Titelouze, Jean or Jehan

Titelouze, Jean or Jehan eminent French organist and composer; b. St. Omer, c. 1562; d. Rouen, Oct. 24, 1633. He is believed to have received his academic and musical training in St. Omer, where he was a priest and substitute organist at the Cathedral by 1585; that same year he settled in Rouen as organist at St. Jean. He served as organist at Rouen Cathedral from 1588 until his death, and also was made canon by the cathedral chapter there in 1610. He was the pioneering figure of the French organ school. He publ. 2 major collections, Hymnes de l’Église pour toucher sur l’orgue, avec les fugues et recherches sur leur plain-chant (Paris, 1623) and Le Magnificat, ou Cantique de la Vierge pour toucher sur l’orgue, suivant les huit tons de l’Église (Paris, 1626), versets based on plainsong. His vocal music is lost. He was also a poet and won awards from the Académie des Palinods (1613, 1630) as well as the title of Prince des Palinods in 1630. For his extant music, see A. Guilmant and A. Pirro, J. Titelouze: OEuvres completes d’orgue, Archives des Maîtres de l’Orgue, vol. I (Paris, 1898), and N. Dufourcq, ed., J. Titelouze: OEuvres complètes d’orgue (Paris, 1965-67).

Bibliography

A. Pirro, Les Organistes français du XVII^e siècle: Jean T.(Paris, 1898); N. Dufourcq, La Musique d’orgue française de Jehan T. à Jehan Alain (Paris, 1941; 2^nd ed., 1949).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire