Composer. He was a founder of the Burgundian School, the first important movement of Renaissance music. Grenon's earliest known activity was as a clerk at Notre Dame in Paris (1399 to 1403). When he joined the court of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1412, his fame as a musician and teacher was already widespread. In 1425 Pope Martin V summoned him to Rome to serve as Master of the Choirboys at the Papal Chapel. Throughout his career Grenon was drawn to the Flemish city of Cambrai (now in France) and in 1427 he retired as a Canon of the Cathedral there; with his friend Guillaume Dufay he helped build its collection of liturgical music into one of the richest in Europe. He lived to be at least 80. Tragically, most of Grenon's music was destroyed when a French Revolutionary mob put Cambrai Cathedral to the torch in 1793; only five songs, four motets, and a Mass fragment (a "Gloria") survive. All are of excellent quality and show Grenon moving from the chant-based Medieval style to Renaissance polyphony.
Composer. He was a founder of the Burgundian School, the first important movement of Renaissance music. Grenon's earliest known activity was as a clerk at Notre Dame in Paris (1399 to 1403). When he joined the court of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1412, his fame as a musician and teacher was already widespread. In 1425 Pope Martin V summoned him to Rome to serve as Master of the Choirboys at the Papal Chapel. Throughout his career Grenon was drawn to the Flemish city of Cambrai (now in France) and in 1427 he retired as a Canon of the Cathedral there; with his friend Guillaume Dufay he helped build its collection of liturgical music into one of the richest in Europe. He lived to be at least 80. Tragically, most of Grenon's music was destroyed when a French Revolutionary mob put Cambrai Cathedral to the torch in 1793; only five songs, four motets, and a Mass fragment (a "Gloria") survive. All are of excellent quality and show Grenon moving from the chant-based Medieval style to Renaissance polyphony.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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