Berchem, Jacquet or Jachet de
Berchem, Jacquet or Jachet de
Berchem, Jacquet or Jachet de, Flemish composer; b. Berchem-lez-Anvers, c. 1505; d. c. 1565. He was active in Venice until serving as maestro di cappella in Verona from 1546 until about 1550. He may have subsequently been in the service of Alfonso II d’Esté in Florence. Berchem was a significant composer of madrigals, of which he publ. three vols. (Venice, 1546, 1555, 1561). The latter vol. includes his Capriccio, after Arios-to’s Orlando furioso, which constitutes one of the earliest madrigal cycles. Among his other works were two masses, nine motets, and several chansons.
Bibliography
D. Hall, The Italian Secular Vocal Works of J. B. (diss., Ohio State Univ., 1973); G. Nugent, The J. Motets and their Authors (diss., Princeton Univ., 1973).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire