Composer. Born Marbrianus Dujardin in Tournai, Belgium, the illegitmate son of a priest, he was raised in the household of Cardinal Ferry de Clugny. He used the Italian spelling of his name, "de Orto", throughout his life. From 1482 to 1499 he was in Rome as a Papal singer in the Sistine Chapel choir and his best known work, the "Missa ad fugam" (c. 1589), was written for that group. Around 1500 he became first chaplain to Philip the Fair of Burgundy and later held that title in the chapel of Holy Roman Emperor Karl V. In 1522 he retired as dean of the Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude in Nivelles and may have died in the plague epidemic that struck the city in 1529. His tomb was visible until World War II, when Saint Getrude's was bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Largely forgotten today, Orto enjoyed immense prestige in the early 1500s and was often compared to Josquin. A collection of five Orto Masses, published by Petrucci of Venice in 1505, was one of the very first music books printed with movable type. The "Missa ad fugam" is remarkable as the earliest example of a free-composed canonic Mass; his other pieces are less experimental but technically assured. They include the "Lamentations of Jeremiah", traditional and Parody Masses, motets, and several secular songs, among them a setting of "Dido's Lament" from Virgil's "Aeneid".
Composer. Born Marbrianus Dujardin in Tournai, Belgium, the illegitmate son of a priest, he was raised in the household of Cardinal Ferry de Clugny. He used the Italian spelling of his name, "de Orto", throughout his life. From 1482 to 1499 he was in Rome as a Papal singer in the Sistine Chapel choir and his best known work, the "Missa ad fugam" (c. 1589), was written for that group. Around 1500 he became first chaplain to Philip the Fair of Burgundy and later held that title in the chapel of Holy Roman Emperor Karl V. In 1522 he retired as dean of the Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude in Nivelles and may have died in the plague epidemic that struck the city in 1529. His tomb was visible until World War II, when Saint Getrude's was bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Largely forgotten today, Orto enjoyed immense prestige in the early 1500s and was often compared to Josquin. A collection of five Orto Masses, published by Petrucci of Venice in 1505, was one of the very first music books printed with movable type. The "Missa ad fugam" is remarkable as the earliest example of a free-composed canonic Mass; his other pieces are less experimental but technically assured. They include the "Lamentations of Jeremiah", traditional and Parody Masses, motets, and several secular songs, among them a setting of "Dido's Lament" from Virgil's "Aeneid".
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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