Jean Japart remains one of the great unknowns of the Franco-Flemish school of the late fifteenth century, despite the fact that his music contains unexpected turns, daring harmony and bold movement structures. All that we know about Japart’s life is that he was employed for a certain period (1447-1480?) at the court in Ferrara. He must have been well-known during his lifetime as the great Josquin de Prez honours him in a personal motet lamenting his death. What is more, the famous Venetian printer Ottaviano Petrucci includes the extravagant total of 23 pieces (!) by Japart in his collections of music by the best-known composers in Europe of the time.

Japart’s extraordinary contrapuntal skills are displayed in elaborate quodlibets (Fr. fricassées), in which several already existing and mostly well-known melodies are skilfully combined, forming a musical Gordian knot. Another of his specialities is the enigma canon, a form which he carries to extremes in his eccentric constructions. In this recording, the ensemble Les Flamboyants directed by the recorder player Michael Form presents (almost) the complete works of this master interspersed by a number of comparative works by other contemporary masters such as Josquin, Obrecht and Busnoys.