Claude Goudimel was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He was born in Besançon around 1510, and was murdered August 27, 1572 in Lyon.

He is known to have been in Paris in 1549, probably studying at the University of Paris, since he published a book of chansons there. He moved to Metz in 1557, converting to Protestantism, and is known to have been associated with the Huguenot cause there; however he left Metz due to the increasing hostility of the city authorities to Protestants during the Wars of Religion. First he settled in native town of Besançon, and later moved to Lyon. He was killed there in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

Goudimel is most famous for his four-part settings of the psalms in the Genevan Psalter , in the metrical French versions of Clément Marot. Unlike other settings at the time, he puts the melody in the topmost voice, the method which has prevailed in hymnody to the present day. In addition he composed masses, motets, and a considerable body of secular chansons, almost all of which date from before his conversion to Protestantism (probably around 1560). Goudimel’s style tends to be homophonic, with an intriguing use of syncopated rhythm to spice up inner parts, especially in the chansons.

References and further reading

• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
• The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 002872416X