Janequin and Cadéac: Auch and After
The documentary evidence for putting Clément Janequin and Pierre Cadéac in the same room at any time is ever so thin, but the circumstantial evidence is intriguing indeed, not least of which certain parallels in the two composer’s publishing profiles.
“La Guerre” and its Liturgical Progeny
In 1532, Jacques Moderne published a mass with an attribution to Janequin, but which was likely a clip-and-paste pastiche by his editor, Francesco Layolle. Whatever the case, the idea caught on, and in the next century or so, a multitude of new masses based on Janequin’s La Guerre saw the light of day.
The Prince of Moscow and French National Antiquitarianism
Mendelssohn’s resurrection of Bach’s B-minor mass has iconic status in the movement toward historical consciousness, but for the French, Janequin’s La Guerre came early to center stage and remained there for decades.
The trouble with striking phrases and pithy descriptions is that they have a tendency to stick, true or less so. This is what has happened with a pair of François Lesure’s deft but debatable formulations, which commentators have eagerly grasped and subsequently sanctified by endless repetition.
The desire to explain success may possibly never reach conclusions satisfying to everyone, but in the case of Janequin, that hasn’t stopped folks from trying. This section provides an overview of attempts thus far.