Cornelius Canis

• Illustration — After retiring from the imperial Habsburg chapel, Cornelius Canis became a chaplain at the church of St. Martin in Kortrijk in 1557 No specific records have survived documenting his early life. He was most likely from Ghent, since a surviving letter indicates that his parents lived there, and the earliest records of his career show that he was the singing-master and teacher of the choirboys at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-op-de-rade confraternity, part of the Church of St. John in Ghent. He may have been part of a large musical family, since other musicians named d'Hondt, de Hondt, and Canis were active in Ghent, Kortrijk, and other places with connections to the imperial chapel during the 16th century. In 1542, he was given the responsibility of taking four choirboys from the Low Countries to Spain, the principal seat of power of Charles V, who by then was Holy Roman Emperor. This trip is his first documented association with the imperial chapel, the Grande Chapelle. Canis's exact position in the chapel in the early 1540s has not been determined, but his reputation was good and continued to rise. During this period the musicians of the chapel rarely stayed in one place for long: they often traveled with the emperor, going to Italy, the Low Countries, or Austria as the occasion demanded. Court documents show that Canis went to places such as Utrecht and Augsburg, and was a frequent recipient of honors. Eventually Canis became maistre des enfans (master of the choirboys) of the chapel, succeeding Nicolas Gombert. Gombert had been removed from the post around 1540, convicted of molesting one of the boys in his care, and sent to hard labor in the galleys. During this period the chapel was reorganized, and the position of maître de chapelle (overall music director) was merged with that of maistre des enfans, so Canis succeeded both Gombert and Thomas Crecquillon, the previous music director. Other musicians associated with the Spanish Habsburg chapel at that time included Nicolas Payen and organist Jean Lestainnier. Canis's music began to appear in prominent publications, such as those by Antonio Gardano and Pierre Attaingnant; most of his music dates from the years 1542 to 1558, the period of his greatest activity at the imperial court. Not all was published, and some survives in manuscript copies which were made in either Germany or the Low Countries. Honors accumulated for Canis: he received royal prebends, pensions, an apostolic favor, and he was made abbot of two separate places: Notre Dame in Middelburg and Floresse in Liège. In 1555 he retired, probably because his employer and patron Charles V was about to abdicate; Canis's retirement occurred exactly one month before Charles gave over his powers in the Netherlands to Philip II (15 October 1555). However, this was not the end of his musical career. He became a chaplain and canon in Kortrijk, at St. Maarten and Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk respectively. He died on 15 February 1562 in Prague, which at that time was also within the Habsburg domains.

The exact meaning of the phrase musica reservata has been debated by musicologists for decades, since the contemporary mentions of the term are ambiguous and contradictory. Current consensus among music scholars is that the term refers to an innovative practice which began around the middle of the 16th century, both in composition and in performance, involving 'affect' in text-setting and possibly chromaticism; that it was not a wide movement; and that it was principally a kind of music intended for connoisseurs. Cornelius Canis is one of the composers mentioned as not writing in the style of musica reservata. Shortly before Canis's departure from the imperial chapel, the Bavarian ambassador to Charles V wrote a letter to his employer, Duke Albrecht V, in which he seems to use the term in a wide sense, meaning roughly "a musical style which is new": "musica reservata will become even more fashionable now than before, [after Nicolas Payen succeeds Cornelius Canis for the position], since Canis was not able to reconcile himself to it." He therefore considered Canis to be a composer in a conservative style. The date of this letter, 28 April 1555, is shortly before Orlande de Lassus joined the musical establishment of Albrecht V in Munich; Lassus was then, and remains now, the most famous practitioner of musica reservata.