Tielman Susato (also Tylman) (c.1500 – c.1562) was a Renaissance Flemish or German composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp. While his place of birth is unknown, some scholars believe that because of his name—Susato meaning de Soest, of the town of Soest—he may be from the town of that name in Westphalia.

Not much is known about his early life, but he begins appearing in various Antwerp archives of around 1530 as working as a calligrapher as well as an instrumentalist: trumpet, flute and tenor pipe are listed as instruments that he owned. From 1543 until his death he worked as a music publisher, creating the first music press in the Netherlands; until then printing had mainly been done in Italy, France and Germany. Soon afterwards, Susato was joined by Pierre Phalèse at Louvain and Christopher Plantin, also in Antwerp, and the Low Countries became a regional center of music publishing. It is possible that Susato also ran a musical instrument business, and he attempted several times to form partnerships with other publishers but none were successful. After his death, sometime between 1561 and 1564, his son took over his publishing business, but he died in 1564.

Susato was also an accomplished composer. He wrote (and published) several books of masses and motets which are in the typical imitative polyphonic style of the time. He also wrote two books of chansons which were specifically designed to be sung by young, inexperienced singers: they are for only two or three voices. Most important of his publications in terms of distribution and influence were the Souterliedekens of Clemens non Papa, which were metrical psalm settings: since these were some of the only music allowed by the Calvinist church, they were hugely popular in the Netherlands in the 16th century. Unlike many of the music publications of the time, they were for use in the home.

Susato also was a prolific composer of instrumental music, and much of it is still recorded and performed today. Most of these pieces are dance forms (allemandes, galliards, and so forth) and are simple and homophonic in texture; many are based on current popular songs.

Often Susato dedicated his publications to prominent citizens of the town. Sometimes he devoted an entire volume to the works of one composer (for example Manchicourt and Crecquillon). Not surprisingly, he seems to have favored other Flemish composers as subjects for publication. He was also one of the first to publish music of the great late Renaissance composer Lassus.

Sources

• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. (ISBN 0393095304)
• Articles "Printing and publishing of music," "Tielman Susato," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. (ISBN 1561591742)