Pierre Alamire

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Pierre Alamire (also Petrus Alamire; probable birth name Peter van den Hove;[1] c. 1470 – 26 June 1536) was a German-Dutch music copyist, composer, instrumentalist, mining engineer, merchant, diplomat and spy of the Renaissance. He was one of the most skilled music scribes of his time, and many now-famous works of Franco-Flemish composers owe their survival to his renowned illuminated manuscript copies; in addition he was a spy for the court of Henry VIII of England.


He was born to a family of merchants in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire but came to the Seventeen Provinces at an early age. Alamire was not his real name; the name was a musical reference, "A" (the musical pitch) plus the solfege syllables "la", "mi" and "re" (scale steps six, three and two respectively). Most likely his actual name was van den Hove (or Imhoff, Imhove), although details on his family background are slim.


By 1503 Alamire had already created an edition of music for Philip I of Castile, and by 1509 he was an employee of Archduke Charles, shortly to become Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. His manuscripts were to become extremely valuable as gifts, as most European nobility at the time prized music, and many votes for the upcoming election of the Holy Roman Emperor would need to be bought.


Career as a spy[edit]



During the 1520s Alamire was a diplomat and courtier in addition to continuing his activity as a music illustrator and copyist. He carried letters between many of the leading humanists of the time. Erasmus described him as "not unwitty", and Alamire's frequent scurrilous commentary on contemporary singers and players bears this out; many of his letters survive, and they are filled with epigrams and clever insults.

Music was not his only skill; he received a generous payment on behalf of King Christian III of Denmark for instruction in the "craft of mining" (unless that was a metaphor for spying; but more details of this commission are not known).


Manuscript contents and locations[edit]

Most of the works of the first rank of Franco-Flemish composers are represented in Alamire's manuscripts, including Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez, Pierre Moulu, Heinrich Isaac, Adrian Willaert, and Pierre de la Rue; indeed de la Rue, the favorite composer of Margaret of Austria, has by far the most pieces of any composer, and almost his entire output is preserved in Alamire's manuscript collection.




  1. ^ Atlas, p. 274

References and further reading[edit]

  • Herbert Kellman: "Pierre Alamire", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
  • Herbert Kellman: "Pierre Alamire", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 4, 2005), (subscription access) (some information updated from earlier Grove entry)
  • Eugeen Schreurs, Alamire Foundation, K. U. Leuven, program notes to Naxos CD 8.554744: The A-La-Mi-Re Manuscripts: Flemish Polyphonic Treasures for Charles V, sung by Capilla Flamenca

External links[edit]