Nicolas Payen (also Nicolas Colin) (c. 1512, in

Soignies Soignies (; , ; ; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies and Thieusies. Casteau is k ...

– after April 24, 1559) was a

Franco-Flemish The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition originating from France ...

composer and choirmaster 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 ...

, associated with the ''Grande Chapelle'', the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

imperial chapel, at the end of the reign of

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

Life

Payen was born in

, and received his earliest musical training in that town, in the church of St. Vincent. When he was about 13 years old he went to Spain to sing in the choir of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

; children were commonly recruited in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

for service in the imperial chapel. In the 1530s he may have attended university, but this portion of his life is poorly documented. In the 1540s he rose in the chapel hierarchy, becoming successively a clerk and a chaplain, and in 1556 he took over the post of ''maestro di capilla'', the director of music, from Cornelius Canis who had retired the previous year simultaneously with the abdication of Charles V. Thus Payen became the first ''maestro di capilla'' for Habsburg monarch

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

.Dunning, Grove online, "Nicolas Payen" Payen acquired honors including

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

s. In 1558 he became canon at the church in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

the next year or shortly after.

Music and influence

Payen's music is both sacred and secular, and all surviving music is vocal, although some of his

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 were later arranged for

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

. Thirteen

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 and five chansons have survived with attribution to him. The motets include some written for state occasions, such as ''Carole cur defles'', for the death of Queen Isabella, in 1545. One, ''In Gott gelaub ich das er hat'', is in German. All are for four or five voices. His chansons are all for four voices, and all are in French. His name appears in association with the controversial term ''

musica reservata In music history, ''musica reservata'' (also ''musica secreta'') is either a style or a performance practice in ''a cappella'' vocal music of the latter half of the 16th century, mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusiv ...

'', a style of composition and performance beginning around the mid-16th century, which most likely involved intensely expressive setting of text, chromatic part-writing, and small audiences of connoisseurs. The Bavarian ambassador to the court of Charles V wrote a letter to his employer,

Albrecht V Albrecht ("noble", "bright") is a given name or surname of German origin and may refer to: First name * Albrecht Agthe, (1790–1873), German music teacher * Albrecht Altdorfer, (c. 1480–1538) German Renaissance painter * Albrecht Becker, (190 ...

, Duke of Bavaria, expressing what would happen when Payen would become ''maestro di capilla'' of the

Flemish Chapel (capilla flamenca) The Flemish chapel (Spanish: capilla flamenca) was one of two choirs employed by Philip II of Spain, the other being the Spanish chapel (or capilla española). Deriving from the ''Grand Chapelle'' of Philip I of Castile, the choir served under va ...

for the Habsburg king: "''musica reservata'' will become even more fashionable now than before, fter Nicolas Payen succeeds Cornelius Canis for the position since Canis was not able to reconcile himself to it." Thus Payen was a composer in a progressive style to Canis's more conservative bent. For further information
Laura Pollie Mc Dowell, "Nicolas Payen - Motets and chansons", A-R Edition, Middleton, 2006

Motets

* Virgo prudentissima * Coenantibus illis * Carole cur defles Isabellam * Nunc dimittis * Resurrectio Christi/Surrexit * Qui dabit capiti * Convertimini ad me * Domine, deus salutis * Confitemur delicta * Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis * Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel * Eripe me de inimicis meis Domine

Songs

* Fringotes jeusnes fillettes * Hau de par Dieu * Il y a de lognon * Je ne me puis tenir * Avecque vous mon amour finira * Vien tost despiteux desconfort

Choir

* In Gott gelaub ich das er hatLaura Pollie Mc Dowell, "Nicolas Payen - Motets and chansons", A-R Edition, Middleton, 2006

Recordings

* 3 motets and 6 chansons by Payen on ''Tota Vita – Music for Charles V''. Egidius Kwartet. KTC1239. 2000.

References

*Albert Dunning, "Nicolas Payen", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed August 13, 2007)
(subscription access)
*Albert Dunning, "Musica reservata", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed August 13, 2007)
(subscription access)
*Allan W. Atlas, ''Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400–1600.'' New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1998. *
Laura Pollie Mc Dowell, "Nicolas Payen - Motets and chansons", A-R Edition, Middleton, 2006

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payen, Nicolas 1510s births 1559 deaths People from Soignies Renaissance composers Chanson composers Male classical composers People from the Habsburg Netherlands