a Kempis, Nicolaus

Hendrik Vanden Abeele (translation Hendrik Vanden Abeele)

Nicolaus (Nicolaes) a Kempis was a Flemish composer and organist, and the progenitor of a musical family that remained connected for several generations to the collegiate church of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula in Brussels. After what some sources describe as an appointment at the Church of Our Lady of the Chapel in Brussels, he temporarily succeeded the ailing Anthoen van den Kerckhoven as organist of Saint Gudula on 5 August 1626 and was officially appointed to that position on 25 November 1627. He remained in office until his death in 1676, although his duties as organist appear to have been taken over between 1670 and 1672 by his son Joannes Florentius a Kempis. A grandson, Guillaume, later continued the family tradition.

Nicolaus a Kempis is regarded as a pioneer of instrumental music in the Southern Netherlands. His Symphoniae, published between 1644 and 1649 by the Antwerp printer Phalesius, rank among the earliest printed sonatas from the Low Countries. The four collections range from intimate solo works with basso continuo to multi-part compositions for six voices, sometimes expanded with wind instruments such as bassoon, cornett or trombone. Formally they are related to the Italian canzona and sonata, with a four-part structure and elements of the so-called stylus phantasticus. Cantabile passages alternate with freely virtuosic violin solos and chromatic, rhetorically charged turns of phrase. Although the works are often relatively straightforward and clearly intended for domestic use, the influence of Italian masters such as Biagio Marini, who worked in Brussels for a time, is clearly perceptible, according to Quitin. Some compositions are based on popular melodies, in keeping with contemporary musical practice. A now-lost collection of Masses and motets is sometimes attributed to him, but was probably the work of his son Joannes Florentius.