Guillaume du Fay

DU FAY, Guillaume. b. ?1397 (perhaps 5 August); d. 24 November 1474. It is not certain where du Fay was born, though he may have come from Bersele near Brussels. By 1409, however, he had become a chorister at Cambrai, the cathedral which formed the focal point for most of his career. In addition, he spent significant periods in Italy, as a member of the Papal Chapel (1428-33 and 1435-37), and at the Savoy court (1433-35, 1437-39 and 1452-58). He also had ties with the Burgundian court, especially from 1439 onwards. Like many musicians of his day, he entered Holy Orders early, thenceforward deriving much of his living from benefices granted through influential ecclesiastical and political...