Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495 – c. 1560) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex polyphonic style of this period in music history.

Life

Details of his early life are sketchy, but he was probably born around 1495 in southern Flanders, probably between Lille and Saint-Omer, possibly in the town of La Gorgue. German writer and music theorist Hermann Finck wrote that Gombert studied with Josquin; this would have been during the renowned composer's retirement in Condé-sur-l'Escaut, sometime between 1515 and 1521.

Gombert was employed by the emperor Charles V as a singer in his court chapel in 1526 and possibly as a composer as well. Most likely he was taken on while Charles was passing through Flanders, for the emperor traveled often, bringing his retinue with him, and picking up new members as he went. A document dated 1529 mentions Gombert as magister puerorum ("master of the boys") for the royal chapel. The exact duration of his service in the galleys is not known, but he was able to continue composing for at least part of the time. He preferred the lower voice ranges instead of the four voices (SATB) which were the most common voicings for pieces at the time, such as five and six parts in mostly male registers.

Gombert's eight settings of the Magnificat are among his most famous works. Each is written in one of the church modes, and consists of a cycle of short motets, with the individual motets based on successive verses of the Magnificat text.

While most composers of the next generation did not continue to write vocal music using Gombert's method of pervasive imitation, they continued to use this contrapuntal texture in instrumental works. Forms such as the canzona and ricercar are directly descended from the vocal style of Gombert; Baroque forms and processes such as the fugue are later descendants. Gombert's music represents one of the extremes of contrapuntal complexity ever attained in purely vocal music.

Recordings

  • Nicolas Gombert, Music from the Court of Charles V, Huelgas Ensemble, Sony Vivarte SK 48249
  • Nicolas Gombert, Missa media vita, etc., Hilliard Ensemble, ECM New Series 1884 [https://www.classicalacarte.net/Goldberg50/Dossiers/ecm_1884_9818792.htm]
  • Nicolas Gombert, Gombert: Motets, Beauty Farm, Fra Bernardo FB 1504211 [http://frabernardo.com/?portfolio=nicolas-gombert-motets-beauty-farm]
  • Nicolas Gombert, Gombert: Motets II, Beauty Farm, Fra Bernardo FB 1612457
  • Nicolas Gombert, Gombert: Masses, a la Coronatione, Media Vita, Philomena Previa, Beati Omnes. Motets, Media Vita, Beati omnes. Beauty Farm, Fra Bernado FB 2005329
  • Nicolas Gombert, Magnificat 1, etc., Oxford Camerata, Naxos 8.557732
  • Nicolas Gombert, Magnificats 1–4, Tallis Scholars, CD Gimell Records CDGIM 037 [https://www.classicalacarte.net/Goldberg50/Dossiers/gimell_cdgim_037.htm]
  • Nicolas Gombert, Magnificats 5–8, Tallis Scholars, CD Gimell Records CDGIM 038
  • Nicolas Gombert, Eight-part Credo, etc., Henry's Eight: Hyperion CDA 66828
  • Nicolas Gombert, Missa Tempore paschali, etc., Henry's Eight, Hyperion CDA 66943
  • Heavenly Spheres, CBC Records, MVCD 1121, sung by Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal. Contains two motets by Gombert, including his elegy for Josquin, Musae Jovis.
  • Flemish Masters, Virginia Arts Recordings, VA-04413, performed by Zephyrus. Includes Gombert's motet, Lugebat David Absalon, the Obrecht Missa Sub tuum presidium, as well as motets by Willaert, Clemens non Papa, Ockeghem, Des Prez, and Mouton.
  • Christmas to Candlemas, Ensemble Gombert, Tall Poppies TP192. Includes Gombert's motet "Hodie nobis caelorum" and seasonal works by Mouton, Josquin, de Silva, Clemens non Papa, Tallis, Victoria, Lassus, Sheppard and Palestrina.
  • Josquin to Martin, Ensemble Gombert, Move Records MCD 277. Includes Gombert's motet "Regina caeli laaetare" and works by Josquin, de Monte, Byrd, Brahms ("Drei Motetten," op. 110) and Frank Martin (Mass for Double Choir).
  • Nicolas Gombert, Nicolas Gombert 1, The Sound and the Fury, ORF CD 463. Includes Missa Quam Pulchra Es, Ave Maria, Salve Maria, Sancta Maria, Da Pacem, Inviolata.
  • Nicolas Gombert, Nicolas Gombert 2, The Sound and the Fury, ORF SACD 3006. Includes Missa Sur Tous Regrets, Si Ignoras Te, Homo Erat in Jerusalem, Sancta Mundi, Ave Salus Mundi, Emendemus, Ne Reminiscaris Domine, Salvator Mundi.
  • Nicolas Gombert, Nicolas Gombert 3, The Sound and the Fury, ORF CD 3077. Includes twelve motets.
  • Nicolas Gombert, Tribulatio et angustia, Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice, Hyperion CDA67614
  • Nicolas Gombert, Motets, Chansons, and a Magnificat, Capella Alamire, Urquhart, Naxos 8.570180
  • Listen to free recordings of songs from Umeå Akademiska Kör.

References

Notes

Sources

  • Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400–1600. New York: Norton, 1998.
  • Brown, Howard Mayer and Stein, Louise K. Music in the Renaissance. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999.
  • Nugent, George and Jas, Eric “Nicolas Gombert”. Grove Music Online. ed. L. Macy (accessed 19 November 2007), <http://www.grovemusic.com>.
  • Reese, Gustave Music In the Renaissance. New York, Norton, 1954.
  • Taruskin, Richard The Oxford History of Western Music: Volume 1 – The Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Ensemble Gombert
  • "Tulerunt Dominum Meum" ("They have taken away my lord")