The Gallus enigma

If, however, one continues to ask: “Who was Gallus?”, it is precisely that it seems easy to reply to the question, “What is his work?”, in view of the number of publications which contain it. His singular brilliance arises from the quantity of trouvailles collected there, exactly, we have said, like the cabinets of precious craftsmanship thus prized at Rudolf’s court. The bizarre, even the grotesque, also have their place there, but above all, also, a remarkable sincerity of accent. < p/> This music of Gallus’s does not have the stability of treatment nor the brilliance of Palestrina’s. It is, likewise, less touching than that of Lassus, with which it nevertheless shares a taste for intense subjectivity. Its style pays ample tribute to the procedures of the “international” (i.e. French-Flemish) counterpoint of the period, but is confirmed as very independent in the formulation of its harmonic language. Significant of this Prague climate where illusionist treatment seeks to conceal its procedures, the music of Gallus often appears to the ear as disconcertingly simple. The impact of this apparent simplicity is that, very often, these works are heard with an astonishing freshness in our time and make it possible to understand why certain motets have maintained themselves in the repertoire of choirs and choir-schools virtually without interruption since the time of their composition.