Josquin des prez contribution to music

The number of reliable dates and documents is relatively small. To remain in the language of the puzzle: many pieces sources are irretrievably missing and we have to rely on circumstantial evidence to obtain a chronological picture of his life.

When was josquin des prez born

Because of his fame, there are a number of anecdotes handed down posthumously whose veracity is questionable. Confusions with composers and singers of similar name are added. Since a uniform spelling is lacking and latinisations of his name also differ, confusion is inevitable. Relatively few works are found in contemporary sources.

Misattributions are common. With his death, the transmission of his works increased significantly, i. It was not until the late s that Josquin was shown to have been born around and not as early as , as had been assumed since the mids. It was also possible to differentiate Josquin Desprez from three other persons with similar names who were confused with Josquin Desprez in the second half of the 20th century and formed a common biography:.

Josquin is the diminutive of Josse Latin Judocus and the name of a Breton saint. They or their ancestors could have come from Prez, a place nearby, which would explain the byname. Although the presumed place of birth could be reached from the definitive place of death in under five hours by horse-drawn carriage and this suggests a quiet life, in the meantime Josquin travelled thousands of kilometres, served king s , princes and the Pope, scratched his name into the wooden benches of the Sistine Chapel, was praised by the reformer Luther for his music and survived a plague epidemic.

Most importantly, however, he or someone else composed some of the most beautiful works in the history of music. The following table summarises the current state of research essentially Fallows on the most important stations in his life:.