Possibly born in Bruges in 1490§ and definitely dying in Venice in 1562, Willaert was originally packed off to Paris to study law. However, he there met Jean Mouton and switched to studying music with him. He then progressed (in 1515) to being a singer in the choir associated with Cardinal Ippolite I d'Este of Ferrara, and as part of that household he peregrinated around Rome, Ferrara and swathes of Hungary. In 1527, he was appointed maestro di capella at St. Mark's, Venice -a position he continued to hold until his death. As the effective head of church music in Venice, he became someone that many around Europe wanted to study with; his musical influence was thus extensive and the prestige attaching to the Venetian musical establishment was considerably enhanced during his tenure there.
He is mostly known for his church music, therefore, usually written in a grand manner suitable for solemn occasions. His vesper psalms of 1550 established the practice of writing for double choir, which became something of a trademark for Venetian music of the period. He also penned several masses and a polyphonic hymn cycle that follows the St. Mark's liturgy, along with madrigals, chansons and some early examples of the instrumental ricercar.
His name does not trip lightly from many 21st Century tongues, but in his day he was widely respected -with someone as illustrious as Monteverdi declaring his work to be the crowning achievement of the prima practica -the 'old style' of music-writing which Monteverdi thought was mostly characterised by perfection of part-writing, regardless of the meaning of the words (and distinct from seconda practica, in which harmony was put at the service of the meaning of the words).
§ Note that at the time of writing, Wikipedia confidently asserts that he was born in at "Rumbeke near Roeselare", but the 'citation needed' accompaniment to that declaration is the clue that we don't actually have that degree of certainty!
Music Plays from my collection
(since January 9th 2021)
| Date of Play | Time of Play | Genre | Composition | Length | Play Count |
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| Date of Play | Time of Play | Genre | Composition | Length | Play Count |