesset and Gabriel Bataille at the common composition of the ballet La Deliverance de Renaud. He led the Musique - mesurée style in the 16th century and connected him with the genre, for which he had not thought of, such as large vocal-instrumental ensembles in the tradition of the Venetian school. Mersenne wrote to him to have introduced the viol consort in French music. He also claimed Mauduit have proposed adding a sixth string on the viola da gamba.