Macque, Giovanni (Jean) de

Macque, Giovanni (Jean) de, eminent Flemish organist, teacher, and composer; b. Valenciennes, c. 1548; d. Naples, Sept. 1614. He was a boy chorister at Vienna’s imperial chapel, then studied at a Jesuit college before receiving instruction from Philippe de Monte. He was in Rome by 1574, where he was organist at S. Luigi dei Francesi (1580–81) as well as a member of the Compagnia dei Musici di Roma when it was sanctioned by the Pope (1584). He went to Naples about 1585 and became active in the affairs of the academy of Don Fabrizio Gesualdo da Venosa, father of the composer Carlo Gesualdo. He became second organist at the Santa Casa deirAnnunziata (1590), and was made organist (1594), and then maestro di cappella (1595) of the Spanish viceregal chapel. He was a distinguished composer of both vocal and instrumental music. He was also highly esteemed as a teacher, his pupils including Mayone, Trabaci, Luigi Rossi, Falconieri, Francesco Lambardi, G.D. Montella, and Spano.

Works

vocal:Primo libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1576); Madrigali for 4 to 6 Voices (Venice, 1579); Madrigaletti e napolitane for 6 Voices (Venice, 1581); Secondo libro de madrigaletti e napolitane for 6 Voices (Venice, 1582); Madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1583; not extant); Primo libro de madrigali for 4 Voices (Venice, 1587); Secondo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1587); Secondo libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1589); Motectorum for 5 to 6 and 8 Voices, liber primus (Rome, 1596); Terzo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Ferrara, 1597); Quarto libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Naples, 1599); Terzo libro de madrigali for 4 Voices (Naples, 1610); Sesto libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1613); various other pieces in contemporary collections. instrumental:Ricercate e canzone francesi, a 4 (Rome, 1586); Secondo libro de ricercari, a 4 (not extant); other pieces in MS collections.

Bibliography

L. Anderson, G. d.M. of Valenciennes and the Evolution of Polyphonic Music in Naples at the End of the Sixteenth Century (diss., Univ. of Liege, 1970); W. Shindle, The Madrigals ofG.d.M. (diss., Ind. Univ., 1970).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire