Philippe Rogier (1560-1569) - Verbum caro (tribus choribus)

Ensemble La Fenice, Jean Tubèry

Philippe Rogier (b Arras, c1561; d Madrid, 29 Feb 1596).
Flemish composer, active in Spain. When Geert van Turnhout became maestro de capilla to Philip II he brought with him from the Low Countries a number of boy trebles, among them Philippe Rogier, who arrived in Madrid on 15 June 1572. He was subsequently ordained priest, as is shown in the dedication preceding the 1595 collection of his motets, where the initial S, the usual abbreviation for sacerdos (priest), is placed after his name. Also, in the roster of the royal chapel from 1586 Rogier is listed among the chaplains.

When George de La Hèle became maestro de capilla in 1582 the musical establishment of Philip II flourished. In 1584 Rogier was appointed vicemaestro de capilla. In 1585 the chapel travelled to Zaragoza for the nuptial festivities of Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy, and the Infanta of Castile. For this occasion Rogier wrote a six-part Missa Ave martyr gloriosa, and an eight-part motet, In illo tempore. Upon the death of La Hèle in 1586, Rogier took over the direction of music at the court.

On 2 March 1590 Rogier travelled to the Low Countries to recruit four chaplains, three basses and an assistant for himself. The last Flemish choirboys to come to Spain twelve of them were brought there at his request in 1594.

Because he was a priest, Rogier was provided with non-residential benefices by Philip II to augment his income. As early as May 1581 he was granted such a benefice at the church of Notre Dame in Yvoir. In 1592 the king asked that he be appointed to the first prebend vacant at Tournai Cathedral, and at the time of his death he was receiving an annual pension of 300 ducats from the Bishop of León. In 1590 Toledo Cathedral gave Rogier 30 ducats for a volume of his masses, sumptuously bound in calf.

Rogier's last work, mentioned as such in the catalogue of music in the library of João IV of Portugal, was Toedet anima mea, written for a Mass for the Dead. In his will Rogier entrusted his student and vicemaestro de capilla Géry de Ghersem with the publication of five of his masses, for which support had been promised by Philip II. However, the king also died before the collection was printed in 1598, and it was dedicated to Philip III. To the five masses by Rogier in this collection, Ghersem added a sixth of his own composition, Missa Ave Virgo sanctissima.

Only a small portion of Rogier's work remains. In the library of João IV of Portugal, Rogier was represented by 243 compositions, including 8 masses, 2 Magnificat settings, 2 antiphons, 2 responsories, 27 verses, 66 motets, 65 chansons and 71 villancicos. His surviving sacred works show his mastery of the various compositional devices and techniques of the Flemish style of Clemens non Papa and Nicolas Gombert. However, his secular works (with and without text) reveal a rhythmic and harmonic style more adventurous than that of the Flemish chansons of his day, and perhaps owing more to the early secular style of Lassus and the madrigals of Giovanni Maria Nanino. In particular, the extensive syncopation employed in these works is very similar to that found in the early 17th-century villancicos of such composers as Mateo Romero and Gabriel Díaz Bessón, men who studied with Rogier or were influenced by him.

That Rogier's influence was substantial and long-lasting is attested to by Lope de Vega in the fourth silva of his poem Laurel de Apolo, written in 1630: Rogier, honour, glory, and light of Flanders left this life in the flower of [his] genius, depriving us of our sweet Orpheus.

Grove dictionary of Music and Musicians

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[bet034717]

Shows a strong influence of the Venetian School; Gabrieli, Guami etc.

[Ehtyar]

My name is Rogier!

[Alberad08]

Sona piu veneziano - grazie!

[NaturalBornHedonist]

Fascinating stuff. It makes your mind travel back in ancient times !!!