Elzear Carpentras [Genet]

(c1475 - 1548)


French composer, born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Beginning his career in Avignon from 1505 to ca 1508, except for a brief period at the French court (sometime between 1508 and 1514, he served the Popes in Rome as singer (from 1508) and maestro di cappella from 1514 until 1521, and 1524 to 1526, with an interlude in Avignon from 1521 to 1524. In 1526 overwork and mental fatigue forced him to retire to Avignon at the peak of his career, and he remained there until his death in 1548. Despite a long and agonizing illness, he wrote and had published (at his own expense) between 1532 and ca.1539 four volumes of his church music including five Masses, Magnificats, hymns and a set of Lamentations in an austere style which were dedicated to the Pope and remained in the Papal choir's repertory for many years. Other extant works, some printed in anthologies, are Psalms, another Lamentations setting, almost twenty motets, four frottolas, and two chansons.





A Partial Elzear Carpentras [Genet] Discography |  IVI: The French Chanson