Henry Bredemers

Henry (Henri, Hendrik) Bredemers (Bredeniers) (c. 1472 – May 20, 1522) was a South Netherlandish organist and music teacher. No compositions by him survive, and his historical importance lies chiefly in his activities as a teacher. The first recorded reference to Bredemers is in a 1488 document which lists him as one of the singers of Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal), Antwerp. In 1491–1492 he served as organist of Saint James’ Church (Sint-Jacobskerk) of the same city, and in 1493 he occupied a similar position at the Confraternity of Our Lady at Our Lady’s church. Bredemers must have attained a considerable reputation in the following years: by 1501 he was distinguished enough to enter the chapel of Philip the Handsome as organist. The chapel, known then as Grande chapelle, was the main musical establishment of the Burgundian-Habsburg court, and one of the most important court chapels of the Renaissance: it had a long and illustrious history associated with composers of the Burgundian School, particularly Guillaume Dufay. And at the time Bredemers joined it, members of the chapel included important composers such as Pierre de la Rue and Alexander Agricola. He wa