Mechelen Choirbook

Puppetry in the Court of Margaret of Austria

The Mechelen Choirbook of 1515– 1516 is one of the finest and best-preserved music manuscripts handed down to us from the sixteenth century. In Museum Hof van Busleyden you not only see but also hear this masterpiece. In the dark room where this manuscript is on view, the choirbook and the magnificent polyphony of Flanders take centre stage. The Mechelen Choirbook is on loan from the Mechelen City Archives and has been part of the Canon of Flanders since 2022.

High Mass of Flemish Polyphony

The Mechelen Choirbook was probably created in around 1515 in the workshop of Petrus Alamire (ca. 1470-1536) in Mechelen. More than a copyist, he was a singer, musician, composer and entrepreneur. The commission to create the choirbook came from the Burgundian Habsburg court, as can be seen from clues such as the opening miniature. This miniature probably depicts the young Charles V (some researchers believe it to be Maximilian of Austria) on a throne adorned with the Burgundian-Habsburg coat of arms, surrounded by his brother and sisters.

The Choirbook contains seven settings to music for the Latin Mass: the first by composer Matthaeus Pipelare (ca. 1450 - ca. 1515) and the remaining six by Pierre de la Rue (ca. 1452 – 1518). De La Rue was Margaret of Austria's favourite composer. The luxurious music manuscripts are adorned with miniatures believed to have been created in the Ghent workshop of Gerard Horebout.

The Mechelen Choirbook is probably the only piece from Margaret of Austria's art collection that has never left Mechelen. Its presence has been documented in the Mechelen City Archives since 1860. In 2007, it was recognised as a Flemish masterpiece. This precious manuscript has been permanently on display in Museum Hof van Busleyden since 2018.

The Mechelen Choirbook in Detail

• Title: Mechelen Choirbook
• Item name: choirbook
• Artist: Petrus Alamire (studio)
• Date: ca. 1515-1516
• Material: parchment
• Dimensions: 66 x 44.5 cm
• Origin: On long-term loan from Mechelen City Archives