Monte, Philippe de (Filippo di Monte or Philippus de Monte)
Monte, Philippe de (Filippo di Monte or Philippus de Monte)
Monte, Philippe de (Filippo di Monte or Philippus de Monte), great Belgian composer; b. Mechlin, 1521; d. Prague, July 4, 1603. He went to Italy in his youth and was active there as a singer and teacher. From 1542 to 1551 he was in Naples in the service of the Pinelli family. He then went to Rome, where he publ. his first book of madrigals (1554), and from Rome to Antwerp in 1554, and then to England, where he served as chorus praefectus in the private chapel of Philip II of Spain, the husband of the Queen, Mary Tudor. In Sept. 1555 he left England and went to Italy again; in 1567 he was in Rome. On May 1, 1568, he became Imperial Court Kapellmeister to the Emperor Maximilian II in Vienna; he held this position until his death, which occurred while the court was at Prague during the summer of 1603. In 1572 he was appointed treasurer of Cambrai Cathedral, and in 1577, also a canon (residence was not required for either position there). He was greatly esteemed as a composer, numbering among his works some 1,000 madrigals, about 40 masses, and many other works of sacred music. A complete ed. of his works was edited by C. van den Borren and G. van Doorslaer as Philippe de Monte: Opera (31 vols., Bruges, 1927–39; reprint, 1965). R. Lenaerts and others ed. Philippe de Monte: New Complete Edition (Louvain, 1975–81).
Works
vocal masses:Missa ad modulum “Bene-dicta es” for 6 Voices (Antwerp, 1579); Liber primus[7] missarum for 5,6, and 8 Voices (Antwerp, 1587); Mass for 5 Voices (Venice, 1590); none of his other masses were publ. in his lifetime, and most of these remain in MS. motets:Sacrarum cantionum.. .liber primus for 5 Voices (Venice, 1572); Sacrarum cantion-um...liber secundus for 5 Voices (Venice, 1573); Sacrarum cantion-um...liber tertius for 5 Voices (Venice, 1574); Libro quarto de motetti for 5 Voices (Venice, 1575); Sacrarum cantionum...liber quintus for 5 Voices (Venice, 1579); Sacrarum cantionum...liber sextus for 5 Voices (Venice, 1584; not extant); Sacrarum cantionum...liber primus for 6 and 12 Voices (Venice, 1585); Sacrarum cantionum...liber secundus for 6 Voices (Venice, 1587); Sacrarum cantionum...liber primus for 4 Voices (Venice, 1596); Sacrarum cantionum...liber septimus for 5 Voices (Venice, 1600); etc. madrigali spirituali: Il primo libro de madrigali spirituali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1581); Il primo libro de madrigali spirituali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1583); Il secondo libro de madrigali spirituali for 6 and 7 Voices (Venice, 1589); Il terzo libro de madrigali spirituali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1590); Eccellenze di Maria vergine for 5 Voices (Venice, 1593). madrigals:Madrigali ...libro primo for 5 Voices (Rome, 1554); Il primo libro de madrigali for 4 Voices (Venice, 1562); Il secondo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1567); Il primo libro de’ madrigali for 6 Voices (e. 1568; not extant; 2nd ed., Venice, 1569); Il secondo libro delli madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1569); Il secondo libro delli madrigali for 4 Voices (Venice, 1569); Il terzo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1570); Il quarto libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1571); Madrigali...libro quinto for 5 Voices (Venice, 1574); Il sesto libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1575); Il terzo libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1576); Il settimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1578); Il quarto libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1580); L’ottavo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1580); Il nono libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1580); Il terzo libro de madrigali for 4 Voices (c. 1580; not extant; 2nd ed., Venice, 1585); Il decimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1581); Il quarto libro de madrigali for 4 Voices (Venice, 1581); Il primo libro de madrigali for 3 Voices (Venice, 1582); Il quinto libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1584); L’undecimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1586); Il duodecimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1587); Il terzodecimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1588); Il quartodecimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1590); Il sesto libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1591); Il settimo libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1591); Il quintodecimo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1592); Il sestodecimo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1593); L’ottavo libro de madrigali for 6 Voices (Venice, 1594); Il decimosettimo libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1595); Il decimottavo libro de madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1597); Il decimonono libro delli madrigali for 5 Voices (Venice, 1598); La fiammetta...libro primo for 7 Voices (Venice, 1599); Musica sopra II pastor fido...libro secondo for 7 Voices (Venice, 1600); etc.
Bibliography
G. van Doorslaer, P. d. M. (Mechelen, 1895); V. Eberstein, Die Messen P. d. M., mit besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Parodietechnik (diss., Univ. of Vienna, 1912); P. Bergmans, Quatorze lettres inédites du compositeur P. d. M. (Brussels, 1921); G. van Doorslaer, La Vie et les oeuvres de P. d. M. (Brussels, 1921); idem, Deux lettres nouvelles de P. d. M. (Mechelen, 1927); P. Oberg, The Sacred Music of P. d. M. (diss., Univ. of Rochester, 1944); P. Nuten, De madrigali spirituali van Filip de M. (Brussels, 1958); G. Michael, The Parody Mass Technique of P. d. M. (diss., N.Y.U., 1959); R. Lindeil, Die sechs- und siebenstimmige Madrigale von Filippo di M. (diss., Univ. of Vienna, 1977); B. Mann, The Secular Madrigals of Filippo di M., 1521–1603 (Ann Arbor, 1983).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire