Anthoine de Bertrand (1540-1580) was born in Fontages in the Cantal, a Catholic garrison town during the Wars of Religion.
Today little known, he is one of the best musicians of the French Renaissance in the second half of the 16th century.
A member of the humanist circles in Toulouse that brought together poets, musicians and notables, he admired Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) and was enthusiastic about the poetic ideals of La Pléiade.
He published the first two Livres des amours de Pierre de Ronsard (1576) and Tiers livre de chansons (1578) with Leroy and Ballard in Paris.
These secular songs were followed in 1580 by two Books of Christian Sonets and Spiritual Airs containing several hymns and canticles, some of which were published in 1582, after his tragic death.
He was murdered by the Huguenots who reproached him for his overly Catholic hymns, composed under the influence of the Jesuits.
© Didier Chagnas
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