Artus Aux-Cousteaux (''Hautcousteaux'', ''Haultcousteau'', ''Arthur d'Auxcousteaux''; c. 1590-1656) was a French singer and composer, active in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hist ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. He was born in Picardy in either

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populo ...

(according to Charles Magnin) or Saint-Quentin (according to Charles Gomart). His family

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

contains a pun on his name; it is ''Azur à trois cousteaux, d'argent garnis d'or'' ("Azure on three sides, of silver decorated with gold"). He was a singer in the church of

Noyon Noyon (; pcd, Noéyon; la, Noviomagus Veromanduorum, Noviomagus of the Veromandui, then ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise (river), Oise, a ...

, of which fact there is a record in the library of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. Then he became ''Maistre de la Sainte Chapelle'' at Paris. According to the preface to

Antoine Godeau Antoine Godeau (24 September 1605, in Dreux – 21 April 1672, in Vence) was a French bishop, poet and exegete. He is now known for his work of criticism ''Discours de la poésie chrétienne'' from 1633. Biography His verse-writing early won the ...

's 1656

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

published by , he was a

haute-contre The haute-contre (plural hautes-contre) was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century. History This voic ...

in the chapel of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. He left many masses and chansons, all printed by of Paris. His style is remarkably in advance of his contemporaries, and

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univ ...

believes him to have studied the Italian masters.

Sources

Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, ''The Polyphonic Mass in France, 1600-1780: The Evidence of the Printed Choirbooks,'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aux Cousteaux, Artus French Baroque composers French composers of sacred music French tenors 1590 births 1656 deaths People from Picardy 17th-century male musicians