Johannes Legrant (fl. c. 1420 – 1440) was a French or

Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following: *Someone or something from Burgundy. *Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...

composer of the early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

. Little is known for certain about his life, and as is common for composers of the early 15th century, there are problems of identification in the existing records. In 1423 and 1424, he may have been a vicar at St. Vincent in Soignes, a collegiate church with an active music establishment. Antwerp Cathedral's records mention a 'Heer Jan le Grant' as a singer there from 1441 to 1443, and this may also have been him. All of Legrant's surviving music is vocal. His style is related to that of the early Burgundian School, and resembles some of the early work of Guillaume Dufay and

Gilles Binchois Gilles de Bins dit Binchois (also Binchoys; – 20 September 1460) was a Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music. A central figure of the Burgundian School, Binchois and his colleague Guillaume Du Fay were deeply influenced by the ...

; influence may have gone either way. He wrote elegant melodic lines in the Burgundian manner, and used the secular forms which were typical of the Burgundians: the rondeau and the ballade.

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 that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. ...

is also prominent in his work.Wright/Gallagher: Grove online In addition to his secular music – four rondeaux and a ballade – four sacred pieces have survived, including two settings of the

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkin ...

of the

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

, for two and three voices, and a three voice Credo. It is not known if he is related to

Guillaume Legrant Guillaume Legrant (Guillaume Lemacherier, Le Grant) (fl. 1405–1449) was a French composer of the early Renaissance, active in Flanders, Italy, and France. He was one of the first composers in writing polyphony to distinguish between passages for ...

, a slightly better-known contemporary of Johannes. The one ballade attributed to Johannes has also been suggested to be the work of Guillaume based on stylistic characteristics.

References

* Craig Wright/Sean Gallagher: "Johannes Legrant", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 23, 2008)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legrant, Johannes 1440 deaths Burgundian school composers Renaissance composers Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown French classical composers French male classical composers French composers of sacred music