GOUDIMEL, CLAUDE

born c. 1510, Besanon, Fr. died Aug. 28?, 1572, Lyon French composer noted for his settings of the metrical psalms. He worked in Besanon, Paris, Metz, and Lyon, where he was killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre as it spread from Paris to the provinces. Although he also wrote chansons and Latin church music, Goudimel is remembered for his vernacular psalm settings. His first collection (1551-56) set several psalms in the style of motets. In his 1564 setting of the complete psalm cycle, the traditional melody is usually in the treble voice. The 1565 book, again a complete cycle, is written in the simplest note-against-note style, with the melody in the tenor voice. It proved enormously popular and was widely adopted by Reformed churches.