Deo gratias d ockeghem biography

Johannes Ockeghem c. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez , [ 2 ] and he was—with his colleague Antoine Busnois —a prominent European composer in the second half of the 15th century. It is thought that Ockeghem's extant works represent only a small part of his entire oeuvre , including around 14 masses, 20 chansons and fewer than 10 motets—though the exact numbers vary due to attribution uncertainties.

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Other spellings include Ogkegum, Okchem, Hocquegam and Ockegham. His birthdate is unknown; dates as early as and as late as have been proposed. This particular speculation derives from Ockeghem's reference, in the lament he wrote on the death of Binchois in , to a chanson by Binchois dated to that time. In , documents dating from were found stating that "Jan Hocquegam" was a native of Saint-Ghislain in the County of Hainaut , which was confirmed by references in 16th-century documents.

Details of his early life are lacking. Like many composers in this period, he started his musical career as a chorister, although the exact location of his education is unknown: Mons , a town near Saint-Ghislain that had at least two churches with competent music schools, has been suggested. He probably sang under the direction of Johannes Pullois , whose employment also dates from that year.

Ockeghem probably studied with Gilles Binchois , and at least was closely associated with him at the Burgundian court. Since Antoine Busnois wrote a motet in honor of Ockeghem sometime before , it is probable that those two were acquainted as well; and writers of the time often link Dufay, Busnois and Ockeghem. Although Ockeghem's musical style differs considerably from that of the older generation, it is probable that he acquired his basic technique from them, and as such can be seen as a direct link from the Burgundian style to the next generation of Netherlanders, such as Obrecht and Josquin.

Martin, at Tours. He is known to have travelled to Spain in , as part of a diplomatic mission for the King, which was a complex affair attempting both to dissuade Spain from joining an alliance with England and Burgundy against France, and to arrange a marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Charles, Duke of Guyenne the brother of king Louis XI.

The number of laments written on Ockeghem's death on 6 February suggests the respect he commanded among contemporaries; among the most famous of the musical settings of these many poems is Nymphes des bois by Josquin des Prez.