Josquin des Prez

Nationality: Franco-Flemish

Born: c1440/1455

Died: Conde, 27 August 1521

Specialist Genres: Polyphonic Sacred music, Secular songs.

Major works: 19 Masses, including Pange Lingua and De beata virgine.

Little is known of the early life of Josquin, but it's most likely that he was born in Belgium or just across the border in France. He moved to Milan and sang in the cathedral choir and worked for the Sforza family and in the late 1480's he was a member of the papal choir. In c1500 he was working for the French court and for the Dukes of Ferrara. When the plague broke out in Ferrara in 1503 he fled north becoming a provost of the church of Notre-Dame in Conde.

Josquin wrote the elegy “Nymphes des boies”, as a tribute to Ockeghem so it is possible that he may have been a pupil of his.

In the early 1500's, the Venetian printer published three of his Masses which is a testimony to the fame of Josquin as publications devoted to a single composer were rare for the time.
 

He was one of the first composers to relate music to text.

His later masses, including Ave Maris Stella, L'homme arme, and Pange linguna use free form techniques such as the parody technique and motto themes.

  "Josquin is the master of the notes; others are mastered by them". - Martin Luther