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Giovanni de Macque (Giovanni de Maque,Jean de Macque) (1548/1550 – September 1614) was aNetherlandish composer of the lateRenaissance and earlyBaroque, who spent almost his entire life inItaly. He was one of the most famousNeapolitan composers of the late 16th century; some of his experimentation withchromaticism was likely influenced byCarlo Gesualdo, who was an associate of his.
Macque was born inValenciennes, but moved toVienna at an early age, where he sang as a choirboy, and where he studied withPhilippe de Monte, the renowned composer ofmadrigals. When his voice broke in late 1563 — the only evidence for his birthdate — he was moved out of the choir and into aJesuit college, and sometime before 1574 he moved toRome, where he worked as a composer and as an organist; he published his first book of madrigals in 1576 (in Venice, which had a much more active publishing industry). While in Rome he metMarenzio, and his early book of serious madrigals shows Marenzio's influence.
Macque moved toNaples around 1585, where he became famous as the leader of the Neapolitan school. His first employment there was with the Gesualdo household, a place he remained until May 1590 (shortly before the Gesualdo murders: seeCarlo Gesualdo). Some of his work at this time is dedicated to Carlo, as well as the other members of the aristocratic household: Cesare d'Avalos, father of Carlo's murdered wife, as well as Fabrizio, Carlo's father. Later in 1590, however, he became organist at Santa Casa dell'Annunziata in Naples, and in 1594 organist to theSpanish viceroy (Naples was a Spanish possession at the time); in 1599 he becamemaestro di cappella at theChapel Royal of Naples. Whilemaestro di cappella he taught many of the later Neapolitan composers, includingLuigi Rossi.
Macque was a prolific madrigalist, who published 12 separate books of madrigals, although the numbering is confusing: for example thePrimo libro de madrigali, for six voices, dates from 1576 inVenice, while anotherPrimo libro de madrigali, for four voices, dates from 1587. After 1585, when he moved to Naples, his music shifted from the conservativeRoman style to the more progressive Neapolitan one; perhaps he began renumbering his publications based on his stylistic change. His early and late madrigals include both light and serious music and often require virtuoso singing skill; likely some of these pieces were intended for performance by theconcerto di donne, the three virtuoso female singers at the ducalEste court atFerrara, which had a strong musical connection with Naples throughout the 1590s.
After 1599, his music shifted in style again; Macque began experimenting with chromaticism of the kind found in Gesualdo's madrigals. Most likely the nobleman influenced Macque, but it is possible that some of the influence went the other way, since the dating of Gesualdo's individual compositions is difficult, due to his publication of his work in large blocks, many years apart. Some of the madrigals Macque wrote after 1599 include "forbidden" melodicintervals (such as sevenths), chords entirely outside of the Renaissance modal universe (such as F# major) and melodic passages in consecutive chromatic semitones.
In addition to his madrigals, he was a prolific composer of instrumental music, writingcanzonas,ricercars,capriccios and numerous pieces fororgan. Some of his music is extraordinarily progressive harmonically, and can be compared with the vocal music ofGesualdo: theConsonanze stravaganti (exact date unknown, probably early 17th century) is a particularly good example. See Grout (1) for an extended example from this composition. (Complete score is available on IMSLP.)
Macque also wrote sacred music, including a book ofmotets for five to eight voices,litanies,laudi spirituali, andcontrafactum motets (motets originally in another language, fitted with new texts known as contrafacta).
