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(b Dijon, France, March 17, 1520; d Langres, France, July 23, 1595). French cleric and dance manual author. Born Jehan Tabourot, son of Pierre Tabourot and Valentine Henriette Dubois, Thoinot Arbeau’s Burgundian family included noted writers and architects. His education in Dijon and Poitiers resulted in a law degree and a career in the church. After joining the Order of St Anthony, also known as the Confrérie de Saint-Didier, the order assigned him to the post of canon for the Department of Haute Marne, which included the dioceses of Dijon and Langres. His uncle Jean Pignard served this latter as cathedral composer and master of music. Later Tabourot was appointed parish treasurer and inspector for diocesan schools in Bar-sur-Aube. In 1567 he returned to Langres as vicar-general, a post that authorized him to speak for the bishop.

At the age of 62, Tabourot chose the anagrammic pseudonym Thoinot Arbeau and began to write. His first publication, an almanac of religious holidays titled ...

[Renverset, Jean]

(b Arras; d ?Madrid, 1582). Flemish organist active in Italy and Spain. On 1 January 1556 he was engaged at the ducal chapel of Parma. In 1580 he was organist in the chapel of Philip II of Spain, as is shown by a receipt that he signed for wages. His tenure there continued until his death. A madrigal by him, Due rose, is found in Josquino Persoens’s first book of madrigals (RISM, 1570²⁸). A chanson by him was published by Phalèse (RISM, 1575⁴).

Jean d’Arras should not be confused with a younger man of the same name who was listed in 1596 as a mozzo de capilla (‘youth in the chapel’) to Philip II, and to whom further references occur in listings of chapel personnel in 1598, 1599 and 1608.

(fl Padua, c1545–50). Italian priest, composer, lutenist and guitarist. He composed or intabulated books 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 in Girolamo Scotto’s ten volume series of lute tablatures (Venice, 1546–9), which also included tablatures by Francesco da Milano, Rotta, Giovanni Maria da Crema and Borrono. Barberiis’s name is absent from lists of prominent Paduan musicians of the time, and only two of his pieces were reprinted in later collections. At best, his five books preserve the practical repertory of a ‘sonatore eccellentissimo di lautto’ who had little or no formal musical training.

Barberiis’s ricercares, fantasias and canzonas, some of which are in two or three sections, are usually constructed from a succession of chords (often drawn from madrigals or dances) filled out and linked by ornamental passage work. One fantasia is a simple gloss upon a composition by Francesco da Milano. Book 4 (1546...

(b Padua; d probably Padua, 1616). Italian composer, maestro di cappella and instrumentalist. He was a priest. A document dated 7 March 1595 shows that he was a trombone player at S Antonio, Padua. In the same year he was appointed for three years from 1 May as a trombonist in the chapel of Padua Cathedral, and this position was renewed in 1598. He was maestro di cappella at Montagnana, following Lucrezio Venturo, from 14 October 1600 to 24 August 1603; he was succeeded by Vincenzo Neriti. He maintained connections, during this period, with the chapel of Padua Cathedral and had occasional engagements there. On 21 February 1602 he had returned to the cathedral as a chorister. On 21 November 1602 he obtained a papal brève which allowed him to receive his salary while out of residence, and on 6 July 1606 he was appointed for six years as assistant ...

[Niklas]

(b Altdorf, nr Nuremberg, 1500; d Joachimsthal [now Jáchymov], West Bohemia, May 15, 1561). German writer of hymn texts and melodies. From 1518 to 1560 he was schoolmaster, organist and Kantor in Joachimsthal. Johann Matthesius, Luther’s first biographer and headmaster of the Latin school there from 1532, was also, until 1565, minister of the church; Herman was associated with him both as a close friend and as a colleague, and thus came into contact with the Reformation from an early date. As early as 6 November 1524 Luther wrote to him as ‘viro pio et erudito’. Herman’s importance lies in his hymns, which were published in several volumes. He wrote both text and music, but most melodies are used for several texts. His poems are rhymed syllabic verses with no fixed metre. His Sunday Gospels, which retell Bible stories in rhymed stanzas, remained models for a succession of works of the same type well into the 17th century. In his endeavours to express Christian beliefs in the form of hymns Herman’s texts are close to those of Luther. Though never attaining the poetic force of the latter’s work, many have retained their place in the standard German Lutheran hymn repertory: above all ‘Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich’, ‘Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag’, ‘Die helle Sonn leucht jetzt herfür’, ‘Hinunter ist der Sonnen Schein’ and ‘Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist’. Many of his melodies show clear affinities with folk music: in particular the traditions of ...

(b Göppingen, c1495; d Pforzheim, March 4, 1556). German organist. He matriculated at Heidelberg University in 1512, and was vicar-choral and organist in Horb am Neckar from 1516 to 1517 and in Esslingen am Neckar from 1517 to 1521. From 1521 until his death he was organist at the collegiate and parish church in Pforzheim where he also had a living. In 1541 the Margrave of Baden procured for him a benefice in the hospital church in Baden-Baden. To judge from his large number of pupils, Kleber must have been a much sought-after organ teacher.

Kleber is known chiefly for the 332-page organ tablature which he compiled between 1521 and 1524 in Pforzheim ( D-Bim Mus.40026, ed. in EDM, 1st ser., xci–xcii, 1987). Several scribes were involved in copying the 112 items, of which only a few can be identified as original compositions: in most cases they are adaptations of vocal models. Whereas the first section of the tablature contains pieces to be played on manuals, the second section contains arrangements which also use the pedals. The repertory is the normal one for tablatures of the period, and includes religious and secular song settings, arrangements of motets, some settings of dance tunes, free compositions and one didactic piece. Most pieces give no indication either of the composer or of the arranger, but vocal models for a number of the arrangements are by Brumel, Josquin, Heinrich Finck, Hayne van Ghizeghem, Hofhaimer, Isaac, Obrecht, La Rue and Senfl. In addition there are compositions by Conrad Brumann, Hans Buchner, Othmar Luscinius, Jörg Scharpff and Utz Steigleder. It is not certain whether Kleber was a composer as well as an arranger (Kotter may also have arranged some of the pieces). From a historical point of view the most interesting section of the manuscript is that containing the free compositions, for it shows an early stage in the development of independent instrumental music. Both the repertory and the method of adaptation in Kleber's organ tablature reflect the south-west German organ and keyboard style at the beginning of the Reformation....

[John of Lublin]

(fl c1540). Polish organist. He may have been organist at the convent in Kraśnik, near Lublin. It is not known whether he was the Jan z Lublina who received the bachelor's degree from Kraków University. He was the owner and perhaps the main compiler of a manuscript organ tablature Tabulatura Ioannis de Lyublin canonic: regularium de Crasnyc 1540 ( PL-Kp 1716; facs. in MMP, ser.B, i, 1964; ed. in CEKM, vi, 1964–7). The tablature contains 520 pages and is the largest extant 16th-century organ tablature in Europe. Various dates are found in it, ranging from 1537 to 1548, and although most of it is written in the same hand three other hands may be distinguished on a comparatively small number of leaves.

The manuscript begins with a Latin treatise on the art of composition which includes many music examples; later in the manuscript, among the various pieces, are supplements to the treatise under the following headings: ‘conclusiones finales super claves ad discantum’; ‘conclusiones super claves ad cantum transpositum’; ‘clausulae seu colores in cantum choralem interponendae’; and ‘concordantiae pro cantu chorali in tenore’ and ‘concordantiae ad bassam’ (i.e. examples of setting three parts to a cantus firmus in the tenor or bass). The manuscript ends with instructions on organ tuning. The treatise demonstrates a practical approach to the problem of writing music on a cantus firmus: its author did not enter deeply into the mathematical speculations customary in earlier and even contemporary treatises, but discussed methods, illustrating them with music examples. The manuscript's compiler was conscious of the changes – mainly in tonality – taking place at that time in the leading musical centres, and the contents of the tablature show that he was aware of the best work in Europe: they include works by Brack, Brumel, Girolamo Cavazzoni, Costanzo and Sebastiano Festa, Heinrich Finck, Lupus Hellinck, Jacotin, Janequin, Josquin, Rotta, Sandrin, Senfl, Sermisy, Stoltzer, Verdelot, Johann Walter (i), Martin Wolff and Wuest. Polish composers include Mikołaj z Krakowa, Mikołaj z Chrzanowa, Seweryn Koń and ‘N. Z’; there are also many anonymous compositions. The works were probably copied mainly from Kraków sources. The repertory is varied both in form and purpose: there are elaborations and simple intabulations of vocal works, both sacred and secular, and sacred organ works to be performed ...

( fl 1507–39). Italian organist. According to his contemporary, Marino Sanuto, he was a Crutched friar . He was a pupil of Paul Hofhaimer and became first organist of S Marco, Venice, from 1507 to 1516. With the doge's permission, he left Venice for London in September 1516, bringing with him ‘a most excellent instrument’, presumably an organ. The reports of the Venetian ambassador, Giustiniani, contain several references to Memo and his triumphs at the English court: that through the offices of Henry VIII he was released from his monastic vows, given a chaplaincy by the king and made ‘chief of his instrumental musicians’; how he was required to play frequently at court, often before foreign ambassadors, and once for four hours at Windsor, where the king had gone to escape the plague. Memo appears to have acted as an agent for the Venetians: in one of his reports to the signory, Giustiniani mentions asking Memo ‘to make his report’. Such political activities may have led to his sudden departure from England (‘for fear of his life’, according to Sanuto) sometime before ...

(bc 1515; d ?Toledo, 1579). Spanish organist of Jewish descent. He served as assistant to the blind Francisco Sacedo, who was principal organist of Toledo Cathedral from 22 January 1541 until his death shortly before 7 August 1547. Peñalosa, who had by then become a priest in the Toledo diocese, was elected his successor on 31 December 1549. From 30 June 1552 he had to divide his stipend with another organist Francisco López. Peñalosa applied 11 years later for the post of organist of Palencia Cathedral, which had become vacant on the death of Francisco de Soto in summer 1563. On 5 January 1564 the Palencia chapter dismissed him, since he seemed to be attempting to seek double employment with the Toledo and Palencia chapters. Apparently he remained at Toledo until 1579. No relationship to Francisco de Peñalosa has yet been discovered, nor do any of his compositions survive....

(b Verona, c1470; d, May 1528). Italian priest, composer, singer and lutenist. With Tromboncino and Cara, he was one of the most important frottola composers. He was born in Verona in about 1470, the son of Alberto and Umilia Pesenti. Since he was a priest, he must have studied at the Scuola degli Accoliti in his native city, an institution founded by Pope Eugene IV that produced other cleric-composers, among them Marchetto Cara. Pesenti’s first known position was in Ferrara, where he served Cardinal Ippolito I d’Este, acting as a procurer of music and instruments as well as a lutenist, singer and composer. Already in 1504 he wrote to the cardinal from Venice promising to come to Ferrara as soon as an unnamed gentleman returned his lute. From 1506 his name appears in Ippolito’s payment registers, and it remains there, except for a probably illusory break in ...

(b Hersbruck, nr Nuremberg, 5/Dec 6, 1528; d Leipzig, May 12, 1592). German theologian. He attended the Gymnasium in Nuremberg, and as early as 1540 became organist in the castle chapel. As a student in Wittenberg from 1549 he lived in the house of Philipp Melanchthon. In 1558 he second preacher in the Dresden court, but through his involvement in religious quarrels between Lutherans and Philippists (the supporters of Melanchthon), was dismissed in 1564. He obtained an appointment as a professor at Jena in 1565, but was again dismissed after only two years. A move to Leipzig followed, where he taught at the university, became a minister at the Thomaskirche, and was later city superintendent. Except for a period of two years between 1572 and 1574 when he was granted leave of absence to supervise the reform of the church in Brunswick and Oldenburg, he remained active in Leipzig until ...