Jean Titelouze

Jean (Jehan) Titelouze was a French Catholic priest, composer, poet and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He was a canon and organist at Rouen Cathedral. His style was firmly rooted in the Renaissance vocal tradition and as such, was far removed from the distinctly French style of organ music that developed during the mid-17th century. However, his hymns and Magnificat settings are the earliest known published French organ collections, and he is regarded as the first composer of the French organ school.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Jean Titelouze.

From the period sources

Jean Titelouze, who lived from 1563 to 1633, was a significant figure in French organ music. He was the teacher of Nicolas Gigault, whom Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1889) identifies as “one of the best French organists of the 17th century” and who published organ music in 1685. Titelouze’s importance as an organ master is further underscored by his inclusion in Félix Alexandre Guilmant’s “great collections” of edited works, specifically the Archives des Maîtres de l’Orgue, as noted in The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1924). Guilmant, himself a distinguished French organist and “head of the modern French school of organ-composers,” actively revived and interpreted organ-works of every period, suggesting Titelouze’s compositions were considered foundational.