Composer Notes

Find this week's composer notes below.

24th August 2025 - St Bartholomew the Apostle

Claude Goudimel (c. 1514–1572), Missa ‘Le bien que j’ai’

Goudimel was born in Besançon and studied in Paris.  He lated converted to Protestantism and moved to Metz, before fleeing the city as the authorities became more religiously intolerant.  Most of Goudimel’s sacred music dates from before his conversion; thereafter, he developed a successful music publishing business.  It was once thought that he taught Palestrina, though this claim is now believed to be unlikely.

 

Thomas Mudd (c. 1619–1667), Let thy merciful ears

Little is known about Mudd’s life, apart from that he held positions as organist at Peterborough, Lincoln, and Exeter Cathedrals.  This simple anthem is typical of English church music at the time, and the clear text setting invites listeners to focus on the words and meaning of the text.

 

Jacob Handl (1550–1591), Sanctus Bartolomaeus

Handl was born in Carnolia in what is present-day Slovenia, and by 1574 was a member of the Viennese court chapel; he finished his career in Prague as organist of St John on the Balustrade from 1585.  Handl synthesised the high renaissance style of the Franco-Flemish school then prevalent in Bohemia with the Venetian polychoral style.  His most important work was Opus musicum (1586–90), which set texts covering the entire church year, and from which today’s anthem is drawn.