Biography
Serving as both vocalist and composer in the Franco-Flemish tradition, Thomas Crecquillon maintained a post at the court of Charles V. Positions he may have occupied over the years include posts in Bethune, Louvain, Namur, and Termonde. His body of work encompassed masses, motets, and chansons in considerable number. Each of his masses drew thematic material from his own chansons or from chansons and motets by other composers. Four voices carried the greater part of his motets, and shifts in musical character took place only before every part had entered. Sixteenth-century composition centered on imitation, the restatement of a melodic contour or line. Among the small circle of musicians who brought this device to full maturity, Crecquillon stands out. The most notable merit of his pieces may well have been their agreeable sound.