Jakob Hobrecht (1430-1506) was the first real Dutch composer, and is noted, in his use of technical forms, for their emotional beauty rather than mechanical excellence.
Part of a composition by Hobrecht, cited by Naumann, “History of Music,” Vol. I, page 331. Excerpt shows how strictly even this fragment is written and yet how musical it is. At 1 is shown a figure in the bass repeated in imitation a step higher at 2. At A is shown a melody imitated at B in augmentation and with altered rhythm. The student should refer to Naumann.
This is truly a remarkable work for that period, and shows that even then composers were beginning to observe the emotional power of chord relationship.
Johann Tinctor (1446-1511), a disciple of Okeghem, worked in Rome and Naples, and will be considered with the Italian school. Josquin de Pres (1450-1521), also a disciple of Okeghem, worked in Rome and Paris, and must also be considered as one of the Italian school. It may be here mentioned that he was one of the first to use music as a vehicle for expressing human emotions rather than technical power. He summed up in himself all the harmonic science of the 15th century. He was renowned through all Europe as a composer, and if his music seems to us somewhat dry and pedantic there is abundant testimony to the deep impression it made upon his contemporaries, which is a test of its power to excite and to express emotion. Compared with the works of his predecessors and even the majority of his contemporaries, Josquin’s writings show freedom from the bonds of the old scholasticism, greater simplicity and esthetic beauty. Among those of his works that have come to us is a Miserere for five voices, and an Ave Maria that cannot be considered other than lovely music. Nicholas Gombert (1495-1570), a pupil of Josquin de Pres, had a natural, tuneful and flowing style similar to that afterwards shown by Palestrina. His work was done in Madrid, and to him Spain and Portugal owe all they have of the ancient polyphonic music. Jacob Arkadelt (1492-1570) and Claude Goudimel (1510-1572) worked in Rome, Adrian Willaert (1480-1562) and Cyprian de Rore (1516-1565) in Venice, and will be considered with the Italian school. Orlando di Lasso (1520-1594) worked some in Italy, but mostly in Munich, where his influence was great. His style was broad, flowing and especially emotional, and as a writer of the Netherlands school his name stands as one of the very highest. J. P. Sweelinck (1562-1621) is the last, and while of the Netherlands, studied in Venice, but did his work at home. He was a great organist and the last great master of the school, and had the honor of being the link between it and the German school, serving as an example for Sebastian Bach. His works have recently been published in Germany. Of all these men it may be said that they developed music steadily toward the goal of emotional freedom.
Summary.—The great work of this school was to make technic subservient to thought. In all preceding schools, the material and the forms were so new and the methods of handling them so crude, that technic always dominated thought. And it was naturally so, for expression cannot come until the power to master the material has been attained; it was by this power that the Netherlands developed emotional music. But the student invariably objects and says he does not see any emotion in the polyphonic music of this period! The student must place himself in the position of these old masters, supported by the church and constantly imbibing the religious atmosphere of the institution they served, until they unconsciously expressed, in their music, the grandeur and power of their religion rather than the intimate personal feeling of modern musicians; and then the student will understand what is meant by polyphonic emotion. We must always remember that polyphonic emotion is not monophonic emotion, and that its tremendous technic and complexity of device were but the means of expressing its peculiar form of emotion, which to understand, one must study diligently, and then approach with a reverent feeling.
- References.
- Grove.—Dictionary of Music and Musicians, article on Schools
- of Composition, relating to the Netherlands.
- Naumann.—History of Music, Vol. I.
- Smith.—Music; How it Came to be What it Is.
- Parry.—Evolution of the Art of Music, Chapters IV and V.
- Langhans.—History of Music.
Questions and Suggestions.
Why did the Netherlands become the musical centre?