Gaspar Van Weerbeke: New Perspectives on His Life and Music

Gaspar van Weerbeke was one of the most successful Franco-Flemish musicians of the second half of the fifteenth century, holding prestigious positions in the Sforza court in Milan, the Burgundian court chapel, and the papal chapel in Rome. His compositions were widely transmitted in manuscript and print sources throughout Europe, and he was one of the best represented composers in the early Italian music prints of Ottaviano Petrucci. Despite the high esteem of his contemporaries, Gaspar has up to now played only a peripheral role in Renaissance music historiography. This book is the first collection of research articles dedicated exclusively to the life and works of Gaspar. While the basic facts of Gaspar’s life have long been known, the book fleshes out the details, presenting a more differentiated and complex picture of his biography. Analysis of a wide range of Gaspar’s compositional output leads to new interpretations of his approach to different genres: masses, motets, and motet cycles. His relatively small quantity of songs is revisited in light of the confusion-both then and now-over the meaning and validity of their attributions. This book seeks to promote further research on this composer and place him in his appropriate place in music history.