Petrus Phalesius the Elder

Title page of Des chansons reduictz en tabulature de lut... published by Phalesius in 1547 Peeter van der Phaliesen, Latinised as Petrus Phalesius, French versions of name Pierre Phalèse and Pierre de Phaleys (c. 1510 – c. 1575) was a Flemish bookseller, printer and publisher. Aside from a number of literary and scientific works, his printing press is mainly known for its publications of music. Phalesius was the principal publisher of music active in the sixteenth-century Low Countries.

Life Petrus Phalesius was born in Leuven about 1510. His original name was Peeter (or Pieter) van der Phaliesen. Phalesius started a bookseller business in 1545 and soon set up a publishing house. The convolute is recognized as masterpiece by the Flemish Community.

While the Phalesius press published a number of literary and scientific works such as Gemma Frisius' De radio Astronomico & Geometrico liber, it is mainly known for its publications of music. By 1575 the Phalesius press had published about 180 music books.

Phalesius borrowed from many composers and did not hesitate to include works from collections of other publishers. For instance Phalesius' Een Duytsch musyck boeck (A Dutch music book) of 1572 copies no less than half of the songs from Niewe Duytsche Liedekens, met III. IIII. V. VI. ende VIII. partyen (New Dutch songs in 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 parts) published by Jacob Bathen in Maastricht in 1554.

Many pieces are by Clemens non Papa and other Flemish composers such as Lassus and Rore, while some of his instrumental pieces are obviously borrowed from the Parisian publishers Le Roy and Ballard. Notable among these is Selectissima... in guiterna ludenda carmina (Leuven, 1570), a collection containing instructions (in Latin) for amateurs wishing to play the guitar, together with 115 pieces for that instrument. In the same year Phalesius published a collection of music for cittern under the title Hortulus cytherae. Liber leviorum Carminum, Antwerp, 1572. Een Duytsch musyck boeck (Dutch language songs of various composers including Servaes van der Meulen, Jan van Wintelroy, Clemens non Papa, Jean de Latre, Geert van Turnhout, Adrianus Stockaert, Ludovicus Episcopius, Jan Belle, Lupus Hellinck, Noë Faignient, Theodor Evertz and possibly Joannes Zacheus), Leuven and Antwerp, 1572. Selectissima carmina ludenda in Quinterna, Leuven, 1573. La Fleur des chansons a trois parties, Leuven, 1574.