DES PRES, JOSQUIN (c. also called DEPREs or DESPREZ, and by a latinized form of his name, JoDOCVs PRATENSIS or A. PRATO, French musical composer, was born, probably in Conde in the Hennegau, about 1445. He was a pupil of Ockenheim, and himself one of the most learned musicians of his time. In spite of his great fame, the accounts of his life are vague and the dates contradictory. In his early youth Josquin seems to have been a member of the choir of the collegiate church at St. Quentin ; when his voice changed he took lessons in counterpoint from Okeghem; afterwards he again lived at his birthplace for some years and probably spent some time at various Italian courts until he joined the papal chapel in Rome in 1486. In Rome Des Pres lived till and it was there that many of his works were written. He was considered by his contemporaries to be the greatest master of his age. Luther, who was a good judge, is credited with the saying that "other musicians do with notes what they can, Josquin what he likes." The composer's journey to Rome marks in a manner the transference of music's headquarters from the North to Italy, which for the next two centuries remained the centre of the musical world. To Des Pres and his pupils Arcadelt, Mouton and others, much that is characteristic in modern music owes its rise, particularly in their influence upon Italian developments under Palestrina. After leaving Rome Josquin accepted an invitation of King Louis XII. of France to become the chief singer of the royal chapel. He was also, for a time at least, in the service of the emperor Maximilian I., and at the time of his death, on Aug. 27, 15 21, was a canon of the cathedral of Conde.
The most complete list of his compositions—consisting of masses, motets, psalms and other pieces of sacred music—will be found in Fetis. The largest collection of his ms. works, con taining no fewer than 20 masses, is in the possession of the papal chapel in Rome. During the 17th and i8th centuries Josquin's value was ignored, nor does his work appear in the collections of Martini and Paoiucci. Burney was the first to recover him from oblivion, and Forkel continued the task of rehabilitation. Ambros furnishes the most exhaustive account of his achieve ments. An admirable account of Josquin's art will be found in the article "Josquin," by the Rev. J. R. Milne in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 3rd ed. vol. ii. An edition of the complete works of Josquin has been undertaken by the Vereeniging voor Noord-Nederlandsche Muziekgeschiedenis under the editorship of A. Smijers. Seventeen of Josquin's masses were published during his lifetime by Perrucci (1502-16), and two others in 1539 by Johannes Ott at Nuremberg. Many of his motets were printed in various collections, notably in Com mer's Collectio operum musicorurn Batavorum (I 2 vols., 1840), and another selection of his works was edited by Eitner.