Firmin Lebel (early 16th century – 27–31 December 1573) was a French composer and choir director of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, active in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. While relatively little of his music survives, he was notable as one of the likely teachers of

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

. He was born in

Noyon Noyon (; ; , Noviomagus of the Viromandui, 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, about northeast of Paris. The ...

, but nothing is known of his early life. He was a chaplain at Santa Maria Maggiore, and was ''maestro di cappella'' of its Liberian chapel by 1540; while at this post, from late 1540 and possibly continuing for several years, he is thought to have been a teacher of the young Palestrina. In 1545 he became ''maestro di cappella'' at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, a position he kept until 1561, at which time

Annibale Zoilo Annibale Zoilo (c. 1537–1592) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance Roman School. He was a contemporary of Palestrina, writing music in a closely related style, and was a prominent composer and choir director in Rom ...

was appointed in his place. On 4 September 1561, he joined the papal chapel; evidently he was highly regarded as a choir director and composer, for the entrance examination was waived in his case, by

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

himself. After only four years, however, the chapel choir was dramatically reduced as part of the reforms of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

, and Lebel was dismissed, along with many other singers, including Ghiselin Danckerts. Lebel remained in Rome for the rest of his life, and a requiem was sung in his honor in 1574 at the chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi. Only three of Lebel's works survive, all

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s. Two, a setting of the ''Ave verum corpus'' and ''Sancta Maria succurre miseris'', are for five voices, and the other, ''Puer natus est'', is for six. Stylistically they are typical of the generation before Palestrina, during which the Franco-Flemish rather than Italians dominated the musical scene in Rome.

References and further reading

*Allan W. Atlas: "Firmin Lebel", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 6, 2006)
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* Gustave Reese, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebel, Firmin 16th-century births 1573 deaths People from Noyon French male classical composers French Renaissance composers Expatriates in the Papal States