Johannes de Cleve (c.1528 - 14/07/1582), a German composer, probably born in Cleve and belonged seen his geographical origin, his style and musical education to the fourth generation of Netherlands composers out of the Low Countries. It is undenyable he worked in the influence within the Flemish/Netherlands cultural geography.
With Christian Hollander (c.1510-c.1568) Johannes de Cleve sang as Tenor from 1533 in the choir and chapel of the emperor in Vienna. Lateron Johannes de Cleve was appointed ”Kapellmeister” – Chapel-master to the Archducal court at Graz (1544-1570). He published sacred motets in the traditional Netherlands style of Gombert and others, and composed old-fashioned sacred songs for inclusion in a book of rhyming sermons. In 1570 De Cleve left the Archducal court-chapel in Graz and was succeeded by Annibalo Padovano (1527-1575) and he left for Augsburg where De Cleve lived and worked from 1579 in the Dom-chapel. Graz was the place – contrary to other Habsburg-monarchs courts – where the Netherlands in the last part of the 16th century were no more the preferred musicians. In 1569 and 1574 the publisher Andreas Franck in Graz printed a ”Gesangspostille” edited by Andreas Gigler ( - 1570), the city parish priest in Graz. This is not a songbook in the traditional sense but rather a collection of rhymed strophes from the Prayers with an appendix with melodies. Twenty chorale melodies were set for four voices/parts by Johannes de Cleve, at that time the court Chapel-master in Graz. Some of melodies are based on Protestant chorales. It may seem rare to us today that such a work should be somehow a mixture of the two religious influences not at all from this, but in those days, the differences were not as so clearly defined. In anyway it remained common for a long time to use the motets of Catholic composers in Lutheran church services.
But in addition remember Emperor Maximilian II (from 1564-1576) was a friend of the Protestant. In a famous Liber canticorum ecclesiasticarum a 4, 5, 6 vocum called the “Codex Grudenegg”, at least twenty-four works written by Johannes de Cleve were published in this anthology among it two Masses ‘Missa Vivre puis’ and ‘Missa Vous perdes temps’, one Missa pro defunctis, sixteen Officium/Mass proper sections consisting out of Introit, Alleluia, Communion, five motets, two Kyrië, one Asperge me and one Vidi aquam. All together fifty-two polyphonic works by Johannes de Cleve have been placed in this anthology. Dedication was made to Pro rev. domino dom. Georgio, abb. Runensi, domino suo semper colendo, nunc pro conuentu Runensi. 1568. Abbot Georg at Rein. There were more inscriptionsfound in this anthology: EPIGRAMMA DE INSIGNIBUS MONASTERII RUNAE ATQUE REVERENDI D BARTHOLOMEI E GRUDNEGG (sic) ABBATIS IBIDEM ET FILIARUM INCORPORATARUM EIUSDEM MDLIX. Nevertheless this means the date of this publication could be 1568 or 1559. Other sources indicate the very late 1575. But following the text it seems however that the “Codex Grudenegg” was written already for George's predecessors, Bartholomaeus of Grudenegg (1559 - 1577), because on the inside of the front cover his coat of arms with the coat of arms of the Cistercian Monastery at Rein, surrounded by coat of arms of six subsidiary concents, glued on. On this woodcut sheet is the monogram of the copyist TvB. The back cover of this Codex shows again a sheet with the family coat of arms of the Abbot Bartholomaeus in large woodcut and printed Signature Bartholomaevs e Grvdenegg, abbas in Runa 1559, and printed above Conserua domine me, quoniam speravi et spero in te. Johannes de Cleve composed more masses: Missa De lustelijcke Mey and Missa Rex Babylonis venit ad lacum. Other motets by de Cleve were published in Cantiones seu harmoniae sacrae for five and eight voices/parts in 1579/80. The same in Collectio operum musicorum Batavorum saeculi VI. He composed some occasional music like: Veni Maxime Dux and Austria danubi rapido prosperrima fluxu. Some compositions of Johannes de Cleve are found in the anthology: Novum et insigne opus musicum sex, quinque, et quatuor vocum, cuius in Germania hactenus nihil simile usquam est editum. Nunc quidem locupletatum plus centum non minus elegantibus carminibus, tum Josquini, tum aliorum clarissimorum symphonistarum tam veterum quam recentiorum, quorum quaedam antehac sunt edita, multa nunc primum in lucem exeunt, Nurnberg : J. von Berg & Ulrici Neubert, 1558.
Nevertheless the Code Grudenegg is an important source for the oeuvre of Johannes de Cleve. De Cleve passed away in Augsburg the 15th of July 1582.