The Sacred Music of Josquin des Prez: Courtly Patronage and Musical Strategies

FAIN: FA-50177-04

Patrick Macey
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY 14604)

Josquin is one of the major composers of the early modern period, but important new biographical discoveries require a complete reassessment of his role in bringing about revolutionary changes in musical style in the late 15th century, especially at courts in Milan, Rome and Ferrara. This study will illuminate his responses both to the music of his contemporaries and to the distinctive courtly tastes of his patrons. Special attention will be paid to Josquin's construction of a musical identity through: 1) his accommodation to, and transformation of, musical styles that are distinct at each of the Italian courts: 2) humanist influence on his musical settings of texts-his musico-rhetorical strategies; and 3) musical parallels with developments in the visual arts, especially the idiosyncratic style of painting at Ferrara. A rich context for music and its relation to contemporary cultural trends should emerge.