Willaert, Adrian (Adriano)

(c. 1490, Bruges or Roulaers, Flanders – 7 December 1562, Venice)

   Through his own compositions and his teaching of following generations, Willaert made the Venetian musical establishment at St. Mark’s one of the foremost musical centers of Europe. After trying law at the University of Paris, he studied composition with Jean Mouton. He served three members of the d’Este family of Ferrara: Cardinal Ippolito I d’Este (1515–1520), Duke Alfonso I (1522), and Cardinal Ippolito II, Archbishop of Milan (1525–1527). On 12 December 1527, the Procurators of St. Mark’s appointed him maestro di cappella. Among his students were the theorist and teacher Gioseffo Zarlino (1517–1590), the eminent composer Cipriano de Rore (c. 1515–1565), and Andrea Gabrieli.

   Willaert is best known today for his eight psalms composed for cori spezzati, the first associated with St. Mark’s, published in Venice in 1550, and for a collection of madrigals and motets, Musica nova (1559, Venice), one of the most famous publications of the century. He also composed nine masses, 29 polyphonic hymn settings, 18 single choir psalms, and 183 motets. He also published a set of nine ricercars for organ (1551, Venice). The earlier motets follow the models of Mouton and Josquin Desprez with structures clearly articulated by imitative pairs. The later ones favor less explicit imitation in order to maintain fuller textures, the trend for the rest of the century.