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Gilles Binchois Biography |
Gilles de Binchois or Bins (c. 1400 - September 20, 1460), was a Franco-Flemish composer, one of the earliest members of the Burgundian School. He was evidently named after his birthplace, Binche, near Mons.
He was esteemed by contemporary and later scholars as second only to Dunstable and Dufay. He is often considered to be the finest melodist of the 15th century, writing carefully shaped lines which are easy to sing, and utterly memorable; his tunes continued to appear in copies decades later, and were often used as sources for mass composition by later composers. Most of his music, even his sacred music, is simple and clear in outline, sometimes even ascetic; a greater contrast between Binchois and the extreme complexity of the ars subtilior of the previous century would be hard to imagine. Most of his secular songs are rondeaux, which had become the commonest song form of the century; but Binchois rarely writes simple strophic form, instead shaping his melody almost independent of the rhyme scheme of the verse.
Binchois wrote music for the court, secular songs of love and chivalry, music that was expected by the Dukes of Burgundy and that was evidently loved by them. |
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