This Week in Classical Music: April 26, 2021.Jean de Castro.Of all the composers and performers that we’re aware of, the only really significant one to have a birthday this week is Alessandro Scarlatti.We think very highly of him and thanks to Cecilia Bartoli his music is better known these days, although he still seems to be rather underappreciated.We’ve written about him several times, including this entry a year ago (but also here and here).Duke Ellington, born on April 29th of 1899, was a tremendously talented composer but a jazz-related site would be a more appropriate place to celebrate him. We, on the other hand, will use this time to write about one of the numerous composers of the Renaissance and early Baroque whose birth dates were lost.We are aware of about 150 composers that were born from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 18th centuries, whose birthdays are unknown.In reality, there are many more, and there is a surprisingly large number of them who were born later, in the 18th and even 19th century, whose birth records were lost.We’ve written many times about the giants of earlier eras, such as Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria, but never about Jean de Castro, even though during his life (1540 – 1600) only one composer, Lasso, was published more often than him.Castro, despite his Spanish-sounding name, was a Fleming, born in Liège, the city poetically referred to as nostre Castro in Latin.Castro is interesting (and unusual) for being an itinerant musician: most composers of his standing had well-positioned patrons, usually from the nobility or the Church.Castro, on the other hand, moved from one place to another, looking for opportunities, usually finding them within the emerging merchant class of the rich Northern countries.In the 1560s Castro moved to Antwerp, then one of the cultural centers of the Spanish Netherlands, famous for its printing culture, and stayed there till 1576, when the city was decimated by the mutinous Spanish soldiers of Philip II (as Rome was, almost exactly half a century earlier, by the mutinous soldiers of his father, Charles V).While in Antwerp, Castro set to music several sonnets by the famous French poet of the time, Pierre Ronsard.One of them was Bon jour mon Coeur, which Orlando di Lasso also used for a chanson.We don’t have access to Castro’s rendition, but here is the one by Lasso.On the other hand, the picture, above, by a French painter Simon Renard de St. André is a testimony to the popularity of Castro’s music: the notes are from his version of Bon jour mon Coeur.In 1576 Castro fled to Germany and then moved to France.The ten years of his wandering are poorly documented, but in 1586 he returned to Antwerp, where he attended the wedding of Duke Johann Wilhelm de Jülich in Düsseldorf, to whom he dedicated a book of music.This was an auspicious meeting, as two years later the Duke made him the Kapellmeister at Düsseldorf.Castro stayed there for three following years, this being the only stable position of his career.In 1591 the Duke had several strokes and went mad, and Castro moved to Cologne, where he remained for the rest of his life.
As tastes changed early in the 17th century, Jean de Castro was forgotten, as were many other composers of the Renaissance.He still mostly is, which is a pity, as he was a wonderful composer: listen, for example, to this chanson of his, Quand je dors.It is performed by theEnsemble Clément Janequin under the direction of Dominique Visse.
Jean de Castro, 2021
This Week in Classical Music: April 26, 2021. Jean de Castro. Of all the composers and performers that we’re aware of, the only really significant one to have a birthday this week is
Alessandro Scarlatti. We think very highly of him and thanks to Cecilia Bartoli his music is better known these days, although he still seems to be rather underappreciated. We’ve written about him several times, including this entry a year ago (but also here and here). Duke Ellington, born on April 29th of 1899, was a tremendously talented composer but a jazz-related site would be a more appropriate place to celebrate him. We, on the other hand, will use this time to write about one of the numerous composers of the Renaissance and early Baroque whose birth dates were lost. We are aware of about 150 composers that were born from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 18th centuries, whose birthdays are unknown. In reality, there are many more, and there is a surprisingly large number of them who were born later, in the 18th and even 19th century, whose birth records were lost. We’ve written many times about the giants of earlier eras, such as Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria, but never about Jean de Castro, even though during his life (1540 – 1600) only one composer, Lasso, was published more often than him. Castro, despite his Spanish-sounding name, was a Fleming, born in Liège, the city poetically referred to as nostre Castro in Latin. Castro is interesting (and unusual) for being an itinerant musician: most composers of his standing had well-positioned patrons, usually from the nobility or the Church. Castro, on the other hand, moved from one place to another, looking for opportunities, usually finding them within the emerging merchant class of the rich Northern countries. In the 1560s Castro moved to Antwerp, then one of the cultural centers of the Spanish Netherlands, famous for its printing culture, and stayed there till 1576, when the city was decimated by the mutinous Spanish soldiers of Philip II (as Rome was, almost exactly half a century earlier, by the mutinous soldiers of his father, Charles V). While in Antwerp, Castro set to music several sonnets by the famous French poet of the time, Pierre Ronsard. One of them was Bon jour mon Coeur, which Orlando di Lasso also used for a chanson. We don’t have access to Castro’s rendition, but here is the one by Lasso. On the other hand, the picture, above, by a French painter Simon Renard de St. André is a testimony to the popularity of Castro’s music: the notes are from his version of Bon jour mon Coeur. In 1576 Castro fled to Germany and then moved to France. The ten years of his wandering are poorly documented, but in 1586 he returned to Antwerp, where he attended the wedding of Duke Johann Wilhelm de Jülich in Düsseldorf, to whom he dedicated a book of music. This was an auspicious meeting, as two years later the Duke made him the Kapellmeister at Düsseldorf. Castro stayed there for three following years, this being the only stable position of his career. In 1591 the Duke had several strokes and went mad, and Castro moved to Cologne, where he remained for the rest of his life.
As tastes changed early in the 17th century, Jean de Castro was forgotten, as were many other composers of the Renaissance. He still mostly is, which is a pity, as he was a wonderful composer: listen, for example, to this chanson of his, Quand je dors. It is performed by the Ensemble Clément Janequin under the direction of Dominique Visse.