Parchment manuscript showing the polyphonic setting by Carpentras of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. This was presented to Pope Clement VII around 1524.

Carpentras (also Elzéar Genet, Eliziari Geneti) (c.1470–June 14, 1548) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous during his lifetime, and was especially notable for his settings of the Lamentations which remained in the repertory of the Papal Choir throughout the 16th century. In addition, he was probably the most prominent Avignon musician since the time of the ars subtilior at the end of the 14th century. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1270x937, 173 KB)Polyphonic setting of Lamentations of Jeremiah by Carpentras, from Vatican archive. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1270x937, 173 KB)Polyphonic setting of Lamentations of Jeremiah by Carpentras, from Vatican archive. ... The Book of Lamentations is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. ... For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII and other popes named Clement see Pope Clement. ... Events May 15 - Charles VIII of Sweden who had served three terms as King of Sweden dies. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... Events Mary I of Scotland sent to France Births September 2 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (died 1616) September 29 - William V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1626) Francesco Andreini, Italian actor (died 1624) Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, astronomer, and occultist (burned at the stake) 1600 (died 1600) Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet have been set by various composers. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... View over the Rhône River to North-East with Mt Ventoux at the rear Palais des papes Square below the Palace of the Popes Paul Vs coat-of-arms on the Palais des papes The Notre Dame des Doms cathedral is located in the heart of Avignon, near... Ars subtilior (more subtle art) is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Avignon in southern France, at the end of the fourteenth century (Hoppin 1978, p. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

Life

He was born in the town of Carpentras, but nothing else is known about his early life. Sometime before 1505, he took ecclesiastical orders, since when he was hired in the Avignon chapel in that year he was called "clericus." He spent most of his life alternately in Avignon and Rome. Carpentras is a city and commune in the département of Vaucluse in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur région of France. ... 1505 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... , For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ...

Evidently he was acquainted with Avignon bishop Giuliano della Rovere, for when the bishop became Pope Julius II Carpentras went with him to Rome, where he sang in the papal chapel; he was listed in a roll of the singers there in 1508. However after a few years he left the chapel to work at the court of Louis XII of France, though little is known about him at this time; clearly he was composing large quantities of secular music, some of it quite irreverent, for when he returned to Rome in 1513 he specifically promised to stop writing it. He became master of the papal chapel in 1514, now under the Medici Pope Leo X, who was an enthusiastic patron of music and the arts. When Leo X died in 1521, Carpentras fled Rome for Avignon; the new pope Adrian VI was uninterested in music, if not actively hostile, and many musicians gave him a "walking ovation." Julius II, born Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), was Pope from 1503 to 1513. ... 1508 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Louis XII the Father of the People (French: Louis XII le Père du Peuple) (June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) was King of France 1498 – January 1, 1515. ... 1513 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. ... Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (11 December 1475, Florence – 1 December 1521, Rome), Pope from 1513 to his death, is known primarily for his failure to stem the Protestant Reformation, which began during his reign when Martin Luther (1483–1546) first accused the Roman Catholic Church of... Events January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... The house where Adrian VI was born Adrian VI (also known as Hadrian VI or Adriano VI), born Adrian dEdel (March 2, 1459 - September 14, 1523), pope from 1522 to 1523, was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and studied under the Brethren of the Common Life either at Zwolle...

When Adrian VI died in 1523, the new pope, Clement VII, was again a fine patron of the arts, and Carpentras returned to Rome. While there he was surprised to discover his own music still being sung but in bastardized versions; as a result he carefully copied over some of his music, such as the pictured setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and presented this collection to Clement VII as the "true" or "corrected" version. However, he did not stay in Rome, and after only two years he departed for Avignon, this time for good. Events April - Battle of Villalar - Forces loyal to Emperor Charles V defeat the Comuneros, a league of urban bourgeois rebelling against Charles in Spain. ... For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII and other popes named Clement see Pope Clement. ... The Book of Lamentations is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. ...

In 1526 he became afflicted with tinnitus, a condition which terrified him, and which he described as a continuous hissing in his head. Apparently it was at this time that he withdrew from practical music-making and instead decided to devote himself to publishing his entire output of sacred music, an immense undertaking, and the earliest recorded such attempt in music history. The publication was troublesome; one of the printers failed to align the notes to staves correctly, and the entire process ended in arbitration at one point: however eventually, in the mid 1530s, he was able to issue four large collections of his music. Two of the volumes he dedicated to Pope Clement VII, and the other two to Cardinal Ippolito de'Medici. Events January 14 - Treaty of Madrid. ... Tinnitus, ringing ears or ear noise is a phenomenon of the nervous system connected to the ear, characterised by perception of a ringing or beating sound (often perceived as sinusoidal) with no external source. ...

He seems to have held several ecclesiastical positions in Avignon in the last two decades of his life, including the deanship of St. Agricole, and he died in that town in 1548.

Works

Carpentras composed several masses, numerous settings of the Magnificat, psalm settings, hymns, motets, and secular songs, as well as many settings of the Lamentations, which were his most famous work both during his lifetime and until 1587 when Palestrina was commissioned by the Counter-Reformation church to replace them. Stylistically, his music is typical of the generation after Josquin, smoothly polyphonic with pervasive imitation. Carpentras alternates points of imitation with homophonic sections, especially in his settings of the Lamentations. This article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. ... Sandro Boticelli. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... 1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. ... Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (born in Palestrina (Praeneste) near Rome, 1525, latest February 1, 1526 – February 2, 1594 in Rome) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music. ... The Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation was a strong reaffirmation of the doctrine and structure of the Catholic Church, climaxing at the Council of Trent, partly in reaction to the growth of Protestantism. ... Josquin Des Prez Josquin Des Prez (diminutive of Joseph; latinized Josquinus Pratensis) (c. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... Imitation is when a musical gesture is repeated later in a different form, but retaining its original character. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ...

References and further reading

• Article "Carpentras", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Howard Mayer Brown, Richard Scherr: "Carpentras", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 13, 2005), (subscription access)
• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
• Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. ISBN 089917034X