Who was he?

Josquin des Prez was a famous composer during and after his time. He was born 1440, presumably in the Flemish region of Belgium, and died 1521 in Conde-sur-Escaut, France. The composer studied music at collegiate church of St-Quentin, and spent most of his life in Italy. His notable patrons include King Louis XII of France, and Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.

What did he do?

Josquin composed ninety motets, twenty Masses, and seventy secular works. He is noted for his representation of humanism because he took music, a purely mathematical and sacred thing, and intertwined it with words and emotion. To him, music was a passion, and he practiced an art as well as a science. His works can be found in concerts, or albums by modern day instrumentalists and singers. The video above is of an instrumental secular piece called Vive le Roi, which translates to "long live the king." This piece was written between 1501 and 1503 while Josquin was under the patronage of King Louis XII of France.

In addition to composing, Josquin was a singer. He was employed by the Milan Cathedral, the chapel choir of the dukes of Milan, and the papal choir in Rome. After making his way around Italy, and working in France for a while, Josquin returned to Flanders. He spent most of the rest of his life in his home country, and his name was well known across the continent. Many musical works were still requested from him, and he was appointed provost of the collegiate church of Notre Dame at Condé-sur-l'Escaut, where he died.

Ave Maria

This is Ave Maria . . . Virgo Serena, a dynamic and quite famous motet by Josquin. The lyrics illustrate the purity of the Virgin Mary. It re-tells the traditional, Christian values of Mary, and Jesus’ birth, while experimenting with new styles of music. Polyphony, imitation, and a balance of chordal and linear phrases are all emerging styles of this era, and Josquin uses them well. The composer appears to avoid dissonance and complex rhythms, which leads to a cleaner sounding piece and reflects the goodness of Mary. Both idealism and humanism are contained in this piece, because the Virgin Mary is being glorifying beyond reality, but the music presents strong, human emotion that was written out of passion.