Martinus Fabri

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Martinus Fabri (d. May 1400) was a North Netherlandish composer of the late 14th century.

Fabri was probably either from Flanders or the Netherlands, and lived near the end of the Middle Ages. Most of his music was composed around 1400,[citation needed] but little is known of his life. Apart from undated mention of his name in the records of the church of St Donatian, Bruges, he is known to have been a singer at the court of Holland at The Hague from 1395 until his death in May of 1400 (Reaney 2001). After his demise, several books of polyphonic music were bought from his estate by the Count of Holland for use in his chapel (Reaney 2001).

Of his compositions, only four pieces survive, all ballades. Two of these have French texts (Or se depart and N'ay je cause d’estre lies et joyeux) and are in the ars subtilior style, highly complex and mannered (Reaney 2001), with text only in the highest part (the other parts presumably would have been instrumental)[citation needed]. Both are three-voice compositions, though there are two (incompatible) alternatives for the third voice in Or se depart—a triplum and a contratenor (Reaney 2001). The other two ballades are in Dutch (Eer ende lof heb d'aventuer and Een cleyn parabel), with a simpler syllabic style of setting (Reaney 2001), and are texted in all three voices.[citation needed]

[edit] Sources

  • Reaney, Gilbert. 2001. "Fabri, Martinus". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.