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Clemens non Papa (Jacob Clement)
1510 - 1556
born in Ieper, Belgium, composed during the Renaissance period
Biography
The nickname "non Papa" seems to have been given to the Dutch composer Jacob Clemens by his publisher as a joke, to distinguish him either from the poet Jacobus Papa, or from the recently deceased Pope Clement VII. In the generation following the death of Josquin Desprez, Clemens non Papa was one of the most prolific and well-published composers of both sacred and secular music, but rather little is known of his life. A small number of chansons were published early in his life in Paris; after this his musical activities centered in modern-day Belgium and Holland. His professional appointments included positions at St. Donatian's in Bruges (where he served as Succentor from 1544-1545), 's-Hertogenbosch (making music for a Marian confraternity in 1540), Ypres, and Leiden. Evidence also points to work in the private chapel of Philippe de Croy, one of the principal generals of Emperor Charles V, and perhaps a professional relationship to Charles himself. His death date itself may only be inferred from an uncompleted publication of 1556, and a Deploration on his death written in 1558.

His enormous surviving musical output -- apparently written in the span of just over 15 years -- comprises 15 "parody" masses, a requiem mass, two complete cycles of Magnificats, over 230 motets, a setting of the 150 psalms in Dutch, and nearly 90 French chansons.