Clément Janequin

Clément Janequin (ca. 1485-1558) was a French composer of the middle Renaissance and a contemporary of author François Rabelais, sharing with him a bawdy joie de vivre and earthy humor that are readily apparent in his music. Pursuing a career that brought him both clerical posts and courtly appointments, Janequin ultimately attained the position of court composer to Henri II. While well-grounded in the counterpoint of the period, Janequin drew on the tradition of the troubadours and became a master of the chanson; hundreds of these attest to his wit and feeling for secular life, despite his priestly duties.