Heinrich Isaac

1450 (age 67)

Flanders, Belgium

In 1484 Lorenzo de' Medici, impressed by his reputation, invited Isaac to Florence. For 10 years he worked at the principal churches of the city as composer, singer, and choir director. Isaac was also a composer for the Medici household and taught music to Lorenzo's children. During this decade he composed many carnival songs (now lost) to the poems of his wealthy patron. With the fall of the Medici and their expulsion from Florence (1494), he lost his posts and was obliged to seek employment with the Hapsburgs at Vienna and Innsbruck. In 1496 Emperor Maximilian of Austria appointed Isaac imperial court composer in Vienna, a title he retained for the rest of his life. His church music for the German liturgy as well as his German songs all probably date from this time. As court composer he was required only to furnish the court and chapel with musical compositions; continuous attendance on the monarch was not required, so the composer lived far from Vienna for many years. Maximilian also seemed not to have objected to Isaac's composing for other rulers or civic authorities while on the imperial payroll. Isaac received payments from the Elector of Saxony (1497-1500) and wrote music for the Duke of Ferrara (1503-1505). A commission from the German city of Constance in 1508 produced a monumental series of polyphonic Mass Propers (Introits, Alleluias, Sequences, Communions) for feast days celebrated in the city. These pieces, together with other Mass Propers by Isaac, were published posthumously in three volumes as the Choralis Constantinus (1550-1555). In 1512 the Medici returned to Florence, and a year later Giovanni de' Medici, Isaac's former student, ascended the papal throne as Leo X. Isaac thereupon requested papal assistance for reinstatement to his former positions at Florence. When these negotiations were successfully completed in 1514, he journeyed north for release from further obligations to his imperial master. With characteristic magnanimity Emperor Maximilian permitted the composer to return to Florence without loss of salary and, in effect, gave him a pension to enjoy his last days in Italy. Isaac died in Florence on March 26, 1517. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Isaac was equally adept at writing religious and secular music: German, French, and Italian songs; instrumental pieces; Masses for four to six voices and Propers for the entire church year; separate Credos; and motets. He had the rare ability to assimilate different national styles and yet preserve his own idiom.

Heinrich Isaac Edit Profile

composer

Background

Little is known of the early life of Heinrich Isaac. He likely came from Flanders, and his birth date is believed to be within a few years of the mid-15th century.

Education

Isaac was trained in the Low Countries, and one of his tutors was Florentine organist Antonio Squarcialupi.

Career

In 1484 Lorenzo de' Medici, impressed by his reputation, invited Isaac to Florence. For 10 years he worked at the principal churches of the city as composer, singer, and choir director. Isaac was also a composer for the Medici household and taught music to Lorenzo's children. During this decade he composed many carnival songs (now lost) to the poems of his wealthy patron. With the fall of the Medici and their expulsion from Florence (1494), he lost his posts and was obliged to seek employment with the Hapsburgs at Vienna and Innsbruck.

In 1496 Emperor Maximilian of Austria appointed Isaac imperial court composer in Vienna, a title he retained for the rest of his life. His church music for the German liturgy as well as his German songs all probably date from this time. As court composer he was required only to furnish the court and chapel with musical compositions; continuous attendance on the monarch was not required, so the composer lived far from Vienna for many years. Maximilian also seemed not to have objected to Isaac's composing for other rulers or civic authorities while on the imperial payroll.

Isaac received payments from the Elector of Saxony (1497-1500) and wrote music for the Duke of Ferrara (1503-1505). A commission from the German city of Constance in 1508 produced a monumental series of polyphonic Mass Propers (Introits, Alleluias, Sequences, Communions) for feast days celebrated in the city. These pieces, together with other Mass Propers by Isaac, were published posthumously in three volumes as the Choralis Constantinus (1550-1555).

In 1512 the Medici returned to Florence, and a year later Giovanni de' Medici, Isaac's former student, ascended the papal throne as Leo X. Isaac thereupon requested papal assistance for reinstatement to his former positions at Florence. When these negotiations were successfully completed in 1514, he journeyed north for release from further obligations to his imperial master. With characteristic magnanimity Emperor Maximilian permitted the composer to return to Florence without loss of salary and, in effect, gave him a pension to enjoy his last days in Italy. Isaac died in Florence on March 26, 1517.

Unlike some of his contemporaries, Isaac was equally adept at writing religious and secular music: German, French, and Italian songs; instrumental pieces; Masses for four to six voices and Propers for the entire church year; separate Credos; and motets. He had the rare ability to assimilate different national styles and yet preserve his own idiom.

Achievements

Isaac is regarded as one of the most significant contemporaries of Josquin Desprez, and had an especially large influence on the subsequent development of music in Germany, where he became court composer to Maximilian I, although the majority of his professional life was spent in Italy.