During the 15th century, the Low Countries region (modern Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands) was home to many flourishing commercial centers and trade as part of the Burgundian lands. This commerce supported religious institutions and choir schools for church singers. Many major composers of polyphony during 1425-1550 were born in the Burgundian Low Countries, including Jacob Obrecht. Obrecht was known for his multiple cantus firmus masses that combined several pre-existing melodies. Instruments in the 15th century were classified as "haut" (loud) such as trumpets and shawms or "bas" (soft) such as recorders and lutes. The basse danse was a

1. CHAPTER 19
MUSIC IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

2. During the fifteenth century, the
region that we now call the Low
Countries (modern Belgium,
Luxemburg, and the Netherlands) fell
mostly within the Burgundian lands.
At this time the Burgundian lands was
home to many flourishing commercial
centers of commerce and trade.
Commerce fostered support for
religious institutions and many of
these supported its own choir
school—something akin to a music
conservatory for fledgling church
singers. Most of the major
composers of learned polyphony in
Western Europe during the period
1425-1550 were born in the
Burgundian Low Countries.

3. JACOB OBRECHT
• Jacob Obrecht was born c1457 in Ghent, and was
one of the few masters from the Low Countries who
did not move south to France or Italy in search of
fame and fortune. Not until 1504 did Obrecht yield
to the temptation to accept a more lucrative position
at a secular court, namely as magister cappellae for
the duke of Ferrara in Italy, where he died of
bubonic plague in 1505.

4. THE MULTIPLE CANTUS FIRMUS
MASS
• Jacob Obrecht was a master of combining several
pre-existing melodies within a single composition.
When several secular tunes are brought together,
either simultaneously or successively, there results
a medley called a quodlibet (Latin for “whatever
you like”). Similarly, when two or more cantus firmi
sound simultaneously or successively in a Mass, a
multiple cantus firmus Mass is created.
Obrecht’s Missa Sub tuum presidium makes use of
four pre-existing chants in the climactic Agnus dei.
The Mass, in honor of the protecting spirit of the
Virgin Mary, is full of symbolic allusions to Mary and
Christ.

5. • The structure of Jacob Obrecht’s Missa Sub tuum
presidium showing the allocation of the principal
cantus firmus, the antiphon Sub tuum presidium
and other borrowed chants.
Kyrie
Cantus 1 S
Cantus 2 _
Alto 1
_
Alto 2
O
Tenor 2
_
Tenor 1
O
Bass
_
Gloria Credo
S
S
_
CF
_
_
O
O
_
_
O
O
O
O
Sanctus
S
CF
_
O
CF
O
O
Agnus dei
S
CF
CF
O
CF
O
O
S Cantus firmus, the antiphon Sub tuum presidium
CF Other sacred cantus firmi
O Free counterpoint setting text of Ordinary of the Mass
— Voice is silent

6. HAUTS INSTRUMENTS
• Throughout the fifteenth century, instruments
were classified according to one of two types:
haut (loud) or bas (soft). The hauts instruments
included trumpets, shawms, bagpipes, drums,
and tambourine. The often formed a wind band.
The lowest instrument was the sackbut (from the
French sacque-boute meaning roughly “pushpull”), the direct predecessor of our modern
trombone. The shawm, ancestor of the modern
oboe, was a brilliant-sounding double-reed
instrument. Around 1500, the wind band was
sometimes joined by a cornett, a wooden, lipvibrated wind instrument with finger-holes and a
cup-shaped mouthpiece that produced a soft
trumpet sound.

7. BAS INSTRUMENTS
• Unlike the hauts instruments, the bas instruments
constituted no set group or band. These soft
instruments (recorder, vielle, lute, harp, psaltery,
portative organ, and harpsichord) might appear
individually or in any one of a number of possible
combinations.

8. THE BASSE DANSE
• The basse danse was the principal aristocratic
dance of court and city during the early
Renaissance. As its name “low dance” suggests,
the basse danse was a slow, stately dance in which
the dancers’ feet glided close to the ground. It was
often accompanied by a wind band of sackbut,
shawms and/or a cornett. The sackbut played the
dance tune in slow notes of equal duration, while
the higher-pitched instruments provided
contrapuntal embellishment above.

9. STEPS OF THE BASSE DANSE
The basse danse made use of four choreographic gestures: a single
step (s), a double step (d), a step backward (r) or a shake (b), all
preceded by a reverential bow by the gentleman (R).
The steps assigned to the basse danse tune
La Spagne (The Spanish Tune)

10. STEPS OF THE BASSE DANSE
The basse danse made use of four choreographic gestures: a single
step (s), a double step (d), a step backward (r) or a shake (b), all
preceded by a reverential bow by the gentleman (R).
The steps assigned to the basse danse tune
La Spagne (The Spanish Tune)