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Pierre Moulu (1480 or 1490–c.1550) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance who was active in France, probably in Paris.
Little is known of his life, but internal evidence in his compositions indicates he was probably at the French royal chapel during the first two decades of the 16th century, at least. He composed music for ceremonial occasions, for example a sombre lament for the death of Queen Anne of Brittany (1514), and he also composed a motet which lists all the composers which he considered to be the most celebrated in France, arranged chronologically, and ending with Josquin.
His music was clearly influenced by Josquin, and though Pierre Ronsard wrote that he studied with him, no documentary evidence survives to substantiate this claim. The motet Anxiatus est in me spiritus meus which laments Queen Anne's death is modeled on a similar, and much more famous composition by Josquin for the death of Ockeghem, La Déploration sur la mort Ockeghem. Moulu's music shows the style of pervasive imitation and smooth polyphony with exactly equal voices which was prevalent in the generation after Josquin (well exemplified by, and perhaps most famous in, the music of Nicolas Gombert).
Of Moulu's music, four masses survive, the most famous being his mass on the Marian antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater. In addition to the masses, Moulu wrote motets and chansons, some of which are of doubtful authorship (Mouton and Josquin are also suggested as the composer for several of these pieces).
References and further reading
- J.G. Chapman, The Works of Pierre Moulu: a Stylistic Analysis. Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1964.
- Article "Pierre Moulu," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
- Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
Recording
- Capilla Flamenca, The A-La-Mi-Re Manuscripts, Flemish Polyphonic Treasures for Charles V. Naxos CD 8.554744. Contains the motet Mater floreat florescat.
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