Martinus Fabri (died May 1400) was a composer of the late 14th century. Fabri was probably either from the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

or in an area in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

that is now in the Netherlands, and lived near the end of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The surname "Fabri" was probably a Latinization of a name like Smit,

Smeets Smeets is a Limburgian language, Limburgian surname (or more broadly, Dutch surname) meaning smith (metalwork), smith (metal worker). The surname hails specifically from the Province of Limburg (1815–1839), Limburg region spanning parts of the So ...

or perhaps

Le Fèvre Lefebvre (; commonly in English-speaking countries, as well as or ) is a common northern French surname. Alternative forms include ''Lefebvre'', ''le Febvre'', ''Le Febvre'', ''Lefèbvre'', ''le Fèbvre'', ''Le Fèbvre'', as well as the common var ...

(all meaning "smith") . Little is known about his life. Apart from an undated mention of his name in the records of the church of St Donatian,

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

, he is known to have been a singer at the court of Holland at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

from 1395 until his death in May 1400 . Of the three singers known to have been at the court in this time period, he was the only one known to have had a university degree . After his demise, several books of

polyphonic music Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (h ...

were bought from his estate by the Count of Holland for use in his chapel . Of his compositions, only four complete pieces survive, all ballades. Two of these have French texts (''Or se depart'' and ''N'ay je cause d’estre lies et joyeux'') and are in the '' ars subtilior'' style, highly complex and mannered . Both are three-voice compositions, though there are two (incompatible) alternatives for the third voice in ''Or se depart''—a triplum and a

contratenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a sp ...

. The other two ballades are in Dutch (''Eer ende lof heb d'aventuer'' and ''Een cleyn parabel''), with a simpler syllabic style of setting . The Leiden manuscript in which all of Fabri's works are found also contains an incomplete ballade, ''Een cleyn parabel'', the text of which describes a dilemma: the poet loves his lady and would like to marry her, but finds it difficult to accept her recently born child. This may be an autobiographical reference: Martinus Fabri had a son baptized in April 1396, and the godmother was Margaret of Cleves, Countess of Holland .

Recordings

*2009 – ''En un gardin. Les quatre saisons de l'Ars Nova. Manuscrits de Stavelot, Mons, Utrecht, Leiden.''

Capilla Flamenca Capilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th century music from Flanders and takes its name from the historical Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca), the choir of the ...

. MEW 0852. Contains a recording of "Eer ende lof" by Martinus Fabri. *2021 – ''Hollandse Fragmenten: Early Dutch Polyphony.'' Diskantores, Niels Berentsen. Muso MU042 . Contains three ballades by Martinus Fabri.

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabri, Martinus Year of birth unknown 1400 deaths Ars subtilior composers Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Flemish composers 14th-century composers Medieval male composers