Petrus de Domarto
Encyclopedia
Petrus de Domarto was a Franco-Flemish
composer of the Renaissance
. He was a contemporary and probable acquaintance of Ockeghem
, and was the composer of at least one of the first unified mass
cycles to be written in continental Europe.
in 1451. He had a high reputation (which makes the lack of documentation on his life curious), but even so was passed over for a post as master of the choirboys (in favor of Paulus Iuvenis). No other documentation on his life has yet come to light.
es composed on the continent, most likely in the 1440s, and imitates some features of contemporary English composers such as Leonel Power
. The Missa Spiritus almus, likely dating from the 1450s, is a cantus-firmus mass, with the tune always in the tenor, but with a changing rhythmic profile as it changes mensuration throughout the piece. The procedure was evidently influential on the next generation of composers, for it was still being copied in the 1480s, and Busnois may have based one of his own masses on the same method (the Missa O crux lignum). The theorist and writer Johannes Tinctoris
criticised it for exactly the features that inspired other composers.
The two surviving secular compositions by Domarto are both rondeaux
, formes fixes
of the type popular with the Burgundian School
.
Franco-Flemish School
In music, the Franco-Flemish School or more precisely the Netherlandish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it...
composer of the Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
. He was a contemporary and probable acquaintance of Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most...
, and was the composer of at least one of the first unified mass
Cyclic mass
In Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
cycles to be written in continental Europe.
Life
Domarto's life is poorly documented. He was listed as a singer at the Church of Our Lady in Antwerp in 1449, five years after Ockeghem was known to be there, and there is evidence he was in TournaiTournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
in 1451. He had a high reputation (which makes the lack of documentation on his life curious), but even so was passed over for a post as master of the choirboys (in favor of Paulus Iuvenis). No other documentation on his life has yet come to light.
Music and reputation
Domarto's two mass settings, the Missa Spiritus almus and a Missa sine nomine, were famous at the time. The latter of the two may have been one of the earliest cyclic massCyclic mass
In Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole...
es composed on the continent, most likely in the 1440s, and imitates some features of contemporary English composers such as Leonel Power
Leonel Power
Leonel Power was an English composer of the late Medieval and early Renaissance eras. Along with John Dunstaple, he was one of the major figures in English music in the early 15th century.-Life:...
. The Missa Spiritus almus, likely dating from the 1450s, is a cantus-firmus mass, with the tune always in the tenor, but with a changing rhythmic profile as it changes mensuration throughout the piece. The procedure was evidently influential on the next generation of composers, for it was still being copied in the 1480s, and Busnois may have based one of his own masses on the same method (the Missa O crux lignum). The theorist and writer Johannes Tinctoris
Johannes Tinctoris
Johannes Tinctoris was a Flemish composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is known to have studied in Orléans, and to have been master of the choir there; he also may have been director of choirboys at Chartres...
criticised it for exactly the features that inspired other composers.
The two surviving secular compositions by Domarto are both rondeaux
Rondeau (music)
The rondeau was a Medieval and early Renaissance musical form, based on the contemporary popular poetic rondeau form. It is distinct from the 18th century rondo, though the terms are likely related...
, formes fixes
Formes fixes
A Forme fixé is any one of three fourteenth and fifteenth centuries French poetic forms, the ballade, rondeau and virelai...
of the type popular with the Burgundian School
Burgundian School
The Burgundian School is a term used to denote a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The main names associated with this school are Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois,...
.
Secular
Rondeaux, each for three voices:- Chelui qui est tant plain de duel
- Je vis tous jours en esperance