Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490-1562); FRA

Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490–1562) was a French composer and singer and one of the leading figures in French music during the reign of Francis I. His early life is uncertain, but by the first decades of the sixteenth century he was associated with the French royal chapel and remained in royal service for much of his career. He eventually became sous-maître of the chapel and held important ecclesiastical benefices, including a canonry at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

Sermisy composed sacred music, including Masses, motets, and settings of the Lamentations, but his enduring reputation rests especially on his chansons. Pieces such as Tant que vivray, Au joli bois, and Jouissance vous donneray exemplify the elegant Parisian chanson style: tuneful, concise, lightly contrapuntal, and closely responsive to the text. His songs were widely printed and imitated and helped define one of the characteristic secular genres of the French Renaissance.

###

Read biography at allmusic.com.