Eloy d'Amerval

Eloy d'Amerval (fl. 1455 – 1508) was a French composer, singer, choirmaster, and poet of the Renaissance. He spent most of his life in the Loire Valley of France. From his poetic works, especially his enormous 1508 poem Le livre de la deablerie, it can be inferred that he knew most of the famous composers of the time, even though his own musical works never approached theirs in renown.

Although a long period of activity is documented for this composer, nothing is known of either his birth or death, other than that he likely was from Amerval in the Pas de Calais. Since he was listed as a tenor at the chapel in Savoy beginning in 1455, he probably was born before 1440. The choirmaster at the Savoy chapel at the time of Eloy's admission was Guillaume Dufay. Eloy spent most of his life serving in institutions connected with the French royal court. In 1464 and 1465 he is recorded as a singer for Charles, Duke of Orléans. In 1468 and 1471 he is mentioned as choirmaster of the boys at St. Aignan in Orléans. He had the same position at Ste. Croix Cathedral in Orléans in 1483 (old scholarship reporting him in Milan, at the Sforza chapel, during the 1470s has been recently debunked). In 1504 he was a canon and priest at the chapel in Châteaudun, northwest of Orléans and southwest of Chartres. He wrote his most famous poem, Le livre de la deablerie, in 1508, but it not known how long he lived after that. King Louis XII granted him explicit permission for its publication, and also granted him special payment for many years of service.

Eloy composed motets celebrating the 1429 liberation of Orléans from the English by Joan of Arc, although the music is lost (only the texts survive). A payment record remains, as well as a mention of the first performance, which took place on May 8, 1483, the 54th anniversary of the original thanksgiving ceremony. Eloy also wrote a five voice mass which survives, the Missa Dixerunt discipuli, an elaborate tour de force of contrapuntal practice, which was praised by Tinctoris. The mass was likely composed around 1470, since the date of Tinctoris's publication was 1472 1475, and three and four voice imitative sections such as appeared within it were quite rare before 1470.