Antoine Busnois

Antoine Busnois (born c. 1430, probably at or near Béthune, Fr.—died Nov. 6, 1492, Bruges [now in Belgium]) was a French composer, best-known for his chansons, which typify the Burgundian style of the second half of the 15th century.

Busnois entered the service of Charles the Bold (later duke of Burgundy) as a singer sometime before 1467. He traveled with Charles on his various campaigns, and after Charles’s death in 1477, he remained a member of the ducal chapel in service to Charles’s heir, Mary of Burgundy, until her death in 1482. His activities after this period are not known for certain, but at the time of his death, Busnois held the post of rector cantoriae at the church of Saint-Sauveur, in Bruges.

In his later years, his reputation as a composer was second only to that of Ockeghem among his contemporaries. His chansons (about 60 have survived) were admired particularly for their melodic beauty, rhythmic complexity, harmonic colour, and clarity of structure. In addition to the chansons for three or four voices, Busnois wrote two masses, eight motets, two hymns, a Magnificat, and a Credo.