Colin, Pierre Colin, Pierre William C. Lengefeld https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.06092 Published in print: 20 January 2001 Published online: 2001 (fl 1538–72). French composer. He was Master of the Choirboys (c1539–61) and organist (c1562–1569) at St Lazare Cathedral in Autun; he was also active as a priest and chaplain there from 1539 to about 1572. In 1832 Fétis summarized some account books for the chapel of François I's daughters (F-Pn fr.7853) in which a Gilbert Colin, called Chamault, is listed as a clerk and chaplain from 1521 until his retirement in 1536. In the Biographie universelle Fétis confused this man with Pierre Colin – an identification not supported by the music publications, which name only Pierre Colin (or simply Colin), not Gilbert (or Pierre-Gilbert) Colin. Most of Colin's 26 masses are parody works based on material from his own motets and psalms, as well as from motets by Richafort, Certon and others; some of the masses were recopied in manuscripts in Italy ( I-TVd 19, Bsp A.XLVIII) and Spain (E-Tc 27). The ten Magnificat settings (of the even-numbered verses) use the plainsong formulae as their structural basis. Among his best works are the 36 motets, most of which are constructed in a series of overlapping points of imitation. In his early works duets contrast with chordal sections, whereas later pieces are characterized by a fuller, more continuous texture. Nevertheless they reflect Colin's concern with textual clarity. In the prologue to his Liturgicon musicarum he explained that he had constructed the music so that the text might be easily understood, for ‘our souls are fed on the inmost part of the text’. Although poor Latin accentuation occasionally occurs, the declamation is generally successful because of Colin's subtle sense of timing, texture control and felicitous choice of melodic figures. Six of the eight chansons commonly attributed to him were printed by Attaingnant, who gave only the composer's surname; all are in a light, basically homophonic style, with some text-painting and imitative textures. Through his sacred works, Colin made a significant contribution to French music in the generation of composers after Josquin. Works Sacred Liber octo missarum … moduli quos motettos usitatiori nomine vulgus vocat … parthenica cantica in laudem illibatae virginis conscripta (quae … Magnificat inscribuntur) octo sunt, singulaque proprio tono distinguuntur, 4–6vv (Lyons, 1542) Liber tertius missae sex, 4vv (Venice, 1544) Les 50 pseaulmes de David traduictz par Clement Marot … en chant non vulgaire; mais plus convenable aux instrumens, 4vv (Paris, 1550) Liturgicon musicarum 12 missarum (Lyons, 1554 [lost], 2/1556) Page 1 of 3 Printed from Grove Music Online. Grove is a registered trademark. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: UNAM; date: 02 December 2023 Colin, Pierre Missa, ad imitationem moduli ‘Confitemini’, 4vv (Paris, 1556) Missa, ad imitationem moduli ‘In me transierunt’, 4vv (Paris, 1556) Missa, ad imitationem moduli ‘Surgens Jesus’, 4vv (Paris, 1556) Modulorum (quos vulgo motecta vocant), liber I, 4–6vv (Paris, 1562) Modulorum … liber II (Paris, 1562) Les sept pseaumes penitentiaux de David, traduits en rithme françoise, par Clement Marot, 4vv (Paris, 1564) Messe, 4vv (Venice, 1580) 2 masses, 1547² Missa ‘Salus nostra’, 4vv, in Missae duodecim (Paris, 1554) [later repr. separately]; 2 masses repr. from earlier edns in 1590² 1 Magnificat, 1547² 3 Magnificat settings, 1553³ [2 repr. from Liber octo missarum] 5 7 8 15 motets, 1539¹¹, 1542 , 1542 , 1551¹, 1553 , 1555¹³, 1555 14 Secular 5 7 19 7 chansons, 1538¹², 1541 , 1543 , 1545¹², 1549 , 1550¹² 1 in Le parangon des chansons, XIIe livre (Lyons, 1543) [unnamed; attrib. P. Colin in Catalogue de la bibliothèque de F.J. Fétis (Brussels, 1877)]: 2 ed. in PÄMw, xxiii (1899/R), 1 ed. in RRMR, xxxviii (1981) Bibliography FétisB F.-J. Fétis: ‘Recherches sur la musique des rois de France et de quelques princes, depuis Philippe-le-Bel (1285) jusqu'à la fin du règne de Louis XIV’, Revue musicale, 12 (1832), 193, 241–4 F. Lesure and G. Thibault: ‘Bibliographie des éditions musicales publiées par Nicolas Du Chemin (1549–1576)’, AnnM, 1 (1953), 269–373; iv (1956), 251–4; vi (1958–63), 403 D. Heartz: Pierre Attaingnant, Royal Printer of Music (Berkeley, 1969) W.C. Lengefeld: The Motets of Pierre Colin (fl. 1538–1565) (diss., U. of Iowa, 1969) Page 2 of 3 Printed from Grove Music Online. Grove is a registered trademark. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: UNAM; date: 02 December 2023 Colin, Pierre S.F. Pogue: Jacques Moderne, Lyons Music Printer of the Sixteenth Century (Geneva, 1969) M.S. Lewis: Antonio Gardano, Venetian Music Printer, 1538–1569 (New York, 1988) F. Dobbins: Music in Renaissance Lyons (Oxford, 1992) Page 3 of 3 Printed from Grove Music Online. Grove is a registered trademark. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: UNAM; date: 02 December 2023