In the early 16th century, there is another trend towards simplification, as can be seen to some degree in the work of Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries in the Franco-Flemish School, then later in that of G. P. Palestrina, who was partially reacting to the strictures of the Council of Trent, which discouraged excessively complex polyphony as inhibiting understanding the text.

Josquin des Prez Lebloitte dit Desprez (; c. 1450 / 1455 – 27 August 1521 ), often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance.

Josquin is widely considered by music scholars to be the first master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime.

Heinrich Glarean wrote in 1547 that Josquin was not only a " magnificent virtuoso " ( the Latin can be translated also as " show-off ") but capable of being a " mocker ", using satire effectively.

Josquin was born in the area controlled by the Dukes of Burgundy, and was possibly born either in Hainaut ( modern-day Belgium ), or immediately across the border in modern-day France, since several times in his life he was classified legally as a Frenchman ( for instance, when he made his will ).

More recent scholarship has shown that Josquin des Prez was born around 1450 or a few years later, and did not go to Italy until the early 1480s.

Around 1466, perhaps on the death of his father, Josquin was named by his uncle and aunt, Gilles Lebloitte dit Desprez and Jacque Banestonne, as their heir.

According to an account by Claude Hémeré, a friend and librarian of Cardinal Richelieu whose evidence dates as late as 1633, and who used the records of the collegiate church of Saint-Quentin, Josquin became a choirboy at Saint-Quentin, probably around 1460, and was in charge of its music.

Johannes Ockeghem ( also Jean de, Jan ; surname Okeghem, Ogkegum, Okchem, Hocquegam, Ockegham ; other variant spellings are also encountered ) ( 1410 / 1425 – February 6, 1497 ) was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most influential composer between Dufay and Josquin des Prez.

An indication of the renown in which Ockeghem was held is the number of laments written on his death in 1497 ; among the most famous of the musical settings of these many poems is Nymphes des bois by Josquin des Prez.

A strong influence on Josquin des Prez and the subsequent generation of Netherlanders, Ockeghem was famous throughout Europe for his expressive music, although he was equally renowned for his technical prowess.

An anecdote survives that indicates the musical ability of the young composer: Willaert was surprised to discover the choir of the papal chapel singing one of his own compositions, most likely the six-part motet Verbum bonum et suave, and even more surprised to learn that they thought it had been written by the much more famous composer Josquin.

Clemens was one of the chief representatives of the generation between Josquin and Palestrina and Orlandus Lassus.

Not only was he central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composers after Josquin des Prez who went to live and work in Italy, but he was one of the most prominent composers of madrigals in the middle of the 16th century.

In his sacred music, however, Rore was more backward-looking, showing his connection to his Netherlandish roots: his masses, for example, are reminiscent of the work of Josquin des Prez.

Josquin was his point of departure, and he developed many of his techniques from the older composer's style.

Francesco was drawing on techniques found in contemporary vocal music, e. g. works by Josquin des Prez and composers of his generation.

He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his generation.

Perhaps more than those of the mature Josquin, the masses of Obrecht display a profound debt to the music of Johannes Ockeghem in the wide-arching melodies and long musical phrases that typify the music of the older master.

Franco-Netherlandish composers had long been coming to Italy to live and work — Josquin, Obrecht, Arcadelt, and many others made the long journey, and their musical style was decisive on the formation of the Italian styles.

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.

He also broke up long, dense textures by inserting contrasting passages for two voices only, something done also by Ockeghem and Josquin.

One of his motets ( Sancta mater istud agas ) was long assumed to be by Josquin des Prez, which indicates both the stylistic similarity of their music and the high quality of Peñalosa's.

Composers came to Ferrara from many parts of Europe, especially France and Flanders ; Josquin Des Prez worked for Duke Ercole for a time ( producing the Missa Hercules dux Ferrariæ, which he wrote for him ); Jacob Obrecht came to Ferrara twice ( and died during an outbreak of plague there in 1505 ); and Antoine Brumel served as principal musician from 1505.

Under Ercole ( 1431 – 1505 ), one of the most significant patrons of the arts in late 15th and early 16th century Italy, Ferrara grew into a cultural center, renowned especially for music ; Josquin Des Prez worked for Duke Ercole, Jacob Obrecht came to Ferrara twice, and Antoine Brumel served as principal musician from 1505.

He then traveled to Ferrara to the Este court where he wrote the motet “ La mi la sol la sol la mi ” in merely two days and competed with Josquin for employment: a famous letter from the agent of the Este family compared the two composers, saying that " is of a better disposition among his companions, and he will compose new works more often.

* Genesis / A solis ortu / Mass ( for the Restoration of St. Luke in the Fields ) / Ave Christie: Josquin.

His style in these also evolved throughout his life, with his earlier works showing the irregular lines and rhythmic complexity of the Ockeghem generation, while the later ones used the smooth imitative polyphony of the Josquin style as well as the homophonic textures of the current Italian composers of popular songs ( for example Tromboncino, who was in Ferrara at the same time as Brumel ).

Dissonance he uses for expressive effect, for example as an expression of grief in his six-voice motet on the death of Josquin, Musae Jovis, with its clashing semitones, and occasional root-position triads a tritone apart.

Gombert was one of the most renowned composers in Europe after the death of Josquin des Prez, as can be seen by the wide distribution of his music, the use of his music as source material for compositions by others, and the singular attention that printers paid to him ( issuing, for example, editions of his works – most print editions at the time were anthologies of music by several composers ).

Contains two motets by Gombert, including his elegy for Josquin, Musae Jovis.

The most famous composers of frottola were Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara, although some of the popular secular compositions of Josquin ( for example Scaramella and El Grillo ) are stylistically frottole, though not in name.

Eight of his masses use the parody technique, including one for six voices based on the famous chanson Mille regretz, attributed to Josquin des Prez.

Santa María's book also gives instruction for creating music using the paired imitation technique of Josquin des Prez, who he clearly held to be the master of the style.

Some of his tunes were used as source material for cantus firmus mass composition more than a generation after he died, for instance Fortuna desperata ( which was used both by Obrecht and Josquin ).

His repertory was pioneering: he included choral music from before Palestrina, especially those of Josquin, and promoted new music ( he introduced, for example, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms into Hungary ).

This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony which we now consider to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as Europe's leading composer ( along with Lassus ) in the wake of Josquin ( d. 1521 ).

Both Jean Mouton and Loyset Compère were buried there, and it is certainly possible that Josquin acquired his later connections with the French royal chapel through early experiences at Saint-Quentin.

Many works formerly attributed to Ockeghem are now presumed to be by other composers ; Ockeghem's total output of reliably attributed compositions, as with many of the most famous composers of the time ( such as Josquin ), has shrunk with time.

In Paris he met Jean Mouton, the principal composer of the French royal chapel and stylistic compatriot of Josquin des Prez, and studied with him.

Indeed Willaert's early style is very similar to that of Josquin, with smooth polyphony, balanced voices and frequent use of imitation.

In force of personality, and with his central position as maestro di cappella at St. Mark's, he became the most influential musician in Europe between the death of Josquin and the time of Palestrina.

These changes can be seen in his music, with some of his earlier work conforming to the older style, and his later compositions showing the polyphonic fluidity which became the stylistic norm of the Josquin generation.

According to Heinrich Glarean, writing in 1547, it was written in competition with Josquin, who simultaneously wrote his own Missa de Beata Virgine, and the two works are similar in style.

German writer and music theorist Hermann Finck wrote that Gombert studied with Josquin ; this would have been during the renowned composer's retirement in Condé-sur-l ' Escaut, sometime between 1515 and 1521.

He makes the claim in his writings that he was personally familiar with Obrecht, Josquin, Heinrich Isaac, and others while he was in Florence ; if true, this would have had to have been in the late 1480s to mid 1490s.

On his travels with the Grande chapelle he met many of the other Franco-Flemish composers who were working at the same time ( for instance, Josquin, Isaac and Robert de Févin ) and these meetings may also have proved decisive on the development of his style.

The second of his two masses based on the L ' homme armé tune begins and ends with mensuration canons, canons in which all the voices sing the same material, but at different speeds ; this is yet another feat of contrapuntal virtuosity worthy of Josquin or Ockeghem ; indeed La Rue sometimes seemed to be in conscious competition with the more renowned Josquin.

He may have studied with Josquin des Prez, though the evidence for this is circumstantial.

He was active at the same time as Josquin des Prez, and shares many traits with his more famous contemporary.

The Swiss music theorist and biographer Heinrich Glarean, writing in 1547, noted that Févin was a follower of Josquin, and that he died young ; he also mentioned him as being a composer of Orleans, though this most likely referred to the association of that city with the court of Louis XII.