Jacob Arcadelt

Jacob Arcadelt born in the Netherlands towards the end of the 15th century, died in Paris. The story that he was a pupil of Joaquin Deprès is probably untrue. In 1540 he was admitted into the Pontifical Choir at Rome, and in 1555 (?) entered the service of Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, whom he followed to Paris. Arcadelt was on of the many Flemish composers who migrated to Italy; he helped to found the "great" Roman school, and was one of Palestrina's most distinguished forerunners. he united French delicacy of sentiment, Flemish mastery of musical form, and Italian culture in quite an exceptional way, and was at once one of the most important and prolific composers of his day. Together with Willaert and Verdelot, he was one of the founders of the madrigal. His first book of 53 madrigals (Venice, 1538) reached it sixteenth edition in 1617, and was followed by five other books. If in his church compositions Arcadelt's style is of almost heroic grandeur, and shows the most complete mastery over all the intricacies of counterpoint (albeit he seems to have despised the then popular "Netherlandish tricks"), in his Italian madrigals we discover perhaps the first dawn of the sentimental element in music. His French chansons, on the other hand, are perfect little cabinet-pieces of contrapuntal elaborateness. Notwithstanding the glorious musical epoch which followed close upon his death. Arcadelt's works were long looked upon with the greatest veneration' Frecobaldi wrote an organ piece on a them "del Signore Arcadelt," and even Liszt wrote a pianofote piece on an Ave Maria of his.

Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians by John Denison Camplin, Jr. and William Foster Apthorp (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888)