De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 64

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Some considerations on Plantin's printing of De la Hele's Octo missae
by Lavern John Wagner
(Quincy, Illinois)

George de La Hele's Octo Missae, printed by Christopher Plantin in 1578, occupies a unique position both in the printing output of Plantin, and in the history of music printing during the 16th century. In connection with it, some interesting considerations suggest themselves.

Christopher Plantin did not specialize in printing music. He had, in fact, been in the printing business for over 20 years before he printed his first example of polyphonic music. Certainly, he did not need this collection to establish his firm as one of the outstanding printing houses of the day. His editions were already famous. Therfore, why would he enter this specialized field of printing with a lavishly sumptuous collection of the most conservative musical form in his day, a volume of masses?

One explanation which has been given concerns the void in music printers which occurred in Antwerp between 1578 and 1582. During this period the firm of Phalèse, which specialized in music printing, was inactive, the older Pierre Phalèse having died c. 1576 and his son Pierre II being still in the process of establishing himself up to 1582. Plantin filled the gap between 1578 and 1582 with his most important printings of music¹. While this explanation probably has some validity, it does not

1 susan e. bain, Music printing in the Low Countries in the Sixteenth Century (unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Cambridge, England, 1973), p. 128.

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explain the grand manner in which Plantin, who was not a musician himself, entered into the printing of music. It is interesting to explore some other facets of Plantin's activity in this field.

In 1572 Plantin completed the monumental task of printing his polyglot Bible commissioned by King Philip II of Spain. This magnificent edition, with a synchronized text in five languages, had placed an enormous strain on the printer's financial resources. Now he looked forward to collecting the reward for his labors. However, this was not to be so simple. Years went by, and King Philip still owed great sums to the printer from this project.

Furthermore, hardly had the polyglot Bible come off his presses, than Plantin, who always eagerly accepted a new challenge, made plans for an Antiphonary in a very large format, also to be printed to the order of the King of Spain and to be subsidized by him. This large folio size edition was to surpass anything the printer had previously done, and in preparation for it he spent the great sum of almost 22,000 florins on 1800 reams of special paper, types, and punches². He had special alphabets prepared, designed by the finest artists and engravers of Antwerp. Among these were two sets, probably engraved by Gerard van Kampen, the one with the letters superimposed upon natural flowers, the other with intricate lacings about the letters. There was also a series of eleven letters, by an unknown designer, engraved by Antoine van Leest, on which angels were playing various musical instruments. But the grandest of the majuscules was a series of eleven letters representing subjects of the Old and New Testament, designed by Pieter van der Borcht, and engraved by Antoine van Leest³. After all of these preparations, and after only seven sheets had been printed,

2 colin clair, Christopher Plantin, London, Cassell, 1960, p. 100.

3 j.a. stellfeld, Bibliographie des Éditions Musicales Plantiniennes, in Académie Royale de Belgique, Classe des Beaux-Arts, Mémoires, 5, 1948-49, p. 12-13.

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King Philip cancelled his order for the Antiphonary.

In 1578 Plantin had all the materials described above on hand, and used them in his first publication of polyphonic music, the Octo Missae of George de La Hele. But why did Plantin choose to print the music of the young composer de La Hele rather than that of some mature and well-established musician?

An examination of the background of the composer will aid in understanding Plantin's choice. George de La Hele (born in Antwerp, 1547, died in Madrid, August 27, 1586) received his early musical training at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp⁴. He was among the first group of choirboys who, in 1560, went from the Low Countries to Madrid to sing in the chapel of Philip II, then directed by Pierre de Manchicourt. He served there for ten years. After studying at the University of Alcalá under royal patronage, he returned in 1570 to the Low Countries to further his education at the University of Louvain. Discontinuing his theological studies, he became choirmaster at St. Rombaut in Mechlin in 1572, and about 1574 went to the Cathedral of Tournai in a similar capacity. In 1576 he achieved a certain amount of fame by winning two prizes for his compositions at the contest in honor of St. Cecilia at Évreux. His motet, Nonne Deo subiecta erit anima mea, was awarded the second prize, a golden ring adorned with a silver harp, while his chanson, Mais voyez mon cher esmoy, gained the third prize, a golden ring ornamented with a silver lute⁵.

In his excellent description and study of Plantin's musical publications, J.A. Stellfeld puts forth a hypothesis on Plantin's choice of George de La Hele's masses for his first music print-

4 Biography of de La Hele: georges van doorslaer, George de La Hele, maître de chapelle-compositeur, 1547-1587, in Académie Royale d'Archéologie de Belgique, Bulletin, 1923-24, p. 108-140.

5 History of the contest at Évreux: t. bonnin and a. chassant, Puy de musique, érigé à Évreux, en l'honneur de madame sainte Cécile; publié d'après un manuscrit du XVI^e siècle, Évreux, 1837; reprint, Geneva, Minkoff, 1972. George de La Hele mentioned, p. 54. Also: h.m. schletterer, Musikalische Wettstreite und Musikfeste im 16. Jahrhunderts, in Monatshefte fur Musikgeschichte, 22, 1890, p. 181-207.

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ing. Stellfeld reasons that Plantin thought King Philip II would be touched at the dedication of this collection of masses to him by his former choir member. The deluxe edition would show to the sovereign the magnificence in which the Antiphonary would have been printed. This luxurious envoy to Madrid ought to cause the king to regret not having the Antiphonary, while at the same time remind him of his financial obligations to Plantin, going back to the printing of the polyglot Bible⁶.

A closer examination of the circumstances surrounding the printing of de La Hele's Octo Missae reveals a number of other interesting facets going beyond a fortuitous set of circumstances involving superior quality paper already on hand, beautiful majuscules already engraved, and a former choir boy who was now gaining a foothold among the music professionals of his day.

Plantin's extensive dealings with Philip II had certainly made him aware of the king's fervently religious nature. A deep strain of religious conservatism ran through the Spanish court. In such an atmosphere there could be no thought of dedicating a set of madrigals or chansons to the king. Perhaps not even motets in the newer humanistic style of the time would have been welcome⁷. The perfect reminder to the king of his financial obligations to Plantin would be the gift of a set of masses. These could be heard over and over by the king, who had three masses sung per day, and who frequently spent as many as fourteen hours daily in religious devotions⁸. Note also that, in line with the king's conservative religious attitude, all of the masses in the Octo Missae are based on motets, and none are modeled after madrigals or chansons with their more frivolous textual allusions, which were used by many composers of the day as the basis for their masses.

6 stellfeld, op. cit., p. 28.

7 edward e. lowinsky, The musical avant-garde of the Renaissance, or the peril and profit of foresight, in Art, Science, and History in the Renaissance, ed. Charles S. Singleton, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1967, p. 161-162.

8 robert m. stevenson, Spanish Cathedral Music in the Golden Age, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1961, p. 331, n. 34.

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But there are still deeper reasons why de La Hele would have been an attractive composer for Plantin to publish. At this point it is useful to consider how George de La Hele, in 1577 a young, upcoming composer about 30 years old, relates to that internationally famous composer of the day, now a generation older than he, Orlandus Lassus.

Lassus must have been viewed in Antwerp as a musician with local connections who made good. His first publications, in 1555 and 1556, occurred while he was living in Antwerp. The so-called ‘Antwerp motet book’ of 1556 may be viewed as the first publication to show Lassus writing maturely in the Netherlandish style⁹. From the ‘Antwerp motet book’ George de La Hele took two motets to use as models for parody masses in his Octo Missae: Gustate et videte, and Fremuit spiritu Jesus. Two other motets of Lassus were also used as parody models in the collection by de La Hele: Oculi omnium, which first appeared in the Patrocinium musices, prima pars, published in 1573 by Adam Berg in Munich, and Quare tristis es anima mea, first printed in Paris by Le Roy and Ballard in 1564 in the collection Primus liber concentuum sacrorum. Thus four of de La Hele's eight masses, all of which employed the parody technique, were linked to Lassus for their models.

Another point at which de La Hele might be associated with the older master, Lassus, concerns that contest which was held at Évreux beginning in 1575. In the initial 1575 contest Lassus won first prize for his motet, Domine Jesu Christe qui cognoscis¹⁰. In 1576, the second year of the contest, de La Hele won two prizes, both second and third, for his motet and for his chanson. Since Lassus was especially noted for the secular music which he wrote, this award might even be interpreted as placing de La Hele in the same class as the older master¹¹. De La Hele was the first composer to win two prizes in one year

9 jerome roche, Lassus, no. 19 of Oxford Studies of Composers, London, Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 6-7. Tille of ‘Antwerp motet book’: Il primo libro de motetti, Antwerp, J. Laet, 1556.

10 bonnin and chassant, op. cit., p. 53.

11 It is not known if Lassus entered the contest in 1576, the second year it was held.

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at the contest in Évreux, and certainly, winning these prizes brought him to the attention of the musical world in such a manner that he would be considered a budding composer of the same stature as Lassus.

In answer to the question posed previously as to why Plantin chose the works of de La Hele for his first print, it may now be said that only this composer, of all those available to him, fulfilled all the purposes which Plantin had in mind when issuing his first printing of music. Yet, aside front the fact that Plantin had great pride in his operations as a printer, and always aimed to do first-class work, is there any impetus to be found which would have spurred him to print de La Hele's masses in the grandiose edition in which they appeared?

Beginning already with Attaingnant's seven books of masses by various composers, there was a tendency among printers to employ more elaborate frontispieces, to use more artistically engraved majuscules, and in general to present masses in the most deluxe editions. This tendency continued throughout the 16th century. In 1577 a collection of Lassus' masses was brought out in a sumptuous print by Le Roy and Ballard in Paris. Certainly this work must have been known to Plantin, who kept in close touch with all printing developments through his attendance at the Frankfurt fairs. This printing of Lassus' masses by Le Roy and Ballard was the direct result of the enthusiasm of the French King Charles IX for Lassus' music. A letter dated January 14, 1574, front Le Roy to Lassus describes Charles' delight in Lassus' music, tells the composer that the king wanted to make him composer of the royal chamber, and says that he wanted Lassus' music printed as soon as possible for fear that it might otherwise be lost¹². The 1577 print of Le Roy and Ballard, Missae variis concentibus ornatae, was the first volume of a projected definitive edition of Lassus' masses. The work is beautifully done, and the frontispiece is included

12 samuel f. pogue, Le Roy, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed., 20 vols., ed. Stanley Sadie, London, Macmillan, 1980, vol. 10, p. 687.

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in Frankel's collection of decorative music title pages¹³. Coming as it does just before Plantin's own printing of de La Hele's Octo Missae, the frontispiece of which is also in Frankel¹⁴, and considering the relationships between Lassus and de La Hele, which were certainly becoming apparent to discerning musicians in Antwerp, this edition of Lassus' masses may well have provided the final impetus to Plantin to bring out the grandiose edition of de La Hele's Octo Missae.

Would there be any other quarter from which Plantin might have received a suggestion affecting his printing of de La Hele's masses?

An influential supporter of Plantin throughout his career was Antoine Perrenot, known as Cardinal Granvelle (1517-1586). He was advisor to Philip II immediately after the king inherited his realm from his father, the Emperor Charles V. He negotiated Philip II's marriage with Mary Tudor, and spent his final years in Spain as the king's Secretary of State. Cardinal Granvelle was a great bibliophile, and in fact had a standing order with Plantin to receive three copies of new works of any importance which he printed¹⁵. Lassus' ‘Antwerp motet book’ of 1556 was dedicated to Cardinal Granvelle. The cardinal was known in many of the courts of Europe through his participation in various diplomatic negotiations, and though there is some uncertainty on the issue, it has been noted it may have been through his relations with the Bavarian court that Lassus came to the attention of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria¹⁶. It is known that the Duke was anxious to improve his chapel in

13 gottfried s. frankel, Decorative Music Title Pages, New York, Dover, 1968, no. 33.

14 Ibid., no. 38. This frontispiece was originally engraved in 1578 for the Octo Missae of de La Hele, and used by Plantin for ail his subsequent music printings in folio maxima size. Here the title framed by the copperplate engraving shows the frontispiece used for the masses of Jacob de Kerle, printed 1583.

15 clair, op. cit., p. 94. Short biography of Granvelle, p. 253.

16 adolf sandberger, Beiträge zur Geschichte der bayerischen Hofkapelle unter Orlando di Lasso. In drei Büchern, Leipzig, 1894, vol. 1, p. 76ff. Discussed in: horst leuchtman, Orlando di Lasso, sein leben, Wiesbaden, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1976, p. 100.

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1556, and Granvelle could have played some role in Lassus' call to the Bavarian court in Munich.

It is to be expected that George de La Hele, as a rising artist of the time, would have come to the attention of Granvelle even though the cardinal was not in Antwerp any more at the time the Octo Missae was published. Perhaps it is worth noting that, after Granvelle went to Spain as Secretary of State to Philip II in 1579, de La Hele was promptly invited to become chapelmaster to the royal court in Madrid in the fall of 1580, immediately after the death of the former chapelmaster, Gerard de Turnhout. It is interesting to consider that Granvelle may have had something to do with this appointment. Throughout his career Granvelle was a staunch supporter of Christopher Plantin, of Plantin's printings, a collector of significant and beautiful books, and a friend to artists of his day.

While collections of masses written by a single composer were not unknown publications in the 16th century, they were by no means the most common form of printed music. Among sacred music printings, collections of motets by various authors were considered to be better sellers by publishers, because the use of each motet was limited to a specific occasion, while a mass could be used on many different occasions. Nevertheless, collections of masses were continuously printed throughout the 16th century. Considering these circumstances, were there any financial precautions which Plantin took when preparing this elaborate pnnting of de La Hele's Masses? The answer is in the affirmative.

When Christopher Plantin printed George de La Hele's Octo Missae he sought to protect himself, at least partially, by requiring the composer to take forty copies of the work and to pay for them within a year. The price to de La Hele was that made to booksellers, that is, 16 florins a copy instead of the usual price of 18 florins¹⁷. It is possible to determine who the

17 Most of the other composers published by Plantin were also required to take copies of their works and pay for them, especially those who had elaborate editions. Cf. bain, op. cit., p. 130-1.

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purchasers were for about half of the approximately 375 copies of this work which Plantin printed. While sales were not exactly brisk for this print, there was interest in the publication manifested over a considerable period of time¹⁸.

Did Plantin's publication of de La Hele's masses establish any pattern for his choice of composers in subsequent music printings?

Plantin published only a limited number of musical editions. Following de La Hele's Octo Missae, it is worth noting that the other composers, all of them musicians of significance, whose works were printed by Plantin, were also almost entirely from the Netherlands, had close connections with Antwerp and Plantin, or had associations with the court of Philip II. Among these were: Philip de Monte, who was born in Mechlin, was Philip II's choirmaster while he was in England, and was a long-time friend of Lassus¹⁹; Jacob de Brouck, who signed himself as ‘Belga’ in the Plantin publication of 1579²⁰; Alard du Gaucquier, originally from the Netherlands, who was vice-chapelmaster under Philip de Monte for Maximilian II and Rudolph II²¹; Séverin Cornet, who was choirmaster at Antwerp Cathedral from 1572 to 1581²²; Jacob de Kerle, who had a varied career, but shortly before Plantin's publication of his masses was a member of the chapter of Cambrai Cathedral²³; and Andreas Pevernage, who was choirmaster at Our Lady's in Antwerp from 1585 to 1591, and was advisor on musical matters to Plantin²⁴. Only the Frenchman, Claude Le Jeune, whose Meslanges came out in 1585, does not fit the pattern of musicians published by Plantin²⁵.

18 stellfeld, op. cit., p. 32-41, gives purchasers as shown in Plantin's account books.

19 milton steinhardt, Monte, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 12, p. 505-8.

20 lavern j. wagner, Brouck, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 3, p. 339.

21 milton steinhardt, Gaucquier, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 7, p. 187.

22 donna g. cardamone, Cornet, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 4, p. 787-8.

23 wilfried brennecke, Kerle, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 9, p. 873-4.

24 kamiel cooremans, Pevernage, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 14, p. 605-6.

25 paul-andre gaillard, frank dobbins, Le Jeune, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 10, p. 647-9.

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There were many other collections of masses by a single composer published in the 16th century, so de La Hele's Octo Missae cannot be considered unique from this standpoint. However, it may be considered distinctive in the sense that it was a signal honor for a composer to have, as his very first publication, a set of masses presented in such a deluxe edition. Even Lassus began his publications with a book of miscellaneous secular and sacred compositions, which has been called his ‘opus 1’, Il primo libro dove si contengono madrigali, vilanesche, canzoni francesi, e motetti, published by Susato in Antwerp, 1555²⁶.

The beauty shown by all facets of its construction, and the excellence of its presswork, brought lasting admiration to Christopher Plantin's printing of George de La Hele's Octo Missae. With one publication the Plantin press had definitively established its reputation for the printing of music. This work of art still served as a model in 1644 when Pope Urban VIII commanded Plantin's grandson, Balthasar Moretus II, to make a new printing of some hymns by Palestrina²⁷.

Is it possible to trace any influence of the idea behind de La Hele's beautiful edition, that is, the idea that a composer's significance was established by having a collection of masses published?

Here one must mention a subsequent collection of masses, composed by the pupil and successor of George de La Hele as chapelmaster to Philip II at the Spanish court, Philippe Rogier. He was a Fleming also, and seems to have been personally chosen by de La Hele to succeed him as musical director at the court, as there was no break between the death of de La Hele and Rogier's accession as chapelmaster in 1586. Under Rogier's direction Philip II's Flemish chapel enjoyed its greatest years. At the time Rogier died in 1596, he had made plans to publish a collection of masses, the first of which was a soggetto cavato mass honoring Philip II. Rogier designated his pupil, Géry de

26 james haar, Lassus, in New Grove Dictionary, 1980, vol. 10, p. 481.

27 stellfeld, op. cit., p. 41.

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Ghersem, to see this printing through, and it was published as Missae Sex in 1598, de Ghersem adding a mass of his own to Rogier's five masses²⁸.

With the growth of musical scholarship in the latter part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries, there have been many scholars who recognized the importance of the Octo Missae, frequently citing it for the beauty of its printing. Among those who have acknowledged its excellence in their writings are: Fétis (1861)²⁹, Ruelens and De Backer (1866)³⁰, Goovaerts (1880)³¹, Eitner (1898-1905)³², Van Aerde (1909)³³, Van Doorslaer (1924)³⁴, Stellfeld (1949)³⁵, Van den Borren (1950)³⁶, and Antonowytsch (1951)³⁷. Recently the masses have been studied and analyzed from their musical standpoint, and also made available in a modern edition³⁸.

Western culture is richer for Christopher Plantin's momentous artistic contribution which makes George de La Hele's music as beautiful to see as it is to hear.

28 Missae sex Philippi Rogerii atrebatensis sacelli Regii phonasci musicae peritissimi & aetatis suae facile principis... Madrid ex Typographia regia, MDXCVIII.

29 f.j. ftis, Biographie Universelle des Musiciens et bibliographie générale de la Musique, 8 vols., Paris, Firmin Didot, 1861, vol. 4, p. 286.

30 charles louis ruelens and a. de backer, Annales Plantiniennes depuis la fondation de l'imprimerie Plantinienne à Anvers jusqu'à la mort de Chr. Plantin (1555-1589), Paris, Tross, 1866, p. 205. Here the Octo Missae is incorrectly listed with the publications of 1579.

31 alphonse goovaerts, Histoire et Bibliographie de la Typographie Musicale dans les Pays-Bas, Antwerp, P. Kockx, 1880, p. 46, 253-4.

32 robert eitner, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 19 vols, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1898-1905, vol. 6, p. 17.

33 raymond van aerde, Notice sur la Vie & les Oeuvres de Cyprien de Rore, in Bulletin du Cercle Archéologique, Littéraire & Artistique de Malines, 19, 1909, p. 138-9.

34 doorslaer, op. cit., p. 131.

35 stellfeld, op. cit., p. 26-7.

36 charles van den borren, ‘Manuscrits et Impressions’, in La Musique en Belgique du Moyen âge à nos jours, Brussels, La Renaissance du livre, 1950, p. 475.

37 myroslaw antonowytsch, Die Motette Benedicta es von Josquin des Prez und die Messen super Benedicta von Willaert, Palestrina, de La Hêle and de Monte, Utrecht, J.R. van Rossum, 1951, p. 27-8.

38 lavern j. wagner, The Octo Missae of George de La Hele, 2 vols., (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1957), University Microfilm 22,435. Modern edition: george de la hele, Collected Works, 2 vols., ed. lavern j. wagner, Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, 56, American Institute of Musicology, 1972.