A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Wert, Giaches

WERT,^[1] Giaches (or Jacques) de, a Flemish composer of the second half of the 16th century, has been the subject of much confusion at the hands of biographers. Fétis, in his first edition, regarded him as the same person with Jacques Vaet; and the frequent custom of designating musicians by their Christian name alone, has made it difficult to discriminate De Wert's productions from those of other 'Jachets,' 'Jaquets,' or 'Jacques' of his time, particularly of Jacques Brumel, Jacques de Buus, and Jacques Berchem.^[2] The last-named has been plausibly identified with him, and M. Vander Straeten has found himself reduced to distinguishing an elder and a younger De Wert.^[3] The biographical materials, however, which this writer has for the first time brought together, appear not incompatible with their reference to a single person. On this supposition, De Wert was born in the Low Countries in the second quarter of the 16th century, and went as a child to Italy, where he was received into the choir of Maria de Cardona, Marchesa della Padulla. Afterwards he passed into the service of Count Alfonso of Norellara, not (as has been stated) of the Duke of Ferrara; and published in 1558 a volume of madrigals which appears to have excited so much attention, that a couple of years later he could be reckoned by Guicciardini among the famous musicians of the day. About 1568 he removed to the court of the Duke of Mantua; but his life was soon embittered by the misconduct of his wife.^[4] He seems to have turned for help to the Duke of Ferrara, the magnificent Alfonso II., and to have formed a sort of unofficial connection with his court, then at the height of its splendour, which lasted beyond the immediate purpose of his resort thither. His musical attainments rendered him extremely serviceable on state occasions, his special feat in composition being a 'Concerto Maggiore' for 57 singers; and so late as 1586^[5] the epistle dedicatory to his eighth book of madrigals records his intimate attachment to the court of Ferrara, whether in actual service or not is doubtful, since it seems clear that all the while he remained connected with Mantua.^[6] His visits to Ferrara involved him in an intrigue, as it turned out, with one of the court ladies, the poetess Tarquinia Molza: her relations refused her marriage, and she was induced to withdraw into privacy. She went to live with her mother at Mantua, where she died in 1617; but it does not appear that she ever resumed her intimacy with the musician. De Wert, however, was still resident in the town, as we learn from the 'Canzonette Villanelle,' which he published at Venice in 1589, and dedicated to Leonora, Duchess of Mantua. The tenth and last volume of his madrigals is dated Venice, Sept. 10, 1591, about which year his death may be presumed to have happened.

The ten books of madrigals^[7] which he published at Venice between 1558 and 1591, and which were several times reprinted by Gardano, contain evidently the best of De Wert's work. They are mostly written for 5 voices, but in the sixth and ninth volumes we meet with pieces for 6 or even 7. His other compositions include only the Canzonette already mentioned, and a number of motets which were principally published by Gerolamo Scoto at Venice. Luca Marenzio,^[8] it should be added, is said to have been at one time his pupil.

[ R. L. P. ]

1. For the spelling of the name, see the facsimile of his autograph signature in Vander Straeten, 'La Musique aux Pays-Bas,' vi. 343. Other forms are 'Jaquet (Qiacche, etc.) de Weert,' or 'Weerdt': cp. Ibid. i. 119.
2. See Vander Straeten, 'La Musique aux Pays-Bas,' i. 175; vi. 102, 3.
3. Ibid. vol. vi. 329–348.
4. His letter to the duke on the subject (March 22, 1570), which is printed by M. Vander Straeten, vi. 334–336, is full of a characteristic interest.
5. Fétis (2nd ed.) viii. 454a.
6. The seventh book of De Wert's Madrigals bears date Mantua, April 10, 1581, and is dedicated to Margaret, Duchess of Mantua; Fétis, p. 454a.
7. See Fétis, and Eitner, v. s.
8. Vander Straeten, vi. 102, 3.