Costeley, Guillaume

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Costeley, Guillaume

Costeley, Guillaume , French organist and composer; b. c. 1531; d. Evreux, Jan. 28, 1606. Theories that he was an Irishman named Costello who settled in France, or that he was of Scottish extraction, have been discarded. He was court organist to Charles IX of France. In 1570 he became the first annually elected “prince” or “maitre” of a society organized in honor of St. Cecilia, which, beginning in 1575, awarded a prize each year for a polyphonic composition. Costeley excelled as a composer of polyphonic chansons. His Musique, a book of such works for four to six voices, appeared in 1570. Modern eds. of some of those for four voices are in H. Expert, Maitres Musiciens de la Renaissance Franchise (vols. Ill, XVIII, XIX, 1896–1904). An example for five voices is in Cauchie’s Quinze chansons.

Bibliography

I. Godt, G. C, Life and Works (diss., N.Y.U., 1969).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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