Franco-Flemish church musician and composer Pierre de La Rue (also known as Pierchon La Rue) was born (?) in Tournai, c. 1452 adn died in Kortrijk, 20 November 1518. His career, which was spent almost entirely in the Low Countries, began with appointments as a singer in Brussels, Ghent, Nieuwpoort, Cologne, and 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1492 he became a member of the Habsburg–Burgundian chapel, and travelled twice to Spain on diplomatic missions. Many of his works were copied into exquisite manuscripts produced by the court scriptorium, some of which were destined to become gifts to political leaders across Europe. He retired from his position in 1516.
Like his immediate contemporary Jacob Obrecht, la Rue is a composer of major stature who remains overshadowed by the towering figure of the age, Josquin des Prez. His surviving output also resembles Obrecht's in being dominated by masses; more than 30 settings survive, the majority based on plainchant melodies. There are fewer motets, but in that area his achievement has been boosted by the discovery that the powerfully expressive Absalon fili mi, long thought to be a work of Josquin's, may in fact be by la Rue. A very different motet, the ingenious six-voice triple canon Ave sanctissima Maria, served as the starting-point for one of his own parody masses. Considerable problems of attribution surround the chansons, and it is likely that many of the anonymous pieces in the beautiful chansonniers made for Marguerite of Austria, including settings of texts by Marguerite herself, are his work.
John Milsom
