Claudin de Sermisy

Claudin de Sermisy (13 October 1562) was a French composer of the Renaissance. Along with Clément Janequin he was one of the most renowned composers of French chansons in the early 16th century; in addition he was a significant composer of sacred music. His music was both influential on, and influenced by, contemporary Italian styles.

Biography Sermisy was most likely born either in Picardy, Burgundy, or Île-de-France, based on the similarity of his surname to place names there. His birthdate is inferred from the date he joined the royal chapel; 18 was about the right age for such an appointment. In 1515 he went to Italy with Francis I, and in 1520 he was part of the musical festivities arranged by Francis I and Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, directed by Jean Mouton, where he was almost certainly a singer. Typically Sermisy's chansons are chordal and syllabic, shunning the more ostentatious polyphony of composers from the Netherlands, striving for lightness and grace instead. Sermisy was fond of quick repeated notes, which give the texture an overall lightness and dance-like quality. Another stylistic trait seen in many of Sermisy's chansons is an initial rhythmic figure consisting of long-short-short (minim-crotchet-crotchet, or half-quarter-quarter), a figure which was to become the defining characteristic of the canzona later in the century.

The texts Sermisy chose were usually from contemporary poets, such as Clément Marot (he set more verse by Marot than any other composer). Typical topics were unrequited love, nature, and drinking. Several of his songs are on the topic of an unhappy young woman stuck with an unattractive and unvirile old man, a sentiment not unique to his age.

Most of his chansons are for four voices, though he wrote some for three early in his career, before four-voice writing became the norm. Influence from the Italian frottola is evident, and Sermisy's chansons themselves influenced Italian composers, since his music was reprinted numerous times both in France and in other parts of Europe.

Influence Sermisy was well known throughout western Europe, and copies of his music are found in Italy, Spain, Portugal, England and elsewhere. Rabelais mentioned him in Gargantua and Pantagruel (Book 4) along with several other contemporary composers. Sermisy's music was transcribed numerous times for instruments, including viols and lute as well as organ and other keyboard instruments, by performers from Italy, Germany, and Poland in addition to France. Even though Sermisy was a Catholic, many of his tunes were appropriated by Protestant musicians in the next generation: even a Lutheran chorale tune ("Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit") is based on a chanson by Sermisy (Il me suffit de tous mes maulx).

Compositions

Chansons

Au joly boys Aupres de vous secretement (two parts) C'est une dure departie Changeons propos, c'est trop chante d'amours Content desir, qui cause ma douleur Dont vient cela (#10 in Attaingnant, P.: 37 Chansons musicales a quatre parties, nd) En entrant en ung jardin (publ. 1529) Je ne menge point de porc Languir me fais Si mon malheur my continue Si vous m'aimez Tant que vivray (publ. 1527) Tu disais que j'en mourrais Vignon, vignon, vignon, vignette Vive la serpe

Motets Aspice, Domine

Footnotes

Sources and further reading Isabelle Cazeaux, "Claudin de Sermisy", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.

Media