Pierre de Manchicourt - Topic

Pierre de Manchicourt was a Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish School.
De Manchicourt was born at Béthune. Little is known of his early life other than that he was a choirboy at Arras in 1525. Further biographical information is scant, however the title-pages of his publications reveal that between 1539 and 1556 he held a succession of posts in Arras, Tours and Tournai, before going to Spain to be master of the Flemish chapel at the court of Philip II, where he stayed for the remainder of his life.
Similar to many composers of the early to mid 16th century, he predominantly wrote masses, motets and chansons. His motets are particularly significant as they show the three separate stages of early sixteenth century motet development, highly unusual to find in the work of a single composer. In his earliest motets one can hear the influence of Ockeghem; in his middle period works, the paired imitation style of Josquin des Prez; and in his late works the stylistic refinement, well-crafted melodic lines and pervasive imitation recall Gombert.