Clemens non Papa (c. 1510-c. 1556)

Franco-Flemish composer. Clemens was a prolific composer known chiefly for his sacred works, especially his settings of souterliedekens, the Dutch psalms. He produced over 400 works, including Masses, motets, psalms in Flemish, and chansons.

The reason for the non Papa (‘not the pope’) in his name is uncertain, though it was probably coined as a joke, for Pope Clement VII died in 1534, and the name was not used in a publication until 1545.

He was succentor at Bruges Cathedral 1544-45, and in late 1550 was at 's-Hertogenbosch. He also spent some time in Ypres, and had links with Leyden and Dort. His three-voice psalms were the first polyphonic settings of the psalms in Dutch, with the use of popular song melodies as cantus firmi. All but one of his Mass settings are parody settings on chansons and motets by contemporary composers.