Jacob Clemens non Papa
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Jacques Clément or Jacob Clemens non Papa (c. 1510 to 1515 – 1555 or 1556) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was a prolific composer in many of the current styles, and was especially famous for his polyphonic settings of the psalms in Dutch known as the Souterliedekens.
Life
Nothing is known of his early life, and even the details of the years of his artistic maturity are sketchy. He may have been born in Zeeland, though the evidence is contradictory; certainly he was from somewhere in modern Belgium or the Netherlands. Around 1544 he worked at the Bruges cathedral, and shortly thereafter he began a business relationship with Tielman Susato, the publisher in Antwerp, which was to last for the rest of his life. From 1545 until 1549 he was probably choirmaster at the court of Charles V, where he preceded Nicolas Gombert. In 1550 he was employed by the Marian Brotherhood in 's Hertogenbosch. Other towns in which he may have lived and worked include Ieper and Leiden.
His nickname non Papa was jokingly added to distinguish him from the contemporaneous Pope Clement VII—"Jacob Clemens—but not the Pope."
Works and influence
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Clemens seems never to have traveled to Italy, with the result that Italian influence is absent in his music; he represents the northern European dialect of the Franco-Flemish style.
Clemens was one of the chief representatives of the generation between Josquin and Palestrina and Orlandus Lassus. He was a prolific composer, writing:
- 15 parody masses (published 1555-80 by Pierre Phalèse in Louvain)
- c. 233 motets
- 80 chansons
- 159 Souterliedekens (published 1556-7 by Tielman Susato in Antwerp), i.e. Dutch settings of the psalms, using popular song melodies as cantus firmus.
Of all these works, the Souterliedekens were perhaps the most widely known and influential. They were the first complete polyphonic settings of all 150 psalms in Dutch. They are generally simple, and designed to be sung by people at home; they use well-known secular tunes, including drinking songs, love songs, ballads, and other popular songs of the time; and most are for three parts. Some are frankly homophonic and homorhythmic, while others use imitation. All parts are texted, usually with one syllable per note.
The influence of Clemens was especially prominent in Germany; Lassus in particular knew his music well and incorporated elements of his style.