Pierre de la Rue - Requiem - Introitus

Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452 – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vico.[1] A member of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, and a long associate of the Habsburg-Burgundian musical chapel, he ranks with Agricola, Brumel, Compère, Isaac, Obrecht, and Weerbeke as one of the most famous and influential composers in the Netherlands polyphonic style in the decades around 1500. The first six-voice polyphonic Requiem in the history of music; its French composer drew inspiration from Ockeghem. This Requiem stands as Pierre de La Rue’s masterpiece. During this pivotal era between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, musical expressions of mourning took on an almost theatrical quality. Like Ockeghem’s setting, Pierre de La Rue’s Requiem incorporates the Gregorian melody, and explores the deep vocal range of male voices. The aim of this composer, who served as a de facto official musician to the Habsburg-Burgundian court, was to instill a sense of solemnity, or at least to evoke the impression of music from beyond the grave, as if emanating from a mysterious crypt. About the Jena manuscripts (D-Ju MS 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 20, 21, and 22) Copied by Netherlands court scribe Petrus Alamire. Copied in Brussels/Mechlin; belongs to Netherlands court complex (KellJ). Sent to Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony. Frederick may have commissioned the copying of these manuscripts, or he may have acquired them as gifts from the Hapsburg court. They were used at the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, and remained there until 1547, when a later Elector, Johann Friedrich I, was deposed. He retired to Weimar, taking with him the court library, including these manuscripts. The collection was transferred to Jena in 1548 to become the foundation of the library of the Hochschule (later Jena University), founded by Johann Friedrich. All the voices (Cantus, Contra, Tenor, Bassus): Byunghyun OH