Composer. Also known as Gilles de Bins. An outstanding member of the Burgundian School. He, Guillaume Dufay, and England's John Dunstable are considered the first important composers of the Renaissance. Binchois was born in Mons, Hainualt (now in Belgium). His first musical appointment, at 19, was as organist in his hometown's Church of St. Waudru; he may have seen military service in the Low Countries and entered the priesthood before 1425, when he was employed in Paris by William Pole, Earl of Suffolk. Around 1428 Binchois joined the Burgundian court of Philip the Good, where he remained as chaplain and singer for a quarter century. The Duke treated him with great deference, granting him several church benefices and naming him Court Secretary in 1437. He apparently traveled little during this period, though in 1449 he was working with Dufay in Mons. (Their meeting was deemed important enough to record in illuminated manuscript - both were already very famous). In 1453 he retired to Soignies as Provost of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent, with a substantial pension from Philip. Dufay and Ockeghem wrote motets lamenting his death. About 125 of Binchois' compositions survive. Chief among them are 55 secular French songs, all for solo voice with two accompanying instruments. He was the greatest melodist of his time and his tunes have a bittersweet quality that make them immediately appealing; composers were still quoting them more than a century later. His sacred music, including 20 Mass movements, 30 motets and four Magnificats, is more conventional.
Composer. Also known as Gilles de Bins. An outstanding member of the Burgundian School. He, Guillaume Dufay, and England's John Dunstable are considered the first important composers of the Renaissance. Binchois was born in Mons, Hainualt (now in Belgium). His first musical appointment, at 19, was as organist in his hometown's Church of St. Waudru; he may have seen military service in the Low Countries and entered the priesthood before 1425, when he was employed in Paris by William Pole, Earl of Suffolk. Around 1428 Binchois joined the Burgundian court of Philip the Good, where he remained as chaplain and singer for a quarter century. The Duke treated him with great deference, granting him several church benefices and naming him Court Secretary in 1437. He apparently traveled little during this period, though in 1449 he was working with Dufay in Mons. (Their meeting was deemed important enough to record in illuminated manuscript - both were already very famous). In 1453 he retired to Soignies as Provost of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent, with a substantial pension from Philip. Dufay and Ockeghem wrote motets lamenting his death. About 125 of Binchois' compositions survive. Chief among them are 55 secular French songs, all for solo voice with two accompanying instruments. He was the greatest melodist of his time and his tunes have a bittersweet quality that make them immediately appealing; composers were still quoting them more than a century later. His sacred music, including 20 Mass movements, 30 motets and four Magnificats, is more conventional.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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