Jheronimus Vinders

Jheronimus Vinders (also cited as Vender or Venders) was a composer from the Southern Netherlands, active around 1525-1526, about whom very little biographical information survives. His name is linked to Ghent, where between 16 June 1525 and January 1526 he served as zangmeester, that is, choirmaster, of the confraternity of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe-op-de-rade in the Church of St John, today St Bavo's Cathedral.

His music shows a striking coexistence of old and new procedures. In masses and four-part songs, pervasive imitation and voice pairing predominate, while five-voice works such as the Salve regina and Assumpta est Maria make strong use of the cantus firmus, a more traditional technique. The Missa 'Fors seulement' combines both devices in different sections. Some pieces have distinctive features, such as the final tropus of the Magnificat, which sets it apart from the usual Vespers practice and brings it closer to a motet on Luke 1:46-56.

Vinders showed clear respect for Josquin Desprez: his Missa 'Stabat mater' is a parody mass based on Josquin's motet of the same name, and the lament O mors inevitabilis was composed on the master's death. The Missa 'Myns liefkens bruyn ooghen', transmitted anonymously, may be his work, according to an attribution proposed by Jas in 1994; it is based on a song by Benedictus Appenzeller, whose influence can also be heard in the motet Laudate pueri Dominum.

His legacy consists mainly of masses and motets preserved in Flemish and German sources, as well as a few Dutch songs. Although his output is modest, his works document the transition between cantus firmus polyphony and the imitative style that dominated the sixteenth century.