Jacques Arcadelt

Jacques Arcadelt
Born(1507-08-10)10 August 1507
Died14 October 1568(1568-10-14) (aged 61)
Paris, France
Occupations
  • Singer
  • composer
Organizations
Known forMadrigals

Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 10 August 1507 – 14 October 1568[1]) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music. Although he also wrote sacred vocal music, he was one of the most famous of the early composers of madrigals; his first book of madrigals, published within a decade of the appearance of the earliest examples of the form, was the most widely printed collection of madrigals of the entire era.[2] In addition to his work as a madrigalist, and distinguishing him from the other prominent early composers of madrigals – Philippe Verdelot and Costanzo Festa – he was equally prolific and adept at composing chansons, particularly late in his career when he lived in Paris.[3]

Arcadelt was the most influential member of the early phase of madrigal composition, the "classic" phase; it was through Arcadelt's publications, more than those of any other composer, that the madrigal became known outside of Italy. Later composers considered Arcadelt's style to represent an ideal; later reprints of his first madrigal book were often used for teaching, with reprints appearing more than a century after its original publication.[1]

  1. ^ a b James Haar/Letitia Glozer, New Grove online
  2. ^ Harvard Dictionary of Music, p. 463
  3. ^ Einstein, Vol. I p. 264