Jacob Senleches (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1382/1383 – 1395) (also Jacob de Senlechos .e. Senleches'' and Jacopinus Senlesses) was a Franco-Flemish composer and harpist of the late Middle Ages. He composed in a style commonly known as the ''

ars subtilior ''Ars subtilior'' ( Latin for 'subtler art') is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.Hoppin 1978, ...

''.

Life and career

It has been suggested that Jacob Senleches was born in Senleches (or Sanlesches) in

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Esca ...

, today France. In 1382, Senleches seems to have been present at the court of

Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Castile Eleanor of Aragon (20 February 1358 – 13 August 1382) was a daughter of King Peter IV of Aragon and his wife Eleanor of Sicily. She was a member of the House of Barcelona and Queen of Castile by her marriage. cites . Family Eleanor was the you ...

(d. September 1382), possibly in her service. In ''Fuions de ci,'' he laments Eleanor's death and resolves to seek his fortune either "en Aragon, en France ou en Bretaingne". Afterwards, he is found in the service of

Pedro de Luna Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known as in Spanish and Pope Luna in English, was an Aragonese nobleman who, as Benedict XIII, is considered an antipope (see Western Schism) by the Catholic Churc ...

, Cardinal of Aragon (later

Antipope Benedict XIII Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known as in Spanish and Pope Luna in English, was an Aragonese nobleman who, as Benedict XIII, is considered an antipope (see Western Schism) by the Catholic Church ...

, 1394–1423), as a harpist. There is a treasury document assigning payments to one "Jaquemin de Sanleches, juglar de harpe" from the royal household in Navarra dated August 21, 1383. The payment was made so that Jacquemin could return to "his master", Pedro de Luna. In a document related to the coronation of Pedro de Luna as

, "Jacobus de Senleches" was granted on 30 October 1394 a canonicate with expectation of a prebend at the

Basilica of Saint Martin, Tours The Basilica of St. Martin is a Roman Catholic basilica dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, over whose tomb it was built. It is located in Tours, France. The first basilica was established here in the 5th century (consecrated in 471) on the site ...

. Despite the small number of transmitted compositions, Jacob de Senleches is counted among the central personalities of ''Ars subtilior.'' All his compositions are polyphonic settings of French texts for three parts. Some texts appear autobiographical while others participate in a widespread tradition of textual and musical citation. Senleches developed many distinctive rhythmic and notational innovations.Stoessel

Works

Ballades: * ''En attendant esperance'' * ''Fuions de ci'' * ''Je me merveil/ J'ay pluseurs fois''

Virelai A ''virelai'' is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three '' formes fixes'' (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the la ...

* ''En ce gracieux tamps'' * '' La harpe de melodie'' * ''Tel me voit''

Media

Transcriptions

Corpus mensurabilis musicae The ''Corpus mensurabilis musicae'' (CMM) is a collected print edition of most of the sacred and secular vocal music of the late medieval and Renaissance period in western music history, with an emphasis on the central Franco-Flemish and Italian ...

Vol. 53 – French Secular Compositions I, Ascribed Compositions (1970)

References

Sources

* Günther, Ursula, and Maricarmen Gomez. "Senleches, Jacquemin De." In ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', edited by Stanley Sadie, 87–88. London: Grove, 2001. *Jacob de Senleches; in: ''Die Musik in Gegenwart und Geschichte'', Personenteil, Ed. L. Finscher, Kassel, London, 2003/2. *Planchart, Alejandro Enrique. ''Guillaume Du Fay: The Life and Works'', 2 vols., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017. *Stoessel, Jason. "Symbolic Innovation: The Notation of Jacob De Senleches." ''Acta Musicologica'' 71/2 (1999): 136–64. *Tomasello, Andrew. ''Music and Ritual at Papal Avignon 1309–1403''. Studies in Musicology 75. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1983.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senleches, Jacob French classical composers French male classical composers Ars subtilior composers 14th-century births Year of death unknown 14th-century French composers Medieval male composers