Werrecore (also Vercore, Verecore, Verre-chore, Werrekoren), Matthias Hermann

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Werrecore (also Vercore, Verecore, Verre-chore, Werrekoren), Matthias Hermann

Werrecore (also Vercore, Verecore, Verre-chore, Werrekoren), Matthias Hermann, composer; b. probably in Vercore or Warcoing, Hainaut, date unknown; d. after 1574. He most likely was of Flemish birth; however, the records of Milan Cathedral reveal that his father, Eligio, was from Milan. In 1522 Werrecore became maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral, and in 1550 Olivier o di Phalansis was named his temporary successor, followed by Simon Boyleau in 1557-58. Werrecore was mistakenly identified with Matthäus Le Maistre by Fétis and Kade; research by Haberl, Elsa Bienenfeld, and Cecie Stainer demonstrated the fallacy of this assumption. He composed the famous Bataglia taliana for 4 Voices, which celebrated the defeat of France at the Battle of Pa via in 1525 (publ, with the German title Die Schlacht vor Pavia in Schmeltzl’s collection Guter seltzamer...teutscher Gesang, Nuremberg, 1544; ed. in Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, XXXVII, Jg. XVIII/2,1911; reprint as La bataglia taliana...con alcune villote, Venice, 1549; 2nd ed., enl, 1552). He also composed 20 Cantum...liber primus for 5 Voices (Milan, 1555) and a few motets.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire