Loys Bourgeois (Louis Bourgeois) (c.1510 to 1515 – 1559 or later) was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is most famous as one of the main compilers of Calvinist hymn-tunes in the middle of the 16th century. In addition, the Protestant doxology known as the Old 100th, one of the most famous melodies in all of Christendom, is commonly attributed to him. Events Conquest of Pskov by Grand Prince Vasili III of Muscovy. ... Events June - Invasion of Persia by Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire. ... Events January 15 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Music theory is a set of systems for analyzing, classifying, and composing music and the elements of music. ... Renaissance music is classical music written during the Renaissance period, approximately 1400 to 1600 CE. Defining the end of the period is easier than defining the beginning, since there were no revolutionary shifts in musical thinking at the beginning of the 15th century corresponding to the sudden development of the... Calvinism has been known at times for its simple, unadorned churches and lifestyles, as depicted in this painting by Emmanuel de Witte where the 17th century congregation stands to hear a sermon. ... (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. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... A doxology is a short hymn sung in praise of God (often the Trinity) in various Christian liturgies. ... The tune ‘Old 100th’, is a melody from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (1551), and is one of the best known melodies in all Christian musical traditions. ...

Life

Next to nothing is known about his early life. His first publication, some secular chansons, dates from 1539 in Lyon. By 1545 he had gone to Geneva and become a music teacher there, based on civic records. In 1547 he was granted citizenship in Geneva, and in that same year he also published his first four-voice psalms. Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ... This article is about the French city. ... Events December 13 - Official opening of the Council of Trent (closed 1563) Births Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Italian (Ferrarese) composer of madrigals, also an organist and influential teacher Giulio Caccini, Italian (Florentine) composer, sometimes called the founder of opera Deaths October 18 - John Taverner, composer... Coat of arms of the Canton of Geneva Coat of arms of the City of Geneva Geneva (French: Genève, German: Genf, Italian: Ginevra, Romansh Genevra, Spanish: Ginebra) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zurich), located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac de Genève or Lac L... Events January 16 - Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia. ...

In 1549 and 1550 he worked on a collections of psalm-tunes, most of which were translated by Clement Marot and Théodore de Bèze, though the extent to which he was composer, arranger or compiler is not certain. The edition of 1551 containing these works is lost. Events July - Ketts Rebellion Francis Xavier arrives in Japan. ... Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a paraphrase of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. ... Cl ment Marot (1496-1544), was a French poet of the Renaissance period. ...

Unfortunately, he ran afoul of local musical authorities, for he was sent to prison on December 3, 1551 for changing the tunes for some well-known psalms "without a license." He was released on the personal intervention of John Calvin, but the controversy continued: those who had already learned the tunes had no desire to learn new versions, and the town council ordered the burning of Bourgeois's instructions to the singers, claiming they were confusing. Shortly after this incident, Bourgeois left Geneva never to return: he settled in Lyon, his Geneva employment was terminated, and his wife tardily followed him to Lyon. Events Russia, Reforming Synod of the metropolite Macaire, Orthodoxy: introduction of a calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code ( Stoglav ) Major outbreak of the sweating sickness in England. ... John Calvin John Calvin (July 10, 1509–May 27, 1564) founded Calvinism, a form of Protestant Christianity, during the Protestant Reformation. ...

While in Lyon, Bourgeois wrote a fierce piece of invective against the publishers of Geneva. By 1560 he had moved to Paris. Curiously, his daughter was baptized as a Catholic, and also in 1560 a Parisian publisher produced a volume of secular chansons by the composer—a form he had condemned as "dissolute" during his Geneva years. No records of his life survive after 1560, and one source (1) gives his date of death as 1559. Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Events January 15 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. ...

Music and influence

Loys Bourgeois is the one most responsible for the tunes in the Genevan Psalter, the source for the hymns of both the Reformed Church in England and the Pilgrims in America. In the original versions by Bourgeois, the music is monophonic, in accordance with the dictates of John Calvin, who disapproved not only of counterpoint but of any multiple parts; only later did Bourgeois provide four-part harmonizations. The four-part settings are syllabic and chordal, a style which has survived in many Protestant church services to the present day. See also hymn - a program to decrypt iTunes music files. ... The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organizationally independent. ... This article is about the colonists of North America. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... Counterpoint is a very general feature of music (especially prominent in much Western music) whereby two or more melodic strands occur simultaneously - in separate voices, either literally or metaphorically (if the music is instrumental). ...

Of the tunes in the Genevan Psalter, some are from secular chansons, and others are from the Strasbourg Psalter; many of the remainder were probably composed by Bourgeois. By far the most famous, although his authorship cannot be definitely established, is the tune known as the Old 100th. The tune ‘Old 100th’, is a melody from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (1551), and is one of the best known melodies in all Christian musical traditions. ...

References and further reading

• Frank Dobbins, "Loys Bourgeois", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
• Frank Dobbins, "Loys Bourgeois", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed March 29, 2005), (subscription access) (http://www.grovemusic.com)
• Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. ISBN 089917034X