HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Antoine Busnois & Dilemmatic Jacqueline

Manuscript of Busnois' Missa O Crux Lignum

From the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (V-CVbav) MS Capp. Sist. 51

Compiled 1472-91

Born circa 1430 in the Netherlands, perhaps Pas-de-Calais in northern France, Antoine Busnois (Busnoys) was a singer and composer of the Burgundian School, fountainhead to the musical Renaissance. Highly popular during his time, the principle years of his musical activity probably stretched from about 1450 to the end of his life. Though Busnois wrote sacred music such as motets, Masses and Magnificats (canticles of Mary), the larger portion of his work consisted of sixty surviving secular chansons (songs), mainly rondeaux along with numerous bergerettes. The bergerette is a virilai of only one stanza. The virilai is among the three "fixed forms" along with ballades and rondeaux that had long since become standard by the time of Busnois.

Busnois was an aristocrat who by 1461 had become a chaplain in Tours, then a subdeacon in 1465. He next taught music for about a year in Poitiers before entering into the service of Duke Charles the Bold in Burgundy. Charles was the son of Philip the Good, largely under whose auspices the Burgundian circle had begun its flourish into the musical Renaissance. Busnois served Charles not only at court but on military expeditions, surviving the Battle of Nancy in which Charles was killed and Burgundy permanently humbled in 1477. Charles was called "The Bold" (rather than Good) due to reckless strategies as a commander. Busnois continued with the Burgundian Court under Mary the Good until 1482, the remaining ten years of his life obscure.

Of Busnois' sacred music he possibly wrote several Masses, though only two are thought to be fairly certain, his 'Missa L'homme arme' and 'Missa O Crux lignum triumphale'. 'Missa L'homme arme' uses the secular song, 'L'homme arme', as a cantus firmus (pre-existing melody) upon which to build the composition of the Mass in its five standard sections (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei). 'L'homme arme' was composed by Busnois according to Italian theoretician, Pietro Aron. Busnois may have written the Missa soon afterward sometime between 1450 and 1463 as estimated by Paul van Nevel in notes to 'La Dissection d’un Homme armé' by the Huelgas Ensemble (1990). Setting the Ordinary Mass to secular music was a trademark of the Burgundian school imitated by numerous composers of the 'Missa L'homme arme' alone. Though mixing secular music with sacred text had its purist detractors, once the Burgundian lot began the practice it arrived to stay as Christianity encountered the humanist tide of the Renaissance with its emphasis on ancient Greece (putting "classical" into classical music, as emphasis on antiquity would continue for several centuries through the Romantics). Busnois' 'Missa L'homme arme' is copied into several codices (manuscript compilations) including the V-CVbav MS Capp. Sist. 14, the V-CVbav MS Capp. Sist. 63, the V-CVbav MS Chigi, the V-CVbav MS S. Maria Maggiore 26 and the E-Bbc M 454 (Cancionero musical de Barcelona). Some of the dates below are cited from Dickey at All Music.

Kyrie of the 'Missa L'homme arme' For 4 voices Antoine Busnois Circa 1460

'Mass of the Armed Man'

Pro Cantione Antiqua directed by Bruno Turner

Busnois' 'Missa O Crux lignum triumphale' is found in the codex, V-CVbav MS Capp. Sist. 51, compiled between 1472 and 1491. The work, though, defies specific dating, falling somewhere between the fifties and seventies.

'Missa O Crux lignum triumphale' For 4 voices Antoine Busnois Sometime 1450s-1470s

'Mass of the wooden Cross triumphant'

The Orlando Consort

Among sacred motets composed by Busnois is 'Alleluia: Verbum caro factum est' ('The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us' - John 1:14). 'Alleluia' is found in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek / Bibliothèque Royale B-Br MS 5557 known in short as the KBR. The KBR housed in Brussels, Belgium, may have been compiled for Charles the Bold by Busnois, Guillaume DuFay and/or anonymous others between 1459 and 1480, 'Alleluia' possibly dating to as early as 1459.

'Alleluia: Verbum caro factum est' Motet for 4 voices Antoine Busnois Circa 1470

'Hallelujah: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us'

Capilla Flamenca

Another of Busnois' motets is 'Anthoni usque limina' also found in the KBR and dated 1459-1480. Composers of the Burgundian variety often included little puzzles in their works by devise of such as acrostics, puns, numerology, etc.. Busnois was well-known for clever tricks in both the lyrics and notation of his works. In 'Anthoni usque limina' Busnois spelled his own name with an acronym in the first and last lines of the text: "Anthoni usque limina ... fiat in omnibus noys."

'Anthoni usque limina' Motet for 4 voices Antoine Busnois Circa 1459-1480

'Anthony, call us to the limits'

Capella Sancti Michaelis

Busnois encountered one Jacqueline de Hacqueville in the early 1460s whose identity is currently split between two. Jacqueline might have earlier been damoiselle d'honneur (maid of honor) to dauphine Marguerite d'Ecosse (Margaret of Scotland b 1424 d 1445), first wife of future King Louis XI who reigned 1461-83. This Jacqueline may have also served as damoiselle d'honneur to Marie d'Anjou (b 1404 d 1463), wife of Charles VII from 1422, dowager Queen from 1461 upon Charles' death. Or Jacqueline might have been the younger by a generation who had to have been born sometime between 1445 and 1457 [Higgins], and wife by 1474 to Jean Bo(u)chart, wealthy merchant and member of the Parisian Parliament under Louis XI, Charles VIII and Louis XIII. Whichever Jacqueline it was, in the prime of her life or perhaps a teenager, four of Busnois' compositions are dedicated to her via devices such as acrostic puzzles in their texts: 'Jaqueline si attende' ('Ja que lui ne si actende'), 'A vous sans autre', 'Je ne puis vivre ainsi toujours' and 'Ha, que ville et abominable'.

It isn't certain if Busnois' poetry translates into any brief love affair between he and Jacqueline. As a cleric of the Catholic Church at Tours he was bound to celibacy, formally anyway. As for Jacqueline, she probably composed poetry, rondeaux and ballades herself. Paula Higgins [biblio below] has made a case that Jacqueline herself may have been the actual lyricist of at least 'Jaqueline si attende'. Higgins further posits that the anonymous song, 'Pour les biens qu'en vous je parcoy' may be written by Jacqueline, concealing an anagram which reads "Ces vers pour Busnoys, Jaqueline" ("These verses for Busnoys, Jaqueline"). Busnois may have written his songs to Jacqueline as early as 1460. In 1980 Leeman Perkins estimated 1461 or 1465 in connection to a summer love affair. In any case, all four are all contained in the Dijon Chansonnier compiled circa 1465-1469.

'Jaqueline si attende' is a bergerette (single stanza virelai) in which "Jaqueline" is revealed in the incipit 'Ja que lui ne si actende' coming to "Though he does not expect it” or “Jaqueline expects". This work is found transcribed into numerous codices compiled later than the Dijon Chansonnier.

'Jaqueline si attende' Bergerette for 3 voices Antoine Busnois Early 1460s

The Orlando Consort

'À vous sans autre me viens rendre' is a rondeau composed for an alto and two sopranos. Copied into the Mellon Chansonnier (US-NHub 91) in addition to the Dijon, this song spells "AIaqveljne" with the first letter of each verse.

'À vous sans autre me viens rendre' Rondeau for 3 voices Antoine Busnois Early 1460s

'I come to you, alone'

Tracy Cowart - Elena Mullins - Sian Ricketts

'Je ne puis vivre ainsi toujours' is a bergerette (single stanza virelai) for tenor, cantus and countertenor (tenor and two sopranos). This song spells "Jaqueljne d'Aqvevjle" with the first letter of each line [CPDL]. 'Je ne puis vivre ainsi toujours' is found in both the Dijon Chansonnier (F-Dm MS 517) compiled circa 1465-69, and the Mellon Chansonnier (US-NHub 91) copied 1475-76 and shelved in New Haven, Connecticut.

'Je ne puis vivre ainsi toujours' Bergerette for 3 voices Antoine Busnois Early 1460s

'I cannot live with this forever'

Pomerium directed by Alexander Blachly

The first line of the rondeau, 'A que ville est abhominable', contains a pun on the name, Aqueville. This composition is found in several codices compiled later than the Dijon Chansonnier.

'A que ville est abhominable' Rondeau for 3 voices Antoine Busnois Early 1460s

Arrangement for voice and organ: Guido Menestrina

One work that can be given a date specific to the year is Busnois' motet, 'In hydraulis quondam Pythagora', written in 1467 in dedication to Count Charles who would become Duke of Burgundy that year, mentioned above as Charles the Bold. 'In hydraulis' was otherwise written in honor of Johannes Ockeghem whom Busnois praises in his poem. It was transcribed into the Leopold Codex (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek D-Mbs Mus. MS 3154) collected circa 1466-1511, and the Trent 91 (I-TRbc MS 1378) compiled circa 1460-1480. The "hydraulis" is a water organ invented in 3rd century B.C. Alexandria by Greek mathematician, Ctesibius. The hydraulis is also the earliest-known keyboard, a pipe organ developed from out the panpipe. Pythagoras actually predates the hydraulis by a couple of centuries, born circa 570 B.C. (death c 495 B.C.), thus was probably not so acquainted with the instrument as Busnois would imply in his poem.

'In hydraulis quondam Pythagora' Motet for 3 voices Antoine Busnois 1467

Diabolus In Musica directed by Antoine Guerber

Busnois is usually credited with the madrigal, 'Fortuna Desperata', though this is a matter of debate, one reason among others being that he isn't known to have ever visited Italy. Find this composition addressed by Paula Higgins in Antoine Busnoys: Method, Meaning, and Context in Late Medieval Music (Clarendon Press 1999). 'Fortuna Desperata' has been included in numerous codices and imitated in Mass settings by various including Josquin des Prez and Jacob Obrecht.

'Fortuna Desperata' Madrigal for 3 & 4 voices Antoine Busnois Circa 1470

The Clerks' Group directed by Edward Wickham

See TASV Digital & Gaudeamus CD GAU 220

The motet, 'Gaude Caelestis Domina', was composed sometime prior to its mention by Tinctoris in 'Proportionale musices' written in 1472-73. It was copied into the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana V-CVbav MS Capp. Sist. 15 compiled circa 1495-1500.

'Gaude Caelestis Domina' Motet for 4 voices Antoine Busnois < 1472

'Rejoice Heavenly Lady'

The Orlando Consort

'Anima mea liquefacta est' is a combination motet which second part is 'Stirps Jesse'. Dickey at All Music discusses the possibility of Busnois composing this as early as the 1460s while in Tours prior to leaving for Burgundy in 1467. Another possibility of 1468 is proffered per the occasion of the wedding of Duke Charles the Bold to Margaret of York. It was certainly composed by 1480, being included in the KBR which was compiled between 1459 and 1480 (to which Busnois may have contributed transcriptions for Charles the Bold per above). It was also entered into the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (V-CVbav MS Capp. Sist. 15) compiled in Rome circa 1495-1500.

'Anima mea liquefacta est' Motet for 3 voices Antoine Busnois

'My Soul Failed' Text based on Song of Solomon 5:6-9

Capella Sancti Michaelis

'Amours nous traitte honnestement' is a combination rondeau which second part is 'Je m'en voy'. Completed on an undetermined date, it is found in the Biblioteca Riccardiana (I-Fr Ms. 2794) probably compiled for the French Court in the 1480s by 1488, and the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale (II-Fn MS Banco Rari 229) compiled in Florence in 1492-93.