43 - The modern reception of the music of Jean d’Ockeghem

Summary

Jean d'Ockeghem's preeminence among the composers of his generation seems unassailable. Two decisive inflections were introduced into the Ockeghem reception around the middle of the sixteenth century. Both brought about significant change, but in very different ways. One reflects a very practical strain within the Ockeghem reception, affecting which music is available and how it is read; the other is a more subtle change within the forces that have an impact on how the music is appreciated. The principal hero in early Ockeghem scholarship is August Wilhelm Ambros, whose command of musical sources expanded the available corpus of Ockeghem's works from the four pieces that were known in the eighteenth century to twenty-one. More importantly, he focused intensely on their musicality, rather than on their technique. One of the most puzzling characterizations of Ockeghem's music is its portrayal as a mystical expression of pietism.