Johannes Ockeghem (1410/1425 – 1497) was the most
famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the
last half of the 15th century, and is often considered
the most influential composer between Guillaume Dufay
and Josquin des Prez. In addition to being a renowned
composer, he was also an honored singer, choirmaster,
and teacher. The spelling of Ockeghem's name comes from
a supposed autograph of his which survived as late as
1885, and was reproduced by Eugène Giraudet, a
historian in Tours; t...(+)
Johannes Ockeghem (1410/1425 – 1497) was the most
famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the
last half of the 15th century, and is often considered
the most influential composer between Guillaume Dufay
and Josquin des Prez. In addition to being a renowned
composer, he was also an honored singer, choirmaster,
and teacher. The spelling of Ockeghem's name comes from
a supposed autograph of his which survived as late as
1885, and was reproduced by Eugène Giraudet, a
historian in Tours; the document has since been lost.
In 15th-century sources, the spelling "Okeghem"
predominates.
Ockeghem is believed to have been born in
Saint-Ghislain, Netherlands (now Belgium). His
birthdate is unknown; dates as early as 1410 and as
late as 1430 have been proposed. The earlier date is
based on the possibility that he knew Binchois in
Hainaut before the older composer moved from Mons to
Lille in 1423. Ockeghem would have to have been younger
than 15 at the time. This particular speculation
derives from Ockeghem's reference, in the lament he
wrote on the death of Binchois in 1460, to a chanson by
Binchois dated to that time. In this lament Ockeghem
not only honored the older composer by imitating his
style, but also revealed some useful biographical
information about him. The comment by the poet
Guillaume Crétin, in the lament he wrote on Ockeghem's
death in 1497, "it was a great shame that a composer of
his talents should die before 100 years old", is also
often taken as evidence for the earlier birthdate for
Ockeghem.
In 1993, documents dating from 1607 were found stating
that "Jan Hocquegam" was a native of Saint-Ghislain in
the County of Hainaut, which was confirmed by
references in 16th century documents. This suggests
that, though he first appears in records in Flanders,
he was a native speaker of Picard. Previously, most
biographies surmised that he was born in East Flanders,
either in the town after which he was named
(present-day Okegem, from which his ancestors must have
come) or in the neighboring town of Dendermonde
(French: Termonde), where the surname Ockeghem occurred
in the 14th and 15th century. Occasionally, Bavay, now
in the Nord department in France, was suggested as his
birthplace as well.
Details of his early life are lacking. Like many
composers in this period, he started his musical career
as a chorister, although the exact location of his
education is unknown: Mons, a town near Saint-Ghislain
that had at least two churches with competent music
schools, has been suggested. The first actual
documented record of Ockeghem is from the
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe cathedral in Antwerp, where he was
employed in June 1443 as a "left-hand choir singer"
("left-handers" sang composed music, "right-handers"
sang chant). He probably sang under the direction of
Johannes Pullois, whose employment also dates from that
year. This church was a distinguished establishment,
and it was likely here that Ockeghem became familiar
with the English compositional style, which influenced
late 15th-century musical practice on the
continent.
Ockeghem was not a prolific composer, given the length
of his career and extent of his reputation, and some of
his work was lost. Many works formerly attributed to
him are now presumed to be by other composers;
Ockeghem's total output of reliably attributed
compositions, as with many of the most famous composers
of the time (such as Josquin), has shrunk with time.
Surviving reliably attributed works include some 14
masses (including a Requiem), an isolated Credo (Credo
sine nomine), five motets, a motet-chanson (a
deploration on the death of Binchois), and 21 chansons.
Thirteen of Ockeghem's masses are preserved in the
Chigi codex, a Flemish manuscript dating to around
1500. His Missa pro Defunctis is the earliest surviving
polyphonic Requiem mass (a possibly earlier setting by
Dufay has been lost). Some of his works, alongside
compositions by his contemporaries, are included in
Petrucci's Harmonice musices odhecaton (1501), the
first collection of music published using moveable
type..
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Ockeghem).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SSA), I
created this Interpretation of the Canon in
Epidiatessaron (Canon a fourth above) for Double-Reed
Trio (Oboe, English Horn & Bassoon).
