Jehan Fresneau (also Fresnau, Frasnau) (fl. ca. 1468 – 1505) 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 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 one of the composers in the renowned

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

chapel in the mid-1470s, which was disbanded after the assassination of Duke

Galeazzo Maria Sforza Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until 1476. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who would gain the Duchy of Milan in 1450 ...

Life

Fresneau was from

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), 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 Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

, and was probably a priest. A "Jo. Fremniau" active at

Cambrai Cathedral Cambrai Cathedral () is a Catholic church located in Cambrai, Nord, France, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cambrai. The cathedral was registered as a ''monument historique'' on 9 August 1906. It was built between 1696 and 1703, on the si ...

from 1468 to 1469 has tentatively been identified as the same person. He was employed by the French royal chapel between 1469 and 1475, at which time he went to Milan; however, he did not stay there long, for in December 1476 Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza was assassinated, and the many singers and composers of the chapel scattered. Fresneau was among those listed on a safe pass for exit from Milan on 6 February 1477, along with

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 ...

Johannes Martini Johannes Martini (c. 1440 – late 1497 or early 1498) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Life He was born in Brabant around 1440, but information about his early life is scanty. He probably received his early training in F ...

Colinet de Lannoy Colinet de Lannoy (died before 6 February 1497) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the composers/singers working at the Milan chapel at the time of the assassination of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza in 1476, and he possibly also ...

, and others. It is not known where he went immediately; his next documented appearance is at the church of St. Martin in

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

in 1486, where he was also in the employ of

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

. Between 1494 and 1505 he was at the singing school attached to

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral (, lit. Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres) is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the List of bishops of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres. Dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary ( ...

, where he held various positions, including canon, provost, notary, and procurator. No records documenting his life after 1505 have yet been found.Atlas/Alden, Grove online He is mentioned in

Guillaume Crétin Guillaume Cretin (c. 1460 – 30 November 1525) was a French coterie poet who is considered to belong to the network of the Grands Rhétoriqueurs ("rhetoricians"). He is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Guillaume Dubois, but this is a wordplay ...

's elegy on the death of

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colle ...

(6 February 1497) as one of the living composers; however, Crétin does not list him with the most prominent, which included

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he was ...

Johannes Ghiselin Johannes Ghiselin (Verbonnet) ( fl. 1455–1511) was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in France, Italy and in the Low Countries. He was a contemporary of Josquin des Prez, and a significant composer of masses, motets, and secular mu ...

Johannes Prioris Johannes Prioris (c. 1460 – c. 1514) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the first composers to write a polyphonic setting of the Requiem Mass. On the basis of documents surrounding Saint-Sauveur in Blois, Theodor Du ...

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

Gaspar van Weerbeke Gaspar van Weerbeke ( – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian style with the older Burgundian style of Dufay. L ...

Antoine Brumel Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish School, Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of t ...

, and

. The term "nostre maistre" in Crétin's ''Déploration'' has been taken to suggest that all of these composers, including Fresnau, were students of Ockeghem.

Music and manuscript sources

Of his music, only six examples survive, including five

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

s and a setting of the

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. The mass, ''Missa quarti toni'', is for four voices. The chansons, probably written in the 1470s, all use the ''

formes fixes The ''formes fixes'' (; singular: ''forme fixe'', "fixed form") are the three 14th- and 15th-century French poetic forms: the '' ballade'', '' rondeau'', and '' virelai''. Each was also a musical form, generally a ''chanson'', and all consisted ...

''; all are in French, and all are for three voices. Several are preserved in the Florentine

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

''I-Fr 2794'', which contains 60 chansons and 8 pieces in Latin.Hamm/Call, Grove online

Works

Sacred

*''Missa quarti toni'' (four voices)

Secular

*''C'est vous seulle'' (three voices) *''De vous servir'' (three voices) (also attributed to

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 ...

) *''Ha qu'il m'ennuye'' (three voices) (also attributed to Alexander Agricola) *''Notres assouemen'' (three voices (also attributed to Alexander Agricola) *''Nuit et jour'' (three voices) *''Perget'' (three voices) (

contrafactum In vocal music, contrafactum (or contrafact, pl. contrafacta) is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music". The earliest known examples of this "lyrical adaptation" date back to the 9th century in Gregor ...

of ''Nuit et jour'')

References

*Allan W. Atlas/Jane Alden: "Fresneau, Jehan", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 1, 2007)
(subscription access)
*Charles Hamm/Jerry Call: "Sources, MS, §IX: Renaissance polyphony." Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 1, 2007)
(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.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresneau, Jehan 15th-century births 16th-century deaths French male classical composers French Renaissance composers