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Timeline
7 events▣ Album 4◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1540s
1600s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Renaissance Masterpieces, Volume III: Paris
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2000s
Biography
English biography682 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1278301242
Biography
François-Eustache du Caurroy (baptised February 4, 1549 – August 7, 1609) was a French composer of the late Renaissance. He was a prominent composer of both secular and sacred music at the end of the Renaissance, including musique mesurée, and he was also influential on the foundation of the French school of organ music as exemplified in the work of Jean Titelouze.
Life
According to Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, writing in 1780, Du Caurroy was born in Gerberoy and was baptised in Beauvais. He probably entered royal service around 1569, and in 1575 is first mentioned in documents from the royal court, when he won a song competition: he was to win two more, in 1576 and 1583, for a motet and a chanson respectively. He became sous-maître de la chapelle royale, a post which he held until 1595, at which time he was appointed to be official composer of the royal chamber; in 1599 he also acquired the post of composer at the royal chapel.
Du Caurroy accumulated wealth and honours in the first decade of the 17th century, including benefices and a large estate in Picardy. In his late years he also held the post of canon at several churches, including Sainte-Croix in Orléans, Sainte-Chapelle in Dijon, as well as others in Passy and Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg.
Music and influence
Du Caurroy was a late practitioner of the style of musique mesurée, the musical method of setting French verse (vers mesurés) in long and short syllables, to long and short note values, in a homophonic texture, as pioneered by Claude Le Jeune under the influence of Jean-Antoine de Baïf and his Académie de musique et de poésie. Many of Du Caurroy's chansons written in this style were not published until 1609, long after the disbanding of the Académie, and they contrast significantly with his otherwise more conservative musical output. According to Du Caurroy, he was initially hostile to writing in the style, but was so moved by a performance of a composition of Le Jeune's, a pseaume mesuré sung by a hundred voices, that he wanted to attempt it himself.
Du Caurroy was primarily interested in counterpoint, and was widely read in the theoretical work of the time, including that of Gioseffo Zarlino, who provided the best available summation of the contrapuntal practice in the 16th century. His contrapuntal interest is best shown in his sacred music, of which the largest collection is the two volumes of motets, 53 in all, entitled Preces ecclesiasticae, published in Paris in 1609. They are from 3 to 7 voices.
His Missa pro defunctis, first performed at the funeral of Henry IV of France, was the requiem mass which was played at St. Denis for the funerals of French kings for the next several centuries. It is a long composition containing the Libera me responsory, the chant for which is similar to the famous Dies irae.
Du Caurroy also used the musique mesurée technique in his sacred compositions, including seven psalm settings, published in his Meslanges (Paris, posthumously, 1610): one is in Latin, one of the few examples of a musique mesurée setting in a language other than French.
Marin Mersenne's Harmonie universelle contains a setting by Du Caurroy of Pie Jesu, which is a canon for six voices. In this same book, Mersenne held that Du Caurroy was the finest composer of musique mesurée, outranking even the renowned Claude Le Jeune.
Du Caurroy also wrote instrumental music, including contrapuntal fantasies for three to six instruments. The collection of 42 such pieces, published posthumously in 1610, is considered to be a strong influence on the next generation of French keyboard players, especially Jean Titelouze, the founder of the French organ school.
References and further reading
M.-A. Colin (éd.), Eustache du Caurroy. Preces ecclesiasticae, Brepols Publishers, 1999, ISBN 978-2-252-03280-0
M.-A. Colin (éd.), Eustache du Caurroy, Missa pro Defunctis, Brepols Publishers, 2003, ISBN 978-2-503-51492-5
Paul-André Gaillard, Richard Freedman, Marie-Alexis Colin: "Eustache du Caurroy", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 5, 2006), (subscription access) Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -388 | 0.7th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 5 studio albums)
Albums · 5
Renaissance Masterpieces, Volume III: Paris
1997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:06:39
1Veni sancte Spiritus6:332Missa pro Defuntis: Requiem4:393Missa pro Defuntis: Kyrie2:124Missa pro Defuntis: Si ambulem4:085Missa pro Defuntis: Domine Jesu6:386Missa pro Defuntis: Sanctus4:147Missa pro Defuntis: Agnus Dei2:498Missa pro Defuntis: Lux aeterna2:319Benedicamus Domino2:3610Ave Maria2:4611Ave virgo gloriosa5:4812Salve Regina4:4113Christe, qui lux es4:0414Ne gravis3:2115Memento nostri5:0916Victimae Paschali4:301999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:11:14
1Psaume CXXX: 'Du fond de ma pensée' (Claude Goudimel)4:542Trente septieme Fantasie à cinq, La Sol Fa Ré Mi3:483Psaume CXX: 'Alors qu'affliction me presse...' (Claude Goudimel)5:434Pavane pour le Roy (Manuscrit Philidor)3:375Subvenite sancti Dei2:576Introitum 'Requiem aeternam...'3:317Missa pro Defunctis: Kyrie4:288Missa pro Defunctis: Graduale: Si ambulem5:059Missa pro Defunctis: Oraison funèbre 'Princes très illustres...'7:3210Missa pro Defunctis: Trente quatriesme Fantasie, À l'imitation de l'hymne Pange Lingua2:5711Missa pro Defunctis: Antiphona ad offertorium 'Domine Jesu Christe...'5:0912Missa pro Defunctis: Sanctus3:5613Missa pro Defunctis: Anamesis 'Pie Jesu Domine...'1:0314Missa pro Defunctis: Agnus Dei2:3215Missa pro Defunctis: Antiphona ad communionem 'Lux aeternam...'2:0016Missa pro Defunctis: Responsorium ad absolutionem 'Libera me...'4:3317Missa pro Defunctis: In Paradisum0:5718Missa pro Defunctis: Credo Quod Redemptor3:3519Missa pro Defunctis: Le Roy est mort, vive le Roy! et Fanfare2:571999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 47:00
1Vingtneufiesme Fantasie6:322Huicitiesme Fantasie2:383Dixhuictiesme Fantasie2:174Premiere Fantasie1:375Vingtcinquiesme Fantasie1:516Vingtsixiesme Fantasie2:057Sixiesme Fantasie2:028Vingtiesme Fantasie2:069Trentequatriesme Fantasie2:4210Trenteseptiesme Fantasie3:0211Neufiesme Fantasie1:1812Dixseptiesme Fantasie2:4313Vingthuictiesme Fantasie2:3214Quatorziesme Fantasie2:0815Unziesme Fantasie1:0716Dixiesme Fantasie4:0317Quarantiesme Fantasie2:1918Quaranteuniesme Fantasie1:5819Quarantedeuxiesme Fantasie2:00Requiem des Rois de France / Les Meslanges
2008 · studio album
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Tracklist · 32 tracks · 2:20:51
Disc 11psaume 130 'du fond de ma pensée...'4:542trente septiesme fantasie à cinq la sol fa rémi3:483psaume 120 'alors qu'affliction me presse...'5:434pavane pour le roy (manuscrit philidor)3:375missa pro defunctis: subvenite sancti dei2:576missa pro defunctis: introitum 'requiem æternam...'3:317missa pro defunctis: kyrie4:278missa pro defunctis: graduale 'si ambulem...'5:059missa pro defunctis: oraison funèbre: princes très illustres...7:3210missa pro defunctis: trente quatriesme fantasie à l'imitation de l'hymne 'pange lingua'2:5711missa pro defunctis: antiphona ad offertarium 'domine jesu christe...'5:0912missa pro defunctis: sanctus3:5613missa pro defunctis: anamesis 'pie jesu domine...'1:0214missa pro defunctis: agnus dei2:3115missa pro defunctis: antiphona ad communionem 'lux aeternam...'2:0016missa pro defunctis: responsorium ad absolutionem 'libera me...'4:3317missa pro defunctis: in paradisum0:5718missa pro defunctis: credo quod redemptor3:3519missa pro defunctis: le roy est mort, vive le roy ! et fanfare2:57Disc 21psaume 129 'du profond des maux de mon âme'8:502chanson 'heureux le siècle premier' (instrumental)3:393chanson spirituelle 'susanne un jour'6:264cantique spirituel 'quand au dernier sommeil'5:595chanson 'd'une mielleuse voix' (instrumental)4:406psaume 136 'le long des eaux'12:367psaume 25 'juge ma cause'3:178chanson 'pour vous aymer'2:369chanson 'le juste que jugea' (instrumental)4:2110chanson 'puis que le ciel'4:1911noël 'en cette nuit' (instrumental)2:2712noël 'un enfant du ciel'2:3713psaume 5 'preste l'oreille à ma complainte'7:53— · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:11:14
1Goudimel: Psaume CXXX "Du fond de ma pensée"4:542Fantasie No. 37 à 5 "La Sol Fa Ré Mi"3:483Goudimel: Psaume CXX "Alors qu'affliction me presse"5:434Philidor: Pavane pour le Roy3:375Missa pro defunctis: Subvenite Sancti Dei2:576Missa pro defunctis: Introitum "Requiem æternam"3:317Missa pro defunctis: Kyrie4:288Missa pro defunctis: Graduale "Si ambulem"5:059Missa pro defunctis: Oraison funèbre "Princes très illustres"7:3210Missa pro defunctis: Fantasie No. 34 à l'imitation de l'hymne pange lingua2:5711Missa pro defunctis: Antiphona ad offertorium "Domine Jesu Christe"5:0912Missa pro defunctis: Sanctus3:5613Missa pro defunctis: Anamesis "Pie Jesu Domine"1:0314Missa pro defunctis: Agnus Dei2:3215Missa pro defunctis: Antiphona ad communionem "Lux aeternam"2:0016Missa pro defunctis: Responsorium ad absolutionem "Libera me"4:3317Missa pro defunctis: In Paradisum0:5718Missa pro defunctis: Credo quod redemptor3:3519Missa pro defunctis: Le Roy est mort, vive le Roy ! et Fanfare2:57
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Eustache Du Caurroy head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 5 | 84.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -388 | 0.7th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d7dd2549-fe75-45aa-a28b-ec56d21c0780discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d7dd2549-fe75-45aa-a28b-ec56d21c0780core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1378713genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1378713seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustache_Du_Caurroybiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustache_Du_Caurroy
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q1378713 · MusicBrainz: d7dd2549-fe75-45aa-a28b-ec56d21c0780
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