Jacob Senleches (also Jacob Senlechos and Jacopinus Selesses) was a Franco-Flemish composer and harpist of the late Middle Ages. He composed in a style commonly known as the ars subtilior

Ars subtilior

Ars subtilior is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Paris, Avignon in southern France, also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century. The style also is found in the French Cypriot repertory...

.

It has been suggested that Jacob Senleches has been born in St. Luc near Evreux

Évreux

Évreux is a commune in the Eure department, of which it is the capital, in Haute Normandie in northern France.-History:In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named Mediolanum Aulercorum, "the central town of the Aulerci", the Gallic tribe then inhabiting the area...

, France (U. Günther) or in Senleches (or Sanlesches) in Cambrai

Cambrai

Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...

, today France (A. Tomasello). In 1382 Senleches seems to have been present at the court of Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Castile (d. September 1382), possibly in her service. In Fuions de ci he laments Eleanor's death and resolves to seek his fortune either "en Aragon, en France ou en Bretaingne".

Afterwards he is found in service of Pedro de Luna, Cardinal of Aragon (later Antipope Benedict XIII

Antipope Benedict XIII

Benedict XIII, born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor , known as in Spanish, was an Aragonese nobleman, who is officially considered by the Catholic Church to be an antipope....

, 1394–1423), as a harpist. There is a treasury document assigning payments to one "Jaquemin de Sanleches, juglar de harpe" from the royal household in Navarra dated August 21, 1383. The payment is made so that Jacquemin may return to "his master", Pedro de Luna.

A supplication to Benedict XIII in 1395 records Jacob de Selesses asking for the benefice

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

 attached to a parish church in the diocese of Cambrai.

Despite the small number of transmitted compositions Jacob de Senleches is counted among the central personalities of Ars subtilior. He developed many rhythmic and notational innovations.

The texts deal mainly with himself and his career.

Works

Ballade

Ballade (musical form)

A ballade refers to a one-movement musical piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities.- Medieval ballades :The term ballade was used to describe one type of musical setting of French poetry common in the 14th and 15th centuries...

s:

• En attendant esperance
• Fuions de ci
• Je me merveil/ J'ay pluseurs fois

Virelai

Virelai

A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three formes fixes and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the late thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.A virelai is similar to a rondeau...

• En ce gracieux tamps
• La harpe de melodie
  La harpe de melodie
  One of the outstanding examples of the period called Ars Subtilior not only in its musical aspects is Jacob Senleches' composition La Harpe de Melodie which has been transmitted via two sources....
  
  
• Tel me voit

Transcriptions

Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae

CMM

CMM can refer to:*Center for Molecular Medicine , a research institute in Sweden*Coordinate-measuring machine, a device for dimensional measuring*Capability Maturity Model, tool for assessing processes in organizations...

 Vol. 53 - French Secular Compositions I, Ascribed Compositions (1970)

External links