Obrecht (Obreht, Hobrecht, Obertus, Hobertus), Jacob

Obrecht (Obreht, Hobrecht, Obertus, Hobertus), Jacob, famous Netherlandish composer; b. probably in Bergen-op-Zoom, Nov. 22, 1450 or 1451; d. Ferrara, 1505. He is first mentioned as zangmeester in Utrecht (c. 1476–78), then became choirmaster for the Corp. of Notre Dame at St. Gertrude in Bergen- op-Zoom (1479). He took Holy Orders, and said his first Mass as an ordained priest on April 23, 1480. He was made maître des enfants at Cambrai (July 28, 1484), but was dismissed for his neglect of the choirboys as well as financial irregularities (1485); then was made succentor at St. Donatian in Bruges (Oct. 13, 1486). At the invitation of the Duke of Ferrara, he obtained a leave of absence to travel to Italy; arrived in Ferrara in Dec. 1487, returning to Bruges Aug. 15, 1488, where he was made maitre de chapelle in 1490; obtained remission from his position on Jan. 24, 1491. By 1494 he was at Notre Dame in Antwerp, serving as Capellanie magister in 1495. He returned to St. Gertrude in Bergen-op-Zoom in 1496–97, and then received a benefice connected to the altar of St. Josse in Notre Dame at Antwerp in 1498. He was again at St. Donatian in Bruges from 1499 until his retirement in 1500. He then lived in Bergen-op-Zoom and made visits to Antwerp. In 1504 he returned to the ducal court in Ferrara, where he died of the plague. Obrecht was one of the leading composers of his era, his masses and motets being of particular importance. He also wrote chansons, many to Dutch texts. Petrucci publ. Misse Obreht (Venice, 1503), which contained several of his finest masses. An extensive ed. of his works was prepared by J. Wolf and publ, as Werken van Jacob Obrecht by the Vereeniging voor Noord-Nederlands Musiekgeschiedenis (7 vols., Amsterdam and Leipzig, 1908–21). Since its appearance, additional works by Obrecht have been discovered while others formerly attributed to him have been determined to be spurious; the Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi is now considered a doubtful work, since early sources attribute it to Antoine Longueval and J. a la Venture. A. Smijers ed. Jacob Obrecht: Opera omnia, editio altera (9 vols., 1953–64). The New Obrecht Edition, under general ed. C. Maas, commenced publication in 1983.

Bibliography

O. Gombosi, J. O.: Eine stilkritische Studie (Leipzig, 1925); M. Kyriazis, Die Cantus firmus-Technik in den Messen O.s (Bern, 1952); A. Salop, The Masses of J. O. (1450–1505), Structure and Style (diss., Ind. Univ., 1959); L. van Hoorn, J. O. (The Hague, 1968); M. Picker, Johannes Ockeghem and J. O.: A Guide to Research (N.Y., 1988); R. Wegman, Born for the Muses: The Life and Masses of J. O.(Oxford, 1994).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire