Pierre Attaingnant facts for kids
Pierre Attaingnant (born around 1494, died in 1551 or 1552) was a famous French music publisher in Paris. He helped change how music was printed, making it easier and cheaper for everyone to get their hands on sheet music. His work made music more available to people across Europe.
Life of a Music Publisher
Attaingnant is known as one of the first big publishers to use a special way of printing music. This method was called "single-impression movable type". It meant that music could be printed much faster and cost less money than before. Before him, printers like Ottaviano Petrucci used slower methods.
Some people think Attaingnant was the first to create this new printing method. However, there are ideas that an English printer named John Rastell might have used it earlier, around 1520. Sadly, none of Rastell's printed music has ever been found.
Attaingnant published more than 1,500 chansons. These were popular French songs. He worked with many different composers. Some famous ones included Claudin de Sermisy, Pierre Sandrin, and Pierre Certon. He also published five books of chansons by the very well-known composer Clément Janequin.
Attaingnant received special permission from the king to print his music books. These permissions, called royal privileges, were renewed many times. Eventually, he was given the important title of imprimeur et libraire du Roy en musique. This means "printer and bookseller of the King for music".
Attaingnant's Printing Method
Attaingnant's biggest impact on music printing was making the single-impression method popular. He first used this technique in 1528 for his book Chansons nouvelles en musique à quatre parties.
In this system, individual notes were printed directly onto parts of the music staff. This meant that the notes, the lines of the staff, and the words could all be printed at the same time. Everything went through the printing press in one go.
One small problem with this method was that the staff lines sometimes looked a bit "bumpy". Some lines might be slightly higher or not perfectly connected. Even with this small issue, Attaingnant's method became the standard way to print music. It was used all over Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Attaingnant learned how to print by first making "livres d'heure" (books of hours). He worked with a printer named Philippe Pigouchet. Pigouchet later became Attaingnant's father-in-law when Attaingnant married his daughter.
Besides his many collections of chansons, Attaingnant also published other types of music. He printed books with pieces for the lute or keyboard. These were written in a special format called tablature. He also published Masses and motets, which are types of religious music.
In the spring of 1531, Attaingnant published seven important books. These books are very valuable for understanding keyboard music from the French Renaissance period. They included various chansons, dances like gaillardes and pavennes, and religious pieces for instruments like organs and spinets.
See also
In Spanish: Pierre Attaignant para niños
