A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Attaignant, Pierre

by Franz Gehring

ATTAIGNANT, or ATTAINGNANT, Pierre, a music printer of Paris in the 16th century, said to have been the first in France to adopt moveable types ('caractères mobiles') for music. The engraver of his types was Pierre Hautin. Between the years 1527 and 1536 he printed nineteen books containing motetts of various masters, French and foreign. Many of these composers would be entirely unknown, but for their presence in these volumes. Among them we may cite Grosse, N. Gombert, Claudin, Hesdin, Consilium, Certon, Rousée, Mouton, Hottinet, Mornable, Le Roy, Manchicourt, Le Heurteur, Vermont, Richefort, Lasson, L'heritier, Lebrun, Wyllart, Fenin, L'enfant, Montu, Verdelot, G. Louvet, Dévitis, Jacquet, Delafage, Longueval, Gascogne, Briant, and Passereau. The collection is thus historically most important, and it is also of extreme rarity. Attaignant was still printing in 1543, which date appears on a 'Livre de danceries' by Consilium. He was however dead in 1556, since some compositions of Gervais' printed at his press in that year are said to be edited by his widow.

[ F. G. ]