Sacred Music & History

Dr. Donald Grout, author of A History of Western Music, notes that the period from 1450 to 1550 is often called “the age of the Netherlanders.” That term does not designate a nationality, but simply a region comprising more or less modern Belgium, northeastern France, and the southern part of what is now the Netherlands. In this area, composers and musicians received strong support from both the secular authorities and the Church. In addition, the well-organized choir school system identified and educated promising young students regardless of their station in life. As a result, the Netherlands composers dominated all of Europe for a century and established an almost universal “international style.” They were the principal musicians and composers for all the major courts – the King of France, the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope, and the city-states of Italy – and their style was considered the only proper one for any composer worthy of the name. And we know more about their lives and their music than any musicians before that time because of a revolutionary invention – the printing press.

In the 1450s, German printer Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press and, more importantly, movable type. By the end of the century, printing from movable type had been applied to music – with separate impressions for the staves, notes, and words. The first music book printed from movable type was produced at Venice in 1501 by Ottaviano de’Petrucci. This Odhecaton (Greek for “100 Songs”) was a collection of 96 part songs almost exclusively composed by Netherlanders, including our friends Ockeghem and Busnois as well as newer composers such as Josquin. Such was the book’s popularity that by 1523 Petrucci had produced 59 volumes of music.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this revolutionized the history of music. Instead of a few valuable manuscripts that were liable to copyist’s errors, printers could easily produce multiple accurate and (relatively) inexpensive copies. Because of the simultaneous rise of the urban middle class, with wealth and the leisure time in which to spend it, music was disseminated widely. In addition, the existence of multiple copies meant that a given work was far more likely to be preserved for future generations.

Another innovation of the age of the Netherlanders significantly changed church music composition and performance. In the medieval period, polyphony was performed by a group of soloists, one for each part, while only unison chant was sung by a chorus. And secular vocal music throughout the Renaissance continued to be composed for soloists. But early in the 15th century, we begin to see religious polyphony with true choral

performance: multiple singers on each part. The “choirs” were still small by modern standards – only eight or twelve singers – a number better suited for the complex polyphonic works of the Netherlanders.

Johannes Ockeghem’s music, with its depth and breadth of sound, is particularly suited for this type of choral performance. Dr. Grout observes, “there is no other polyphonic sacred music that so perfectly reflects the ideal of mysticism, of other-worldliness, in religious worship. And that spirit becomes all the more evident when the singing is by a chorus rather than solo voices.”

From the Odhecaton: Jacob Obrecht’s setting of the old Flemish song “Tandernaken” – performed by Tre Fontane, a Czech recorder ensemble...

Johannes Ockeghem: “Deploration sur la mort de Gilles Binchois” – performed by Graindelavoix of Antwerp, directed by Björn Schmelzer.

Johannes Ockeghem: “Gloria” from the Missa de Mi-Mi – performed by the Capella Praetensis (which uses the original mensural notation and sings without a director)