Clement Janequin.(Brief Article)(Sound Recording Review)

Clement Janequin. Chansons elegiaques et pittoresques. Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal/Gilbert Patenaude. Analekta FL 2 3184, 2004.

Very little is known of the early life of Clement Janequin. It is generally believed, though it has not been conclusively established, that he was born in Chatellerault; his exact birth date is a matter of speculation (probably during the 1480s), and while his compositional style owes a clear debt to Josquin Desprez, there is little reason to believe he ever studied with the Flemish master. (Even less is known of his dotage and death--in fact, the place and date of his death have never been determined.) We know that he became a priest in his twenties and was engaged as a composer by a series of churches and municipalities, and that his published chansons were attracting attention across Europe by the early 1530s. During the early years of that decade he served as master of ...