Firminus Caron
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Firminus Caron (
fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for '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 indic ...
1460–1475) was a
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
composer, and likely a singer, 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 ...
. He was highly successful as a composer and influential, especially on the development of imitative
counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...
, and numerous compositions of his survive. Most of what is known about his life and career is inferred.


Life

Most musical manuscripts give his name only as "Caron." But his contemporary, the music theorist
Johannes Tinctoris Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music, Renaissance music theory, music theorist and composer from the Franco-Flemish School, Low Countries. Up to his ...
names him in three different treatises as "Firminus Caron" and the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
choirbook A choirbook is a large format manuscript used by choirs in churches or cathedrals during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The book is large enough for the entire choir to read from one book and may contain either monophonic gregorian chant or poly ...
San Pietro B80 has "F. Caron" written above its copy of his ''Missa L'homme armé''. Attempts in the past to identify him with people named Philippe Caron and Jean Caron are therefore to be discarded. Furthermore, a reference to "Firminus Caron" as ''primus musicus'' at Amiens cathedral in 1422 has now been shown to be misdated: his activity in Amiens is attested by numerous documents dating from 1459 to 1475 (when his father died). A document of 1473 names him "maistre Fremin le Caron," implying that he had a university master's degree, and that of 1475 names him "sire Fremin le Caron," meaning that he had been ordained a priest. Some writers of the time, including Tinctoris, praised Caron. Most of Caron's music survives in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
manuscripts, leading to the hypothesis that he may have spent some time in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, a common destination for composers from northern Europe: however many compositions by French composers made their way to Italian manuscripts without being carried there by their composers, so this is not certain. In 1472 and 1473, Caron is mentioned by
Loyset Compère Loyset Compère ( – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicia ...
alongside
Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...
, and stylistic similarities between the two composers suggests a relation. In addition, one of Caron's masses appears in a Cambrai manuscript dated to 1472 or 1473, the year before Dufay's death there. Caron may have been in Cambrai in the early 1470s and known Dufay, but even that is not certain. References to Caron in writings by music theorists appear as late as 1556, in the writings of German Hermann Finck, indicating the spread and duration of his reputation.
Johannes Tinctoris Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music, Renaissance music theory, music theorist and composer from the Franco-Flemish School, Low Countries. Up to his ...
, whose writings are a rich source on 15th-century composers and
music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
, extravagantly praises Caron's music, but also mentions that he was poorly educated.


Music and influence

Caron left both sacred and secular music, including five masses and numerous secular songs. One of the earliest masses based on the famous tune ''
L'homme armé "L'homme armé" () is a secular song from the Late Middle Ages, of the Burgundian School. According to Allan W. Atlas, "the tune circulated in both the Mixolydian mode and Dorian mode (transposed to G)." It was the most popular tune used for mus ...
'' is by Caron, and survives in an early 1460s
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
manuscript along with ''L'homme armé'' masses by several other composers. In Caron's setting the tune is transposed to
Dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...
and elaborated considerably; the upper voices often sing in two-part imitation. Most of his secular songs were in French, and for three voices, and most survive from Italian manuscripts. Most are rondeaux, and most are in duple meter. One of his songs, ''Helas que pourra devenir'', was extraordinarily famous, and was the second-most-widely distributed song in manuscript sources of the third quarter of the 15th century (''De tous biens plaine'', by
Hayne van Ghizeghem Hayne van Ghizeghem ( 1445 – from 1472 to 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance Burgundian School. While many of his works have survived, little is known about his life. He was probably born in Gijzegem (near Aalst, i ...
, was the first). It is unusual among songs of the time in using very close
imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...
, and it seems to have initiated a trend.
David Fallows David Fallows (born 20 December 1945) is an English Musicology, musicologist specializing in music of the late medieval music, Middle Ages and early Renaissance music, Renaissance, as well as the performance practice of music. He is a leader in ...
, writing in the
New Grove ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...
, hypothesises that it may have originated as an instrumental
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
.


References and further reading

* David Fallows: "Firminus Caron", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 2–4, 2006)
(subscription access)
*
Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940 ...
, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. *


External links

* * * Edition of th
chansons
on the homepage of the Goldberg Stiftung {{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Firminus French male classical composers French Renaissance composers Date of death unknown Year of birth unknown 15th-century Franco-Flemish composers