In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.

Etymology[link]

The name comes either from the Latin movere, ("to move") or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian mottetto was also used.^[1] If the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another.

According to Margaret Bent (1997),

"a piece of music in several parts with words" is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. This is close to one of the earliest descriptions we have, that of the late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheio.

Grocheio believed that the motet was,

"not intended for the vulgar who do not understand its finer points and derive no pleasure from hearing it: it is meant for educated people and those who look for refinement in art."^[2]

Medieval motets[link]

The earliest motets arose in the 13th century (Bent, 1997) from the organum tradition exemplified in the Notre Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin. The motet probably arose from clausula sections, usually strophic interludes, in a longer sequence of organum, to which upper voices were added.^[3] Usually the clausula represented a strophic sequence in Latin which was sung as a discant over a cantus firmus, which typically was a plainchant fragment with different words from the discant. The motet took a definite rhythm from the words of the verse, and as such appeared as a brief rhythmic interlude in the middle of the longer, more chantlike organum.

The practice of discant over a cantus firmus marked the beginnings of counterpoint in Western music. From these first motets arose a medieval tradition of secular motets. These were two or three part compositions in which several different texts, sometimes in different vernacular languages, were sung simultaneously over a Latin cantus firmus that once again was usually adapted from a passage of Gregorian chant. It is suspected that, for the sake of intelligibility, in performance the cantus firmus and one or another of the vocal lines were performed on instruments. Among the trouvères, Robert de Reins La Chievre and Richart de Fournival composed motets.

Increasingly in the 14th and 15th centuries, motets tended to be isorhythmic; that is, they employed repeated rhythmic patterns in all voices—not only the cantus firmus—which did not necessarily coincide with repeating melodic patterns. Philippe de Vitry was one of the earliest composers to use this technique, and his work evidently had an influence on that of Guillaume de Machaut, one of the most famous named composers of late medieval motets.

Medieval motet composers[link]

Medieval motet composers include:

• Philippe de Vitry
• Guillaume de Machaut
• Willelmus de Winchecumbe (fl. 1270s)

Renaissance motets[link]

Luca della Robbia: fragment from a choir. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.

The name of the motet was preserved in the transition from medieval to Renaissance music, but the character of the composition was entirely changed. While it grew out of the medieval isorhythmic motet, the Renaissance composers of the motet generally abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a cantus firmus. Guillaume Dufay was a transitional figure in this regard; he wrote one of the last important motets in the medieval, isorhythmic style, Nuper rosarum flores (1436), written to commemorate the completion of Filippo Brunelleschi's dome in the Cathedral of Florence.^[4][5] During this time, however, the use of cantus firmi in works such as the parody mass tended to stretch the cantus firmus out to great lengths compared to the multivoice descant above it. This tended to obscure the rhythm supplied by the cantus firmus that had been apparent in the medieval isorhythmic motet. The cascading, passing chords created by the interplay between multiple voices, and the absence of a strong or obvious beat, are the features that distinguish medieval and renaissance motet styles.

Instead, the Renaissance motet is a polyphonic musical setting, sometimes in imitative counterpoint, for chorus, of a Latin text, usually sacred, not specifically connected to the liturgy of a given day, and therefore suitable for use in any service. The texts of antiphons were frequently used as motet texts. This is the sort of composition that is most familiarly designated by the term "motet," and the Renaissance period marked the flowering of the form.

In essence, these motets were sacred madrigals. The relationship between the two forms is most obvious in the composers who concentrated on sacred music, especially Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose "motets" setting texts from the Canticum Canticorum, the biblical "Song of Solomon," are among the most lush and madrigal-like of Palestrina's compositions, while his "madrigals" that set poems of Petrarch in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary would not be out of place in church. The language of the text was the decisive feature: if it's Latin, it's a motet; if the vernacular, a madrigal.^[6] Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called madrigali spirituali, "spiritual madrigals." Like their madrigal cousins, Renaissance motets developed in episodic format, with separate phrases of the source text being given independent melodic treatment and contrapuntal development; contrapuntal passages often alternate with monody.

Secular motets continued to be written however. These motets typically set a Latin text in praise of a monarch, commemorating some public triumph, or even praising music itself. Nevertheless, the themes of courtly love often found in the medieval secular motet were banished from the Renaissance motet. Many secular motets are known as "ceremonial motets" ^[7] Characteristic of ceremonial motets was a clarity of diction, for the audience was not presumed to be familiar already with the text (as would have been true with Latin hymns) and also a clear articulation of formal structure, for example a setting apart of successive portions of text with sharp contrasts of texture or rhythm. Adrian Willaert, Ludwig Senfl, and Cipriano de Rore were among the most prominent composers of ceremonial motets during the first half of the 16th century.^[8]

Renaissance motet composers[link]

The motet was one of the pre-eminent forms of Renaissance music. Other important composers of Renaissance motets include:

• Alexander Agricola
• Gilles Binchois
• Antoine Busnois
• William Byrd
• Johannes Vodnianus Campanus
• Loyset Compère
• Josquin des Prez
• John Dunstaple
• Antoine de Févin
• Francisco Guerrero
• Nicolas Gombert
• Heinrich Isaac
• Pierre de La Rue
• Orlando di Lasso
• Cristóbal de Morales
• Jean Mouton
• Jacob Obrecht
• Johannes Ockeghem
• Martin Peerson
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• Thomas Tallis
• John Taverner
• Robert Carver
• Tomás Luis de Victoria

In the latter part of the 16th century, Giovanni Gabrieli and other composers developed a new style, the polychoral motet, in which two or more choirs of singers (or instruments) alternated. This style of motet was sometimes called the Venetian motet to distinguish it from the Netherlands or Flemish motet written elsewhere.

Baroque motets[link]

The name "motet" was preserved in Baroque music, especially in France, where the word was applied to two distinct, and very different, genres: petits motets, sacred choral or chamber compositions whose only accompaniment was a basso continuo; and grands motets, which included massed choirs and instruments up to and including a full orchestra. Jean-Baptiste Lully was an important composer of this sort of motet. Lully's motets often included parts for soloists as well as choirs; they were longer, including multiple movements in which different soloist, choral, or instrumental forces were employed. Lully's motets also continued the Renaissance tradition of semi-secular Latin motets in works such as Plaude Laetare Gallia, written to celebrate the baptism of King Louis XIV's son; its text by Pierre Perrin begins:

Plaude laetare Gallia

Rore caelesti rigantur lilia,

Sacro Delphinus fonte lavatur

Et christianus Christo dicatur.

(Rejoice and sing, France: the lily is bathed with heavenly dew. The Dauphin is bathed in the sacred font, and the Christian is dedicated to Christ.)

In Germany, too, pieces called motets were written in the new musical languages of the Baroque. Heinrich Schütz wrote many motets in a series of publications called Symphoniae sacrae, some in Latin and some in German.

Johann Sebastian Bach also wrote six surviving works he called motets; Bach's motets were relatively long pieces in German on sacred themes for choir and basso continuo, thought to have been written as training pieces for the members of his choir school. Bach's motets are:

• BWV 225 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (1726)
• BWV 226 Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (1729)
• BWV 227 Jesu, meine Freude (?)
• BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht (?)
• BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm! (1730 ?)
• BWV 230 Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden (?)

There is also a cantata that is classified, in its entirety, as a motet.

• BWV 118 O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht (1736–37?)

The motet Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren (BWV 231) is spurious; it is part of a cantata by Telemann.

The motet since Bach[link]

Later 18th-century composers wrote few motets, although Mozart's well-known Ave verum corpus (K. 618) is in this genre.

In the 19th century German composers continued to write motets occasionally, notably Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms (in German) and Anton Bruckner (in Latin). French composers of motets included Camille Saint-Saëns, and César Franck. Similar compositions in the English language are called anthems, but some later English composers, such as Charles Villiers Stanford, wrote motets in Latin. The majority of these compositions are a cappella, but some are accompanied by organ, for example Edward Elgar's three motets Op. 2.

In the 20th century, composers of motets have often consciously imitated earlier styles. Examples include works by Richard Strauss, Maurice Duruflé, Francis Poulenc, Charles Villiers Stanford, Edmund Rubbra, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lennox Berkeley, Morten Lauridsen, Edward Elgar, Hugo Distler, Ernst Krenek, and Michael Finnissy.

External Resources[link]

Motet online database

Sources[link]

• Margaret Bent (1997). "The late-medieval motet", Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816540-4.
• The Development of the motet
• Blanche Gangwere, Music History During the Renaissance Period, 1520–1550. Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers. 2004.

Notes[link]

Paul Mealor
Paul Mealor (photograph credit: Jillian Bain Christie)
Born	(1975-11-25) 25 November 1975 (age 36) St Asaph, Denbighshire, North Wales
Residence	Aberdeen, Scotland
Nationality	Welsh
Education	University of York, Royal Danish Academy of Music
Occupation	Composer
Website
paulmealor.com

Professor Paul Mealor BA, PhD, FRSA (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. Described by the New York Times as "one of the most important composers to have emerged in Welsh choral music since William Mathias",^[1] Mealor’s motets, songs and cycles have been performed, broadcast and recorded by artists around the world. He composed the song "Wherever You Are", based on letters to and from troops serving in Afghanistan, and sung by the military wives choir created by Gareth Malone. In the 2012 Classic FM Hall of Fame, he was voted the 'nation's favorite living composer' and succeeded in achieving the highest placing of any new entry in the history of the Hall of Fame with his ‘'Wherever You Are’’ charting at No 5.

Biography[link]

Born in St Asaph, Denbighshire, North Wales, Mealor studied composition privately with John Pickard and read music at the University of York (1994–2002). He then studied composition with Nicola LeFanu, and in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Hans Abrahamsen (1998–99).

Since 2003, he has been teaching at the University of Aberdeen, where he is currently Professor of Composition and has held visiting professorships in composition at institutions in Scandinavia and the United States.^[2] He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and since 2011 has been published by Novello (part of MusicSales). Also in 2011, he signed to Decca Records. His first album for Decca, 'A Tender Light' - a collection of sacred choral anthems - spent six weeks at No 1 of the Classical charts.

On 29 April 2011, Mealor's motet, a setting of Ubi Caritas et Amor, was premièred at the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey, by the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty's Chapel Royal conducted by James O'Donnell.^[3][4]

In 2011, Mealor was commissioned to write the music for "Wherever You Are", a song compiled from letters written between the wives and partners of British Army military personnel deployed on active service in the Afghanistan War as part of the BBC Two television series The Choir: Military Wives.^[5] The single, released on 19 December 2011, became the 2011 Christmas number one in the UK Singles Chart and raised money for military charities.^[6]

Selected works[link]

• Wherever You Are (for choir, 2011), is a song compiled from letters written between the wives and partners of British Army military personnel deployed on active service in the Afghanistan War as part of the BBC Two television series The Choir: Military Wives.^[5] The single, released on 19 December 2011, became the 2011 Christmas number one in the UK Singles Chart and raised money for military charities.^[6]
• Ubi Caritas et Amor (for choir – SATB with divisi, 2011) 4 min. Commissioned by Prince William for his 2011 Royal Wedding. A revised setting of Mealor's Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (2010).^[3][7] Premiered at Westminster Abbey 29 April 2011 by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and The Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace; Conducted by James O’Donnell.^[8]
• Stabat Mater (2009) (New version for Choir, Harp and String Orchestra, 2010) 25 min. Premiered by the St Andrews Chorus and Heisenberg Ensemble; Conducted by Michael Downes, St Andrews, November 2010.
• A Spotless Rose (2010) (SATB with divisi) 4 min. A Christmas Carol, Part of 'Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal'
• Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (2010) (SATB with divisi) 12 min. Commissioned by the John Armitage Memorial Trust and first performed by the combined choirs of St Salvator's (St Andrews) Chapel Choir, University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir and Edinburgh University Chamber Choir; Conducted by Michael Bawtree in Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews, October 2010.
• She Walks in Beauty (2010) (SATB with divisi) 4 min. A new setting of a text by Lord Byron, written for Octavoce.
• Sanctuary Haunts (2009) (SATB with divisi) 13 min. Written for Polyphony (choir) and Stephen Layton and due for first performance in February 2010.
• Locus Iste (2009) (Part of 'Sanctuary Haunts') (SATB with divisi) 6 min. Written for the Chapel Choir of King's College, Aberdeen and recorded by them on 'Christmas from Aberdeen' (KCL 2009).
• Stabat Mater (2009) (SATB & Piano) 25 min. Recorded on CD, Mealor: Stabat Mater (Campion Cameo Label).
• Between Eternity and Time (2008) (Soprano & Piano). Duration: 8 Mins. Three Settings of Emily Dickinson commissioned by Irene Drummond and Alasdair Beatson (with funds provided by the Scottish Arts Council) and due for first performance at King's College Chapel, Aberdeen, 6 November 2008.
• Rising of The Sixfold Sun (1998–2001) (Full Orchestra). Duration: 15 Minutes First performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, St David's Hall, Cardiff, February 2001 conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. Broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
• Liturgy of Fire (2006) (Symphonic Wind Ensemble). 10 Min. Commissioned and first performed by the New York University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Christian Wilhjelm at the Frederick Loewe Theatre, 35 W. 4th Street, New York on 6 December 2006.
• Let Fall the Windows of Mine Eyes (2007–08) (SATB) 7 Min. Commissioned by the Voices of Shakespeare Festival (Brecon) and first performed by Con Anima on 12 July 2008 at the Living Willow Theatre, Brecon [1].
• And Profoundest Midnight Shroud The Serene Lights of Heaven (2002) (16 Part A-Cappella Choir) 8 Min. Text: Rilke & Shelley (English). Commissioned by & First performed by York Vocal Index (directed by John Potter) at the Sir Jack Lyons Hall, York, May 2002. Further performance at Canterbury Cathedral by the Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and during their tour of Finland, 2003.
• The Shadows of Dreams (2007) (Soprano, Cello & Piano) 10 min. First performed by Sarah Leonard (Soprano), Ian Mitchell (Clarinet) and Huw Watkins (Piano), Elphinstone Hall, Aberdeen, 20 April 2008.
• Aurora Lucis Rutilat (2006) (Organ) 5 Min. Composed for Roger Williams (organist) and first performed by him at King's College, Cambridge, February 2007
• De Profundis (2005) (Organ) 12 Min. Commissioned by George Chittenden and first performed by him at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 6 August 2005.
• Borderlands (2003–04) (Piano Trio) 8 Min. First performed by the Chagall Trio at the University of Manchester, recorded for commercial CD, 'Borderlands' (Campion Cameo Label)[2]
• Elegy for a Play of Shadows (2001) 7 Min. (Version 1: Cor Anglais Solo with Harp. Version 2: Cor Anglais Solo with Five Instruments). Version 1: First performed by Eamonn O'Dwyer at Sir Jack Lyons Hall, York. Version 2: First performed by the Britten Sinfonia, Canterbury, November 2001 conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.
• Hidden Arias (2001) (Solo Oboe). 5 Min. First performed by Melinda Maxwell at Dartington Hall, August 2001.

Discography[link]

Madrigali: Fire & Roses (Divine Art DDA 25094) due for release late 2011 - Con Anima Chamber Choir directed by Paul Mealor. Includes Mealor's 'Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal' and Morten Lauridsen's 'Madrigali' and 'Chanson Éloignée'.

Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Divine Art DDS 29002) digital-only EP, pre-release taken from Madrigali: Fire and Roses - Con Anima Chamber Choir directed by Paul Mealor

Mealor: Stabat Mater (Campion Cameo 2083) – Irene Drummond (soprano); Drew Tulloch (piano) Con Anima Chamber Choir/Paul Mealor. All Mealor CD including: Stabat Mater; Let Fall the Windows of Mine Eyes; Between Eternity and Time; Beata es, Virgo Maria; Lux Benigna; Ave

Borderlands (Campion Cameo 2053) – Chagall Trio. Includes Mealor’s ‘Borderlands’ alongside music by John Pickard, Camden Reeves and Philip Grange

Christmas favourites from Aberdeen (KCL 2009) – Chapel Choir of King’s College, Aberdeen/ Roger Williams (organist). Includes Mealor’s ‘Locus Iste’

A Tender Light (Decca Classics) 14 November 2011 - Tenebrae Choir & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nigel Short.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• University of Aberdeen, Dept. of Music
• Con Anima
• Paul Mealor's YouTube channel

1611 woodcut of Josquin des Prez, copied from a now-lost oil painting done during his lifetime^[1]

Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] (French pronunciation: [ʒɔskɛ̃ depʁe]; c. 1450/1455 – 27 August 1521), often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He is also known as Josquin Desprez and Latinized as Josquinus Pratensis, alternatively Jodocus Pratensis, although he himself expressed his preferred spelling of his name, Josquin des Prez, in an acrostic in his motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix.^[2][3] He was the most famous European composer between Guillaume Dufay and Palestrina, and is usually considered to be the central figure of the Franco-Flemish School. Josquin is widely considered by music scholars to be the first master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime.

During the 16th century, Josquin gradually acquired the reputation as the greatest composer of the age, his mastery of technique and expression universally imitated and admired. Writers as diverse as Baldassare Castiglione and Martin Luther wrote about his reputation and fame; theorists such as Heinrich Glarean and Gioseffo Zarlino held his style as that best representing perfection.^[4] He was so admired that many anonymous compositions were attributed to him by copyists, probably to increase their sales.^[5] At least 374 works are attributed to him;^[6] it was only after the advent of modern analytical scholarship that some of these mistaken attributions have been challenged, on the basis of stylistic features and manuscript evidence. Yet in spite of Josquin's colossal reputation, which endured until the beginning of the Baroque era and was revived in the 20th century, his biography is shadowy, and we know next to nothing about his personality. The only surviving work which may be in his own hand is a graffito on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, and only one contemporary mention of his character is known, in a letter to Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. The lives of dozens of minor composers of the Renaissance are better documented than the life of Josquin.^[7]

Josquin wrote both sacred and secular music, and in all of the significant vocal forms of the age, including masses, motets, chansons and frottole. During the 16th century, he was praised for both his supreme melodic gift and his use of ingenious technical devices. In modern times, scholars have attempted to ascertain the basic details of his biography, and have tried to define the key characteristics of his style to correct misattributions, a task that has proved difficult. Josquin liked to solve compositional problems in different ways in successive compositions, as did Stravinsky more than 400 years later. Sometimes he wrote in an austere style devoid of ornamentation, and at other times he wrote music requiring considerable virtuosity.^[8] Heinrich Glarean wrote in 1547 that Josquin was not only a "magnificent virtuoso" (the Latin can be translated also as "show-off") but capable of being a "mocker", using satire effectively.^[9] While the focus of scholarship in recent years has been to remove music from the "Josquin canon" (including some of his most famous pieces) and to reattribute it to his contemporaries, the remaining music represents some of the most famous and enduring of the Renaissance.^[10]

Life[link]

Birth and early career[link]

Little is known for certain of Josquin's early life. Much is inferential and speculative, though numerous clues have emerged from his works and the writings of contemporary composers, theorists, and writers of the next several generations. Josquin was born in the area controlled by the Dukes of Burgundy, and was possibly born either in Hainaut (modern-day Belgium), or immediately across the border in modern-day France, since several times in his life he was classified legally as a Frenchman (for instance, when he made his will). Josquin was long mistaken for a man with a similar name, Josquin de Kessalia, born around the year 1440, who sang in Milan from 1459 to 1474, dying in 1498. More recent scholarship has shown that Josquin des Prez was born around 1450 or a few years later, and did not go to Italy until the early 1480s.

Around 1466, perhaps on the death of his father, Josquin was named by his uncle and aunt, Gilles Lebloitte dit Desprez and Jacque Banestonne, as their heir. Their will gives Josquin's actual surname as Lebloitte. According to Matthews and Merkley, "des Prez" was a nickname.^[11]

According to an account by Claude Hémeré, a friend and librarian of Cardinal Richelieu whose evidence dates as late as 1633, and who used the records of the collegiate church of Saint-Quentin,^[12] Josquin became a choirboy at Saint-Quentin, probably around 1460, and was in charge of its music. Doubt has been cast on the accuracy of Hémeré's account, however.^[13] He may have studied counterpoint under Ockeghem, whom he greatly admired throughout his life: this is suggested both by the testimony of Gioseffo Zarlino and Lodovico Zacconi, writing later in the 16th century, and by Josquin's eloquent lament on the death of Ockeghem in 1497, Nymphes des bois/Requiem aeternam, based on the poem by Jean Molinet.^[13] All records from Saint-Quentin were destroyed in 1669; however the cathedral there was a center of music-making for the entire area, and in addition was an important center of royal patronage. Both Jean Mouton and Loyset Compère were buried there, and it is certainly possible that Josquin acquired his later connections with the French royal chapel through early experiences at Saint-Quentin.

The first definite record of his employment is dated 19 April 1477, and it shows that he was a singer at the chapel of René, Duke of Anjou, in Aix-en-Provence. He remained there at least until 1478. No certain records of his movements exist for the period from March 1478 until 1483, but if he remained in the employ of René he would have transferred to Paris in 1481 along with the rest of the chapel. One of Josquin's early motets, Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo, suggests a direct connection with Louis XI, who was king during this time. In 1483 Josquin returned to Condé to claim his inheritance from his aunt and uncle, who may have been killed by the army of Louis XI in May 1478, when they besieged the town, locked the population into the church, and burned them alive.^[14]

Milan[link]

The period of 1480 to 1482 has puzzled biographers: some contradictory evidence exists, suggesting either that Josquin was still in France, or was already in the service of the Sforza family, specifically with Ascanio Sforza, who had been banished from Milan and resided temporarily in Ferrara or Naples. Residence in Ferrara in the early 1480s could explain the Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae, composed for Ercole d'Este, but which stylistically does not fit with the usual date of 1503–4 when Josquin was known to be in Ferrara. Alternatively it has been suggested that Josquin spent some of that time in Hungary, based on a mid-16th century Roman document describing the Hungarian court in those years, and including Josquin as one of the musicians present.^[14]

In either 1483 or 1484 Josquin is known to have been in the service of the Sforza family in Milan. While in their employ, he made one or more trips to Rome, and possibly also to Paris; while in Milan he made the acquaintance of Franchinus Gaffurius, who was maestro di cappella of the cathedral there. He was in Milan again in 1489, after a possible period of travel; but he left that year.

Rome[link]

From 1489 to 1495 Josquin was a member of the papal choir, first under Pope Innocent VIII, and later under the Borgia pope Alexander VI. He may have gone there as part of a singer exchange with Gaspar van Weerbeke, who went back to Milan at the same time. While there, he may have been the one who carved his name into the wall of the Sistine Chapel; a "JOSQUINJ" was recently revealed by workers restoring the chapel. Since it was traditional for singers to carve their names into the walls, and hundreds of names were inscribed there during the period from the 15th to the 18th centuries, it is considered highly likely that the graffiti is by Josquin – and if so, it would be his only surviving autograph.^[15][16]

Josquin's mature style evolved during this period; as in Milan he had absorbed the influence of light Italian secular music, in Rome he refined his techniques of sacred music. Several of his motets have been dated to the years he spent at the papal chapel.

Departure from Rome; Milan and France[link]

Around 1498 Josquin most likely re-entered the service of the Sforza family, on the evidence of a pair of letters between the Gonzaga and Sforza families.^[14] He probably did not stay in Milan long, for in 1499 Louis XII captured Milan in his invasion of northern Italy and imprisoned Josquin's former employers. Around this time Josquin most likely returned to France, although documented details of his career around the turn of the 16th century are lacking. Prior to departing Italy he most likely wrote one of his most famous secular compositions, the frottola El grillo, as well as In te Domine speravi ("I have placed my hope in you, Lord"), based on Psalm 30. The latter composition may have been a veiled reference to the religious reformer Girolamo Savonarola, who had been burned at the stake in Florence in 1498, and for whom Josquin seems to have had a special reverence; the text was the monk's favorite psalm, a meditation on which he left incomplete in prison prior to his execution.^[17]

Some of Josquin's compositions, such as the instrumental Vive le roy, have been tentatively dated to the period around 1500 when he was in France. A motet, Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo ("Remember thy promise unto thy servant"), was, according to Heinrich Glarean writing in the Dodecachordon of 1547, composed as a gentle reminder to the king to keep his promise of a benefice to Josquin, which he had forgotten to keep. According to Glarean's story, it worked: the court applauded, and the king gave Josquin his benefice. Upon receiving it, Josquin reportedly wrote a motet on the text Benefecisti servo tuo, Domine ("Lord, thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant") to show his gratitude to the king.^[18]

Ferrara[link]

Ercole I d'Este was an important patron of the arts during the Italian Renaissance; he was Josquin's employer in 1503 and 1504.

Josquin probably remained in the service of Louis XII until 1503, when Duke Ercole I of Ferrara hired him for the chapel there.^[19] One of the rare mentions of Josquin's personality survives from this time. Prior to hiring Josquin, one of Duke Ercole's assistants recommended that he hire Heinrich Isaac instead, since Isaac was easier to get along with, more companionable, was more willing to compose on demand, and would cost significantly less (120 ducats vs. 200). Ercole, however, chose Josquin.^[14]

While in Ferrara, Josquin wrote some of his most famous compositions, including the austere, Savonarola-influenced Miserere,^[20] which became one of the most widely-distributed motets of the 16th century; the utterly contrasting, virtuoso motet Virgo salutiferi;^[21] and possibly the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae, which is written on a cantus firmus derived from the musical letters in the Duke's name, a technique known as soggetto cavato.

Josquin did not stay in Ferrara long. An outbreak of the plague in the summer of 1503 prompted the evacuation of the Duke and his family, as well as two thirds of the citizens, and Josquin left by April of the next year, possibly also to escape the plague. His replacement, Jacob Obrecht, died of the plague in the summer of 1505,^[14] to be replaced by Antoine Brumel in 1506, who stayed until the disbanding of the chapel in 1510.

Retirement to Condé-sur-l'Escaut[link]

Josquin went directly from Ferrara to his home region of Condé-sur-l'Escaut, southeast of Lille on the present-day border between Belgium and France, becoming provost of the collegiate church of Notre-Dame on 3 May 1504, a large musical establishment that he headed for the rest of his life.^[22] While the chapter at Bourges Cathedral asked him to become master of the choirboys there in 1508, it is not known how he responded, and there is no record of his having been employed there; most scholars presume he remained in Condé.^[23]

During the last two decades of his life, Josquin's fame spread abroad along with his music. The newly-developed technology of printing made wide dissemination of his music possible, and Josquin was the favorite of the first printers: one of Petrucci's first publications, and the earliest surviving print of music by a single composer, was a book of Josquin's masses which he printed in Venice in 1502. This publication was successful enough that Petrucci published two further volumes of Josquin's masses, in 1504 and 1514, and reissued them several times.^[24]

On his death-bed Josquin asked that he be listed on the rolls as a foreigner, so that his property would not pass to the Lords and Ladies of Condé.^[22] This bit of evidence has been used to show that he was French by birth. Additionally, he left an endowment for the performance of his late motet, Pater noster/Ave Maria, at all general processions in the town when they passed in front of his house, stopping to place a wafer on the marketplace altar to the Holy Virgin. Pater noster may have been his last work.^[25]

Music[link]

Overview[link]

Josquin lived during a transitional stage in music history. Musical styles were changing rapidly, in part owing to the movement of musicians between different regions of Europe.^[26] Many northern musicians moved to Italy, the heart of the Renaissance, attracted by the Italian nobility's patronage of the arts; while in Italy, these composers were influenced by the native Italian styles, and often brought those ideas with them back to their homelands. The sinuous musical lines of the Ockeghem generation, the contrapuntal complexity of the Netherlanders, and the homophonic textures of the Italian lauda and secular music began to merge into a unified style; indeed Josquin was to be the leading figure in this musical process, which eventually resulted in the formation of an international musical language, of which the most famous composers included Palestrina and Lassus.^[27]

Josquin likely learned his craft in his home region in the North, in France, and then in Italy when he went to Milan and Rome. His early sacred works emulate the contrapuntal complexity and ornamented, melismatic lines of Ockeghem and his contemporaries, but at the same time he was learning his contrapuntal technique he was acquiring an Italianate idiom for his secular music: after all, he was surrounded by Italian popular music in Milan. By the end of his long creative career, which spanned approximately 50 productive years, he had developed a simplified style in which each voice of a polyphonic composition exhibited free and smooth motion, and close attention was paid to clear setting of text as well as clear alignment of text with musical motifs. While other composers were influential on the development of Josquin's style, especially in the late 15th century, he himself became the most influential composer in Europe, especially after the development of music printing, which was concurrent with the years of his maturity and peak output. This event made his influence even more decisive than it might otherwise have been.

Many "modern" musical compositional practices were being born in the era around 1500. Josquin made extensive use of "motivic cells" in his compositions, short, easily-recognizable melodic fragments which passed from voice to voice in a contrapuntal texture, giving it an inner unity. This is a basic organizational principle in music which has been practiced continuously from approximately 1500 until the present day.^[28]

Josquin wrote in all of the important forms current at the time, including masses, motets, chansons, and frottole. He even contributed to the development of a new form, the motet-chanson, of which he left at least three examples. In addition, some of his pieces were probably intended for instrumental performance.

Each area of his output can be further subdivided by form or by hypothetical period of composition. Since dating Josquin's compositions is particularly problematic, with scholarly consensus only achieved on a minority of works, discussion here is by type.

Masses[link]

Manuscript showing the opening Kyrie of the Missa de Beata Virgine, a late work. (Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Capp. Sist. 45, ff. 1v-2r)

Josquin wrote towards the end of the period in which the mass was the predominant form of sacred composition in Europe. The mass, as it had developed through the 15th century, was a long, multi-section form, with opportunities for large-scale structure and organization not possible in the other forms such as the motet. Josquin wrote some of the most famous examples of the genre, most using some kind of cyclic organization.

He wrote masses using the following general techniques, although there is considerable overlap between techniques in individual compositions:

• cantus firmus mass, in which a pre-existing tune appeared, mostly unchanged, in one voice of the texture, with the other voices being more or less freely composed;
• paraphrase mass, in which a pre-existing tune was used freely in all voices, and in many variations;
• parody mass, in which a pre-existing multi-voice song appeared in whole or in part, with material from all voices in use, not just the tune;
• soggetto cavato, or solmization mass, in which the tune is drawn from the syllables of a name or phrase (for example "la sol fa re mi" — A, G, F, D, E — based on the syllables of Lascia fare mi ("leave me alone", a phrase used by an unknown patron, in a context around which much legend has arisen).
• canon, in which an entire mass is based on canonic techniques, and no pre-existing material has been identified.^[29]

Most of these techniques, particularly paraphrase and parody, become standardized during the first half of the 16th century; Josquin was very much a pioneer, and what was perceived as mixing of these techniques by later observers was actually the process by which they were created.^[27]

Josquin was fond of canonic techniques, as were many other composers of his generation, and canon appears in all of his masses, sometimes to the exclusion of other structural devices.

Cantus-firmus masses[link]

Prior to Josquin's mature period, the most common technique for writing masses was the cantus firmus, a technique which had been in use already for most of the 15th century. It was the technique that Josquin used earliest in his career, with the Missa L'ami Baudichon, possibly his first mass.^[27] This mass is based on a secular – indeed ribald – tune similar to "Three Blind Mice". That basing a mass on such a source was an accepted procedure is evident from the existence of the mass in Sistine Chapel part-books copied during the papacy of Julius II (1503 to 1513).^[30]

Josquin's most famous cantus-firmus masses are the two based on the L'homme armé tune, which was the favorite tune for mass composition of the entire Renaissance. The earlier of the two, Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales, is a technical tour-de-force on the tune, containing numerous mensuration canons and contrapuntal display. It was by far the most famous of all his masses.^[31] The second, Missa L'homme armé sexti toni, is a "fantasia on the theme of the armed man."^[32] While based on a cantus firmus, it is also a paraphrase mass, for fragments of the tune appear in all voices. Technically it is almost restrained, compared to the other L'homme armé mass, until the closing Agnus Dei, which contains a complex canonic structure including a rare retrograde canon, around which other voices are woven.^[33]

Paraphrase masses[link]

The paraphrase technique differs from the cantus-firmus technique in that the source material, though it still consists of a monophonic original, is embellished, often with ornaments. As in the cantus-firmus technique, the source tune may appear in many voices of the mass.

Several of Josquin's masses feature the paraphrase technique, and they include some of his most famous work. The relatively early Missa Ave maris stella, which probably dates from his years in the Sistine Chapel choir, paraphrases the Marian antiphon of the same name; it is also one of his shortest masses.^[34] The late Missa de Beata Virgine paraphrases plainchants in praise of the Virgin Mary; it is a Lady Mass, a votive mass for Saturday performance, and was his most popular mass in the 16th century.^[27][35]

By far the most famous of Josquin's masses using the technique, and one of the most famous mass settings of the entire era, was the Missa pange lingua, based on the hymn by Thomas Aquinas for the Vespers of Corpus Christi. It was probably the last mass that Josquin composed.^[36] This mass is an extended fantasia on the tune, using the melody in all voices and in all parts of the mass, in elaborate and ever-changing polyphony. One of the high points of the mass is the et incarnatus est section of the Credo, where the texture becomes homophonic, and the tune appears in the topmost voice; here the portion which would normally set "Sing, O my tongue, of the mystery of the divine body" is instead given the words "And he became incarnate by the Holy Ghost from the Virgin Mary, and was made man."^[37]

Parody masses, masses on popular songs[link]

In parody masses, the source material was not a single line, but an entire texture, often of a popular song. Several works by Josquin fall loosely into this category, including the Missa Fortuna desperata, based on the three-voice song Fortuna desperata (possibly by Antoine Busnois); the Missa Malheur me bat (based on a chanson variously ascribed to Obrecht, Ockeghem, or, most likely, Abertijne Malcourt);^[27] and the Missa Mater Patris, based on a three-voice motet by Antoine Brumel. The Missa Mater Patris is probably the first true parody mass to be composed, for it no longer contains any hint of a cantus firmus.^[38] Parody technique was to become the most usual means of mass composition for the remainder of the 16th century, although the mass gradually fell out of favor as the motet grew in esteem.

Masses on solmization syllables[link]

The earliest known mass by any composer using this method of composition – the soggetto cavato – is the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae, which Josquin probably wrote in the early 1480s for the powerful Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara. The notes of the cantus firmus are drawn from the musical syllables of the Duke's own name: Re – Ut – Re – Ut – Re – Fa – Mi – Re. Another mass using this technique is the Missa La sol fa re mi, based on the musical syllables contained in "Lascia fare mi" ("leave me alone!"). The story, as told by Glareanus in 1547, was that an unknown aristocrat used to order suitors away with this phrase, and Josquin immediately wrote an "exceedingly elegant" mass on it as a jab at him.^[39]

Canonic masses[link]

Opening of the Agnus Dei II from the Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales. The movement consists of a three-out-of-one mensuration canon. The middle voice is the slowest; the lowest voice sings at twice the speed of the middle voice, and the top voice at three times the speed. The first four notes of the canon are shown connected by lines of the same color. (The first eight notes of the canon are a quotation of the contratenor of Ockeghem's "Ma bouche rit")

Canonic masses came into increasing prominence in the latter part of the 15th century. Early examples include Ockeghem's famous Missa prolationum, consisting entirely of mensuration canons, the Missa L'homme armé of Guillaume Faugues, whose cantus firmus is presented in canon at the descending fifth, and the Missa [Ad fugam] of Marbrianus de Orto, based on freely composed canons at the fifth between superius and tenor. Josquin makes use of canon in the Osanna and Agnus Dei III of the Missa L'homme armé sexti toni, throughout the Missa Sine nomine, and in the final three movements of the Missa De beata virgine. The Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales incorporates mensuration canons in the Kyrie, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei II.^[40]

Motets[link]

Josquin's motet style varied from almost strictly homophonic settings with block chords and syllabic text declamation to highly ornate contrapuntal fantasias, to the psalm settings which combined these extremes with the addition of rhetorical figures and text-painting that foreshadowed the later development of the madrigal. He wrote many of his motets for four voices, an ensemble size which had become the compositional norm around 1500, and he also was a considerable innovator in writing motets for five and six voices.^[41] No motets of more than six voices have been reliably attributed to Josquin.

A passage from the psalm motet Domine ne in furore (Ps. 37). Three variants of a motive built on a major triad are introduced, each in paired imitation between two voices.

Almost all of Josquin's motets use some kind of compositional constraint on the process; they are not freely composed.^[42] Some of them use a cantus firmus as a unifying device; some are canonic; some use a motto which repeats throughout; some use several of these methods. The motets that use canon can be roughly divided into two groups: those in which the canon is plainly designed to be heard and appreciated as such, and another group in which a canon is present, but almost impossible to hear, and seemingly written to be appreciated by the eye, and by connoisseurs.^[43]

Josquin frequently used imitation, especially paired imitation, in writing his motets, with sections akin to fugal expositions occurring on successive lines of the text he was setting. An example is his setting of Dominus regnavit (Psalm 93), for four voices; each of the lines of the psalm begins with a voice singing a new tune alone, quickly followed by entries of other three voices in imitation.^[44]

In writing polyphonic settings of psalms, Josquin was a pioneer, and psalm settings form a large proportion of the motets of his later years. Few composers prior to Josquin had written polyphonic psalm settings.^[45] Some of Josquin's settings include the famous Miserere, written in Ferrara in 1503 or 1504 and most likely inspired by the recent execution of the reformist monk Girolamo Savonarola,^[46] Memor esto verbi tui, based on Psalm 119, and two settings of De profundis (Psalm 130), both of which are often considered to be among his most significant accomplishments.^[44][47]

Chansons and instrumental compositions[link]

In the domain of secular music, Josquin left numerous French chansons, for from three to six voices, as well as a handful of Italian secular songs known as frottole, as well as some pieces which were probably intended for instrumental performance. Problems of attribution are even more acute with the chansons than they are with other portions of his output: while about 70 three and four-voice chansons were published under his name during his lifetime, only six of the more than thirty five- and six-voice chansons attributed to him were circulated under his name during the same time. Many of the attributions added after his death are considered to be unreliable, and much work has been done in the last decades of the 20th century to correct attributions on stylistic grounds.^[48]

Josquin's earliest chansons were probably composed in northern Europe, under the influence of composers such as Ockeghem and Busnois. Unlike them, however, he never adhered strictly to the conventions of the formes fixes – the rigid and complex repetition patterns of the rondeau, virelai, and ballade – instead he often wrote his early chansons in strict imitation, a feature they shared with many of his sacred works.^[27] He was one of the first composers of chansons to make all voices equal parts of the texture; and many of his chansons contain points of imitation, in the manner of motets. However he did use melodic repetition, especially where the lines of text rhymed, and many of his chansons had a lighter texture, as well a faster tempo, than his motets.

Inside of his chansons, he often used a cantus firmus, sometimes a popular song whose origin can no longer be traced, as in Si j'avoye Marion.^[49] Other times he used a tune originally associated with a separate text; and still other times he freely composed an entire song, using no apparent external source material. Another technique he sometimes used was to take a popular song and write it as a canon with itself, in two inner voices, and write new melodic material above and around it, to a new text: he used this technique in one of his most famous chansons, Faulte d'argent ("The problem with money"), a song sung by a man who wakes in bed with a prostitute, broke and unable to pay her.

Some of his chansons were doubtless designed to be performed instrumentally. That Petrucci published many of them without text is strong evidence of this; additionally, some of the pieces (for example, the fanfare-like Vive le roy) contain writing more idiomatic for instruments than voices.^[27]

Josquin's most famous chansons circulated widely in Europe. Some of the better known include his lament on the death of Ockeghem, Nymphes des bois/Requiem aeternam; Mille regretz (the attribution of which has recently been questioned);^[50] Plus nulz regretz; and Je me complains.

In addition to his French chansons, he wrote at least three pieces in the manner of the Italian frottola, a popular Italian song form which he would have encountered during his years in Milan. These songs include Scaramella, El grillo, and In te domine speravi. They are even simpler in texture than his French chansons, being almost uniformly syllabic and homophonic, and they remain among the most frequently sung portions of his output.

Motet-chansons[link]

While in Milan, Josquin wrote several examples of a new type of piece developed by the composers there, the motet-chanson. These compositions were texturally very similar to 15th century chansons in the formes fixes mold, except that unlike those completely secular works, they contained a chant-derived Latin cantus-firmus in the lowest of the three voices. The other voices, in French, sang a secular text which had either a symbolic relationship to the sacred Latin text, or commented on it.^[51] Josquin's three known motet-chansons, Que vous madame/In pace, A la mort/Monstra te esse matrem, and Fortune destrange plummaige/Pauper sum ego, are similar stylistically to those by the other composers of the Milan chapel, such as Loyset Compère and Alexander Agricola.

Influence[link]

Josquin's fame lasted throughout the 16th century, and indeed increased for several decades after his death. Zarlino, writing in the 1580s, was still using examples from Josquin in his treatises on composition; and Josquin's fame was only eclipsed after the beginning of the Baroque era, with the decline of the pre-tonal polyphonic style. During the 18th and 19th centuries Josquin's fame was overshadowed by later Roman School composer Palestrina, whose music was seen as the summit of polyphonic refinement, and codified into a system of composition by theorists such as Johann Fux; however, during the 20th century, Josquin's reputation has grown steadily, to the point where scholars again consider him "the greatest and most successful composer of the age."^[52][53] According to Richard Sherr, writing in the introduction to the Josquin Companion, addressing specifically the shrinking of Josquin's canon due to correction of misattributions, "Josquin will survive because his best music really is as magnificent as everybody has always said it was."^[10]

Since the 1950s Josquin's reputation has been boosted by the increasing availability of recordings, of which there are many, and the rise of ensembles specializing in the performance of 16th century vocal music, many of which consider Josquin's output to be at the heart of their repertory.^[54]

Media[link]

	Josquin – El Grillo – performed by the dwsChorale Recorded in studio (1.6 Mb) Tu Pauperum Refugium Four bassoon ensemble performing from Josquin Des Prez's Magnus es tu, Domine.
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Works list[link]

The difficulties in compiling a works list for Josquin cannot be overstated. Because of his immense prestige in the early sixteenth century, many scribes and publishers did not resist the temptation of attributing anonymous or otherwise spurious works to Josquin. The German editor Georg Forster summed up the situation admirably in 1540 when he wrote, "Now that Josquin is dead, he is putting out more works than when he was alive."^[55] Thus, the authenticity of many of the works listed below is disputed.

Masses[link]

1. Missa Ave maris stella (Rome, 1486–1495) (4 voices)
2. Missa D'ung aultre amer (4 voices; authorship questioned by Jeremy Noble)
3. Missa de Beata Virgine (around 1510) (4 voices in parts I–II, 5 voices in parts III–V)
4. Missa Di dadi (=N'aray je jamais) (4 voices; authorship doubted by some scholars)
5. Missa Faisant regretz (4 voices)
6. Missa Fortuna desperata (4 voices)
7. Missa Gaudeamus (4 voices)
8. Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae (Ferrara, 1503/04) (4 voices, 6 in Agnus III)
9. Missa La sol fa re mi (4 voices)
10. Missa L'ami Baudichon (4 voices)
11. Missa L'homme armé sexti toni (4 voices, 6 in Agnus III)
12. Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales (4 voices)
13. Missa Malheur me bat (4 voices, 6 in Agnus III)
14. Missa Mater patris (4 voices; authorship doubted by some scholars)
15. Missa Pange lingua (Condé, around 1514) (4 voices)
16. Missa Sine nomine (4 voices; canonic mass, originally titled "Missa Ad fugam")

Doubtful works:

1. Missa Ad fugam (4 voices)
2. Missa Da pacem (4 voices)
3. Missa Une musque de Biscaye (4 voices)

Mass fragments[link]

Of questionable authenticity, with the exception of the Credo De tous biens playne:

1. Credo Chascun me crie (= Des rouges nez)
2. Credo De tous biens playne
3. Credo Vilayge (II)
4. Credo [Quarti toni] (canonic)
5. Gloria De beata virgine
6. Sanctus De passione
7. Sanctus D'ung aultre amer
8. Credo Vilayge (I)
9. Credo La belle se siet (probably Robert de Févin)

Motets[link]

1. Absalon, fili mi (4vv) (attribution has been challenged; possibly Pierre de La Rue)
2. Absolve, quaesumus, Domine/Requiem aeternam (6vv) (attribution has been challenged)
3. Alma redemptoris mater;
4. Alma redemptoris mater / Ave regina caelorum;
5. Ave Maria, gratia plena ... benedicta tu (4vv);
6. Ave Maria, gratia plena ... Virgo serena (Milan 1484/85);^[56]
7. Ave munda spes, Maria (not in first complete works edition)
8. Ave nobilissima creatura
9. Ave verum corpus natum
10. Benedicta es, caelorum regina
11. Christum ducem, qui per crucem (4vv)
12. De profundis clamavi (4vv) (possibly middle-period composition: attribution has been questioned)
13. De profundis clamavi (5vv) (late composition)
14. Domine exaudi orationem meam
15. Domine, ne in fuore tuo (4vv)
16. Domine, non secundum peccata nostra (2-4vv; for Rome)
17. Ecce, tu pulchra es, amica mea
18. Factum est autem
19. Gaude virgo, mater Christi
20. Homo quidam fecit cenam magnam
21. Honor, decus, imperium
22. Huc me sydereo descendere jussit Olympo (5vv)
23. Illibata Dei virgo nutrix
24. In exitu Israel de Aegypto
25. In illo tempore assumpsit Jesus doudecim disciplus
26. Iniquos odio habui (4vv, only tenor part survives)
27. In principio erat Verbum (authenticity has been questioned)^[57]
28. Inviolata, integra et casta es, Maria
29. Jubilate Deo omnis terra
30. Liber generationis Jesu Christi
31. Magnificat quarti toni (attributed to Josquin on stylistic grounds)
32. Magnificat terii toni (attributed to Josquin on stylistic grounds)
33. Memor esto verbi tui
34. Miserere mei Deus (Ferrara, 1503)
35. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (France, 1480/83)
36. Missus est Gabriel angelus ad Mariam Virginem
37. Mittit ad virginem
38. Monstra te esse matrem
39. O admirabile commercium (part of a 5-motet cycle)
40. O bone et dulcissime Jesu
41. O Domine Jesu Christe (part of a Passion setting in 5 sections)
42. O virgo prudentissima
43. O virgo virginum
44. Pater noster, qui es in caelis (Condé, 1505–1521)
45. Planxit autem David
46. Praeter rerum seriem
47. Qui edunt me adhuc
48. Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi
49. Qui velatus facie fuisti (part of a Passion setting in 6 sections)
50. Salve regina (4vv)
51. Salve regina (5vv, 1502)
52. Stabat Mater
53. Tu lumen, tu splendor
54. Tu solus qui facis mirabilia
55. Usquequo Domine oblivisceris me (attrib on stylistic grounds; only part survives)
56. Ut Phoebi radiis
57. Veni, sancte spiritus (also attrib to Forestier)
58. Victimae paschali laudes
59. Virgo prudentissima
60. Virgo salutiferi (Ferrara, 1504/05)
61. Vultum tuum deprecabuntur (7-part Passion cycle) (1480s)

Motet-chansons[link]

1. A la mort / Monstra te esse matrem
2. Fortune destrange plummaige/Pauper sum ego
3. Que vous madame / In pace in idipsum

Chansons[link]

1. A l'heure que je vous
2. A l'ombre d'ung buissonet, au matinet (3vv)
3. Adieu mes amours
4. Adieu mes amours (6vv or 7vv)
5. Baisé moy, ma doulce amye (4vv)
6. Belle, pour l'amour de vous
7. Bergerette savoyenne
8. Cela sans plus
9. Comment peult haver joye
10. Cueur langoreulx
11. De tous biens plaine (3vv)
12. De tous biens plaine (4vv)
13. Douleur me bat
14. Du mien amant
15. Dulces exuviae
16. En l'ombre d'ung buissonet tout, au long (3vv)
17. En l'ombre d'ung buissonet tout, au long (4vv)
18. Entré je suis en grant pensée (3vv)
19. Entré je suis en grant pensée (4vv)
20. Fama malum
21. Faulte d'argent
22. Fors seulement (only one of six voice parts survives)
23. Fortuna d'un gran tempo
24. Helas madame
25. Ile fantazies de Joskin
26. Incessament livré suis à martire
27. Je me complains
28. Je n'ose plus
29. Je ris et si ay larme
30. Je sey bien dire
31. La belle se siet
32. La Bernardina
33. La plus de plus
34. Le villain [jaloux]
35. Ma bouche rit et mon cueur pleure
36. Mille Regretz (4 voices)
37. Mon mary m'a diffamée
38. N'esse pas ung grant desplaisir
39. Nymphes des bois (written for the death of Johannes Ockeghem)
40. Nymphes, nappés / Circumdederunt me
41. Parfons regretz
42. Petite camusette;
43. Plaine de dueil
44. Plus n'estes ma maistresse
45. Plus nulz regretz (written between 1508 and 1511, commemorating the 1507 Treaty of Calais);
46. Plusieurs regretz
47. Pour souhaitter
48. Quant je vous voye
49. Qui belles amours a
50. Recordans de my signora
51. Regretz sans fin;
52. Se congié prens
53. Si j'ay perdu mon amy (3vv)
54. Si j'ay perdu mon amy (4vv)
55. Tant vous aimme Bergeronette
56. Tenz moy en voz bras
57. Une mousque de Biscaye;
58. Vive le roy (instrumental piece, written for Louis XII)
59. Vous l'arez, s'il vous plaist
60. Vous ne l'arez pas
61. textless (4vv)

Frottole[link]

1. El Grillo
2. In te Domine speravi per trovar pietà
3. Scaramella va alla guerra

References and further reading[link]

• Atlas, Allan W., ed. Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400–1600. New York: Norton, 1998. ISBN 0-393-97169-4.
• Blackburn, Bonnie J. "Masses Based on Popular Songs and Solmization Syllables". The Josquin Companion, edited by Richard Sherr, 51–88. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-816335-5
• Brown, Howard M. "Chanson" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. London, Macmillan, 1980. (20 vol.) ISBN 1-56159-174-2.
• Charles, Sydney R. Josquin des Prez: A Guide to Research. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1983.
• Clutterham, Leslie. "Dating Josquin's Enigmatic Motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix". Choral Journal 38, no. 3 (October 1997): 9–14. Online version as "Auobiographical [sic] Constructions in Josquin's Motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix: Evidence for a Later Dating" (Accessed 8 May 2012).
• Duffin, Ross W., ed. A Josquin Anthology. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-353218-2.
• Elders, Willem, ed. New Josquin Edition, 30 vols. Utrecht: Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 1987- . ISBN 978-90-6375-051-0.
• Elders, Willem, and and Frits de Haen, eds. Proceedings of the International Josquin Symposium, Utrecht 1986 . Utrecht: Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 1986. ISBN 90-6375-148-6.
• Fallows, David. Josquin. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-53065-9.
• Gleason, Harold, and Warren Becker. Music in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Bloomington, Indiana: Frangipani Press, 1981. ISBN 0-89917-034-X.
• Godt, Irving. "Motivic Integration in Josquin's Motets." Journal of Music Theory, 21, 2 (Autumn, 1977): 264–92.
• Higgins, Paula. "The Apotheosis of Josquin des Prez and Other Mythologies of Musical Genius". Journal of the American Musicological Society, 57, 3 (Autumn, 2004): 443–510.
• Lowinsky, Edward E., ed. Josquin des Prez. London: Oxford University Press, 1976.
• Macey, Patrick. Bonfire Songs: Savonarola's Musical Legacy. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1998. ISBN 0-19-816669-9.
• Macey, Patrick, Jeremy Noble, Jeffrey Dean, and Gustave Reese. Dean Roote. ed. Josquin des Prez. Grove Music Online. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_gmo. Retrieved 29 October 2010.  (Subscription required)
• Matthews, Lora, and Paul Merkley. "Josquin des Prez". The Journal of Musicology (Summer 1998).^{[Full citation needed]}
• Merkley, Paul. "Josquin Desprez in Ferrara". The Journal of Musicology 18, 4 (2001): 544–83.
• Milsom, John. "Motets for Five or More Voices". In The Josquin Companion, edited by Richard Sherr, 281–320. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-816335-5
• Noble, Jeremy. "Josquin Desprez (works)" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. London, Macmillan, 1980. (20 vol.) ISBN 1-56159-174-2.
• Pietschmann, Klaus. "Ein Graffito von Josquin Desprez auf der Cantoria der Sixtinischen Kapelle" Die Musikforschung vol. 52 no. 2 (1999), pp. 204–207.
• Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance. New York: W. W. Norton, 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4.
• Reese, Gustave. "Josquin Desprez (biography)" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. London, Macmillan, 1980. (20 vol.) ISBN 1-56159-174-2.
• Reese, Gustave, Jeremy Noble, Lewis Lockwood, Jessie Ann Owens, James Haar, Joseph Kerman, and Robert Stevenson. The new Grove High Renaissance Masters: Josquin, Plaestrina, Lassus, Byrd, Victoria. The Composer Biography Series; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980–84. ISBN 0-393-30093-5.
• Sherr, Richard, ed. The Josquin Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-816335-5.
• Wegman, Rob C. "Who Was Josquin?" In The Josquin Companion, edited by Richard Sherr, 21–50. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-816335-5

Notes[link]

Recordings[link]

• 1993 – Renaissance-polyfonie in Brugge. The Songbook of Zeghere van Male.. Capilla Flamenca. Eufoda 1155. Contains a recording of O intemerata and Mille regretz.
• 1996 – Pierre de la Rue . Missa Alleluia. Music at the Burgundy Court. Capilla Flamenca. Eufoda 1232. Contains a recording of Gaude Virgo and Huc me sidereo by Josquin des Prez
• 1996 – Oh Flanders Free. Music of the Flemish Renaissance: Ockeghem, Josquin, Susato, De la Rue. Capilla Flamenca. Alamire LUB 03, Naxos 8.554516. Contains a recording of El grillo, Guillaume se va chaufer and Kyrie from Missa la sol fa re mi by Josquin des Prez
• 1998 – Margarete – Maximilian I. Musik um 1500. Capilla Flamenca with La Caccia, Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino Aalst, Schola Gregoriana Lovaniensis. ORF Shop CD 265 (2 CDs). Contains a recording of Adieu mes amours by Josquin des Prez.
• 2000 – Magic. Flanders Recorder Quartet and friends. Contains a recording of Mille Regretz and Scaramella by Josquin des Prez.
• 2002 – Pierre de la Rue: Missa de septem doloribus. Capilla Flamenca and Psallentes. MEW 0207. Contains a recording of Stabat mater by Josquin des Prez.
• 2005 – Dulcis Melancholia. Biographie musicale de Marguerite d’Autriche. Capilla Flamenca. MEW 0525. Contains a recording of Belle pour l'amour de vous, Plus nulz regretz and Que vous madame / In pace by Josquin Desprez.
• 2007 – Désir D'aymer. Love Lyrics Around 1500: From Flanders To Italy. Capilla Flamenca. Eufoda 1369. Contains a recording of Baisés moy (4 voices and 6 voices) and O venus bant by Josquin des Prez.
• 2007 – Salve Mater Salve Jesu. Chant and Polyphony From Bohemia Around 1500. Capilla Flamenca and Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, with Barbara Maria Willi. KTC 1346. Contains a recording of Qui velatus facie fuisti by Josquin des Prez.

External links[link]

•  "Josquin Deprés". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Free scores by Josquin des Prez in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free access to high-resolution images of manuscripts containing works by Josquin from Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
• Free scores by Josquin des Prez at the International Music Score Library Project
• The Mutopia Project has compositions by Josquin des Prez
• Free scores by Josquin Des Prez in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Josquin biography and discography
• Listen to free recordings of compositions from Umeå Akademiska Kör.
• Motet Ave Maria as interactive hypermedia (Shockwave required) at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext

Michael Jackson
Jackson at the White House in 1984
Background information
Birth name	Michael Joseph Jackson[1]
Also known as	King of Pop, MJ
Born	(1958-08-29)August 29, 1958 Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Died	June 25, 2009(2009-06-25) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B, pop, rock, soul, dance, funk, disco, new jack swing
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, record producer, actor, businessman, philanthropist
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1964–2009
Labels	Motown, Epic, Legacy, MJJ Productions
Associated acts	The Jackson 5 Michael Jackson's Signature
Website	www.michaeljackson.com

Michael Joseph Jackson^[1] (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ,^[2] Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.

Jackson's 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century"); 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era); and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.^[3] He was also one of the world's most prominent humanitarians and philanthropists; personally, and through his Heal the World Foundation, he donated more than $300 million in charity, and held the Guinness World Record for having supported the most charities out of any pop star.^[4][5]

Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury found him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series titled This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.^[6]

Life and career[link]

Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)[link]

Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death

Jackson (center) as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1972

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, the eighth of ten children in an African American working-class family who lived in a small 3-room house in Gary, Indiana,^[7] an industrial city near Chicago. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy.^[8] A sixth brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.^[9]

Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.^[10][11][12] Joseph acknowledged in 2003 that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.^[12] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he also credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.^[10] Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993. He admitted that he had often cried from loneliness and he would vomit on the sight of his father. Jackson's father was also said to have verbally abused Jackson, saying that he had a fat nose on numerous occasions.^[13] In fact, Michael Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant especially with his father, and to remain child-like throughout his adult life are in many ways consistent with the effects of this chronic maltreatment he endured as a young child.^[14]

In an interview with Martin Bashir, later included in the 2003 broadcast of Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him when he was a child, but was nonetheless a "genius", as he admitted his father's strict discipline played a huge role in his success. When Bashir dismissed the positive remark and continued asking about beatings, Jackson put his hand over his face and objected to the questions. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".^[15][16]

In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing. When he was eight, Jackson began sharing the lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5.^[8] The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", led by Michael.^[17]

The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, before signing with Motown Records in 1968.^[8] Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."^[18] The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.^[8] Between 1972 and 1975, Michael released four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben", and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".

The Jackson 5 "became a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists... five working-class black boys with afros and bell bottoms, and they really didn't have to trade any of that stuff in order to become mainstream stars."^[19]

The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.^[20]

[edit] Move to Epic and Off the Wall (1975–81)

In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records^[20] and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine left to pursue a solo career.^[21] They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Michael was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel", and "Can You Feel It".^[17] In 1978, he starred as the scarecrow in the musical, The Wiz, a box-office disaster. It was here that he teamed up with Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score. Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.^[22] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.^[23]

Jones and Jackson produced the Off the Wall album together. Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first solo album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".^[24][25] It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.^[26] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".^[27][28] That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".^[24] Jackson again won at the American Music Awards in 1981 for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.^[29] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.^[30] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.^[31]

[edit] Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1982–83)

In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; the record won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1984. In the same year he won another seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards (including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it), making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows.^[32][33] These awards were thanks to the Thriller album, released in late 1982, which was 1983's best-selling album worldwide^[34][35] and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States,^[36] as well as the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 110 million copies so far.^[37] The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".^[38] Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work.^[39] Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.^[40] Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple."^[41] In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.^[32] In December 2009, the music video for "Thriller" was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, "Thriller" is the first music video ever to be inducted.^[42][43][44]

Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".^[40] The New York Times wrote that, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".^[45]

On March 25th 1983, Michael Jackson reunited with his brothers for a legendary live performance which was taped for a Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. The show aired on May 16, 1983, to an audience of 47 million viewers, and featured the Jacksons and a number of other Motown stars. It is best remembered for Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean". Wearing a distinctive black sequin jacket and golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his signature dance move, the moonwalk, which former Soul Train dancer and Shalamar member Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years before. The Jacksons' performance drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.^[46] Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times later wrote, "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How does he do it? As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."^[47]

Pepsi, "We Are the World" and business career (1984–85)[link]

Jackson with a Knott's Berry Farm Snoopy mascot in April 1984

On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi Cola commercial, overseen by executive Phil Dusenberry,^[48] from ad agency BBDO and Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, Alan Pottasch at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In front of a full house of fans during a simulated concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire. He suffered second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson underwent treatment to hide the scars on his scalp, and he also had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter.^[23] Jackson never recovered from this injury. Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California, which now has a "Michael Jackson Burn Center" in honor of his donation.^[49] Dusenberry later recounted the episode in his memoir, Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career in Advertising.

On May 14, 1984, Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse.^[50] Jackson won eight awards during the Grammys that year. Unlike later albums, Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the 1984 Victory Tour, headlined by The Jacksons, showcased much of Jackson's new solo material to more than two million Americans. He donated all the funds (around $8 million) raised from the Victory Tour to charity.^[51] He also co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" in 1985 with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in the U.S. and Africa. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 30 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. In 1986, "We Are the World" won four Grammys (one for Jackson for Song of the Year). American Music Award directors removed the charity song from the competition because they felt it would be inappropriate, but recognized it with two special honors (one for the creation of the song and one for the USA for Africa idea). They are the only AMAs that Jackson won as non-solo artist.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Jackson at the White House South Portico with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1984

In 1984, ATV Music Publishing, which had the copyrights to nearly 4000 songs, including the Northern Songs catalog that contained the majority of the Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded by The Beatles, was put up for sale by Robert Holmes à Court.^[56] Jackson had become interested in owning music catalogs after working with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s: Jackson had learned McCartney made approximately $40 million a year from other people's songs.^[57] In 1981,^[58] McCartney was offered the ATV music catalog for £20 million ($40 million).^[57][59] According to McCartney, he contacted Yoko Ono about making a joint purchase by splitting the cost equally at £10 million each, but Ono thought they could buy it for £5 million each.^[57][59] When they were unable to make the joint purchase, McCartney let the offer fall through, not wanting to be the sole owner of the Beatles' songs.^[58][59]

According to a negotiator for Holmes à Court in the 1984 sale, "We had given Paul McCartney first right of refusal but Paul didn't want it at that time."^[60] Also, an attorney for McCartney assured Jackson's attorney, John Branca, that McCartney was not interested in bidding: McCartney reportedly said "It's too pricey".^[57][58] But there were several other companies and investors bidding. In September 1984, Jackson was first informed about the sale by Branca and sent a bid of $46 million on November 20, 1984.^[56] Jackson's agents thought they had a deal several times, but encountered new bidders or new areas of debate.^[56] In May 1985, Jackson's team walked away from talks after having spent over $1 million on four months of due diligence and on the negotiations.^[56]

In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that Charles Koppelman's and Marty Bandier's The Entertainment Co. had made a tentative agreement with Holmes à Court to buy ATV Music for $50 million.^[56] But in early August, Holmes à Court's team contacted Jackson and talks resumed. Jackson raised his bid to $47.5 million and it was accepted because he could close the deal more quickly, having already completed due diligence of ATV Music.^[56] He also agreed to visit Holmes à Court in Australia, where he would appear on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon.^[56][60] Jackson's purchase of ATV Music was finalized August 10, 1985.^[56]

[edit] Appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography and Neverland (1986–90)

Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color for the entire duration of his youth, but starting in the mid 1980s, it gradually grew paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that he might be bleaching his skin.^[61] According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission; both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight. The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches, he could appear very pale.^[62] Jackson was also diagnosed with vitiligo in his autopsy.^[63] By the mid 1990s several surgeons speculated that he had undergone various nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and cheekbone surgery—although Jackson denied this and insisted that he only had surgery on his nose.^[64] Jackson claimed that he had only two rhinoplasties and no other surgery on his face, although at one point he mentioned having a dimple created in his chin.^[65] Jackson lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire for "a dancer's body".^[65] Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy and speculated that he was suffering from anorexia nervosa; periods of weight loss would become a recurring problem later in life.^[66]

During the course of his treatment, Jackson made two close friends: his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, and Klein's nurse Debbie Rowe. Rowe eventually became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two eldest children. Long before becoming romantically involved with her, Jackson relied heavily on Rowe for emotional support. He also relied heavily on Klein, for medical and business advice.^[67]

Jackson became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box. Although the claim was untrue, according to tabloid reports that are widely cited, Jackson had disseminated the fabricated story himself.^[68][69] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called Bubbles from a laboratory, he was reported to be increasingly detached from reality.^[70] It was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "elephant man") and although untrue, Jackson did not deny the story.^[68][69] Although initially he saw these stories as opportunities for publicity, he stopped leaking untruths to the press as they became more sensational. Consequently the media began making up their own stories.^[69][71][72] These reports became embedded in the public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson came to despise.^[73] Responding to the gossip, Jackson remarked to Taraborrelli:

Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars? Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight," people would say, "Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth."^[74]

Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt in the Bad era

Jackson collaborated with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 17-minute 3-D film Captain EO, which debuted in September 1986 at both the original Disneyland and at EPCOT in Florida, and in March 1987 at Tokyo Disneyland. The $30 million movie was a popular attraction at all three parks. A Captain EO attraction was later featured at Euro Disneyland after that park opened in 1992. All four parks' Captain EO installations stayed open well into the 1990s: Paris' installation was the last one to close, in 1998.^[75] The attraction would later return to Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.^[76]

In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the Thriller video.^[77] With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated.^[78] It did not top Thriller as a commercial or artistic triumph, but Bad was still a substantial success in its own right.

The Bad album spawned seven hit singles in the U.S., five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana") reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. This was a record for most number one Hot 100 singles from any one album, including Thriller.^[79] Although the title track's video was arguably derivative of the video for the earlier single "Beat It", the "Bad" video still proved to be one of Jackson's iconic moments. It was a gritty but colorful epic set against the backdrop of the New York City Subway system, with costuming and choreography inspired by West Side Story. As of 2012, the album sold between 30 and 45 million copies worldwide.^{[80][81][82][83][84][85][86]} Thanks to the Bad album, Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1989.^[32][39] In the same year, Jackson won an Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards because Bad is the first album ever to generate five number one singles in the US, the first album to top in 25 countries and the best-selling album worldwide in 1987 and in 1988.^{[87][88][89][90]} In 1988, "Bad" won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single.^[91]

Front view: Jackson wearing the costume on a June 2, 1988 performance in Vienna, Austria

The Bad World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989.^[92] In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.^[93] Jackson broke a Guinness World Record   when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people. The Bad Tour turned out to be the last of Jackson's concert tours to include shows in the continental United States, although later tours did make it to Hawaii.

In 1988, Jackson released his first and only autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies.^[94] Jackson wrote about his childhood, The Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered.^[95] He also wrote about his facial appearance, saying he had had two rhinoplastic surgeries and a dimple created in his chin.^[65] He attributed much of the change in the structure of his face to puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style, and stage lighting.^[65] Moonwalk reached the top position on The New York Times best sellers' list.^[96] The musician then released a film called Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films that starred Jackson and Joe Pesci. The film was originally intended to be released to theaters but due to financial issues, the film was released direct-to-video. It saw a theatrical release in Germany, though. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues.^[97]

In March 1988, Jackson purchased land near Santa Ynez, California, to build Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million. He installed Ferris wheels, a menagerie, and a movie theater on the 2,700-acre (11 km²) property. A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds. In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.^[18][98] In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts was estimated at $125 million for that year alone.^[99] Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television ad in the Soviet Union.^[97]

His success resulted in his being dubbed the "King of Pop".^{[100][101][102][103]} The nickname was popularized by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul."^[104] President George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade".^[105] From 1985 to 1990, he donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.^[106][107] Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration received an Emmy nomination.^[97]

[edit] Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation and Super Bowl XXVII (1991–93)

In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal at the time,^[108] displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records.^[109] He released his eighth album Dangerous in 1991. As of 2008, Dangerous had shipped seven million copies in the U.S. and had sold 32 million copies worldwide. The Dangerous album was co-produced by Teddy Riley, one of the pioneers of "new jack swing" which convinced Michael to feature a rapper on his album for the first time, the act worked and it turned out to be the best-selling album associated with that movement.^{[110][111][112]} In the United States, the album's first single "Black or White" was its biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide.^[113] The album's second single "Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.^[114] At the end of 1992, Dangerous was awarded 1992's best-selling album worldwide and "Black or White" was awarded 1992's best-selling single worldwide at the Billboard Music Awards. Additionally, he won an award as best-selling artist of the '80s.^[115] In 1993, Jackson performed the song at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in rehearsals.^[116] In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.^[114]

Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war, poverty, and disease. In the same year Jackson published his second book, the bestselling collection of poetry, Dancing the Dream. While it was a commercial success and revealed a more intimate side to Jackson's nature, the collection was mostly critically unacclaimed at the time of release. In 2009, the book was republished by Doubleday and was more positively received by some critics in the wake of Jackson's untimely death. The Dangerous World Tour grossed $100 million. The tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 67 concerts.^[114][117] He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.^[118]

Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.^[119][120] In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them Gabon and Egypt.^[121] His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable and enthusiastic reception of more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home Michael."^[121] In his trip to Côte d'Ivoire, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief.^[121] He then thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed official documents formalizing his kingship and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.^[121]

In January 1993, Jackson made a memorable appearance at the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. The performance began with Jackson catapulting onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvas, he maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for a minute and a half while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and sang four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White" and "Heal the World". It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during the half-time show, and was viewed by 135 million Americans alone; Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90 places up the album chart.^[61] Jackson was given the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. "Black or White" was Grammy-nominated for best vocal performance. "Jam" gained two nominations: Best R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.^[114] The Dangerous album won a Grammy for Best Engineered – Non Classical, awarding the work of Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley. In the same year, Michael Jackson won three American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Dangerous), Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Remember the Time") and was the first to win the International Artist Award, for his global performances and humanitarian concerns. This award will bear his name in the future.^{[32][39][122]}

First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage (1993–94)[link]

Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey on February 10, 1993, his second television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he had vitiligo. The interview was watched by an American audience of 90 million. Dangerous re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after its original release.^{[16][61][114]}

In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler and his father, Dr. Evan Chandler, a dentist.^{[123][124][125]} The Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer initially refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that Jackson had sexually abused him.^[126] Dr. Chandler was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue charges, saying, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over". Jordan's mother was, however, adamant that there had been no wrongdoing on Jackson's part.^[125] Jackson later used the recording to argue that he was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to extort money from the singer.^[125]

Later that year, on December 20, Jackson's home was raided by the police, and Jackson submitted to a 25-minute strip search.^[127] Jordan Chandler had reportedly given police a description of Jackson's intimate parts, notably claiming that his bleach-damaged penis was circumcised; the strip search revealed, to the contrary, that Jackson was actually uncircumcised,^[128] a fact confirmed in his autopsy.^[129] His friends said he never recovered from the humiliation of the strip search. The investigation was inconclusive and no charges were ever filed.^[130][131] Jackson described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence.^{[123][127][132]} On January 1, 1994, Jackson's insurance carrier settled with the Chandlers out of court for $22 million. A Santa Barbara County grand jury and a Los Angeles County grand jury disbanded on May 2, 1994 without indicting Jackson.^[133] After which time the Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994.^{[134][135][136]} The out-of-court settlement's documentation specifically stated Jackson admitted no wrongdoing and no liability; the Chandlers and their family lawyer Larry Feldman signed it without contest.^[137] The Chandlers' lawyer Mr. Feldman also explicitly stated "nobody bought anybody's silence".^[138] A decade after the fact, during the second round of child abuse allegations, Jackson's lawyers would file a memo stating that the 1994 settlement was done without his consent.^[135]

In May 1994, Jackson married the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley. They had first met in 1975, when a seven-year-old Presley attended one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and were reconnected through a mutual friend.^[139] According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A."^[140] They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As the child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Presley for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.^[141] Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it."^[142] She eventually persuaded him to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover.^[141]

Jackson proposed to Presley over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?"^[141] They married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy, denying it for nearly two months afterwards.^[143] The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life ... that was sexually active".^[144] At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image.^[143] The marriage lasted less than two years and ended with an amicable divorce settlement.^[145] In a 2010 interview with Oprah, Presley admitted that they spent four more years after the divorce "getting back together and breaking up", until she decided to stop.^[146]

[edit] HIStory, second marriage and fatherhood (1995–99)

In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million upfront as well as the rights to even more songs.^[147][148] He then released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first disc, HIStory Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later reissued as Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001, while the second disc, HIStory Continues, contained 15 new songs. The album debuted at number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in the US.^[149] It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.^[113][150] HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.^[151]

Michael Jackson at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival

The first single released from the album was the double A-side "Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet, performed with Jackson's youngest sister Janet. The song fights against the media, mainly for what the media made him out to be during his 1993 child abuse allegations. The single had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".^[151] "You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from HIStory; it holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[99] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".^[151] In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance; the incident was caused by a stress-related panic attack.^[152] "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.^[151] The track "They Don't Care About Us" became controversial when the Anti-Defamation League and other groups criticized its allegedly antisemitic lyrics. Jackson quickly put out a revised version of the song without the offending lyrics.^[153] In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.^[32][154]

The album was promoted with the successful HIStory World Tour. The tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, and grossed up a total of $165 million. The show, which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures.^[92] During the tour, Jackson married his longtime friend Deborah Jeanne Rowe, a dermatology nurse, in an impromptu ceremony in Sydney, Australia. Rowe was approximately six months pregnant with the couple's first child at the time. Originally, Rowe and Jackson had no plans to marry, but Jackson's mother Katherine persuaded them to do so.^[155] Michael Joseph Jackson Jr (commonly known as Prince) was born on February 13, 1997; his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born a year later on April 3, 1998.^[145][156] The couple divorced in 1999, and Jackson got full custody of the children. The divorce was relatively amicable, but a subsequent custody suit was not settled until 2006.^[157][158]

Jackson at Perth Airport in 1996

In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies as of 2007, it is the best selling remix album ever released.^[159] It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track.^[159][160] In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.^[110][151] Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.^[98] Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of charitable events. He joined Luciano Pavarotti for a benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the nonprofit organization War Child, and raised a million dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia, as well as additional funds for the children of Guatemala.^[161] Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Red Cross and UNESCO.^[162]

[edit] Label dispute, Invincible and third child (2000–03)

At the turn of the century, the American Music Awards honored Jackson as Artist of the '80s.^[163] Throughout 2000 and 2001, Jackson worked in the studio with Teddy Riley and Rodney Jerkins, as well as other collaborators. These sessions would result in the album Invincible, released in October 2001. Invincible was Jackson's first full-length album in six years, and it would be the last album of new material he released while still alive. The release of the album was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him sometime in the early 2000s. Once he had the licenses, he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and he would also be able to keep all the profits. However, due to various clauses in the contract, the revert date turned out to be many years away. Jackson discovered that the attorney who represented him in the deal was also representing Sony.^[160] Jackson was also concerned about the fact that for a number of years, Sony had been pressuring him to sell his share in their music catalog venture. Jackson feared that Sony might have a conflict of interest, since if Jackson's career failed he would have to sell his share of the catalog at a low price.^[164] Jackson sought an early exit from his contract.^[160] Just before the release of Invincible, Jackson informed the head of Sony Music Entertainment, Tommy Mottola, that he was leaving Sony.^[160] As a result, all singles releases, video shootings and promotions concerning the Invincible album were suspended.

In September 2001, two 30th Anniversary concerts were held at Madison Square Garden to mark the singer's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared onstage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also featured performances by Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, 'N Sync, Destiny's Child, Monica, Luther Vandross, and Slash, among other artists.^[165] The second of the two shows took place the night before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.^[166] After 9/11, Jackson helped organize the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert took place on October 21, 2001, and included performances from dozens of major artists, including Jackson, who performed his song "What More Can I Give" as the finale.^[164] Jackson's solo performances were omitted from the televised version of the benefit concert, although he could still be seen singing background vocals. This omission happened because of contractual issues related to the earlier 30th Anniversary concerts: those concerts were boiled down into a two-hour TV special titled Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration: The Solo Years which debuted in November 2001.

In spite of the events preceding its release, Invincible came out in October 2001 to much anticipation. Invincible proved to be a hit, debuting atop the charts in 13 countries and going on to sell approximately 13 million copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in the US.^{[110][113][167]} However, the sales for Invincible were lower than those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came out at a bad time for the music industry in general.^[164] The album cost $30 million to record, not including promotional expenditures.^[168] Invincible spawned three singles, "You Rock My World", "Cry" and "Butterflies", the latter without a music video. Jackson alleged in July 2002 that Mottola was a "devil" and a "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own personal gain.^[164] He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger".^[169] Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $25 million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.^[168]

In 2002, Michael Jackson won his 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century.^[170] In the same year, Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born.^[171] The mother's identity is unknown, but Jackson has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm.^[157] On November 20 of that year, Jackson brought his newborn son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, as fans stood below, holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face. The baby was briefly extended over a railing, four stories above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake".^[172] Sony released Number Ones, a compilation of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the US, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was certified six times platinum for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.^[110][173]

Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal (2003–05)[link]

Beginning in May 2002, Jackson allowed a documentary film crew, led by British TV personality Martin Bashir, to follow him around just about everywhere he went. Bashir's film crew was with Jackson during the "baby-dangling incident" in Berlin. The program was broadcast in March 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, and painted an extraordinarily unflattering portrait of the singer.

In a particularly controversial scene, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with a young boy.^[174] As soon as the documentary aired, the Santa Barbara county attorney's office began a criminal investigation. Jackson was arrested in November 2003, and was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the 13 year old boy shown in the film.^[174] Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature. The People v. Jackson trial began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria, California, and lasted five months, until the end of May. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all counts.^{[175][176][177]} After the trial, in a highly publicized relocation he moved to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.^[178] Bahrain was also where the family intended to send Jackson if he was convicted (though Jackson did not know about the plan), according to a statement by Jermaine Jackson printed in The Times of London in September 2011.^[179]

[edit] Closure of Neverland, final years and This Is It (2006–09)

Jackson with his children in Disneyland Paris, 2006

In March 2006, the main house at the Neverland Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure.^[180] There were numerous reports around that time that Jackson was having financial problems. Jackson had been delinquent on his repayments of a $270 million loan secured against his music publishing holdings, even though those holdings were reportedly making him as much as $75 million a year.^[181] Bank of America sold the debt to Fortress Investments. Sony reportedly proposed a restructuring deal which would give them a future option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly owned publishing company (leaving Jackson with a 25% stake).^[148] Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed refinancing deal in April 2006, although the exact details were not made public.^[182] Jackson did not have a recording contract in place with Sony or any other major record label at the time.

In early 2006, there was an announcement that Jackson had signed a contract with a Bahrain-based startup called Two Seas Records. However, nothing ever came of that deal, and the CEO of Two Seas, Guy Holmes, later stated that the deal had never been finalized.^[183][184] Throughout 2006, Sony repackaged 20 singles from the 1980s and 1990s as the Michael Jackson: Visionary series, which subsequently became a box set. Most of those singles returned to the charts as a result. In September 2006, Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe confirmed reports that they had settled their long-running child custody suit. The terms were never made public. Jackson continued to be the custodial parent of the couple's two children.^[158] In October 2006, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman said that Jackson had been recording at a studio in rural Westmeath, Ireland. It was not known at the time what Jackson might be working on, or who might be paying for the sessions, since his publicist had recently issued a statement claiming that he had left Two Seas.^[184][185]

In November 2006, Jackson invited an Access Hollywood camera crew into the studio in Westmeath, and MSNBC broke the story that he was working on a new album, produced by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.^[113] Jackson performed at the World Music Awards, in London on November 15, 2006, and accepted a Diamond Award for selling over 100 million records.^[113][186] Jackson returned to the United States after Christmas 2006 to attend James Brown's funeral in Augusta, Georgia. He gave one of the eulogies, saying that "James Brown is my greatest inspiration."^[187] In the spring of 2007, Jackson and Sony teamed up to buy yet another music publishing company: Famous Music LLC, formerly owned by Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.^[188] Jackson recorded extensively during this period in New York with songwriter and producer will.i.am and also in Las Vegas with producers Akon and RedOne.^[189][190] In March 2007, Jackson gave a brief interview to the Associated Press in Tokyo, where he said, "I've been in the entertainment industry since I was 6 years old, and as Charles Dickens would say, 'It's been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not change my career ... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."^[191]

In September 2007, Jackson was reportedly still working with will.i.am, but the album was apparently never completed.^[192] However, in 2008, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the original Thriller. This album featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time" (an outtake from the original sessions) as well as remixes, where Jackson collaborated with younger artists who had been inspired by his work.^[193] Two of the remixes were released as singles with only modest success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" (with will.i.am) and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" (with Akon). The first single was based on an early demo version, without Paul McCartney. The album itself was a hit, however.^{[193][194][195][196]} In anticipation of Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of greatest-hits albums called King of Pop. Slightly different versions were released in various countries, based on polls of local fans.^[197] King of Pop reached the top 10 in most countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in other countries (such as the United States.)^[198][199]

In the fall of 2008, Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as collateral for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress opted to sell Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, which was a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. This deal cleared Jackson's debt, and he reportedly even gained an extra $35 million from the venture. At the time of his death, Jackson still owned a stake in Neverland/Sycamore Valley, but it is unknown how large that stake was.^{[200][201][202]} In September 2008, Jackson entered negotiations with Julien's Auction House to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia amounting to approximately 1,390 lots. The auction was scheduled to take place between April 22 and April 25.^[203] An exhibition of the lots opened as scheduled on April 14, but the actual auction was eventually cancelled at Jackson's request.^[204]

In March 2009, Jackson held a press conference at London's O₂ Arena and announced a series of comeback concerts titled This Is It. The shows would be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson suggested possible retirement after the shows; he said it would be his "final curtain call". The initial plan was for 10 concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone would earn the singer approximately £50 million.^[205] The London residency was increased to 50 dates after record breaking ticket sales: over one million were sold in less than two hours.^[206] Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place at the Staples Center, which was owned by AEG.^[207] The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009, and finished on March 6, 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest.^[208] Some time before his death, it was widely stated that he was starting a clothing line with Christian Audigier; due to his death, the current status of the label remains unknown.^[209][210]

Jackson's first posthumous single was a song titled "This Is It" which Jackson cowrote in the 1980s with Paul Anka. It was not on the set lists for the concerts, and the recording was based on an old demo tape. The surviving brothers reunited in the studio for the first time since 1989 to record backing vocals. On October 28, 2009, a documentary film about the rehearsals titled Michael Jackson's This Is It was released.^[211] Even though it ran for a limited two-week engagement, it became the highest grossing documentary or concert movie of all time, with earnings of more than $260 million worldwide.^[212] Jackson's estate received 90% of the profits.^[213] The film was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name. Two versions of the new song appear on the album, which also featured original masters of Jackson's hits in the order in which they appear in the movie, along with a bonus disc with previously unreleased versions of more Jackson hits as well as a spoken-word poem titled "Planet Earth".^[214] At the 2009 American Music Awards Jackson won four posthumous awards, two for him and two for his album Number Ones, bringing his total American Music Awards to 26.^[215][216]

Death and memorial[link]

On June 25, 2009, Jackson died while in his bed at his rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by Conrad Murray, his personal physician, were unsuccessful.^[217] Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 (PDT, 19:22 UTC), arriving three minutes later at Jackson's location.^[218][219] He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed.^[220] Resuscitation efforts continued en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after arriving there at 1:13 (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 local time (21:26 UTC).^[221][222] Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief.^[217]

The news spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user overload. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times suffered outages.^[223] Google initially believed that the input from millions of people searching for "Michael Jackson" meant that the search engine was under DDoS attack, and blocked searches related to Michael Jackson for 30 minutes. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia at 3:15 p.m. PDT (22:15 UTC).^[224] The Wikimedia Foundation reported nearly a million visitors to Jackson's biography within one hour, probably the most visitors in a one-hour period to any article in Wikipedia's history.^[225] AOL Instant Messenger collapsed for 40 minutes. AOL called it a "seminal moment in Internet history", adding, "We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."^[226]

Around 15% of Twitter posts—or 5,000 tweets per minute—reportedly mentioned Jackson after the news broke,^[227][228] compared to the 5% recalled as having mentioned the Iranian elections or the flu pandemic that had made headlines earlier in the year.^[228] Overall, web traffic ranged from 11% to at least 20% higher than normal.^[227][229] MTV and Black Entertainment Television (BET) aired marathons of Jackson's music videos.^[230] Jackson specials aired on multiple television stations around the world. The British soap opera EastEnders added a last-minute scene, in which one character tells another about the news, to the June 26 episode.^[231] Jackson was the topic of every front-page headline in the daily British tabloid The Sun for about two weeks following his death.^[232] During the same period, the three major U.S. networks' evening newscasts—ABC World News, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News—devoted 34% of their broadcast time to him.^[233] Magazines including Time published commemorative editions.^[234] A scene that had featured Jackson's sister La Toya was cut from the film Brüno out of respect toward Jackson's family.^[235]

Jackson's memorial was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Jackson's casket was present during the memorial but no information was released about the final disposition of the body. While some unofficial reports claimed a worldwide audience as high as one billion people,^[236][237] the U.S. audience was estimated by Nielsen to be 31.1 million, an amount comparable to the estimated 35.1 million that watched the 2004 burial of former president Ronald Reagan, and the estimated 33.1 million Americans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess Diana.^[238]

Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the event. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read "We had him", a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.^[239] The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."^[240] Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, cried as she told the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine ... I just wanted to say I love him ... so much."^[166] Reverend Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer.^[241] On August 24, several news outlets quoted anonymous sources as stating that the Los Angeles coroner had decided to treat Jackson's death as a homicide; this was later confirmed by the coroner on August 28.^[242][243] At the time of death, Jackson had been administered propofol, lorazepam and midazolam.^[244] Law enforcement officials conducted a manslaughter investigation of his personal physician, Conrad Murray.^[245] On February 8, 2010, Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles.^[246] Jackson was entombed on September 3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.^[247]

Tribute of fans from all over the world in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park on his first anniversary of death

On June 25, 2010, the first anniversary of Jackson's death, fans traveled to Los Angeles to pay their tribute to him. They visited Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his family’s home, as well as Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Many of the fans were carrying sunflowers and other tribute items to drop off at the sites. Members of the Jackson family and close friends arrived to pay their respects.^[248][249] Katherine returned to Gary, Indiana to unveil a granite monument constructed in the front yard of the family home. The memorial continued with a candlelight vigil and a special performance of "We Are the World".^[250][251] On June 26, there was a protest march in front of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division at the old Parker Center building and a petition with thousands of signatures demanding justice was delivered.^[252][253] The Jackson Family Foundation in conjunction with Voiceplate presented "Forever Michael", an event bringing together Jackson family members, celebrities, fans, supporters and the community to celebrate and honor his legacy. A portion of the proceeds were presented to some of Jackson's favorite charities. Katherine also introduced her new book "Never Can Say Goodbye".^{[254][255][256]}

Death aftermath[link]

After his death, Jackson became the best-selling albums artist of 2009. In the United States selling over 8.2 million albums and a total of 35 million albums worldwide in the 12 months that followed his death.^[257][258] Following this surge in sales, Sony announced that they had extended their relationship with his material. The distribution rights held by Sony Music were due to expire in 2015.^[259] On March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment, in a move spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label Group division, signed a new deal with the Jackson estate to extend their distribution rights to his back catalogue until at least 2017, as well as to obtain permission to release ten new albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work. On November 4, 2010 Sony announced the release of Michael, the first posthumous album set to be released on December 14, with the promotional single released to the radios on November 8, titled "Breaking News".^[260] The deal was unprecedented in the music industry as it is the most expensive music contract pertaining to a single artist in history; it reportedly involved Sony Music paying $250 million for the deal, with the Jackson estate getting the full sum as well as its share of royalties for all works released.^[259][261] Video game developer Ubisoft announced it would release a new dancing-and-singing game featuring Michael Jackson for the 2010 holiday season. The game titled Michael Jackson: The Experience will be among the first to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the respective motion-detecting camera systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 due out later that year.^[262]

On November 3, 2010, the theatrical performing company Cirque du Soleil announced that it would launch "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" in October 2011 in Montreal, while a permanent show will reside in Las Vegas.^[263] The 90-minute US$57M production will combine Jackson's iconic musical oeuvre and choreography with the Cirque's signature artistry, dance and aerial displays involving 65 artists.^[264] The tour was written and directed by Jamie King^[265] and centers on Jackson's "inspirational Giving Tree – the wellspring of creativity where his love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature are unlocked."^[266] On October 3, 2011, the accompanying compilation soundtrack album Immortal was announced to have over 40 Jackson’s original recordings re-produced by Kevin Antunes.^[267]

In April 2011, Jackson's longtime friend and billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, chairman of Fulham F.C., unveiled a statue of Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage.^[268] Fulham fans were however bemused by the statue and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club.^[269] Al Fayed however defended the statue and told the fans to 'go to hell' if they didn't appreciate the statue.^[270]

Artistry[link]

Influences[link]

One of many identical statues, positioned throughout Europe to promote HIStory

Jackson's music took root in R&B, pop and soul. He had been influenced by the work of contemporary musicians such as Little Richard, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, David Ruffin, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Isley Brothers, the Bee Gees and the West Side Story dancers, to whom he made a tribute in "Beat It" and in the "Bad" video.^[271] According to David Winters, who met and befriended Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana Ross TV Special "Diana!", (which was also Jackson's first solo debut outside of The Jackson 5), Jackson watched West Side Story almost every week and it was his favorite film.^{[272][273][274]} While Little Richard had a substantial influence on Jackson,^[275][276] James Brown was Jackson's greatest inspiration. In reference to Brown, Jackson declared: "Ever since I was a small child, no more than like six years old, my mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work. And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I had never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right then and there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown."^[277]

The young Michael Jackson owed his vocal technique in large part to Diana Ross. Not only a mother figure to him, she was often observed in rehearsal as an accomplished performer. He later expressed: "I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way she moved, the way she sang – just the way she was." He told her: "I want to be just like you, Diana." She said: "You just be yourself."^[278] But Jackson owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of the oooh interjection—to Ross. From a young age, Jackson often punctuated his verses with a sudden exclamation of oooh. Diana Ross had used this effect on many of the songs recorded with The Supremes.^[279]

Musical themes and genres[link]

Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper. Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder, and when recording he would sing the lyrics from memory.^[280] In most of his songs, such as "Billie Jean", "Who Is It", and "Tabloid Junkie", he would beatbox and imitate the instruments using his voice instead of playing the actual instruments, along with other sounds. Jackson noted that it is easier to sing a drum line, or sing a bass, instead of playing a drum line or a bass with an instrument. Several critics have said that Jackson's distinct voice was able to replace any instrument convincingly. Steve Huey of Allmusic said that, throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to experiment with various themes and genres.^[281] As a musician, he ranged from Motown's dance fare and ballads to techno and house-edged new jack swing to work that incorporates both funk rhythms and hard rock guitar.^{[18][282][283]}