Chansonnier

Josquin des Prez

Josquin des Prez (trans. Peter Van Zandt Lane)

Subtitle: Three chansons by Josquin Desprez (c. 1455-1521) Transcribed and Elaborated by Peter Van Zandt Lane

General Info

Year: 2018
Duration: c. 9:30
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Choir
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts – In process

Movements

1. Mille regretz
2. Fama malum
3. Nymphes des bois

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bass Drum
Chimes
Crash Cymbals, small, suspended
Crotales (bowed)
Floor Tom, large
Kick Drum
Mark Tree
Suspended Cymbal, med/large
Tambourine
Tam-Tam, medium
Triangle, medium and small
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

A chansonnier is a song book, usually a collection of secular songs, which became popular in the 15th century as a means of disseminating compositions both before and after the advent of the printing press. My hope with these three transcriptions of chansons attributed to Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez is to bring the coloristic possibilities of the wind symphony to one of my favorite compositional idioms: the 15th-century chanson. It is also my hope to expose wind players to a rich compositional language that -- without these kinds of transcriptions -- they may not be exposed to as performers. While I have liberally dramatized these chansons with new textures, percussion, contrasting instrumental combinations, and occasionally some added lines, I have left Josquin’s 4- and 5-part counterpoint completely intact.

The three chansons were chosen for contrast and variety: Mille regretz (one of his most popular), Fama malum (which begged to be set for an energetic brass section), and Nymphes des bois (composed in memoriam for Josquin’s mentor, Johannes Ockeghem). A eulogy of sorts concludes the final chanson, which I have left in its original form, underneath some freely-composed melodic references to the first two chansons, as a way of binding the chansonnier together.

- Program Note by composer

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Symphony (Jaclyn Hartenberger, conductor) -14 November 2018 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Chansonnier (tr. Lane) (2018)
La Bernardina (arr. P. Grainger)
Mille Regretz (arr. Colette Mourey)
Petite Camusette arr. James V. Signorile)
Renaissance Motet (arr. Elliot Del Borgo) (1996)

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Josquin des Pres." Accessed 16 November 2018
Peter Van Zandt Lane, personal correspondence, November 2018