Henricus Isaac (c.1450/5-1517) Composition - Reception - Interpretation 9783990125762, 3990125761

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Isaac 500

Henricus Isaac (c.1450/5–1517) Composition – Reception – Interpretation

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WIENER FORUM FÜR ÄLTERE MUSIKGESCHICHTE

Herausgegeben von Birgit Lodes

BAND 11

Stefan Gasch, Markus Grassl, August Valentin Rabe (Hg.) Henricus Isaac (c.1450/5–1517) Composition – Reception – Interpretation

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HENRICUS ISAAC (c.1450/5–1517) COMPOSITION RECEPTION INTERPRETATION HERAUSGEGEBEN VON STEFAN GASCH, MARKUS GRASSL UND AUGUST VALENTIN RABE

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Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Instituts für Musikwissenschaft und des Dekanats der Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Wien sowie der Universität für Musik und darstellenden Kunst Wien.

Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Anna Maria Busse Berger (USA) Paweł Gancarczyk (PL) Andreas Haug (D) Klaus Pietschmann (D) Nicole Schwindt (D) Reinhard Strohm (GB) Diese Publikation wurde im Peer-Review-Verfahren evaluiert. Umschlaggestaltung und Satz: Gabriel Fischer Hergestellt in der EU Alle Rechte vorbehalten, insbesondere die des Nachdrucks und der Übersetzung. Ohne schriftliche Genehmigung des Verlages ist es auch nicht gestattet, dieses urheberrechtlich geschützte Werk oder Teile daraus in einem photomechanischen oder sonstigen Reproduktionsverfahren zu vervielfältigen und zu verbreiten. Die Autorinnen und Autoren haben sich nach Kräften bemüht, alle Publikationsrechte einzuholen. Sollten dennoch Urheberrechte verletzt worden sein, werden die betroffenen Personen oder Institutionen gebeten, sich mit den HerausgeberInnen in Verbindung zu setzen. © Hollitzer Verlag, Wien 2019 ISBN 978-3-99012-576-2 ISSN 2617-2534

www.hollitzer.at

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Inhalt

Vorwort

VII

Foreword

XI

Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello Isaac, Schubinger, and Maximilian in Pisa – A Window of Opportunity?

1

Grantley McDonald The Chapel of Maximilian I: Patronage and Mobility in a European Context

9

Jessie Ann Owens Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

25

David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers: Transmission and Scribal Initiative in Brno, City Archive, MS 14/5

65

David Merlin Auf der Suche nach Isaacs Choralvorlagen: Die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) und die gedruckten Liturgica

105

David Fallows The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

123

David Fallows Lucas Wagenrieder as Annotator of both Copies of the Trium vocum carmina (Nuremberg, 1538) and other Music Books

137

Blake Wilson Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit

153

Eleanor Hedger Heinrich Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée: A Musical Offering to the Virgin Mary

177

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Klaus Pietschmann Emperor Maximilian I, Audible Ideology and Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor

189

Markus Grassl ‘Et comenchèrent les sacqueboutes du roy’: The Liturgical Use of Instrumental Ensembles Around 1500

209

Franz Körndle Anmerkungen zu Orgel, Alternatim und Ablass um 1500

247

August Valentin Rabe ‘Singing into the Organ’: On the Use of the Organ in Alternatim ­Performance in Henricus Isaac’s Time

267

Kateryna Schöning Isaac in Lautenintavolierungen aus handschriftlichen und gedruckten Quellen (ca. 1500–1562): ein Beitrag zur ­Intavolierungstechnik

305

Ivo Ignaz Berg Performative Dimensionen der Mensuralnotation: Isaacs Missa de Beata Maria Virgine aus dem Chorbuch gesungen

325

Tagungsprogramm / Conference programme

347

Anmerkungen zum Tagungskonzert

351

Autorinnen und Autoren

353

Abstracts

357

Verzeichnis der verwendeten Abkürzungen

365

Personen- und Werkregister

369

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VORWORT

„Mir scheint [Isaac] gut geeignet Eurer Hoheit zu dienen, mehr als Josquin, denn er ist umgänglicher und wird häufiger neue Stücke schreiben.“ So lautet das oft zitierte Urteil von Gian de Artiganova, der 1502 im Auftrag von Ercole d’Este nach einem neuen Maestro di Capella für den Hof in Mantua Ausschau hielt. Der Herzog aber folgte bekanntlich dem Rat seines anderen Agenten G ­ irolamo da Sestola, der ihm Josquin Desprez als „corona a la dita nostra chapela“ empfohlen hatte. Man könnte meinen, diese Einschätzung habe bis ins 20. Jahrhundert überlebt, denn obwohl die musikhistorische Bedeutung Henricus Isaacs von Beginn der neueren Musikgeschichtsschreibung an unbestritten war, stand er lange Zeit nicht in jenem Maß im Fokus der Forschung – und der musikalischen Praxis – wie andere franko-flämische Sänger-Komponisten des 15. und 16.  Jahrhunderts, allen voran sein Zeitgenosse Josquin Desprez. Erst seit rund 20 Jahren beginnt sich die Forschung Henricus Isaac wieder intensiver anzunehmen. Mittlerweile sind Arbeiten zu einem breiten thematischen Spektrum vorgelegt worden, das von der Biographie und dem historischen bzw. kulturellen Umfeld über Quellen- und Überlieferungsfragen, Aspekte der Kompositionstechnik und des Schaffensprozesses bis hin zur Rezeption reicht. Das 500. Todesjahr Henricus Isaacs 2017 war Anlass, in zwei Veranstaltungen, die von den Herausgebern dieses Bands gemeinsam mit Birgit Lodes organisiert wurden, einen weiteren Impuls für die vertiefte Auseinandersetzung mit Isaac zu geben: In Wien fand die internationale Tagung Henricus Isaac: Composition – Reception – Interpretation statt, die wenige Tage später in Prag von der Panel Session Commemorating Henricus Isaac im Rahmen der 45. Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference weitergeführt wurde. Der Großteil der in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge geht auf Vorträge zurück, die bei diesen Veranstaltungen gehalten wurden. Am Anfang stehen zwei Texte zur Biographie Isaacs bzw. zu den institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen seines Wirkens. Nicole Schwindt und Giovanni Zavonello machen plausibel, dass Augustein Schubinger eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Anwerbung Isaacs durch Maximilian I. gespielt haben könnte, Grantley McDonald macht den engen Zusammenhang deutlich, der an der Kapelle VII

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Vorwort

Maximilians zwischen deren internationalem Charakter, der Beziehung zu anderen Institutionen, der Wahrnehmung administrativer Aufgabe durch Kapellangehörige und dem System der Benefizienvergabe bestand. Darauf folgen mehrere Beiträge, die einzelne Quellen oder Quellenkorpora mit Musik Isaacs unter je verschiedener Perspektive in den Blick nehmen. Jessie Ann Owens kommt noch einmal auf das Autograph von Isaacs Sequenz ­Sanctissime virginis votiva festa zurück und aktualisiert im Lichte jüngster Forschungen die Erkenntnisse zur Authentizität der Aufzeichnung und die Einsichten, welche die Quelle in den Kompositionsprozess erlaubt. Das vor Kurzem entdeckte Brünner Chorbuch CZ-Bam 14/5, das zahlreiche Propriumsvertonungen Isaacs enthält, ist Gegenstand des Aufsatzes von David J. Burn und Ruth I. DeFord, die das Verhältnis dieser Quelle zum Choralis Constantinus bestimmen und deren Bedeutung für die Erhellung der Rezeption von Isaacs Musik im weiteren 16. Jahrhundert herausstreichen. Eine Reihe von gedruckten Gradualia aus der Zeit um 1500 werden von David Merlin herangezogen, um durch einen exemplarischen Vergleich der in diesen Ausgaben überlieferten Choralfassungen mit den cantus firmi der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine 4vv (I), zur Klärung des komplexen Problems von Isaacs Choralvorlagen beizutragen. David ­Fallows diskutiert Autorenzuschreibungen in den beiden neu entdeckten Stimmbüchern Christian Egenolffs und bietet in einem weiteren Text eine Zusammenschau der Annotationen von Isaacs Kapellkollegen Lucas Wagenrieder in den beiden erhaltenen Exemplaren von Formschneiders Trium vocum carmina. Mit einzelnen Kompositionen Isaacs beschäftigen sich die drei folgenden Studien. Blake Wilson geht den Spuren nach, die Quis dabit capiti meo aquam in Madrigalen von Costanzo Festa, Francesco Layolle und Philippe ­Verdelot hinterlassen hat, Eleanor Hedger rückt die Missa Comme femme desconfortée in den Kontext der Marienverehrung und Klaus Pietschmann entwickelt die These, wonach die Motette Optime pastor anlässlich des Empfangs des päpstlichen Nuntius am kaiserlichen Hof 1514 entstand. Ein Tag des Wiener Symposiums war dem Korpus von alternatim zu realisierenden Choralmessen gewidmet. Dieser für Isaac typische, durch die Forschung jedoch nur wenig bearbeitete Werkbestand sollte dabei nicht zuletzt unter aufführungspraktischen Gesichtspunkten behandelt werden. Den Referaten ging eine Aufführung der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine, 4vv (I), durch das Ensemble Nusmido voran. Mit dieser exemplarischen Erarbeitung einer der Choralmessen Isaacs sollte zugleich ein Ausgangspunkt für eine diesen Teil des Symposiums abschließende, Wissenschaft und Aufführungspraxis in Austausch bringende Roundtable-Diskussion geliefert werden (siehe das Tagungsprogramm und die Anmerkungen zum Tagungskonzert am Ende des Buches). VIII

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Vorwort

Drei der Beiträge, die im Rahmen dieses Programmteils präsentiert wurden, behandeln Aspekte der alternatim-Praxis um 1500 und damit Voraussetzungen und Kontext von Isaacs Choralmessen. Vor dem Hintergrund der verstärkten, gerade auch am Hof Maximilians I. betriebenen Einbindung von Blasinstrumenten in die liturgische Musikpflege zeigt Markus Grassl, dass und auf welche Weise auch Bläserensembles an der alternatim-Praxis beteiligt waren. Franz Körndle beleuchtet Orgeln und Orgelbau im Umfeld Maximilians  I. und kann aus dem instrumentenhistorischen Befund Rückschlüsse auf die Verwendung von Orgeln in der Liturgie bzw. in der Kapelle Maximilians ziehen. Anhand verschiedener theoretischer wie praktischer Quellen zielt August Rabe auf die Rekonstruktion der konkreten musikalischen Gestalt des alternatim-Spiels auf der Orgel sowie der damit verbundenen ästhetischen Vorstellungen. Ebenfalls der instrumentalmusikalischen Praxis widmet sich der Beitrag von Kateryna Schöning, der den Umgang mit Kompositionen Isaacs in Lautentabulaturen untersucht und damit ein weiteres Schlaglicht auf die Rezeption von Isaacs Musik im 16.  Jahrhundert wirft. Ausgehend von den Erfahrungen bei der Einstudierung und Aufführung von Isaacs Missa de Beata Maria Virgine mit dem Ensemble Nusmido erörtert schließlich dessen Leiter, Ivo Ignaz Berg, welche praktische Konsequenzen und performative Implikationen das Singen aus dem Chorbuch und der Mensuralnotation mit sich bringt. Unser herzlicher Dank gilt Birgit Lodes für die Aufnahme des Bandes in die Reihe Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte; der Universität Wien und der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, die mit ihrer finanziellen Unterstützung das Symposium und die vorliegende Veröffentlichung überhaupt erst möglich gemacht haben; und schließlich Michael Hüttler und Sigrun Müller (Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag) für die stets angenehme und geduldige Zusammenarbeit bei der Herstellung des Buchs. Die Herausgeber

Wien, im August 2019

IX

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FOREWORD

‘To me, [Isaac] seems well suited to serve Your Lordship, more so than ­Josquin, because he is more companionable, and will compose new works more often.’ This is the oft-quoted verdict of Gian de Artiganova, who Ercole d’Este commissioned in 1502 to look for a new Maestro di Capella for the court in Mantua. As is well known, however, the Duke followed the advice of his other agent, Girolamo da Sestola, who had recommended Josquin Desprez as the ‘crown upon this chapel of ours’. It seems that this assessment survived into the 20th century, for although Henricus Isaac’s music-historical significance was undisputed from the beginning of the newer historiography of music, for a long time he remained less the focus of research – and musical practice – than other Franco-Flemish singer-composers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, above all his contemporary Josquin Desprez. It is only in the last 20 years that musicology has begun to take a more serious interest in Henricus Isaac again. In that time, a broad thematic spectrum of work has been produced, ranging from biography and the historical and cultural environment to questions of sources and tradition, aspects of compositional technique and the creative process, and reception. The 500th anniversary of Henricus Isaac’s death in 2017 gave further impetus to the desire to examine Isaac in more depth, which culminated in two events organised by the editors of this volume together with Birgit Lodes: the international conference Henricus Isaac: Composition – Reception – Interpretation in Vienna, followed a few days later by the panel session ‘Commemorating ­Henricus Isaac’ at the 45th Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference in Prague. Most of the contributions in this volume are based on talks given at these events. The first two texts explore Isaac’s biography and the institutional framework of his work. Nicole Schwindt and Giovanni Zavonello suggest that Augustein Schubinger might have played a key role in Maximilian I’s recruitment of Isaac; Grantley McDonald makes clear the close connection that existed between the international character of Maximilian’s chapel, its relationship to other institutions, the administrative duties of its members and the system of benefit allocation. These are followed by several contributions that XI

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Foreword

bring different perspectives to bear on individual sources or source corpuses of Isaac’s music. Jessie Ann Owens returns to the autograph of Isaac’s sequence Sanctissime virginis votiva festa and, in the light of recent research, updates the findings on the record’s authenticity and the insights the source offers into Isaac’s composition process. The recently discovered choirbook in Brno, CZ-Bam 14/5, which contains numerous Mass Proper settings by Isaac, is the subject of an essay by David J. Burn and Ruth I. DeFord, who determine this source’s relationship to the Choralis Constantinus and emphasise its significance for ­illuminating the reception of Isaac’s music later in the sixteenth century. David Merlin uses several printed gradualia from the period around 1500 to help clarify the complex problem of Isaac’s chorale models by comparing the ­chorale versions handed down in these editions with the cantus firmi of the Missa de Beata Maria Virgine 4vv (i). David Fallows discusses author attributions on the basis of the two prints by Christian Egenolff and, in a further text, offers a synopsis of the annotations by Isaac’s fellow musician Lucas Wagenrieder in the two surviving copies of Hieronymus Formschneider’s Trium vocum carmina. The following three studies deal with individual Isaac compositions. Blake Wilson follows the traces left by Quis dabit capiti meo aquam in madrigals by Costanzo Festa, Francesco Layolle, and Philippe Verdelot; Eleanor Hedger places the Missa Comme femme desconfortée in the context of Marian worship; and Klaus Pietschmann develops the thesis that the motet Optime pastor was written for the reception of the papal nuncio at the imperial court in 1514. One day of the Vienna Symposium was dedicated to the corpus of choral masses that are realised alternatim. This group of works, typical for Isaac, but little researched, was treated mainly from the point of view of performance practice. The papers were preceded by a performance of the Missa de Beata Maria Virgine 4vv (i), by the Ensemble Nusmido. This exemplary realisation of one of Isaac’s choral masses was also intended to provide a starting point for a roundtable discussion that concluded this part of the symposium and brought theory and performance practice into profitable exchange (see the conference programme and the notes on the conference concert at the end of the book). Three of the contributions presented in this part of the programme dealt with aspects of alternatim practice around 1500 and thus the conditions and context of Isaac’s plainchant masses. Against the background of the increased integration of wind instruments into liturgical music, especially at the court of Maximi­ lian I, Markus Grassl shows that wind ensembles were also involved in alter­ natim practice and describes how. Franz Körndle examines organs and organ building in the time of Maximilian I and draws conclusions from these historical findings about how organs were used in the liturgy and at Maximilian’s XII

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Foreword

chapel. Based on various theoretical and practical sources, August Rabe reconstructs the concrete musical form of alternatim playing on the organ and the associated aesthetic ideas. Kateryna Schöning’s contribution is also devoted to instrumental musical practice. She investigates how Isaac’s compositions are handled in lute tablatures and thus sheds further light on the reception of Isaac’s music in the sixteenth century. Finally, based on the experience of rehearsing and performing Isaac’s Missa de Beata Maria Virgine with the Ensemble Nusmido, its director, Ivo Ignaz Berg, discusses the practical consequences and performative implications of singing from the choir book and its mensural notation. Our heartfelt thanks go to Birgit Lodes for including the volume in the series Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte; to the University of Vienna and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, whose financial support made the symposium and this publication possible in the first place; and finally to Michael Hüttler and Sigrun Müller (Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag) for their ever warm and patient support during the production of the book. The Editors

August 2019, Vienna.

XIII

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Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello *

ISAAC, SCHUBINGER, AND MAXIMILIAN IN PISA – A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY?

As is well known, Heinrich Isaac was hired by Maximilian in Pisa in the autumn of 1496. The significance of this supreme acquisition was always clear, both for musicologists and historians of the Habsburg court. At times it even appears as the cornerstone of the foundation of the Vienna court chapel, since Isaac and his wife were directly sent to this city, where the King of the ­Romans had the members of his reorganized chapel gather. Yet it would be more difficult to argue that the ruler wished to have a composer of international reputation among his musicians, let alone that he was actively seeking such a personality at the time. 1496 was the first of three years marked by severe financial problems for the king. The campaign of Italy turned out to be so expensive that even the food for the court members at home was not always guaranteed. The campaign itself ( July 5–November 18, 1496) suffered from insufficient ­fi nancial resources from the beginning and ended in disaster.1 It may seem strange that at the end of this depressing period Maximilian addressed the task of reorganizing his chapel, by then noticeably downsized and transferred from Augsburg to Vienna. Even stranger that right at this time, when he was ‘completely broke’ (ganz ploss) to the point that he could not provide for his wife,2 he entered into negotiations with a Florence-based Flemish musician to join his musical institution. On November 13 in Pisa his chief secretary, Zyprian von Serntein, gave *

1 2

The idea for this joint article was born during the Isaac conference in Zürich in March 2017, when Nicole Schwindt referred briefly to a citation of the document discussed below in Lorenz Böninger’s Die deutsche Einwanderung nach Florenz im Spätmittelalter ­(Leiden, 2006) and asked Giovanni Zanovello if he would be interested in further investigation. We are thankful to Daria Rose Foner (Columbia University) for access to the document, to Veronica Vestri (Florence) for her assistance with the transcription, and to Molly Covington (Indiana University) for her help editing the final text. Hermann Wiesflecker, Kaiser Maximilian I. Das Reich, Österreich und Europa an der Wende zur Neuzeit, ii (Vienna, 1975), 71–116. For reference see www.regesta-imperii.de (= RI), vol. XIV, 2 n. 4486.

1

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Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello

Fig. 1: Florence, Archivio di Stato, Notarile Antecosimiano 1972 (1489), fol. 147r

2

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Isaac, Schubinger, and Maximilian in Pisa – A Window of Opportunity?

orders on behalf of his lord for the transfer of the newly engaged ‘Ysaagkh’, his wife, and the other chapel members to Vienna.3 To be sure, at no time did a military defeat keep Maximilian from planning his future as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In particular, he was hoping to be crowned by the pope in Rome and access a rank that would quite naturally oblige him to maintain a representative musical establishment. A singer and composer of international standing, acting as a beacon in an otherwise completely German chapel, would be the cherry on the cake. It is very hard to demonstrate that Maximilian had this kind of strategic foresight in musical matters, though it cannot be ruled out either. Regardless, the Fall of 1496 was hardly an appropriate moment to increase the royal staff. What happened in Pisa, where the king was residing since October 214 in the Medici palace? An archival document from Florence, that at first glance has nothing to do with the Pisan affair, might help explain this untimely hiring decision. ***

Transcription:

[on the left:] Locatio Item postea et cetera eisdem anno et indictione die II decembris 1489. Actum in dicto | palatio presentibus Francisco Nicole Simonis et | ser Ioanne Baptista Pierantonii de Paganuccis testibus.5 | Iohannes … de Tondinis olim capsonarius florentinus pro se et suis | heredibus locavit ad pensionem | Augustino Ulrighi de Almania tromboni ad presens dominationis | Florentie presenti et conducenti et cetera | Vnam domum cum sala et cameris et curia, puteo interno et aliis suis | habituris positam Florentiae in populo Sancti Laurentii de Florentia in via | Argenti6 nuncupata cui a primo dicta via, a secundo bona Gerozii de Medicis a tertio | bona sotietatis del Bigallo a quarto dicti locatoris in predictis confinis | pro tempore undecim mensium proximorum futurorum initiatorum die primo presentis mensis infrascripti |

3 4 5

6

RI XIV, 2 n. 4487, 4488, 4489. From October 29 to November 5 he was embarked for Livorno, from November 12 to 15 he stayed in Vico Pisano, on November 18 he left Pisa. Paganucci, a public notary, was one of the witnesses to Isaac’s last testament in 1516; see Martin Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft II/28 (Berne, 1977), ii, 85. On Isaac’s testaments, see also Giovanni Zanovello, ‘Master Arigo Ysach, Our Brother: New Light on Isaac in Florence, 1502–17’, in JM 25 (2008), 297–303. Isaac’s residence until 1513 was on the same street. Staehelin, Die Messen, ii, 71.

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Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello

dexembris pro pensione dicti temporis XI mensium florenorum septem ­largorum de grossis et | solvendorum per hos menses per totum mensem aprilis florenos quattuor ­similes residuos videlicet florenos 3 1/3 per totum mensem octobris | mensibus infrascriptis; | promictens dictus locator conductori predicto dicta bona alteri non locare et cetera et e | converso dictus conductor et visis presentibus et mandatis. | C ornelius Laurentii de Alamania et cantores et ipsius quilibet se | Arrigus Ugonis de Alamania principaliter et in solidum et cetera obligando | promiserunt dicto locatori petere et cetera excipere et cetera quod dicta bona […] dictus conductor | adhibere boni, loci et cetera sive temporis denuntiet et cetera et solvere ­pensionem et cetera ad | pretium alias predictum proprio de sermone et cetera promiserunt […]

Translation:

[on the left:] Rent Item afterwards etc. the same year and indiction, day 2 of December 1489. Drawn in the said | palace, in the presence of ser Francesco of Nicola of Simone and | ser Giovanni Battista of Pierantonio Paganucci as witnesses. Giovanni … Tondini, former banker, on his behalf and on behalf of his | heirs leased for a rent | to Augustin of Ulrich from Alemania, trombone player, currently present and residing in the territory | of Florence etc. | One house with hall and rooms and courtyard, an internal well, and its other | annexes, located in Florence, in the parish of San Lorenzo in via | dell’Argento delimited in the first place by the said street, then by the property of Gerozio de’ Medici, then by | the property of the society of the Bigallo, and finally by the [property of the] said landlord in the aforementioned boundary | for the time of the next eleven months, beginning on the first day of the ­present month of December | inscribed above for a rent of said 11 months of seven large florins and | to be paid for those months for the whole month of April four similar florins, that is 3 ½ for the whole month of October | [to be paid] for the months mentioned above | Said landlord promises not to lease the said property to others etc. and for his | part the tenant has considered the present scripture and rules. | Cornelio di Lorenzo from Alamania and singers and each pledging for himself | Arrigo d’Ugo from Alamania and offering a full guarantee | of repayment, promised to the said landlord to request etc. etc. that said tenant |

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Isaac, Schubinger, and Maximilian in Pisa – A Window of Opportunity?

will use the property, the place etc. and observe the rental period etc. and will pay the rent etc | according to the amount registered elsewhere according to the contract etc. promised. ***

Three musicians active in the environment of Lorenzo de’ Medici are involved in this rental contract from December 1489: the instrumentalist Augustin Schubinger as tenant and the singers Cornelio di Lorenzo and Heinrich Isaac as his warrantors. They all are generically referred to as ‘German’ (‘de almania’ or ‘de alamania’), though Schubinger was born in (today south-German) Augsburg, Cornelio di Lorenzo in (today Belgian) Antwerp,7 Isaac or Arrigus8 ­Ugonis – was Flemish, too. The background to this seemingly cumbersome covenant is the fact that the German immigrants in Florence did not have their own bank there, which would serve as an institutional guarantor for payment to the landlord, Giovanni Tondini. Instead two fideiussores had to act as guarantors. This explanation is given by the historian Lorenz Böninger, who first mentioned this contract as typical of the solidarity practiced within the German community in Florence.9 However, it is remarkable that two singers vouched for the instrumentalist, not Schubinger’s nearest fellows, the (mostly German) members of the wind band. Augustin Schubinger, famous scion of a splendid family of German civic musicians – father Ulrich sr. and four sons Michel, Augustin, Ulrich jr., and Anton – came to Florence in order to replace the just-deceased ‘Magister Johannes’. He was recommended by his brother Michel who belonged to the Ferrarese court pifferi and assured Lorenzo il Magnifico in a 1489 letter from Modena that his brother would be willing and able to join the Florentine

7

8

9

For information on ‘Cornelio di Lorenzo d’Anversa’ in Florence (active from 1483 as soprano in the friary of Santissima Annunziata, as well from 1484 to 1490 at S. Giovanni) see Frank D’Accone, ‘The Singers of San Giovanni in Florence during the 16th Century’, in JAMS 14 (1961), 307–58. Each newly arrived foreigner immediately had to replace his name by a standardized name not necessarily relating to his former name. Thus there were hundreds of persons called ‘Arrigho’: L. Böninger, Die deutsche Einwanderung (see p. 1, n. *), 11. Ibid., 127. Independently, L. Böninger, living in Florence, pointed John Nádas to this contract, when he was preparing his article ‘Some New Documentary Evidence Regard­ ing Heinrich Isaac’s Career in Florence’, in Firenze e la musica: Fonti, protagonisti, commit­ tenza. Scritti in ricordo di Maria Adelaide Bartoli Becherini, ed. Cecilia Bacherini, Giacomo Sciommeri and Agostino Ziino (Rome, 2014), 45–64, at 47 n. 3. Without knowing who ‘a certain Augustino Ulrighi de Alamania, trombone’ was, he could not realize the implications of this document and did not pursue the constellation.

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Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello

band as trombonist.10 Before that appointment, Augustin was in the service of Maximilian’s father, Emperor Frederick III, where he had moved at the beginning of 1487 from his employment with the town of Augsburg.11 Although he was an excellent lutenist as well, his core competence was as a player of shawm, trombone, and cornetto. As such, he must have been constantly in contact with Isaac, who composed music potentially suitable for the Florentine pifferi. After the death of Lorenzo il Magnifico in 1492, the subsequent decline of Florentine musical life, and the definitive dissolution of all chapels and ensembles in April 1493, Schubinger returned to his native country no later than 1493 or 1494.12 In 1495 he is well documented as ‘des Ku Mt Trumbetter’ (‘trumpeter of His Majesty the King’).13 This time – Frederick III had died in 1493 – he had joined the Habsburg court musicians, recently reorganized. Until 1494, ­M aximilian had been gradually replacing the members of his ­Burgundian chapel14 with German musicians – incorporating newly recruited singers and instrumentalists along with performers from the late Emperor’s chapel. From then on, Schubinger was one of Maximilian’s and his court’s dearest instrumentalists, highly esteemed as a virtuoso of the fashionable cornetto along with the trombonist Hans Steudl in the service of the chapel, and appreciated as lutenist at table and in the chamber. Augustin may have wished to return to an Italian court, or perhaps rulers such as the Mantuan Marquis were interested in engaging him: Erasmo Brascha, the Milanese ambassador 10

11

12

13 14

Archivio di Stato, Firenze, MAP, XLI, 158. See Enrico Barfucci, Lorenzo de’ Medici e la società artistica del suo tempo (Florence, 1964), 101; Bianca Becherini, ‘Relazioni di musici fiamminghi con la corte dei Medici’, in Rinascita 4 (1941), 84–112: 106–8. For general information on the family see Keith Polk, ‘The Schubingers of Augsburg; Innovation in Renaissance Instrumental Music’, in Quaestiones in musica. Festschrift für Franz Krautwurst, ed. Friedhelm Brusniak (Tutzing, 1989), 495–503; id., ‘Augustein Schubinger and the Zinck: Innovation in Performance Practice’, in Historic Brass Society Journal 1 (1989), 83–92. Augsburg, Stadtarchiv, Baumeisterbücher, 80 (1487), fol.  65r: ‘Augustin Schubinger ­busauner […] Rt. ij v ß für 3 wochen antzal der quattember vnd ist daruff abgeschiden zu vnnserm Herren dem Ro. Kaÿser vnd vff seiner Kayserlichen gnaden schreiben seins dinsts erlassen. Samstag vor Iudica [March 31]’. One year later he got a separate gratification: ‘Item ij fl Augustin Kaysers Busaner Samstag vor Reminiscere [March 1]’: ibid. 81 (1488), fol. 16 r. Schubinger last appears in the Florentine accounts in 1493: Keith Polk, ‘Civic Patronage and Instrumental Ensembles in Renaissance Florence’, in Augsburger Jahrbuch für Musik­ wissenschaft 3 (1986), 51–68, at 68 (after Archivio di Stato, Firenze, CCCamp., fol. 305v ). The accounts of 1494 are not complete, in the surviving parts, however, his name does not show up any longer within musicians: ibid., 59 n. 23. Augsburg, Stadtarchiv, Baumeisterbücher, 89 (1495), fol.  17r, dated Saturday before ‘Mathie appostoli’, i.e. February 21. Last payments to singers with French names were settled in 1494. See Honey Meconi, Pierre de La Rue and Musical Life at the Habsburg-Burgundian court (Oxford, 2003), 27.

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Isaac, Schubinger, and Maximilian in Pisa – A Window of Opportunity?

at the Habsburg court, warmly recommended to Francesco Gonzaga the German lute player ‘virtuoso Augostino’ who, as he wrote, was much beloved by the whole court and who much delighted Maximilian.15 However, Schubinger stayed at the Habsburg court as one of its most prominent musicians, with only an absence in 1500–6, when he was ‘lent’ by Maximilian to his son Philip the Fair in B ­ russels and Mechelen. In his double function as cornetto and lute player, he also undertook travels to Spain and back to Innsbruck and Augsburg with Philip’s Burgundian chapel, where he may have met again his Florentine colleague Alexander Agricola. No evidence indicates that Schubinger had accompanied Maximilian on the campaign to Italy in 1496. However, precisely because of his ‘economic’ dual function and in view of his Italian experience, it cannot be excluded that he would have been a fitting candidate for participation in a reduced music ensemble during the travel. Hence the very reasonable hypothesis that Schubinger may have arranged the encounter of Maximilian and Isaac in Pisa, about 80 kilometres from Florence. Given our knowledge of habitual networks of musicians, we can assume that after his departure from Florence he had remained in contact (at least sporadically) with musicians who stayed behind in the town, including his former colleague Isaac, who was still resident there but presumably unemployed. It would have been by all means possible for Schubinger to inform Isaac about the king’s on-going musical reorganization and his travel to Italy. If Schubinger was not himself present in Pisa, one might imagine that written contacts with Isaac may have taken place beforehand. Or perhaps it was the other way around, and it was Isaac who approached Schubinger. Whoever took the initiative Schubinger would be an excellent advocate to convince Maximilian of Isaac’s outstanding quality and to make clear that hiring this singer-composer was an opportunity not to be missed. By so doing, Schubinger would have been able to kill two birds with one stone: he (re)gained a colleague who would likely continue to compose brilliant instrumental pieces, and he could repay an old debt – the support he received when Isaac had signed an act of guarantee on his behalf, when Schubinger had just arrived in Florence. Without doubt Maximilian was a music lover, and unquestionably he recognized the necessity to establish a representative court music, but to engage at a financially inauspicious time a singer who was not a priest and could not be funded through a benefice was far from a matter of course in 1496. It might have been his own wish to acquire a superb Flemish singer-composer who 15

Letter from Innsbruck, January 31, 1500: Archivio di Stato, Mantua, AGonz, E/VI/3, busta 544, n. 1 (see RI XIV, 3,1 n. 9792). Instead, in 1502 Ulrich Schubinger jr. changed position from the Augsburg civic ensemble to the Mantuan court.

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would have been able – maybe as the one and only in the chapel – to ensure the guidance to the boys in Vienna ‘auf brabantisch zu discantieren’16 (‘to sing polyphonically in the manner of Brabant’) and thus to pursue his still present Burgundian ambitions. Perhaps he needed to be encouraged to seize such an opportunity. In the end, we may never know if Maximilian himself was aware of the fact that Isaac was a renowned composer, or if he had to be told so. In any case it is not a far-fetched assumption that someone acted as a competent advisor.

16

RI XIV,2 n.  6446a: instruction by King Maximilian’s treasurer Balthasar Wolf to the Viennese administrator Hans Harrasser on July 20, 1498.

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THE CHAPEL OF MAXIMILIAN I: PATRONAGE AND MOBILITY IN A EUROPEAN CONTEXT

The woodcuts from Burgkmair’s Triumphal Procession of Maximilian, familiar from countless reproductions, are routinely interpreted as a more-or-less realistic representation of the various divisions of Maximilian’s court, including his court music. However, the fact that the first woodcut in the series illustrates a naked herald riding a gryphon should caution us not to take this series of images at face value. This is a highly constructed, artificial vision of Maximilian’s court, designed according to a plan devised by Maximilian himself. It is no more reli­able a reflection of the structures of Maximilian’s court than are the fictional epics Weißkunig and Theuerdank accurate accounts of Maximilian’s biography. But despite its artificiality, the Triumphal Procession accurately reflects the international nature of Maximilian’s court and its music. Maximilian I, son of an Austrian archduke and a Portuguese princess, husband successively to an archduchess of Burgundy and a princess of Milan, was heir to a broadly European culture, which nevertheless contained significant local variations. The float depicting his Burgundian wedding depicts trumpets and drums in Austrian colours. After them follow the ‘Burgundian pipers’ in Burgundian livery, playing shawms and Rauschpfeifen. A little later the imperial trumpets enter. The identification of various musical groups with national or political entities reflects the confluence of several international musical streams within Maximilian’s chapel. In this chapter I would like to explore the international character of Maximilian’s chapel. This internationalism was the direct result of two characteristics of such institutions: the opportunities they offered for career development, and the consequent possibilities for mobility. Patronage and career development When Maximilian married Mary of Burgundy in 1477, he inherited one of the premier musical institutions in Europe, the Burgundian chapel. This d­ eeply 9

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­ ierarchical body comprised several ranks, including porteur d’orgues (organ h carrier), fourier (quartermaster), petit sommelier, sommelier, clerc, chapelain, and premier chapelain. A 1469 ordinance lays out the structure of the chapel and the tasks assigned to each office.1 Besides the chaplains of the high mass, who provided music, the chaplains of the low mass led the spoken services. Each rank was paid at different rates: 4 sous a day for the organ carrier, 8 a day for a ­sommelier, 9 for a clerk, 12 for a chaplain, and 24 for the first chaplain, who assumed administrative control over the entire chapel. The escroes (daily pay records of the court) list the members of the chapel in order of seniority. Normally members of the chapel moved smoothly up the ranks, though reorganisations of the roll, or the entry of highly desirable singers such as Jean Cordier, could momentarily disturb the steady ascent of their colleagues. Aside from the daily payments for attending the chapel, Maximilian regularly gave ex gratia payments to members of his court, including the chapel, for example to cover their expenses. Singers in holy orders were attracted or promoted with the promise of bene­fices, that is, endowed positions in a parish, collegiate church or monastery, which derived income from an investment made as part of its foundation.2 The benefices held ranged from chaplaincies endowed with only modest incomes, to more lucrative canonries, to highly profitable dignities such as cantor or dean. Nicolas Brugheman, chaplain of the low mass in Maximilian’s Burgundian chapel, was even a bishop, albeit merely of a titular see, Selymbria (now Silivri, Turkey). Members of Maximilian’s chapel engaged in a vigorous exchange of benefices, and often held multiple benefices, sometimes even in the same church. When the incumbent of a benefice was present at court or resident in a concurrently held benefice, the liturgical services demanded by these foundations were provided by a vicar. Several important collegiate churches appear repeatedly in the lists of benefices held by members of the Burgundian chapel: St Gudule in Brussels, St Waudru in Mons, St Donatian in Bruges, St Peter in Lille, and St Vincent in Soignies. The Duke of Burgundy held the right to present candidates to certain bene­ fices, including some very lucrative ones. Singers in the duke’s chapel could use court networks to ensure that they were presented for the most attractive benefices. Thus within the Burgundian chapel, there existed several ways in

1

2

See David Fallows, ‘Specific Information on the Ensembles for Composed Polyphony, 1400–1474’, in Studies in the Performance of Late Medieval Music, ed. Stanley Boorman (Cambridge, 1983), 109–59. Further, see Barbara Haggh, ‘Foundations or Institutions? On Bringing the Middle Ages into the History of Medieval Music’, in AMl 68 (1996), 87–128.

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The Chapel of Maximilian I: Patronage and Mobility in a European Context

which singers could advance their careers: both within the chapel, by steadily rising in rank and pay; and by using their proximity to the ruler to compete for the most lucrative benefices. By using the promise of presentation to benefices of a certain financial value and prestige, Maximilian could attract and retain many of the musicians he wanted, and establish himself as the prime mover of the entire system of patronage. For example, in 1513 he presented his choirmaster Georgius Slatkonia as bishop of the diocese of Vienna, founded at the instigation of his father Friedrich III. This was not an unprecedented move, but merely represented one extreme of the normal system of imperial patronage of ecclesiastical offices. Some members of the chapel resided in their benefices until summoned for special occasions. For example, in April 1510 the singer Sixt Rantzmoser returned to his parish at St Georgen im Attergau.3 Thus the forty-odd singers listed as members of Maximilian’s chapel at the end of his life probably never sang all together.4 The woodcut of the chapel from the Triumphal Procession of Maximilian shows a group of about eight men and eight boys, with trombone and cornetto presumably doubling two of the vocal parts. With all the necessary caveats for the employment of visual representations of musical phenomena, this number of singers seems about the maximum that could physically gather around a choirbook without impeding visibility. A woodcut attributed to Hans Weiditz shows an even smaller number of singers performing in a mass attended by Maximilian.5 Choirboys There is almost no evidence for the presence of choirboys in the Burgundian chapel. However, boys played an important role in Maximilian’s Austrian chapel. These boys came from diverse backgrounds, both geographically and socially. Five of the seven boys sent to Vienna in 1498 under the direction of Slatkonia came from various places in Austria: two from Krems, one from Bruck an der Leitha, one from Gmunden and one from Ybbs. Two were from 3

4

5

Vienna, Finanz- und Hofkammerarchiv (FHKA), AHK SB Gedenkbuch [GB] 17, fol. 349 r (377r); Othmar Wessely, ‘Archivalische Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte des maximilianischen Hofes’, in StMw 23 (1956), 79–134, at 121. Vienna, FHKA, SUS HS 46 (= GB 19/1), Registratur De Anno 1519 bis 1520, fols. 7v –23r, ed. in Adolf Koczirz, ‘Die Auflösung der Hofmusikkapelle nach dem Tod Kaiser Maximilians I.’, in ZfMw 13 (1930/31), 531–40. Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Inv. Nr. 1949/416; London, British Museum, 1922,0610.36. Reproduced in Erich Egg (ed.), Ausstellung Maximilian I. Innsbruck (Innsbruck, 1969), p. 107, Nr. 403, Abb. 74 and on p. 188 in this volume.

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the Low Countries: Bernhard from Bergen probably either Bergen op Zoom, where Obrecht had been choirmaster, or Mons and Adam Rener, from Liège.6 Little is known about the ways in which boys from such disparate backgrounds were recruited. It has been suggested that the poor man who travelled from Zurich to present his musically gifted son before the court in July 1498 may have been the father of Ludwig Senfl.7 Other boys were the sons of men employed by the court, or of aristocrats whose status gave them easy access to the king or emperor; Michael Hämerl was probably the son of Wolfgang Hämerl, a member of Maximilian’s chancery;8 Maximilian Fuchs, a student of Hofhaimer, was the son of the governor of Stain;9 Erasmus vom Thurn, whose voice broke in 1514, was a member of a prominent aristocratic family, and later served in various important administrative roles in the Duchy of Carniola (present-day Slovenia) under Ferdinand I.10 When the choirboys’ voices broke, they were either dismissed from the court with a payment, or – if they showed promise – they received an initial stipend for two or three years to study at university, usually at Vienna. Sometimes this stipend was extended by a further year or two. This was probably one of the sweeteners through which Maximilian hoped to attract talented boys to his court. Once they had completed their studies, some former choirboys took holy orders. For example, Hans Türkhamer, whose voice broke in 1508 and who subsequently maintained contact with Senfl, is recorded between 1522 and 1535 as the vicar of Nicolaus Leopold in the parish of Garmisch, in the Bavarian Alps.11 6 7

8

9 10

11

Vienna, FHKA, GB I, fol. 83v, ed. in Hertha Schweiger, ‘Archivalische Notizen zur Hofkantorei Maximilians I.’, in ZfMw 14 (1931/32), 363–374, at 365. Vienna, FHKA, GB 4, fol. 111r (fol. 135r); Wessely Archivalische Beiträge (see n. 3), 83; Stefan Gasch, ‘Capellani, Cantores und Singerknaben – Zur geistlichen Hofmusik der Habsburger im 15. Jahrhundert’, in Die Wiener Hofburg im Mittelalter. Von der Kastellburg bis zu den Anfängen der Kaiserresidenz, ed. Mario Schwarz, Veröffentlichungen zur Bau- und Funktionsgeschichte der Wiener Hofburg 1 (Vienna, 2015), 356–71, at 368f. Othmar Wessely, ‘Beiträge zur Geschichte der maximilianischen Hofkapelle’, in Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 92 (1955), 370–88, at 376. Vienna, FHKA, GB 9, fol. 115r–v (fol. 136 r–v). Vienna, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (HHStA), RK Reichsregisterbuch (rrb) QQ, fol.  112v; Vienna, FHKA, GB 52, fols. 23v –24 r, 27r–v (30 Jan 1541), fols.  263v –264 r (12 November 1541); FHKA AHK HFÖ Akten 3 (1532–1535), fasc. 1534, fols. 1r –4v, 25r –32v, 64 r –71v, fasc. 1535, fols. 21r –25v. Munich, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Klosterliteralien Habach, Faszikel 1 (Nr. 1), 181, transcr. Martin Bente, Neue Wege der Quellenkritik und die Biographie Ludwig Senfls: Ein Bei­ trag zur Musikgeschichte des Reformationzeitalters (Wiesbaden, 1968), 308f.; cf. Johann Baptist Prechtl, Chronik der ehemals bischöflich freisingischen Grafschaft Werdenfels in Oberbayern (Augsburg, 1850), 157f.

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Others pursued careers as singers, often at another court. Benedict Zuckenranft and Adam Rener, trained as boys in Maximilian’s chapel, later served in the chapel of Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony, as singer and composer respectively. In this way, the musical style and repertoire of Maximilian’s chapel was transferred elsewhere. Strong ties existed between the court of Maximilian and that of Friedrich the Wise of Saxony, a close ally. These links also extended to their musical personnel. For example, Henricus Isaac received gifts of cloth from Friedrich while the elector was present at or near Maximilian’s court in late 1497 and 1498.12 Paul Hofhaimer visited Friedrich’s court several times, and trained young organists in Friedrich’s service, both at Torgau and at Innsbruck. Eberhard Senft, a prominent member of Maximilian’s chapel whose duties were more clerical than musical, but who celebrated mass for many important imperial events, also had strong ties to Friedrich the Wise. Senft travelled to the Saxon court several times, and Friedrich presented him for a benefice at St George’s collegiate church in Altenburg, an institution closely associated with the electoral house.13 Senft sent Friedrich a dispatch from the imperial diet at Trier in 1512, describing the exposition of the Holy Robe of Christ.14 In 1519, Senft submitted a report to Friedrich on the imperial election at the diet at Frankfurt.15 Senft, a member of Maximilian’s chapel, thus represented an important link between the imperial and Saxon courts. There is reason to believe that Senft also circulated music by members of Maximilian’s chapel. Amongst his other benefices, Senft was also dean of St James’ church, Bamberg. Lorenz Beheim, a canon at another church in Bamberg, St Stephen’s, was a keen music lover. A personal association between

12

13

14

15

Jürgen Heidrich, ‘Heinrich Isaac in Torgau?’, in Heinrich Isaac und Paul Hofhaimer im Umfeld von Kaiser Maximilian, ed. Walter Salmen, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 16 (Innsbruck, 1997), 155–68. Altenburg, Thüringisches Staatsarchiv, Landesregierung 4212a, 11r –14v, at 11r; cf. Julius Löbe, ‘Statuta Collegii in Castro Aldenburg anno dni millesimo quadringentesimo ­tredecimo facta’, in Mittheilungen der Geschichts- und Alterthumsforschenden Gesellschaft des Osterlandes zu Altenburg 2 (1848), 363–82, at 378. Weimar, Thüringisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Reg. E 58, fols. 84 r –85v; cf. Reinhard Seyboth, ‘Politik und religiöse Propaganda. Die Erhebung des Heiligen Rockes durch Kaiser Maximilian I. im Rahmen des Trierer Reichstags 1512’, in, “Nit wenig verwunderns und nachgedenkens”: Die “Reichstagsakten – Mittlere Reihe” in Edition und Forschung, ed. Eike ­Wolgast, Schriftenreihe der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 92 (Göttingen, 2015), 87–108, at 108. Dresden, Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Bestand 10024, Loc. 10670/70/05, ed. in Deutsche Reichstagsakten, Jüngere Reihe. Erster Band. Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Karl V. ­Erster Band, ed. August Kluckhohn (Gotha, 1893), 1, 837f.

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Senft and Beheim is documented from 1516, but may have been of longer standing.16 In 1506, Beheim sent his friend Willibald Pirckheimer a packet of music that included pieces by at least three musicians in Habsburg service: Agricola’s Cecus non iudicat de coloribus, a basse danse by Augustein Schubinger, and Isaac’s A la battaglia, which Beheim found particularly good.17 It is plausible that Senft, travelling regularly between the imperial court and Bamberg, was Beheim’s source for these pieces. Diversity of skills within the chapel Many of the adult singers in Maximilian’s Burgundian and Austrian chapels possessed other skills that made them useful in the imperial administration, either in the chancery or in their benefices. Of the singers in his Burgundian chapel, Pierre du Wez and Fernande Boutins were doctors of law, while Nicolas Mayoul held a licentiate in canon law. In 1495, Maximilian personally bestowed on Georg Hafner, a singer in his Austrian chapel, the degree of doctor of civil law.18 The Johannes Angerer who was professor of canon law at the University of Vienna until 1520 was possibly identical with the man of the same name who served in Maximilian’s chapel in the last years of his reign.19 The presence of lawyers within the chapel was useful for regulating the traffic of benefices, the fuel that kept the whole machine running. For example, in 1515, Maximilian presented Lucas Wagenrieder, ‘head singer’ (cantor principa­ lis) of the imperial chapel, for the benefice of St Sigismund at Kaltern (­ Caldaro). The deed was drawn up by Gregor Valentinianus, another singer in the imperial chapel, who was also a notary public.20 Such documents suggest that members of the chapel, when not providing liturgical services, were occupied in the administration of the chapel, probably from the imperial chancery. Such skills, perhaps acquired even quite young, could also be useful in other branches of the court structure, or in outposts that reported to the court. Conrad Fuchs, mentioned as a choirboy in 1498, appeared as a paymaster (Zahlschreiber)

16 17

18 19 20

Bamberg, Staatsarchiv, Hochstift und Domkapitel Bamberg, Urkunde 826. Wilibald Pirckheimer, Briefwechsel, ed. E. Reicke, J. Pfanner, D. Wuttke, and H. Scheible (Munich, 1940–), 1, 371; see also Christian Meyer, ‘Musique et danse a Nuremberg au début du XVIe siècle’, in RMl 67 (1981), 61–8. Vienna, HHStA, rrb GG, fol. 97r (RI XIV,1 n. 2656). Vienna, HHStA, OMeA SR 181/3, fol.  10 v; Vienna, FHKA, SUS HS 46 (= GB 19/1), fols. 69 v, 144 r. Trent, Archivio di Stato, Archivio del Principato Vescovile, Sezione Latina, capsa 46, n. 51. This is the only document I know in which Wagenrieder is described as cantor princi­ palis.

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in the imperial administration from 1506 onwards.21 In 1518, Maximilian requested that his chancery in the Tyrol should find a position for Hans Hämerl, who had learned to write from his brother Sebastian. Both boys, and some of their brothers – who probably included Michael – had served both in the chapel and in the chancery.22 Matthias Plöchl, recorded as a choirboy in Maximilian’s chapel in 1501,23 appeared between 1514 and 1517 as paymaster and as castellan of Struden.24 Caspar Strasser, mentioned as a choirboy in 1514,25 later served as a provincial administrator (Landschreiber) in the government of Ferdinand I.26 Maximilian presented several members of his Austrian chapel to parish bene­fices in villages around Austria and southern Germany. In several cases, these chaplains, familiar with the processes of imperial administration, were the first to bring the financial accounts of the parishes into rational order: one could mention Sixt Rantzmoser in Schrobenhausen, near Augsburg,27 or Thomas Krieger at Tulln, near Vienna.28 The chaplain Valentin Hongher, parish priest of Friedlach, near Klagenfurt, drew up the first urbarium (register of fiefdom) in the area.29 Maximilian’s chaplains, far from simply providing liturgical and pastoral services to the local population, either in person or through a vicar, were thus instrumental in tightening the nets of feudal control and financial rationality. When an emperor died, his court was customarily dissolved.30 The surviving documentation relating to the dissolution of Maximilian’s court tells us 21 22 23 24

25 26

27 28 29 30

Vienna, FHKA, GB 4, fol. 13r (fol. 37r); Vienna, FHKA, GB 15, fol. 26a (fol. 27v). Vienna, HHStA, Maximiliana 37 (alt 31a), fol. 151r–v. Vienna, FHKA, GB 9, fol. 128r (fol. 149 r). Vienna, HHStA, rrb QQ, fols. 112v –113r (7 May 1514); rrb QQ, fols. 244v –245v, fol. 247v (5 September 1514); rrb Y, fol. 22r (22 January 1515); rrb Z, fol. 204v –205r (18 November 1516); rrb Z, fol. 205r (25 November 1516); rrb Z, fol. 205v (28 November 1516); rrb Z, fol. 213r–v (10 December 1516); rrb AA, fols. 86 v –87r (28 July 1517); rrb AA, fol. 87r (28 July 1517); rrb AA, fol. 93v (15 August 1517); rrb AA, fol. 187r (24 October 1517). Vienna, HHStA rrb QQ, fol. 112v (9 May 1514); Vienna, HHStA, rrb BB, fol. 367v (14 July 1518). Vienna, FHKA, GB 49, 398r; Wessely, ‘Beiträge zur Geschichte’ (see n. 7), 387; Vienna, FHKA, NÖK Akten 6 (1527), fol. 740 r–v; St Pölten, NOELA Landrechtsurk. 181 (2 September 1544); Vienna, FHKA, GB 50, fol. 39; Vienna, FHKA, NÖK Akten 10 (06.1530– 12.1530), fols. 585r –589 v; fols. 675r –680 v; Vienna, FHKA, GB 53, fol. 76 v (3 June 1541); Vienna, FHKA, AHK NÖK, Bücher 13 (ER 1545), fol. 108r (18 April), fol. 139 r (16 May), fol. 149 r (29 May), fol. 151r (2 June); Vienna, FHKA, AHK NÖK, Bücher 14 (ER 1546), fol. 170 v (28 May). Georg August Reischl, Vom Gotteshaus Sankt Jakob, seinen Pfarrherren und Tochterkirchen (Erolzheim, 1956), 45–7. St Pölten, Diözesanarchiv, I/03-05/02:Tulln-St. Stefan B-03 (HD 26/21-34), fols. 140 r –141v. Klagenfurt, Kärtner Landesarchiv, Urbar 602. See Koczirz, ‘Auflösung der Hofmusikkapelle’ (see n. 4).

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much about the skills on which the members of his chapel had to fall back. Two singers, Christoph Langkusch and Conrad Gross, were absorbed into the chapel of Ferdinand I, and both were presented for benefices at St Stephen’s in Vienna. Another, Primus Juras, joined the imperial chancery as engrosser and secretary of the salt works of Gmunden. Clerics who held benefices were sent back to them until something else came along. The boys were all provided with the customary three years’ stipend for university study. Some of the trumpeters were kept on at Innsbruck, while most of the other instrumentalists moved on to positions at other courts, such as Hofhaimer, who was employed by Matthäus Lang, Maximilian’s former secretary and now archbishop of Salzburg. Some singers, such as Ludwig Senfl and Lucas Wagenrieder, moved on to the Bavarian court. While uncontrollable career events such as the death of an employer and patron were deeply unsettling for members of their chapel, their ability to find work elsewhere testifies to the versatility of the skills they had acquired while working at the heart of Maximilian’s court.31 International mobility Paweł Gancarczyk’s recent article on the singers in the court chapel of Fried­ rich III, Maximilian’s father, highlighted the international character of that body.32 In the late 1460s, the emperor’s chapel contained a relatively stable body of singers, including the following names, as Gancarczyk identifies: Johannes Blidenberg Johannes de Bubay Antonius Primi de Chaphoreto (Kharfrey) (organist) Arnold Dure [Fleran] Egidius Garin Stefan Hemperger Johannes Höflinger Johannes Oliverii de Marbasio Andreas Mayoul Nicolas Mayoul the Elder Arnold Picart 31

32

Schwindt, Nicole, „Fünf Freunde. Bekannte und unbekannte Nachrichten zu Senfls ­Kollegen“, in Senfl-Studien 3, ed. Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes, and Sonja Tröster, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 9 (Vienna, 2018), 1–17. Paweł Gancarczyk, ‘Johannes Tourout and the Imperial Hofkantorei ca. 1460’, in Hudební věda 50 (2013), 239–58. See also Gasch, ‘Capellani, Cantores und Singerknaben’ (see n. 7), 359–62.

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Johannes Schreidur Caspar Tretzler Mathias Wigel Of these fourteen individuals, nine (those marked in italics) were already present in Friedrich’s chapel in the early 1460s. This body already contains a strongly international component. More than half the singers in this list (those marked in bold) were from France or the Low Countries. These two aspects – stability and internationalism – would also characterise the ­chapel of F ­ riedrich’s son and successor Maximilian. Indeed, some singers, such as J­ohannes de Bubay and Nicolas Mayoul, whom Maximilian would have heard on an almost daily basis as a boy in Wiener Neustadt, remained in his service after his father’s death in 1493. Bubay is sometimes described with the alias Visetus, which suggests that he was from Visé, near Liège. Bubay joined Friedrich’s chapel in about 1461, and is mentioned regularly amongst Friedrich’s other singers over the next decade. He was presented for several benefices by both Friedrich and M ­ aximilian. In 1495, he was involved in a complex transfer of a benefice in the parish of St ­M artin in Aich, in the diocese of Aquileia (now Dob, Slovenia). Bubay resigned this benefice in favour of a certain Michael de Igg, in exchange for a pension.33 In order to accept this benefice, Igg resigned a canonry at the cathedral of Laibach (Ljubljana). Maximilian then promised the benefice in Aich to another singer in his chapel, Georgius Slatkonia, ‘as soon as it should happen to fall absent, through the resignation or death of the present incumbent.’34 On 26 July 1495, Maximilian had promised to present Slatkonia with the first vacant benefice worth up to 200 florins a year.35 The exchange of benefices involving Bubay seems to have been triggered by this promise. Maximilian’s secretary Pietro Bonomo then wrote to another secretary in the imperial chancery, asking him to do all possible to assist Slatkonia.36 This everyday exchange of rights in canon law momentarily pulls back the curtain to permit us to see the economic cogs and counterweights that drove the singers’ wagon in Maximilian’s Triumphal Procession. Firstly, it is clear that Maximilian involved himself personally in assigning benefices to members of his court chapel, as well as to other clerics throughout the empire. This is attested amply by the two long lists of primariae preces made out after his 33 34 35 36

Vienna, HHStA, rrb JJ, fol. 244 r. Vienna, HHStA, rrb JJ, fol. 244v. Vienna, HHStA, rrb JJ, fol. 172r. Vienna, HHStA, rrb JJ, fol. 244v.

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coronation as King of the Romans in 1486, and as Emperor Elect in 1508. (Such preces were promises of presentation to a benefice, usually made around the time of a coronation.)37 Secondly, Maximilian finely calculated the value of the benefices he chose to collate, in order to leave room for promotion, and to attract the right individuals with a sufficiently attractive offer. This exchange also introduces us for the first time to Georg Slatkonia, an individual who would play an important role in the realisation of Maximilian’s musical intentions as leader of his court chapel, as composer, and finally as bishop of Vienna. Slatkonia was an important contact for Isaac as well, as author of ceremonial texts such as Virgo prudentissima and Optime pastor, and as one of those who negotiated the commissioning of the Choralis Constantinus.38 Fourthly, this transaction shows that territories such as Slovenia (the historical Crain), which have stood somewhat on the margins of modern western musicology, actually formed part of a political and cultural unit held together by Habsburg rule. Several members of Maximilian’s chapel besides Slatkonia – including Gregor Valentinianus, Erhard Almauer, Primus Juras, and Peter Seebacher, later bishop of Ljubljana – came from this area or occupied benefices there. The other singer from Friedrich’s chapel who enjoyed a career in the service of three dukes of Burgundy – Charles, Maximilian and Philip – and two emperors – Friedrich and Maximilian – was Nicolas Mayoul the Elder.39 Mayoul is documented in the chapel of Friedrich III from 1460 until 1470. He is also mentioned as a prebendary at St Gudule’s in Brussels in 1465. Since the documentation of Friedrich’s court has not yet been examined exhaustively, it is not known when Mayoul left Friedrich’s chapel. He reappears in the Burgundian chapel of Maximilian in 1480, as a chaplain of the low mass. Before long, Maximilian had entrusted Mayoul with the task of reorganising his chapel. Molinet’s account of this reorganisation includes verbal formulas that suggest that he was drawing on a real document which is yet to be located: ‘Considering the praiseworthy morals, knowledge and agreeable services rendered to him for several years by Nicole Mayoul, a native of Hesdin and provost of 37

38

39

Leo Santifaller, ‘Die Preces primariae Maximilians I. auf Grund der Maximilianischen Registerbücher des Wiener Haus- Hof- und Staatsarchivs’, in Festschrift zur Feier des zwei­ hundertjährigen Bestandes des Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchivs, ed. Leo Santifaller (Vienna, 1949), 578–661. Victoria Panagl, Lateinische Huldigungsmotetten für Angehörige des Hauses Habsburg: Vertonte Gelegenheitsdichtung im Rahmen neulateinischer Herrscherpanegyrik (Frankfurt am Main, 2004), 59–73; Joachim Jacoby, ‘Zeitpunkt und Wortwahl: der Bericht Alberto Pios da Carpi über die Übergabe einer Motette Heinrich Isaacs an Papst Leo X’, in Italia medio­ evale e umanistica 52 (2011), 265–82. On Optime pastor see also the paper by Klaus Pietschmann in this volume. Most recently, see Gasch, ‘Capellani, Cantores und Singerknaben’ (see n. 7), 364.

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Namur, Maximilian gave him the position of first chaplain, since he was deeply experienced in music, a reverend person and very appropriate for this task.’40 Mayoul is first listed as premier chapelain on the Burgundian payroll in 1487. He followed after Maximilian when he moved his court to Innsbruck, and is listed as ‘rector of the chapel of His Majesty, King of the Romans’ at Innsbruck in 1492.41 In 1493, he was involved in securing an important relic, a piece of the true cross, for the foundation of Florian Waldauf at Hall in Tirol.42 This mission indicates Mayoul’s importance in the court and the extent of Maximilian’s trust in his capabilities beyond the purely musical. Mayoul returned to the Low Countries to serve as premier chapelain in the chapel of Philip the Fair, where he served until shortly before his death in January 1506. Mayoul’s career, lasting some forty-five years in the service of the Habsburg chapel, testifies to the tremendous loyalty felt by many of its members, and contrasts with the higher turnover of singers witnessed in many other courts. Maximilian’s reorganisation of the Burgundian chapel combined both musical and political elements. After the unexpected death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, Maximilian experienced tremendous resistance from the estates and cities of the Low Countries, and struggled to exert his power and authority there. In 1483 and 1484, his chapel was drastically reduced, from twenty-four members in 1482 to seven at the end of 1483. Once he had brought Flanders and Ghent under his control, Maximilian decided to meet with his father Fried­ rich. To make a strong impression, he restocked his chapel. According to the chronicler Molinet, Maximilian searched for ‘the most experienced musicians, having the most harmonious and well proportioned voices that it was possible to find.’ After appointing Nicole Mayoul as premier chapelain, to supervise both the administration and musical direction of the chapel, he employed ‘a tenorist called Cordier, a former member of the chapels of Naples and Milan who, both for his expert knowledge and for his new way of singing, was more highly recommended than all others.’ Maximilian also appointed Rogier de Lignoquercu, a canon of Cambrai, ‘a countertenor who sang very well, a very elegant person who had a harmonious voice, who had served for a long time 40

41

42

Chroniques de Jean Molinet, ed. Georges Doutrepont and Omer Jodogne (Brussels, 1935), 1, 470: ‘[…] considerans les loables meurs, sciences et agreables services que lui avoit plusieurs ans fait sire Nichole Mayoul, natif de Hesdin, prevot de Namur, il lui donna estat de premier chapellain, car il estoit assez fondé en la musicque, reverend personage et fort convenable à ce faire.’ Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesarchiv, oö Kammerraitbuch 32 (1492), fol. 30 r; Franz Waldner, ‘Nachrichten über die Musikpflege am Hofe zu Innsbruck nach archivalischen Aufzeichnungen. 1. Unter Kaiser Maximilian I. von 1510–1519’, annexed to MfM 29 (1897) and 30 (1898), 14. Hall in Tirol, Stadtarchiv, Urkunde 1493 VII 10.

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in the papal chapel,’ Pierre du Wez, Jacques Buckel, Pasquin Loys, and Jean Lauwier of Valenciennes, ‘and others who had previously been in the service of the king of Hungary,’ who were ‘received and placed on the payroll of the said chapel; some were counted as chaplains, the rest as clerks or sommeliers. United together, they furnished a very good chapel that was highly honoured and praised by the princes of Germany.’43 Some of Molinet’s comments are supported by the administrative records of the chapel, which indeed includes these singers, and by documentation from the cathedral of Cambrai. On 16 August 1485, the chapter nominated Johannes ­Jorlandi as interim master of the vicars at Cambrai in place of Rogier de Lignoquercu, who was absent and was not expected to return for some time.44 On 5 September 1485, Galiffre and Michault, minor vicars at Cambrai, whom Maximilian had invited to join his chapel, received permission from the cathedral chapter to join his chapel without losing their positions at Cambrai. They were to report within six weeks whether Maximilian required them to reside at his court.45 Certain details about Molinet’s account are intriguing. Molinet tells us that some of the singers appointed to Maximilian’s chapel in 1485 were previously in the service of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. It is possible that Molinet’s report here is garbled. One of the singers who appeared in Habsburg service at this time is called Valentin Hongher. His name might suggest that he was Hungarian; in any case he spoke enough German to serve later as a parish priest in Friedlach in Carinthia, as we saw. Another explanation is possible. When Corvinus conquered Vienna in June 1485, Friedrich III and his court left for Wiener Neu­ stadt; when that city fell in August 1487, Friedrich moved his court to Linz. Several singers from Friedrich’s chapel – including Johannes Blidenburg, Johannes Bubay, Nicole Mayoul and Hongher – later served Maximilian. It is possible that some of those appointed to Maximilian’s Burgundian chapel in 1485–6 left Vienna when Corvinus invaded. In 1486, a group of seven singers, including Alexander Agricola, arrived in Hungary.46 Perhaps they replaced those who left Vienna. This suggestion can only remain a hypothesis until further information about the personnel of Matthias Corvinus’ chapel becomes known.47 43 44 45 46

47

Chroniques de Jean Molinet (see n. 40), 1:470. Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale ms 1061, fol. 226 r. I am indebted to the late Alejandro Planchart for kindly sharing his materials from Cambrai. Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale ms 1061, fol. 229 v. Modena, Archivio di Stato, Camera Ducale, Ungheria, b. 1; Modena, Archivio di Stato, Archivi per materia, Musica e Musicista, b.1; I am indebted to Bonnie Blackburn for this detail (personal communication). Little has been published since Ludwig Fökövi, ‘Musik und musikalische Verhältnisse am Hofe von Matthias Corvinus’, KmJb 15 (1900), 1–16, except Péter Király, ‘Un séjour de Josquin des Prés a la cour de Hongrie?’, Revue de Musicologie 78 (1992), 145–150; and idem,

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Certainly, in the years immediately following, there is some evidence of attempts to exchange musical personnel between Maximilian’s court and that of Corvinus. On 26 September 1489, Beltrando Constabili, co-administrator of the bishopric of Esztergom pending the majority of Ippolito d’Este, wrote from Corvinus’ court at Buda, to ask Ercole I d’Este to convince Sigismund of the Tyrol to relinquish his organist Paul Hofhaimer.48 Beatrice d’Este followed up this letter two days later.49 In subsequent letters, Constabili expressed his hope that Johannes Martini might prevail upon Hofhaimer.50 On 20 November 1489, Beatrice asked Ercole to persist in the matter.51 He replied on 24 December. Martini had informed Ercole that Hofhaimer was now in the service of Maximilian, who was in the process of assuming power in the Tyrol from his uncle Sigismund. Ercole doubted whether Hofhaimer could be persuaded to jump ship.52 On 8 January 1490, Beatrice wrote to Maximilian to confirm that the composer and singer Jacobus Barbireau, whom Maximilian had sent to discuss a peace treaty between Corvinus and the Habsburgs, had arrived in Buda. Beatrice promised to look after him for the few days he was due to stay. It is possible that part of Barbireau’s brief was to inform Beatrice firmly that Hofhaimer’s services were not up for discussion. During his time in the Burgundian Netherlands, Maximilian’s chapel was staffed by singers from the Low Countries and Northern France. When he returned to Austria in 1489/90, he wished to bring something of this performance tradition to Austria, perhaps in order to update the style of singing practised by the older generation of Netherlanders employed by his father. In November 1496, Maximilian sent a group of singers, both boys and men, including Isaac, to provide music for the daily liturgy at the castle chapel (Burg­ kapelle) at Vienna, following the death of Matthias Corvinus and the departure

48

49 50 51 52

‘Die Musik am ungarischen Königshof in der ersten Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts von der Zeit Sigismunds von Luxemburg bis zu Mathias Corvinus’, Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 44 (2003), 29–45. Modena, Archivio di Stato, Amb. Ung. b.2/19/4/5, fol.  1r, ed. Iván Nagy and Albert Nyáry, Magyar Diplomacziai Emlékek: Mátyás Király Korából 1458–1490, Monumenta Hungariae Historica IV (Budapest, 1878), 400–401f., nº 71. Modena, Archivio di Stato, Carteggio Principi Esteri 1623, b.2/3,2,11, fol. 1r; Nagy and Nyáry, Magyar Diplomacziai Emlékek, 89, nº 64. Modena, Archivio di Stato, Amb. Ung b.2/19/4/7, fol. 11r; Nagy and Nyáry, Magyar Dip­ lomacziai Emlékek, 396, nº 69. Modena, Archivio di Stato, Carteggio Principi Esteri 1623, b.2/3,2,12, fol. 1r; Nagy and Nyáry, Magyar Diplomacziai Emlékek, 105f., nº 74. Modena, Archivio di Stato, CPE Minute b.1644/1,2,9, fol. 1r; Nagy and Nyáry, Magyar Diplomacziai Emlékek, 117f., nº 83.

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of his court and garrison.53 In July 1498, Maximilian more formally laid out the duties of this group of singers, specifying that the boys were to learn to ‘discant in the manner of Brabant’.54 Two of the six or seven boys assigned to the group, Adam Rener and Bernhard of Mons, came from the Low Countries. In June 1500, both boys were sent to study in the Low Countries, presum­ably at Leuven. By 1502, Rener was back at Maximilian’s court, where he was employed as a composer. As mentioned above, in 1507 he was appointed as composer at the court of Friedrich the Wise of Saxony, who regularly borrowed other musicians in Maximilian’s service, notably Hofhaimer. Such exchanges of personnel spread the musical styles and tastes cultivated at the imperial court to other centres. A similar musical exchange occurred when the cathedral chapter of Constance commissioned Isaac to write polyphonic propers for the major feasts in 1508. Maximilian understood the power of music to impress, and his chapel regularly travelled with him around the empire. Chroniclers often noted the appearance of his chapel at state occasions such as the imperial diet, and payments and gratuities to his musicians are recorded in the accounts of the cities, courts and ecclesiastical foundations which they visited along their progress. Maximilian deployed music in ceremonial entries and appearances at meetings of international dignitaries. Every account of the music performed at the double wedding at Vienna in 1515, one of the climaxes of the summit meeting between Maximilian and the Kings of Poland and Bohemia, remarks upon the quality of the singing and the organ playing. In his autobiography, Sigmund von Herberstein describes the reception of a Muscovite delegation at Hall in Tirol on 27 March 1518: ‘The chapel sang at half voice, which they found delightful to hear.’55 Maximilian also placed his musicians at the disposal of his allies. For example, five of Maximilian’s trumpeters participated in the triumphal entry of Massimiliano Sforza into Milan on 29 December 1512.56 53 54

55

56

See Grantley McDonald, ‘Isaac as a member of the court chapel of Maximilian I’, forthcoming. Vienna, FHKA, AHK SB GB 1 (IV), fol. 83v (190). On the problematic depiction of this event as the ‘birth’ of the Wiener Sängerknaben, see Gasch, ‘Capellani, Cantores und Singerknaben’ (see n. 7), 257. Vienna, HHStA, Hs Rot 11, fols. 61v –62r, ed. Th. G. von Karajan in Fontes rerum Austria­ cum, Scriptores I (Vienna, 1855), 132. Reinhard Strohm has suggested to me that the description ‘mit halber Stimb’ probably corresponds to the common liturgical rubric sub­ missa voce, that is, in an undertone. Hernach Volgt | wie der Durchleuchtig Hochge | born Furst vn[d] herr herr Maximi | lian Sfortza Hertzog zu May= | land zu Maylandt eingezog[e]n vn[d] | entpfange[n] ist am Neunvndzweyn= | tzigisten tag Dece[m]bris Anno &c. | Tausent Funffhundert vnd drey | tzehen (Landshut: Johann Weißenburger, 1514 [VD16 W 2517]), sig. A4 r.

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Conclusion Just as Maximilian’s empire stretched from the North Sea to northern Italy, his court chapel united musical elements from across Europe. Within his chapel, there was room for promotion inside the structure of the institution, as well as opportunities to cross over to related institutions, notably the imperial chancery and the University of Vienna. The close links between the imperial court and other courts, notably that of Electoral Saxony, allowed for exchanges of personnel and probably also of musical materials. Proximity to the ruler also represented a certain advantage when clerics aimed to improve their circumstances by angling for benefices that were better paid or more convenient. The skills that choirboys learned within the chapel and the contacts they made at court could be advantageous if they decided not to take up orders or continue life as a musician, but wished to pursue a career in the administration of the empire. The imperial chapel, far from simply providing the solemn or jubilant soundtrack to state ceremonial, thus represented an important nodal point in the training, networking and interchange of the educated and ruling classes of the empire.

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REVISITING ISAAC’S AUTOGRAPHS

Isaac’s setting of the sequence for St Katherine, Sanctissime virginis votiva festa, offers an opportunity to evaluate the composer’s creative process from two different perspectives: the evidence afforded by a surviving autograph manuscript, and the evidence that can be gleaned from the music itself. In Composers at Work, and the 1994 essay on Isaac that was incorporated in the book as a case study, I focused to a large extent on the autograph evidence, though questions of musical structure inevitably played a role in interpreting that evidence.1 In the more than two decades since my work first appeared, the investigation of various aspects of creative process, including, for example, the role of memory and memorial archives, improvisation techniques and instruction in impro­ visation, and the unwritten rules and procedures that lie behind contrapuntal procedures such as fuga, has undergone a remarkable development. Isaac’s sequence setting, as a rare example of a composition that survives in a complete version in the composer’s hand, allows us to compare these two approaches: one that interprets the autograph evidence of composing and revising, and one that draws on the musical content of the finished composition. What can the autograph tell us that might not be evident in the music, and what does the music tell us that might not be evident in the autograph? *

1

I am grateful to M. Jennifer Bloxam, Julie Cumming, Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes, John Milsom and Giovanni Zanovello for comments on drafts of this article and for their ­suggestions for further research. My thanks to Leofranc Holford-Strevens for his trans­ lation of the sequence; to Anne Simon for her responses to my queries about the cult of St Katherine; to Calvin Bower for providing information about the sequence; to Giovanni Zanovello for sharing his images of the Florentine documents; and to John Nadas for sharing his transcription of the Florentine documents and for providing detailed images of the Isaac signatures. Jessie Ann Owens, Composers at Work: The Craft of Musical Composition 1450–1600 (New York, 1997), 258–90; ead., ‘An Isaac Autograph’, in Music of the German Renaissance, ed. John Kmetz (Cambridge, 1994), 27–53. For a discussion of my work in the context of musicological debates, see Nicholas Cook, Music as Creative Practice (Oxford, 2018), 75–81.

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1. An Isaac Autograph? I must begin with some unfinished business. In my earlier work, I simply accepted the conclusion reached by Martin Just that the primary source of the sequence, the bifolio added to the end of Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Mus. ms. 40021 (D-B Mus. ms. 40021), fols. 255–256, was an Isaac autograph.2 Neither Just nor I made a case for the autograph status of this bifolio: new evidence (and evidence that we had both overlooked) helps to make that case. 1.1 The Added Isaac Fascicles in the Berlin Manuscript D-B Mus. ms. 40021, a choirbook compiled between roughly 1485 and 1500, probably in Central Germany, contains three late additions to the main corpus of the manuscript, all of which bear Isaac’s name and the designation ‘de manu sua’.3 François-Joseph Fétis apparently discovered the manuscript in a library in Halberstadt in 1849, and he drew attention to ascriptions found in the manuscript.4 For a period of music history when few composer autographs 2

3

4

Martin Just’s exemplary work on this manuscript continues to be fundamental to our understanding: Martin Just, Der Mensuralkodex Mus. ms. 40021 der Staatsbibliothek Preußi­ scher Kulturbesitz Berlin. Untersuchungen zum Repertoire einer deutschen Quelle des 15. Jahrhun­ derts, 2 vols., Würzburger musikhistorsiche Beiträge 1 (Tutzing, 1975); Der Kodex Berlin 40021. Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin Mus. ms. 40021, ed. Martin Just, Das Erbe deutscher Musik 76–8 (Kassel, 1990–1); id., ‘Bemerkungen zu den kleinen Folio-Handschriften deutscher Provenienz um 1500’, in Formen und Probleme der Überliefe­ rung mehrstimmiger Musik im Zeitalter Josquins Desprez, ed. Ludwig Finscher, Quellenstudien zur Musik der Renaissance 1 (Munich, 1981), 25–45; id., ‘Ysaac de manu sua’, in Bericht über den internationalen musikwissenschaftlichen Kongress Kassel 1962, ed. Georg ­Reichert and ­Martin Just (Kassel, etc., 1963), 112–14. For a meticulous examination of minute physical details of layout, see PRoMS: The Production and Reading of Music Sources (accessed 3 October 2018), entry prepared by Thomas Schmidt. It is also listed in DIAMM: Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music (accessed 3 October 2018), which provides a p­ ortion of the entry from the Census Catalogue. An excellent digital image of the entire manuscript is a­ vailable at (accessed 3 October 2018). Dating and provenance from Die Signaturengruppe Mus. ms. 40 000 ff., Erste Folge: Hand­ schriften des 15.–19. Jahrhunderts in mensuraler und neuerer Notation, ed. Hans-Otto Korth, Jutta Lambrecht, and Helmut Hell, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kataloge der Musikabteilung, Erste Reihe: Handschriften, Band 13 (Munich, 1997), 25–32. Just, Der Mensuralkodex, dates the paper of the bifolio containing Isaac’s sequence between 1498 and 1501 (at 39–40), and the likely date of composition 1500 (at 79). François-Joseph Fétis, Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique (Paris, 1862), vol. 4, 401–2, mistakenly asserted that there were four pieces bearing the label ‘de manu sua’; there are in fact only three. See Just’s account of his attempts to trace the manuscript; it was acquired by the Berlin library in 1852 from the antiquarian Fidelis Butsch (Just, Der Kodex Berlin 40021 (see n. 2), i, VII–VIII). The provenance is unknown (Leipzig, Torgau, and Halberstadt have all been suggested). Gisela Kornrumpf has estab-

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were thought to have survived, the designation ‘Ysaac de manu sua’ was noteworthy; some scholars took the ascriptions at face value and assumed that the fascicles were Isaac autographs, while others were more cautious.5 Martin Just was the first to challenge the view that Isaac had written all three of the added compositions in the Berlin choirbook.6 He showed that one, Missa Une mousse de Biscaye, was clearly in a different hand from that of the other two, and hypothesized that it was in the hand of a copyist (whom he called ‘Schreiber P’). He identified the other two – the sequence and the lied In Gottes Namen fahren wir – as the work of his ‘Schreiber K’, namely, Isaac.7 He imagined that Isaac had sent all three in letters to the compiler of the choirbook, the individual he identified as ‘Schreiber Y’, probably around 1500. Scribe Y annotated a number of pieces and prepared the index. Working on the assumption that the bifolio was in fact an Isaac autograph, I showed that it was used for composing and revising, and discerned two stages of work: corrections made in the course of writing down and composing the music, and revisions made at a later stage that could be described as refinements.

5

6 7

lished that the manuscript was in Halberstadt by between 1827 and 1842 at the latest, the dates of an inventory of books from the Halberstadt Liebfrauenstift that were moved to the Domgymnasium. See Gisela Kornrumpf, ‘Zwei Handschriften aus dem Halberstädter Liebfrauenstift mit deutscher und lateinischer Lieddichtung (St. Petersburg, RNB, Fond 955 op. 2 Nr. 92 und 49)’, in Von mittelalterlichen und neuzeitlichen Beständen in russischen Bibliotheken und Archiven. Ergebnisse der Tagungen des deutsch-russischen Arbeitskreises an der Philipps-Universität Marburg (2012) und an der Lomonossov-Universität Moskau (2013), ed. Natalija Ganina et al., Akademie gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt, Sonderschriften 47; Deutsch-russische Forschungen zur Buchgeschichte 3 (Erfurt, 2016), 153–70, at 156 n. 19. See also Handschriftencensus: Eine Bestandsaufnahme der handschriftlichen Überlie­ ferung deutschsprachiger Texte des Mittelalters, (accessed 3 October 2018). My thanks to Bernhold Schmid and Gisela Kornrumpf for their help. Johannes Wolf (Heinrich Isaac, Weltliche Werke I, ed. Johannes Wolf, Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich 28 [Vienna, 1907], 181) described the lied as ‘wahrscheinlich Autograph’; Heinrich Besseler and Peter Gülke, Musikgeschichte in Bildern III: Musik des Mittel­ alters und der Renaissance, Schriftbild der mehrstimmigen Musik III/5 (Leipzig, 1973), 152–3), while publishing a facsimile from the Berlin manuscript in the section devoted to ‘Autographe und Partituren’, nonetheless expressed skepticism: ‘läßt sich kaum endgültig nachweisen, daß es sich um Autographe handelt’; Martin S­ taehelin (‘Obrechtiana’, in TVNM 25 [1975], 1–37, at 33 n. 73) regarded the desigation as ­controversial. Just, ‘Ysaac de manu sua’. A detailed account of the evidence is given in Just, Der Mensural­ kodex (see n. 2), and a summary in Der Kodex Berlin 40021, i, VII–XIII. While Just (‘Ysaac de manu sua’ [see n. 2], 114) noted ‘eine Übereinstimmung im Duktus’ between the fascicles containing the sequence and lied and Isaac’s signature on an Aus­ trian contract, which will be discussed below, his case was based partly on paper evidence and partly on a scenario in which Isaac sent music to the compiler. See Just, ‘Ysaac de manu sua’, and Just, Der Mensuralkodex, i, 39–42.

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I attempted to link this written evidence to the well-known characterizations of Isaac as fast, but also rough and repetitive. For my purposes, however, the evidence of composition and revision was sufficient to show that it was a composer autograph: it would retain its value even if it were later shown to be in the hand of a composer other than Isaac. 1.2 The Ascriptions in the Added Isaac Fascicles The ascriptions have complicated the assessment of the added fascicles. Just was troubled by ‘de manu sua’, arguing that a composer would not likely have written ‘de manu sua’ (in his hand) but rather ‘manu propria’ (in my own hand) if he were asserting that he had written a document.8 He determined that scribe Y, and not Isaac, was responsible for the late additions to the Isaac fascicles. In some instances two hands are present: the main scribe for the mass wrote Isaac’s name, and Y mistakenly added ‘de manu sua’. Isaac himself labeled the sequence ‘De sancta Katerina’ (the writing is quite faint), while Y added ‘Ysaac de manu sua’ and, on the facing page, ‘Sequen[ti]a’. Table 1 identifies the hands responsible for the ascriptions, and Figure 1 provides images. Just accepted two of the three added fascicles as Isaac autographs while also convincingly showing that the very features that drew attention to these manuscripts in the first place – the ascriptions with his name and ‘de manu sua’ – were not in Isaac’s hand. Absent the ascriptions, there would appear to be little justification for assuming that the manuscripts were autograph – except, of course, for the evidence of compositional activity. Location

Added text

Scribe (Just)

Later addition?

fol. 8ar top margin (L) fol. 8ar top margin (R) fol. 255v, stave 1 fol. 255v, stave 7 fol. 256r top margin (L) fol. 256r top margin (R) fol. 256v, staves 2–4 fol. 256v, stave 5 fol. 256v, staves 6–8 fol. 294 top margin (L) fol. 294 top margin (R)

Ÿsacc [black] P no de manu sua [brown] Y yes alt9 K=Isaac no [T]enor K=Isaac no Sequen.a Y yes De sancta Katerina K=Isaac no Bass9, Alt9, Tenor Y yes Bassus, alt9 K=Isaac no Tenor, Bassus, Alt9 Y yes h.Isaac Y yes de manu sua Y yes

Table 1: Additions to the ‘de manu sua’ fascicles in D-B Mus. ms. 40021

8

Just, ‘Ysaac de manu sua’, 112.

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D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 256 r, scribe Y

D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 256 r, Isaac

D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 1r, scribe Y index

D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 255v, scribe Y

D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 255v, Isaac

D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 256 v, scribe Y

D-B Mus. Ms. 40021, fol. 256 v, Isaac Fig. 1: Scribe Y and Isaac compared

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1.3 Isaac Autographs in Florence Both Just and I overlooked important archival evidence that supplies valu­ able examples of Isaac’s text hand.9 In 1961 Frank D’Accone drew attention to the existence of an Isaac signature in a register recording the receipt of salary payments from the Florentine church of the Santissima Annunziata.10 In 1962 Bianca Becherini published a reproduction of one of the documents, a receipt for payment of Isaac’s salary for May 1491, and in the following year provided a more detailed account.11 Also in 1963, D’Accone published a facsimile of another autograph receipt (for September and October, fol. 163r) and identified Isaac’s hand in documents in Florence, Archivio di Stato, SSA, Ricevute, 1050, fols. 114v, 126 v, and 163r.12 The Florentine documents, four of which are shown in Figure 2, help in a number of ways.13 There is a high degree of congruence between the text hand of the putative Isaac autographs in the Berlin manuscript and the autograph receipts in Florence. Notice the flourish on the final ‘s’; the ‘or’; the thick long ‘s’, sometimes written with two strokes; the upper loop of the lower case ‘d’; the oddly upright, plain and unligated ‘l’; the ‘re’ (see Figure 3). 9

10

11

12 13

Joshua Rifkin, however, did not; in 1976 he wrote: ‘Just’s conclusions also appear to receive corroboration from a comparison of the handwriting in Berlin 40021 with that of signed Isaac documents in Florence; I hope to report on this subject in greater detail elsewhere.’ See id, ‘Pietrequin Bonnel and Ms. 2794 of the Biblioteca Riccardiana’, in JAMS 29 (1976), 284–96, at 285. To my knowledge he has not published further on this subject. Frank A. D’Accone, ‘The Singers of San Giovanni in Florence during the 15th Century’, in JAMS 14 (1961), 307–58, at 338 n. 126: ‘His signature (Ego, Henricus de Flandria, cantore in San Giovanni) is preserved in one of the Convent’s Receipt Registers, dated October 31, 1491. SSA, Ricevute, Vol. 1050, fol. 126 v’. Bianca Becherini, ‘Antonio Squarcialupi e il Codice Mediceo Palatino 87’, in L’Ars nova italiana del Trecento: Primo Convegno Internazionale 23–26 Iuglio 1959, ed. Bianca Becherini (Certaldo, 1962), 141–96, plate facing p. 170, cited by Rob Wegman, ‘Isaac’s Signature’, in JM 28 (2011), 9–33, at 13 n. 17; Bianca Becherini, ‘Isacco Argiropulo ed Henricus Yzac’, in RB 17 (1963), 11–20, at 12–13. Becherini also considered the Berlin manuscript as part of her discussion of Isaac autographs. Frank A. D’Accone, ‘Heinrich Issac in Florence: New and Unpublished Documents’, in MQ 49 (1963), 464–83, at 467, facsimile follows 476. As this article was going to press, I asked John Nadas to review the Isaac entries in Florence, Archivio di Stato, 119 [SS. Annunziata], 1050. He found 20 entries in Isaac’s hand (fols. 68r, 114v, 117r, 118v, 121v, 127v, 128r, 130 r, 134v, 136 r, 138r, 147r, 148r, 153r, 156 r, 160 r, 162r, 163r, 165v and 167v). Unbeknownst to me, he had already discovered the earliest of the documents, from December 1488 (see John Nadas, ‘Some New Documentary Evidence Regarding Heinrich Isaac’s Career’ in Firenze e la musica: Fonti, protagonisti, commit­ tenza. Scritti in ricordo di Maria Adelaide Bartoli Bacherini, ed. Cecilia Bacherini, Giacomo Sciommeri, and Agostino Ziino (Rome, 2014), 45–63. My thanks to John for giving me a copy of this article and for sharing his unpublished transcriptions of the documents. I have used four images (fols. 117r, 118v, 128r and 163r).

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fol. 117r ( June 1491)

fol. 118v (5 July 1491)

fol. 128r (1491)

fol. 163r (1493) Fig. 2: Florence, Archivio di Stato, Corporazioni religiose soppresse dal governo francese, 119, 1050, receipts in Isaac’s hand (with the kind permission of the Archivio di Stato, Florence)

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‘-is’

organicis (D)

septembris (fol. 128r )

organicis (D)

confiteor (fol. 128r )

‘or’

cantor (fol. 117r )

long ‘s’ (fol. 128r )

sophisti- (D)

(fol. 117r )

(fol. 163r )

deos (T)

laude digna (A)

sec- (T)

(fol. 118r )

‘d’

modulis (D)

duo ducatos (fol. 128r )

ducatum (fol. 117r )

‘l’

clerum (D)

(fol. 128r)

(fol. 117r)

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yzac

(fol. 128r )

diem (A)

respuit (T)

(fol. 117r )

(fol. 163r )

(fol. 118r )

diem (D) die (fol. 118r )

recepi (fol. 118r )

recepi (fol. 117r )

Fig. 3: Comparison of selected letters: Florence and Berlin

They also confi rm that the later ascriptions in the three added fascicles cannot be by Isaac (see Figure 4). Notice that ‘de manu sua’ is written in exactly the same way each time, a consistency that helps to confi rm that the same scribe added ‘de manu sua’; two of the ‘u’ of ‘manu’ have the breve characteristic of German hands. The same distinctive ‘de’ is also found in the index, prepared by scribe Y.14 A comparison of these ascriptions ‘de manu sua’ with the Florentine documents reveals that nowhere is the distinctive form of ‘de’ used by Just’s scribe Y to be found in the pay receipts. The ways in which the composer’s name appears is also telling. In the Florentine pay documents Isaac consistently wrote his name ‘yzac’; in the 1497 contract as court composer for Maximilian I he signed his name ‘H. yzaac m[anu] p[ro]p[ria]’.15 In the Berlin manuscript, however, his name appears three different ways: ‘h. Isaac’, ‘ysaac’ and ‘ÿsacc’, the fi rst by the scribe of the mass ( Just’s scribe P), and the other two by scribe Y. There can be no doubt that these ascriptions in the manuscript are not autograph.

14 15

Just, Der Mensuralkodex (see n. 2), i, 43–5. The last sentence should read: In the Florentine documents Isaac signs his name ‘Henric 9’ (once ‘Henricus’) ‘yzac’ (sometimes the ‘y’ has a decorative flourish, sometimes it has the same mark above the ‘y’ that he used above an ‘i’), sometimes with no modifier, other times with ‘cantor’, ‘de Flandria cantor’ or ‘de Flandria’.

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D-B Mus. ms 40021, In gottes namen

D-B Mus. ms 40021, Sanctissime Virginis

D-B Mus. ms 40021, Missa Une mousse de Biscaye Fig. 4: Scribe Y: ‘de manu sua’

In short, the Florentine documents confi rm Just’s hypothesis, with at least a high level of probability, that the sequence as well as the lied are in fact Isaac autographs and bolster his case that the late ascriptions are not in his hand. 1.4 Isaac’s Signature This conclusion calls into question some of the evidence that Rob Wegman presented in his recent article, ‘Isaac’s Signature’.16 He offered illuminating and provocative observations about Isaac’s career and the changing role of the composer in an emerging market economy. As part of his case he considered the instances in which Isaac signed his own name: the autograph document in Florence published by Becherini; the autograph signature affi xed to the Austrian contract mentioned above; and the three instances of Isaac’s name followed by ‘de manu sua’ in the Berlin manuscript, which he considered to be Isaac’s signatures. About the Berlin ascriptions Wegman concluded: ‘the inscriptions 16

Wegman, ‘Isaac’s Signature’ (see n. 11).

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actually tell us that this piece is by Isaac in his own hand.’17 He explained that the signature can be a defense against misattribution: ‘If the risk of such mis­ attributions was so real, one cannot really blame any composer for adding “in his own hand” to the mark of authorship’ and, ‘“Isaac in his own hand” is a different way of saying “this is a genuine Isaac”’.18 That could well be true, but it does not follow that Isaac himself was or had to be responsible. Wegman made Just’s realization that the Isaac fascicles had been sent in letters part of his case: He [Just] found that all three compositions with the inscription “Isaac in his own hand” are written on sheets of paper that were once folded several times over. And that, in turn, can mean only one thing: although the sheets are now part of a choirbook, they must originally have been sent as letters. Strictly speaking the sending of a letter is another transaction: there is something that changes hands, in this case a musical work. Now it is easier to see why this might require a signature. A signature, as I have said, is a form of authentication. To place a signature is to give a document the same power as if one were present in person. In the case at hand it means that these three pieces were guaranteed to be authentic Isaac compositions as surely as if they had been hand-delivered by the composer. That, in its turn, can mean only one thing: these compositions had been commissioned and sold, just as the Choralis Constantinus was sold by Isaac and bought by the cathedral authorities of Constance. […] Once again, Isaac’s signature marks a critical step in the commodification of the musical work and the professionalization of the composer.19

It is important to his argument that Isaac himself be responsible for these three ascriptions, and he argued that Isaac could be asserting his authorship even for a piece copied by a scribe, not in his own hand: ‘Throughout the fifteenth century, formal letters were normally dictated to scribes, with only the signature or the seal to attest to their authenticity. If we allow that possibility here, however, then de manu sua must have been understood in a metaphorical sense, meaning ‘of his own invention.’20 I can only assume that Wegman simply overlooked Just’s identification of scribe Y as responsible for ‘de manu sua’, perhaps led astray, like others before him, by the tantalizing prospect that a composer had signed his work. Ironically, the actual Isaac autographs – the fascicles in his hand, not the later ‘de manu sua’ ascriptions – actually do a fine job of supporting his argument: a composer exerting agency, in circumstances unfortunately unknown to us, by sending music he 17 18 19 20

Ibid., 16. Ibid., 18. Ibid., 19. Ibid., 19 n. 47.

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composed to be used at an institution that revered St Kather­ine and would enjoy his setting of the popular pilgrim song, In Gottes Namen fahren wir.21 2. Watching Isaac at Work: Evidence of Sanctissime virginis votiva festa and the Autograph A series of overlapping investigations has in recent years led to a better understanding of the musical evidence for the creative process, in contrast to evidence gleaned from autographs. We now have a much better grasp of the role and practice of memory, and of the interface between written and unwritten traditions.22 The exploration of improvisation, as a performance practice but also as part of training in music, has also sharpened our understanding of such basic techniques as canon and fuga.23 Analyses of individual compositions are beginning to reveal the composer’s methods. Rob Wegman, for example, offered an explanation of the strategy that Richard Davy could have employed to compose a five-voice motet in a single day, working outward from a harmonic grid.24 John Milsom, through what he calls ‘forensic analysis’, has sought to discern a work’s genesis through an examination of its constituent musical elements.25 At the beginning of an 21 22

23

24

25

Eric Chafe offers an extended account of the history of this tune and of Isaac’s setting in Analyzing Bach Cantatas (New York, 2000), 164–8. See the various publications by Anna Maria Busse Berger, including: ‘Models for Composition in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries’, in Memory and Invention: Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Art, and Music, ed. Anna Maria Busse Berger and Massimiliano Rossi, Villa I Tatti Series 24 (Florence, 2009), 59–80; and ‘Oral Composition in Fifteenth-Century Music’, in The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, ed. Anna Maria Busse Berger and Jesse Rodin (Cambridge, 2015), 139–48. The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music contains a number of relevant articles, with useful bibliographies. Philippe Canguilhem, L’improvisation polyphonique à la Renaissance, Arts de la Renaissance européenne 5 (Paris, 2015); id., ‘Improvisation as Concept and Musical Practice in the Fifteenth Century’, in Busse Berger/Rodin, The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, 149–63; Studies in Historical Improvisation: From Cantare super Librum to Partimenti, ed. Massimiliano Guido (Abingdon, 2017); Improvising Early Music, ed. Dirk Moelants (Leuven, 2014); Julie E. Cumming, ‘Renaissance Improvisation and Musicology’, in MTO 19 (2013), (accessed 3 October 2018); Denis Collins, ‘So You Want to Write a Canon? An Historically-Informed New Approach for the Modern Theory Class’, in College Music Symposium 48 (2008), 108–23. Rob C. Wegman, ‘Compositional Process in the Fifteenth-Century Motet’, in The Motet around 1500: On the Relationship of Imitation and Text Treatment?, ed. Thomas Schmidt-Beste (Turnhout, 2012), 151–71. John Milsom has published a number of studies that use a ‘forensic’ approach: ‘“Imitatio”, “Intertextuality”, and Early Music’, in Citation and Authority in Medieval and Renaissance Musical Culture: Learning from the Learned, ed. Suzannah Clark and Elizabeth Eva Leach (Woodbridge, 2005), 146–51; ‘Absorbing Lassus’, in EM 33 (2005), 305–20; ‘Hard compo-

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article that considers the ways in which Josquin made use of chant, he asked, ‘How sure can we be […] that Josquin, when quoting a plainchant melody, always felt obliged to reproduce it exactly?’ That led him to this brief statement that captures his approach: These issues [Josquin’s treatment of chant] come into sharp focus when poly­ phony based upon chant is viewed from the perspective of how it was made. Most analyses of Renaissance music – indeed, most analyses of music at large – principally address the sound and substance of the finished work, paying little if any attention to the craft of composition, unless surviving documentation such as autograph sketches, drafts or scores should happen to shed light on the compositional process. Often, however, Renaissance polyphony lends itself to what might be called ‘forensic analysis’ – ‘forensic’ in the sense that such analysis searches for evidence about the processes involved in creating a musical work. Perhaps no repertory offers richer pickings for the forensic analyst of Renaissance polyphony than pieces based on plainchant, especially when the composer has also made liberal use of the principles of fuga and/or fuga-canon.26

Other scholars, in contrast, have analyzed entire repertories. The focus tends to be taxonomic: to identify (and label) particular procedures and to survey their occurrence across many compositions. Examples include Peter Schubert’s investigation of Palestrina motets, Julie E. Cumming’s on the beginnings of Petrucci motets, and Cumming and Schubert’s on the origins of pervasive imitation.27

26

27

sing; hard performing; hard listening’, in EM 41 (2013), 108–12; ‘Style and Idea in Josquin’s Cueur langoreulx’, in JAF 8 (2016), 77–91; ‘Cipriano’s Flexed Fuga’, in Cipriano de Rore: New Perspectives on His Life and Music, ed. Jessie Ann Owens and Katelijne Schiltz (Turnhout, 2016), 293–329; and ‘Henricus Tik and the Spectrum of Fuga’, in Rivista di analisi e teoria musicale 23 (2017), 105–34. The quotations are from John Milsom, ‘Playing with Plainchant: Seven Motet Openings by Josquin and What We Can Learn from Them’, in Josquin and the Sublime. Proceedings of the International Josquin Symposium at Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg, 12–15 July 2009, ed. Albert Clement and Eric Jas (Turnhout, 2011), 23–47, at 23–4. Another instance of this approach is Julian Grimshaw’s ‘Compositional Phenomena in the Missa Papae Marcelli’, in Recercare 24 (2012), 5–33, at 29–31: ‘This study has attempted by empirical means to identify and describe compositional phenomena in Missa Papae Marcelli. Such forensic examinations allow us a tantalizing glimpse into the composer’s workshop: we are able to gain insights from internal evidence that encourage us cautiously to speculate on the thought lying behind the construction of the work, even if the process of composition ultimately remains elusive.’ See also the valuable overview in Denis Collins, ‘Approaching Renaissance Music Using Taneyev’s Theories of Movable Counterpoint’, in AMl 90 (2018), 178–201. Peter N. Schubert, ‘Hidden Forms in Palestrina’s First Book of Four-Voice Motets’, in JAMS 60 (2007), 483–556; Julie E. Cumming, ‘Text Setting and Imitative Technique in Petrucci’s First Five Motet Prints’, in Schmidt-Beste, The Motet around 1500, 83–110; Julie E. Cumming, ‘From Two-Part Framework to Moveable Module’, in Medieval Music in Practice: Studies in Honor of Richard Crocker, ed. Judith Ann Peraino (Middleton, 2013), 177–

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For Isaac, three studies in particular illustrate the richness of this sort of investigation, at the level of repertories as well as of individual compositions, offering complementary and to some extent overlapping approaches. Julie E. Cumming sought to provide a full inventory of compositional procedures in Isaac’s Inviolata integra et casta es Maria and Alma redemptoris mater, chosen because they show ‘three different approaches to the use of chant cantus firmi: canonic cantus firmus, long-note cantus firmus, and chant paraphrase in a single voice’.28 Using terminology developed by Peter Schubert and others, she produced detailed charts mapping events in the composition, and in particular the use of repeated material.29 For Inviolata, the cantus firmus is treated as a two-voice canon, with frequent use of modular repetition; her chart (Figure 5) shows the shifting lines and repetitions. For Alma redemptoris, based either on a long-note cantus firmus or on paraphrase, she noted the kinds of contrapuntal techniques (Figure 6). These charts show her commitment to the value of taxonomy – of assigning labels – as a necessary first step for understanding what is actually happening at a very granular level. While Cumming employed categories broadly applicable to Renaissance music, Andreas Pfisterer instead focused on the kinds of contrapuntal techniques Isaac employs.30 He established a typology that emerges primarily from Isaac’s music, analyzing the alleluia verse from Choralis Constantinus II, Diligam te domine, to show Isaac’s response to the specific motives that open each segment of chant. For our purposes, his interest in understanding how specific features of the chant determine the kinds of counterpoint Isaac can write is particularly valuable. For example, for Isaac to write a fuga (Pfisterer uses the German ‘Imitation’) at the lower octave, at the distance of one temporal unit (stretto fuga or ‘enge Imitation’), the motive cannot include stepwise motion.31 David Burn also took the chant as his point of departure, as Isaac did, and set out the series of tasks the composer must have needed to accomplish: to read

28 29 30

31

215; Julie E. Cumming and Peter Schubert, ‘The Origins of Pervasive Imitation’, in Busse Berger/Rodin, The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, 200–28. Julie E. Cumming, ‘Composing Imitative Counterpoint around a Cantus Firmus: Two Motets by Heinrich Issac’, in JM 28 (2011), 231–88, at 232. Cumming supplies a key for her terms, ‘Composing Imitative Counterpoint’, 277 and 287–8. Andreas Pfisterer, ‘Imitationstechniken bei Isaac’, in Heinrich Isaac, ed. Ulrich Tadday, Musik-Konzepte 148/149 (2010), 89–103. My thanks to Andreas for providing a copy of his article. This approach, as Pfisterer himself acknowledges, owes much to the work of Milsom, Schubert, Cumming and others on the rules for stretto fuga. Julie E. Cumming offers a clear exposition in ‘Renaissance Improvisation and Musicology’, in MTO 19 (2013), (accessed 20 February 2019).

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Fig. 5: Cumming, chart of Isaac, Inviolata (beginning)

Fig. 6: Cumming, chart of Isaac, Alma redemptoris (beginning)

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C Do

mi

na

tor

x

C Do y

mi

na

tor x

x

C Do

mi

na

tor

do

mi

x

nus

do

y

x

C Do

mi

na

tor

do

7

do

mi

nus

do

mi

mi

mi

nus

nus

do

nus

mi

do

nus

do

Ex. 1: Isaac, Ecce advenit dominator Dominus, representation of order of work (after Burn)

the chant with care and decide on an interpretation, to segment the chant as a series of phrases, and then to add rhythmic values and whatever pitches might need to be added to make a proper cadence in polyphony.32 He was particularly eloquent on Isaac’s deep connection with the text as well as with the melody: decisions are never based just on pitches and always consider the text as well. Burn took the introit Ecce advenit dominator Dominus as a case study; he conducted in effect a forensic analysis of the opening phrase, putting in prose the relationships and repetitions that Cumming would illustrate with a chart, and Milsom with a music example showing the contrapuntal structure.33 Burn argued that the altus-discantus pair in mm. 4–7, in which the altus is a counterpoint to the static chant melody, is the structural point of departure, and that Isaac then worked backwards, adding the bassus, which is identical to the altus, and finally the tenor. He drew attention to the dotted motives, which I have 32 33

David J. Burn, ‘Vom Choral zur Polyphonie: Zu Kompositionstechniken in Isaacs ­Messproprien’, in Tadday, Heinrich Isaac, 104–19. Ibid., 114–15.

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labeled ‘x’ and ‘y’, which interlock in various ways, and serve to counter the static chant melody. (Example 1 shows my interpretation of Burn’s analysis.) These studies, which contribute to our understanding of music from before 1600 in general, and of Isaac’s music in particular, provide insight not only into how a piece works but also into how it was made. In what follows, I will draw on both musical and autograph evidence to explore aspects of Isaac’s process. 2.1 From Chant to Paraphrase 34 The first step in considering how Isaac’s four-voice setting was made must be the sequence that was his point of departure.35 Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa is a sequence for the feast of St Katherine of Alexandria, celebrated on November 25. According to legend, Katherine was an early Christian virgin martyr.36 As one of the fourteen helper saints, she was extremely popular in medieval ­Europe, particularly in the German-speaking world that was the likely origin of the sequence.37 The sequence captures the outlines of her life and martyrdom (see Table 2).

34 35 36

37

This heading signals my debt to Burn’s work. Editions of the chant and Isaac’s setting: Just, Der Kodex Berlin 40021 (see n. 2), iii, 250–5; Owens, Composers at Work, 277–90. For a rich account of her life and of her central role in a south German city, see Anne Simon, The Cult of Saint Katherine of Alexandria in Late-Medieval Nuremberg: Saint and the City (Farnham, 2012). Simon notes (48) that despite her popularity Katherine may not have existed but been a construct using the tropes of female saints’ lives. According to Simon, she was an unofficial patron saint of Nuremberg (207), and patron saint of ‘young girls, nursemaids, scholars, teachers, universities, schools and libraries’ (7). USUARIUM, A Digital Library and Database for the Study of Latin Liturgical History in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, (accessed 3 October 2018) lists 338 liturgical books that include her feast day. According to Calvin Bower (personal correspondence), the text probably originated at the end of the twelfth century; the earliest source is D-AAd MS 13 (XII), a double sequentiary that includes the sequence in both west and east Frankish usage. In ‘The Sequence Repertoire of the Diocese of Utrecht’, in TVNM 53 (2003), 49–104, Bower places Sanctis­ simae virginis votiva festa in his category ‘ddm’: ‘Rhythmic and metrical texts, often with a ‘standard’ melody determining metrical and rhythmic structure, sometimes with a melody unique to the text. The poems and melodies of this tradition from the German-­ speaking lands flourished during the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, and have received relatively little attention in secondary literature’ (51). Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa is set to the tune for Laetabundus, from the eleventh century. See Wulf Arlt, ‘Sequence and “Neues Lied”’, in La sequenza medievale. Atti del Convegno Internazionale Milano 7–8 aprile 1984, ed. Agostino Ziino (Lucca, 1992), 3–18. CANTUS INDEX Online Catalogue for Mass and Office Chants, (accessed 2  February 2019) currently records 38 sources for Sanctissime virginis votiva festa.

41

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Jessie Ann Owens Text (Analecta hymnica 55, no. 203) Translation (Leofranc Holford-Strevens) 1. Sanctissimae 2. Venerantes Let us renew the votive feats of virginis votiva festa hanc diem praeclaram the most holy virgin; revering this recolamus; omnes concinamus. glorious day let us all sing together. 3. Proferat haec contio 4. Concrepet organicis Let this congregation utter praise, laudem, et devotio modulis et canticis and let its devotion be sincere; sit sincera, laude digna. let it make noise together with instrumental melodies and songs in worthy praise. 5. Hanc fuisse filiam 6. Annis puerilibus Written texts hand it down that Costi regis unicam sophisticis artibus she was the only daughter of tradunt scripta. fuit clara. King Costus; in her childhood years she was renowned in the arts of intellectual display. 7. Turbam philosophicam vicit 8. Hinc regina credidit, She defeated the massed et rhetoricam deos vanos respuit philosophers and rhetoricians disputando. venerari. in disputation; as a result the queen believed, she refused to worship the false gods. 9. Fit poenalis machina 10. Mox privatur capite, A device for punishment is pereunt ac milia, assunt turbae caelicae, contrived; alas, thousands perish dum rotantur, agmina sepelitur debite while the hordes of heathens are paganorum. Monte Sina. turned round; thereafter she is beheaded; the heavenly hosts are present, she is buried duly on Mt. Sinai. 11. Ora pro populo, 12. Astantem populum Pray for the laity, pray for the precare pro clero, laudentem te clerum clergy. martyr of Christ, martyr Christi, Katharina, fove, rege per saecula. Catherine. Nurture and govern through the ages the laity standing by, the clergy praising thee. Table 2: Sequence, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, text and translation 38

No one has been able to identify the specific version of the chant that Isaac used, which, were it known, might help establish the institution for which he composed the setting; nor is there specific information about the commission, beyond Just’s hypothesis of a connection between the composer and scribe Y 38

The version of the text given in Table 2 is from Liturgische Prosen zweiter Epoche auf Feste der Heiligen, ed. Clemens Blume, Analecta hymnica medii aevi 55 (Leipzig, 1922), no. 203, which uses classical spellings, e.g. ‘Sanctissimae’, while CANTUS INDEX and Isaac have ‘Sanctissime’, etc.

42

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Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

of the Berlin choirbook.39 Faute de mieux, scholars have generally used the 1511 Passau gradual as a stand-in for Isaac’s source, despite clear differences in the text.40 Theodore Karp came to believe, from his searches for the Choralis Cons­ tantinus melodies, that Isaac was likely working from memory.41 At the outset, Isaac decided on a four-voice setting of the even-numbered strophes. One voice would present a paraphrase of the chant, and the other voices would be composed around it. This basic decision could well be related to the actual commission: this was the sort of setting that was wanted.42 He chose the cleffing C1C3C4F3; his use of this particular constellation – A (plagal range), T, T (both authentic), B (plagal) – could help to situate the piece within his entire œuvre of four-voice chant paraphrase settings, possibly tying it to a particular institution or to a particular time in his career; it is curious that this setting never reached print.43 Isaac placed the chant, an F melody in an authentic range with a plagal extension at the end, mostly in the discantus. In strophe 10, where the melody extended beyond the range he had assigned to the discantus, he transposed it down an octave and placed it in the tenor. Curiously, he added a signum con­ gruentiae in the bassus (fol. 256 r, stave 11, not found in the other sources of the sequence) to mark the return of the chant paraphrase to the discantus: was this a note to himself or possibly to a singer trying out the music? 39

See above. Isaac’s setting of the sequence is included as no. 36 in Burn’s 2003 listing of Isaac mass proper settings that are not part of the Choralis Constantinus; see David J. Burn, ‘Mass-Propers by Henricus Isaac not included in the “Choralis Constantinus”: Two Augsburg Sources’, in AfMw 60 (2003), 186–220. It appears, without attribution, in two other sources: D-Dl Mus. 1/D/506 and D-Ju MS 33. 40 The Graduale Pataviense (Vienna: Johannes Winterburger, 1511) (VD16 G 2728), fol. 257, exchanges strophes 3 and 4, and reads ‘truncatur’ for Isaac’s ‘privatur’. The following specific readings in Isaac’s text may help to identify the version of the chant he used ­(bolded in Table 3): hanc diem, puerilibus, sophisticis artibus (in this order), privatur, vertice. 41 Burn, ‘Vom Choral’ (see n. 32), 109, cites the following: Theodore Karp, ‘Some Chant Models for Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus’, in Beyond the Moon: Festschrift Luther ­Dittmer, ed. Bryan Gilligham und Paul Merkley (Ottawa, 1990), 322–49; id., ‘The Chant Background to Isaac’s “Choralis Constantinus”’, in International Musicological Society Study Group Cantus Planus: Papers Read at the 7th Meeting, Sopron, Hungary, 1995, ed. László Dobszay (Budapest, 1998), 337–41. For a late printed German source that contains the sequence, the 1583 Gra­ duale Herbipolense, see id., ‘Some Notkerian Sequences in Germanic Print Culture in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries’, in Western Plainchant in the First Millennium: Studies in the Medieval Liturgy and Its Music, ed. Sean ­Gallagher et al. (Aldershot, 2003), 399–428. 42 Thus, in this instance Isaac used just one of the three techniques that Cumming described in her 2011 article. 43 Burn, ‘Vom Choral’, 112 , describes Isaac’s typical procedure as the inner voices being an octave below the top voice.

43

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Jessie Ann Owens

Segmenting the chant into phrases was quite straightforward. Each line of the sequence text has a melodic phrase that is identified by capital letters in Table 3 and Example 2. The corresponding phrases in the polyphonic setting are identified by numbers. CHANT

POLYPHONIC SETTING

Sequence text (even strophes, as set by Isaac, distinctive readings in the Berlin manuscript in bold)

Chant melody (repetitions indicated by letters)

Section

Phrase

Cadence (chant and polyphony)

Venerantes hanc diem praeclaram omnes concinamus.

A B (B1, B2) A

1

1 2 3

F C F

Concrepet organicis modulis et canticis laude digna.

C D A

2

4 5 6

A A F

Annis puerilibus sophisticis artibus fuit clara.

E C A

3

7 8 9

F A F

Hinc regina credidit, deos vanos respuit venerari.

F G H (~A)

4

10 11 12

A A F

Mox privatur capite assunt turbe celice sepelitur vertice monte Sina.

I J G H (~A)

5

13 14 15 16

C A A F

Astantem populum laudentem te clerum fove rege per secula.

K K L (L1, L2, L3)

6 (two versions)

17 18 19

F F F

Table 3: Sequence as set by Isaac, phrase structure

Isaac’s decisions about turning unmeasured monophony into mensural poly­ phony conform to a well-established convention, described by Burn, Pfisterer and others: longer notes (semibreves and sometimes breves) at the openings of phrases, shorter notes in the approach to the cadence at the end of every phrase. He seems to have stayed very close to the version of the chant found in Passau, particularly at the beginning of each phrase, and then becoming freer towards the cadence. Without knowing the melody he used, however, we have no way of knowing what changes he might have made for the demands of polyphony. 44

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 44

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œ

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

B

œ

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 45

-

tes

-

-

-

ni - cis

œ œ œ œ œ

ga

An - nis

7

pu - e - ri

li - bus

& b  w  w w ˙ . œ ˙ w w ˙ ›

E

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ

Con - cre - pet or

4

& b w  w ˙ . œ ˙ œ œ w ˙ w

C

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Ve - ne - ran



œ œ œ œ

-

o

cis

-

œ

 so - phi

w 

8

-

sti - cis

w 

ar - ti

-

bus

˙ w w ˙ w

can - ti

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ C

mod - u - lis et

5

w w w  w ˙ . œ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ 

D

œ œœ œ

hanc di-em prae-cla-ram



-

ci

na

de

di

w. ˙ 

-

-

œ

mus

œ

gna

œ

œ

w ˙ œ œ w ˙ 

-

fu - it

9

cla

-

ra

˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ . œ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙  ˙ 

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

-

w  

6

lau

A



œ

 w w ˙ ˙ . œ œ œ ˙ w w ˙ 

con

3



œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ A

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ A

mnes

2a 1 2b & b    ˙ . œ ˙ . œ w ˙ w w ˙   w w w w w w  w  ˙ w ˙ w

A

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

Ex. 2: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, chant and chant paraphrase

45

21.10.19 10:01

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 46

œ œ

-

œ œ œ œ

K

-

œ

ca -

-

lum

pi - te

di



A - stan-tem po

17

pu

dit

 de - os

11

œ

li

œ

-

-

ce

cle

re

œ 

se - pe - lit

15

rum

spu - it

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

-

-

œ



œ

ve

12

tur

ver - ti

ce

ne

te

-

fo - ve

19

U

re - ge

› › ›  

L

per se - cu

› › 

œ œ

ra

ri

œ

si - na

œ 16

-

-

la

w. ˙ ˙ ˙ w. ˙ ›

w 

œ

ww˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ . œ ˙ œ œ w  ˙ ˙

œœœ H

mon



-

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

-

-

œ

› w w. ˙ w  . ˙ › w  

œ œ œ œ œ œ

H

w  w w  ˙ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙ w .

œœ

G

œ wwww˙ œ w˙ w

18

lau-dan-tem te



-

œ œ œ œ

K

as-sunt tur - be ce

14

wwwww˙ w˙ ›

J



va - nos

œ

˙. œ ˙ w w ˙ 3 ›

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

w  w w 

œ œ G

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

-

& b w w w w ˙ œ œ w ˙ ›

&b

Mox pri - va - tur

13 ˙. œ ˙ w › ˙ b & www

I

œ

re - gi - na cre

w w w w ˙ w ˙ ›

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ &b œ œ œ

Hinc

10

& b 

&b œ

F

Jessie Ann Owens

46

21.10.19 10:01

Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

As Table 3 makes clear, the melody of Sanctissime virginis votiva festa is highly repetitive. Not only does phrase A recur four times, but both iterations of phrase H also end like phrase A. Isaac responds to the appogiatura-like figure before so many of the cadences with a seemingly deliberate placement of an accented syllable towards the end of each line (e.g. phrase F) or of the final syllable on the upper neighbor (e.g. phrase A).44 In the Berlin autograph, we find only a few traces of the stages Isaac worked through to go from chant to paraphrase. The inner opening of the bifolio (fols. 255v –256 r ) is written in a somewhat unusual version of choirbook format (altus and tenor on the left, discantus and bassus on the right).45 It appears from the layout of the voices on the bifolio that Isaac worked section by section. The discantus, as the chant-bearing voice for all but two phrases, was the point of departure; each section is visually distinct in the autograph, occupying a single stave, and it is at least possible that he composed the entire discantus before writing the other voices (see Figure 7). The lower voices, in contrast, often needed more space, and were allowed to spill over to the following stave (see, for example, the altus, in Figure 8). Whatever his order of work for the discantus, he clearly needed to finish all the lower voices in a given section before moving on to the next one. The absence in the discantus of the kinds of corrections made during the course of writing found in the other voices may also indicate that the music for this part could have been complete in his mind before putting pen to paper. Or perhaps he was composing as he wrote, or had sketched a version elsewhere. It is striking that the only two changes in the discantus are both revisions: altering the opening sonorities of phrase 10 and changing the duration of a cadential note in phrase 15, both presumably made after the composition was complete.46

44 45 46

The use either of minor color or of a ligature makes the placement of critical syllables quite clear. See, for example, in Section 6 the use of minor color for ‘-pu-’ and ‘cle-’. Normally discantus and bassus would be on the left, altus and tenor on the right. I can discern no musical explanation for the layout in the Berlin bifolio. I distinguish between correction, typically made during the phase of writing down the music, usually by crossing material out, and revision, typically made after the entire piece was written down, usually by overwriting. See Owens, Composers at Work, 267–71, for a detailed account of the two kinds of changes in the Berlin bifolio. I should note that I worked with the manuscript in person in the late 1980s, and then relied on black and white photographs. The digital images now make it easier to assess ink color, and may also reveal a few additional changes; another close look at the source, with the digital images at hand, would be a good idea.

47

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Jessie Ann Owens

1 2 3 4 5 Fig. 7: D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 256 r, discantus (with the kind permission of the Staats­ bibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv)

1 2 3 4 5

Fig. 8: D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 255v, altus, annotated (with the kind permission of the Staats­ bibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv)

48

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Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

2.2 An Erasable Tablet? Isaac composed two versions for Section 6, the first fully texted, the second only with incipts. We don’t know why he composed the second version. The other two sources of the sequence have only the first version; perhaps the second was not considered worth saving. The fortuitous preservation of a second version offers insight into Isaac’s compositional decisions and possibly into how the piece was made. This instance of ‘recomposition’ – two complete versions of the same composition – lets us try to discern his compositional priorities, his first and second thoughts, to invoke the title of Milsom’s classic study of Tallis.47 The two versions use the same discantus (the first version is two measures longer than the second because of a cadential extension). It consists of phrase K (‘Astantem populum’), repeated with new words (‘laudentem te clerum’), followed by the longer phrase L (‘fove, rege per saecula.’), as shown in Example 2. The nature of his source – a chant with two iterations of K – could have led Isaac to a simple repetition, but his setting of the two phrases based on K shows subtle variation, both within and between the two versions.48 The first version begins with all the voices except the discantus entering on the downbeat, with light decoration in the altus; the phrase essentially consists of parallel thirds, with a slight tease of fuga (see Example 3). The second version begins with just two voices; the delayed tenor entrance briefly mirrors the discantus down a fifth, for just two notes, but then pairs with the bassus in a four-note fuga up a fourth. From the very first sounds, the first version is essentially homophonic, with light ornamentation by the altus, while the second is polyphonic and imitative, with entrances on three successive beats. The cadential phrases for the two statements of K, despite sharing the same melody and cadence goals, also differ in small details. In the first version, the first cadence has a full F triad, and the second is open. In the second version, Isaac constructed the first cadence from just two voices, which allows the other two voices to emphasize their entrance. When the cadence is repeated, it uses the open cadence in all four voices that he had used in the first version.

47 48

John Milsom, ‘Tallis’s First and Second Thoughts’, in JRMA 113 (1988), 203–22. Indeed, his use of repetition was considered a flaw. Paolo Cortesi, De cardinalatu libri tres (1510): ‘But, although he is the one who excels among many, nevertheless we know that it happens to be blamed on him that he uses in this genre catachresis [literally, improper use of words] and repetition of modes more liberally than the most the ear can take without sensing annoyance because of uniformity in what it listens.’ Wegman, ‘Isaac’s Signature’ (see n. 11), 22, and Owens, Composers at Work (see n. 1), 273. ‘Repetition of modes’ (‘modorumque iteratione’) likely refers to modes in the sense of musical gestures.

49

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 49

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I

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 50

C

C

C

C

II

C

C

C

C

A

A

A

A

A

stan

stan

A

stan

stan

stan

A

tem

A

tem

stan

tem

tem

tem

stan

stan

tem

po

po

tem

po

tem

po

pu

pu

po

pu

pu

pu

lum,

lum,

lum,

lum,

lum,

lau

lau

lau

lau

dan

dan

dan

lau

dan

tem

tem

tem

dan

tem

te

te

tem

te

te

te

cle

cle

cle

cle

cle

rum

rum

rum

rum

rum

Jessie Ann Owens

Ex. 3: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, section 6, version 1 and version 2 (aligned)

50

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Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

We catch a glimpse of his work on these two versions from the final page of the Berlin bifolio (fol. 256 v), shown in Figure 9. The layout is quite unusual: the discantus, the voice with the chant paraphrase, was written out just once, on the top stave, and then two different settings were written out underneath, with the voices in the order bassus-altus-tenor in version 1 and tenor-bassus-­ altus in version 2. Isaac had just one page to work with and so choirbook layout was not possible. There is no good name for this layout – I have called it ‘quasi-score’ or ‘pseudo-score’ because the parts are positioned one over another but unlike score there is no alignment or barlines. Perhaps a better term would be ‘stacked parts’. In any event it is clearly a version of a format in separate parts.49 The differing order of the lower voices in the two versions may reflect both musical structure and order of composition. In the first version, the format, which allowed for just one stave per part, caused a problem: Isaac needed extra space for the ending of the bassus and then for the altus. Rather than waste stave space by starting a new stave for each voice, he wrote out the final notes of the bassus on stave 5, and then added the end of altus on the same stave. That placement indicates that he wrote out (and presumably composed) the bassus before the altus. The placement of the bassus on the stave directly below the discantus also gives a strong indication of its importance, suggesting that it was conceived as a structural duo with the discantus (see Example 4). Given this structure, it is no accident that the bassus directly follows the discantus on fol. 256 v. To be sure, the tenor, though the last voice to be written, also played an important role, pairing with the discantus to make most of the standard 7-6-8 cadences in the piece. In the second version, shown in Example 5, the bassus and discantus have the same frame as in version 1 for five sonorities, but now the tenor is in fuga with the bassus, and comes directly below the discantus on fol. 256 v; the altus, as the filler voice, was presumably the last to be composed. It is thus no surprise that the three lower voices are written in the order tenor-bassus-altus.

49

John Milsom recently discovered a full draft of a motet by Flemish composer Derrick Gerarde written on a single large sheet (only two of the four quadrants survive); the draft, for the most part untexted and with revisions, employed stacked parts (two staves per part). The title of his study, ‘Notes from an Erasable Tablet’, in Recevez ce mien petit labeur: Studies in Renaissance Music in Honour of Ignace Bossuyt, ed. Mark Delaere and Pieter Bergé (Leuven, 2008), 195–225, indicates his belief that the draft was copied from a tablet or cartella, a written stage before entering the music into partbooks. I wonder whether the surviving draft could be similar in appearance to what was written on a cartella: the surviving sheet could be a kind of cartella using paper rather than an erasable surface.

51

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Jessie Ann Owens

D B A T

B

A

T B A

Fig. 9: D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 256 v, annotated (with the kind permission of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv)

52

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Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs 4a Version 1 4a Version 1 D D

B B 5

3

8

3

8

3

3

3

8

5 3 8 3 8 3 3 3 8 Ex. 4: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, section 6, version 1, opening, structural voices

Version 2 Version 2 D D

T T

B B 5 5

3 3

8 8

3 3

6 6

8 8

6 6

6 6

6 6

Ex. 5: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, section 6, version 2, opening, structural voices

4b

1 from the German pedagogue Auctor Lampadius that Isaac used an We4bVersion know Version 1 erasable tablet (tabula compositoria, also known as cartella) for composition.50 No D D tablets used by composers have survived and so the format of the music written v on B them is unknown. Could the final page of the Berlin bifolio (fol. 256 ) posBsibly offer a glimpse of what Isaac wrote on his tablet? The chant paraphrase on 3 5 3 5 3 3 3 5 3 the top3 stave, and5two polyphonic settings composed3 to the same chant, with the Version lower2 voices entered in the order of structural importance? Version 2

2.3 Making Fuga As he worked, section by section, phrase by phrase, Isaac had choices to make about how he would compose polyphony against the rhythmicized and para­ T Tphrased chant. His treatment of the chant in Sanctissime virginis votiva festa is simpler than that in the two pieces discussed by Cumming.51 Table 4, which is B based on the format employed in her charts, shows that he used just three main B 3 5 8 3 8 techniques for setting the chant: 1) two-voice fuga at the fourth33 above or the 3 5 8 3 8 octave below; 2) a string of sixths or thirds; or 3) free counterpoint supporting the chant-paraphrase line. There are also brief instances of imitation involving non-chant material, including the fuga in the second version of Section 6, and one clear-cut ostinato-like repetition of a motive.

D D

50 Owens, Composers at Work, chapter 5, and 103. 51 Cumming, ‘Composing Imitative Counterpoint’ (see n. 28).

53

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MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 54

fuga+4

A

B

cad F

cad F

Annis puerilibus

par

fuga+4

D

A

T

E

sophisticis artibus

fuga+4

par

C

cad A

cad A

modulis et canticis

Concrepet organicis

Section 3

cad F

tacet (3vv)

fuga-8

+B

cad F

6ths

B

par

D

omnes

fuga+4

par

B2

T

cad F

hanc diem praeclaram

~mod

~mod

fuga+4

par

B1

cad F

par

D

cad F

cad F

A

C

Section 2

B

Venerantes

par

D

T

A

Section 1

Table 4: Contrapuntal procedures in Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa

fuit clara

6th

par

A

laude digna

+ostinato

par

A

cad G

cad G

cad F

cad F

cad F

cad F

cad C

cad C

A

concinamus

fuga+4

par cad F

cad F

Jessie Ann Owens

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I

tacet

D

~mod

T

Laudentem te clerum

Gambit 1 → open F/C

Astantem populum

Gambit 1 → triad

~mod

fuga+4

A

cad F

K

cad F

par

par

Section 6/1 K

D

B

par

cad F

cad F

assunt turbe celice

cad F 3vv

cad C

cad C

tacet

J

6ths, 3rds

par

Mox privatur capite

+B

B

cad F

deos vanos respuit

cad C

cad C

G

3vv, imit A T

par

T

A

cad A

Imit link T+B

Section 5

B

T

cad A

Hinc regina credidit

par

D

A

F

Section 4

cad A

cad A

fuga+4

par

par

L2

long-note/chordal

[-cu-]la

par

L3

sepelitur vertice

fuga-8

par

G

triple

venerari

3rds

par

fove rege per saecu-

par

L1

cad A

cad A

cad A

cad A

H

cad F

cad F

free ctpt

Monte Sina

par

H

cad F

cad F

cad F

cad F

Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

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cad F

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laudentem te clerum

Gambit 2 → open F/C

Astantem populum

Gambit 2 → F 8ve

cad F

cad F

par

L2

long-note/chordal

fove rege per secu-

par

L1

[-cu-]la

par

L3

cad F

cad F

Key: A, B, C, etc. refers to phrases of the chant melody, shown in Example 2 and Table 3; cad F = cadence on F; par = paraphrase; D, A, T, B = voices in polyphonic setting; mod = module; imit = imitation. This chart is based on Cumming, ‘Imitation’.

fuga

fuga

B

fuga+4

fuga+4

T

cad F

par

par

D

A

K

Section 6/2 K

Jessie Ann Owens

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The most noteworthy feature is his use of fuga. We learn from Pfisterer’s investigation of Isaac’s imitation techniques, as well as from the recent work on stretto fuga cited earlier, that the decision about how to handle a given opening depended on the melody: what intervals were employed and whether the motion ascended or descended. Specific contours allowed certain kinds of imitation but not others. To write a stretto fuga, for example, one in which the second voice entered on the successive temporal unit, at the fourth above, required a melody with the correct intervals: descending third or fifth, ascending second or fourth, and only one descending second. Example 6 shows Section 1 of Isaac’s setting of the sequence. Each phrase begins with a fuga between altus and cantus, but only the first and fourth can be stretto. The opening contour for phrase A fits the requirements for stretto fuga (up a second, down a second, up a second, up a second); the string of dotted descending seconds might appear to violate the rule, but they can be read as descending thirds on metrically strong positions (see the reduction in Example 7).52 The second phrase, with an ascending third and three descending seconds, could not work as a stretto fuga and needed entrances two temporal units apart, Pfisterer’s ‘mittlerer Imitation’.53 It would not be hard to deduce which of the contrapuntal possibilities Isaac was likely to choose just by looking carefully at the chant. Of course, writing a good, two-voice fuga is only part of the task, and perhaps the easiest, given the formulaic nature: four-voice polyphony requires working in the other two voices in good counterpoint. It is especially with these voices that the autograph offers a glimpse of Isaac’s working methods and reveals the likely order of composition. Consider once again the four voice fuga of Section 1, given in Example 6. Figure 10 shows the four voices for this section taken from the Berlin bifolio and rearranged from their position on fols. 255v –256 r as stacked parts, in the manner of the layout that Isaac used on fol. 256 v, possibly the format of his erasable tablet. The location of corrections and revisions, circled on Figure 10, is telling. The absence of changes in the discantus or altus, the two parts in fuga, is striking, especially in contrast to the tenor and bassus. Does this mean that he had worked out the fuga elsewhere? Or was it so elementary that he could do it in his sleep: the writing seems very fluent. 52 53

Peter Schubert, ‘From improvisation to composition: three 16th century case studies’, in Improvising Early Music, ed. Dirk Moelants (Leuven, 2014), 93–130, at 115–17. Pfisterer, ‘Imitationstechniken bei Isaac’ (see n. 30), 90 and passim. Milsom, ‘Henricus Tik’ (see n. 25), 111, expands the analytical methodology for dealing with fuga: he ‘focusses on the temporal distance separating the voices, and […] advocates use of the concept of “units” to calculate and define that distance with precision’.

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Jessie Ann Owens A

C Ve

ne

ran

tes

C Ve

ne

ran

tes

C Ve

ne

ran

tes

Ve

ne

ran

tes

C

B1

8

B2

hanc

di

hanc

em

di

em

prae

prae

cla

ram

di

hanc

hanc

di

cla

ram

nes

nes

om

em prae

em prae

om

cla

cla

om

ram

ram

om

nes

nes

A

16

con

ci

con

ci

na

mus

nes

con

mus

na

con

ci

ci

na

mus

na

mus

Ex. 6: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, section 1

D

° b & w

A

¢&

b

w

w w +2

w w

-2

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

+2

+2

+2

-3

w

w

w

-3

Ex. 7: Isaac, Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa, phrase 1, reduction, stretto fuga

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Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs

D

A

T

B Fig. 10: D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fols. 255v –256 r, section 1, voices arranged as stacked parts (with the kind permission of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz ­Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv)

Figure 11 shows the altus part for Sections 1 through 5. There are no corrections or revisions when the altus is in fuga with the discantus (boxed); they come instead at 1) the cadence in a phrase in parallel sixths; 2) a cadence in a phrase where the tenor is in fuga, not the altus; 3) after the end of the fuga when discantus and tenor were busy making a cadence; 4) the opening sonority in a passage in free counterpoint; and 5) the cadence in a passage in parallel thirds. In other words, the need for correction and revision seems to happen only when the altus is not playing a structural role and is the third or fourth voice to be worked out. The patterns of correction reflect the changing and fluid roles of the voices in Isaac’s several contrapuntal strategies and suggest the last voices to be composed posed the most challenges.54

54

Or, as an anonymous reviewer suggested, there was more opportunity for pentimenti in the non-structural voices.

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1

4a Version 1

2

D

3

B 5

3

8

3

8

3

3

4

3

8

5

Version 2 D

T

B

Fig. 11: D-B Mus. ms. 40021, fol. 255v, altus, annotated (with the kind permission of the Staats5 3 8 3 6 8 6 6 bibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit6 Mendelssohn-Archiv)

4b Version 1 D

B 3

5

3

5

3

5

8

3

8

3

Version 2 D

T

B 3

3

Ex. 8: Isaac, Sanctissime virginis votiva festa, phrase 6, chordal frame

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2.4 Isaac the Reader Swiss theorist Heinrich Glarean described Isaac’s style and his particular affinity for the materials of the chants that he so often took as his point of departure: The German Henrichus Isaac follows very justly the aforementioned composers in both art and talent. He also is said to have composed innumerable compositions, learnedly and prolifically. He embellished church song especially; namely, he had seen a majesty and natural strength in it which surpassed by far the themes invented in our time. Somewhat rough in phrasis, he was not so anxious to do something in the customary way as to bring forth the compositions which had been elaborated. It also gave him pleasure to show his versatility especially in tones remaining unchanged in any one voice, but with the other voices running about and clamoring around everywhere, just as waves moved by the wind are accustomed to play about a rock in the sea; it is well known that Obrecht also did this, although in a certain other way.55

Burn has aptly described Isaac’s procedure as not merely ‘Choralvertonungen’ but as ‘Choralinterpretationen’.56 The fluidity and fluency of Isaac’s response to chant shows him reading both text and music, not as a simple translation but rather as an expression of their distinctive features. Thus, for example, the dramatic climax of the sequence is the invocation ‘fove rege per saecula’, a plea to the saint to ‘nurture and govern’ the clergy and laity. This comes at the end of Section 6, the final section. His unit of work in this section consists of seven brief distinct segments, marked on Example 2. Phrase K (‘Astantem populum’) has an opening of just two breves, followed by a cadence in three; it is then repeated with the text ‘laudantem te clerum’. Phrase L (‘fove rege per saecula’) is in three subsections: six breves leading to a fermata, four more breves, and then the cadential phrase. Isaac chose to employ long notes (breves) and a homophonic texture for the only time in his setting at these crucial words (see the chordal frame in Example 8). This compositional decision is triggered not by particular features of the music but rather by the rhetoric of the sequence as a whole. After a series of imitative passages moving

55 56

Wegman, ‘Isaac’s Signature’ (see n. 11), 22–3; also discussed in Owens, Composers at Work (see n. 1), 258–9. Burn, ‘Vom Choral’ (see n. 32), 116: ‘Seine Choralvertonungen sind daher nicht nur beliebige polyphone Wiedergaben von Choralmelodien; vielmehr zeigen sich in ihnen Choral­interpretationen – Ausdeutungen, die von den besonderen Charakteristika jedes einzelnen Chorals, den Isaac vertonte, abhängig waren und die die analytische und rhetorische Durchdringung der Vorlagen durch den Komponisten belegen. Das Lob also, das Glarean aussprach, als er Isaac aufgrund seiner außergewöhnlichen Bearbeitung von Kirchengesang besonders heraushob, war somit sicherlich mehr als angebracht.’

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Jessie Ann Owens

primarily in semibreves and smaller note values, this homophonic passage in breves at the end of the setting must have been striking indeed. We can see that Isaac also works at a microscopic level in parsing individual lines of text and melody. There is a formulaic quality about his paraphrase procedure: opening gesture, often in fuga, followed by a cadence between two voices, often but not always between discantus and tenor. Isaac also seems to be navigating the repetitions in the melody, steering a course between repetition and variety, and keeping an eye on the overall shape. After the extensive use of fuga in the first three sections (seven of the first ten phrases), he stopped doing the expected and instead turned to a freer treatment. As a consequence, the various iterations of phrase A are set using a range of contrapuntal techniques, shown above in Table 4. No doubt these decisions stem from his reading of the text, both as a whole and as individual words and phrases. Of course, the possibilities afforded by the melodic contours and gestures are just as important in determing the musical response, for example, in the construction of fuga. To quote Glarean once more, Isaac was responding to the ‘majesty and natural strength’ of the melodies, as well as to the rhetoric of the words. This is where craft intersects with artistry and with belief. ***

This investigation reveals the benefits of evidence drawn from the autograph – for example, the patterns of corrections or the disposition of the voices in the available space – for understanding Isaac’s methods. At times they corroborate the structures evident in the music but they also offer insights that the notes alone do not. Reading out from the finished version provides another set of clues that allow inferences about process. In the end, however, even these two different kinds of evidence leave us with many unanswered questions about Isaac’s methods. How did he decide on the disposition of voices evident in the cleffing? Why did he employ fuga for particular phrases? Did he in fact begin each phrase with the structural voices? What process did he use for revision? Did he ask singers to read through the piece or was he able to hear the music in his mind and make changes even though it was written in separate parts? Was there an earlier written stage on a cartella, possibly in stacked parts? Perhaps the most fundamental problem is to untangle strands of imagination (what was in his mind), writing and performing/hearing. As we have seen, there is ample evidence for an additive process in writing: what we can’t know is the degree to which the music existed in his mind before and during writing, nor how he was able to revise music that existed in written form in separate parts. In his recent book Music as Creative Practice, Nicholas Cook offered a 62

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summary of the main ideas in Composers at Work. He concluded, ‘In short, the culture of compositional imagination as we think of it today, based on scores conceived as pictures in sound, did not exist. Music existed on paper and in performance rather than in the head.’57 In other words, if I understand him correctly, the absence of scores used for composing and as a conceptual framework – ‘pictures in sound’ – meant that composers lacked the means of imagining the sound of their work. I do not agree. The additive nature of composing – outward from structural voices, section by section – need not be different from the methods of later composers: we just need to imagine that composers before 1600 possessed a set of mental processes and practices honed by training in ex tempore counterpoint and involving a memorial archive of the building blocks of polyphony and probably also different skills in reading from ours. Clearly Isaac’s autograph provides only a fraction of the evidence we would hope to have. Given the dearth of composer autographs, the most promising avenues will continue to be both the kind of analysis that seeks to understand how a composition was made and a better understanding of pedagogy and other practices shared by musicians.

57 Cook, Music as Creative Practice, 75–81, at 81. My thanks to John Milsom for drawing my

attention to Cook’s book.

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord *

A RECENTLY DISCOVERED SOURCE FOR HENRICUS ISAAC’S MASS PROPERS: TRANSMISSION AND SCRIBAL INITIATIVE IN BRNO, CITY ARCHIVE, MS 14/5

I. Two new sixteenth-century choirbooks in Brno The November 2012 issue of Early Music contained an article by Martin ­Horyna and Vladimír Maňas that presented a spectacular source-discovery: not just one, but two large, mid sixteenth-century choirbooks that had surfaced in the City Archives in Brno (CZ-Bam 15/4, CZ-Bam 14/5).1 The find is of immense significance, both for its enrichment of sixteenth-century repertory with a staggering number of new works, as well as for the new light that it sheds on the transmission, circulation, and reception of known pieces. The present article contributes to understanding this latter aspect of the choirbooks. In doing so, it aims to clarify the choirbooks’ relationships to known sources, and also to stimulate new research on them.2 *

1

2

The authors would like to thank Michael Meyer and Stefan Gasch for allowing this article to appear in both of their respective collections arising from the quincentenary of Henricus Isaac’s death. The present study was made in preparation of a new edition of Isaac’s mass propers. Martin Horyna and Vladimír Maňas, ‘Two Mid-16th-Century Manuscripts of Poly­ phonic Music from Brno’, in EM 40 (2012), 553–75. The books were catalogued in S­ tanislav Petr, Soupis rukopisů knihovny při farním kostele svatého Jakuba v Brně (Prague, 2007), 123–4; Horyna and Maňas were the first to realize their music-historical significance. The choirbooks have yet to be the object of concentrated attention. A number of studies of parts of the Brno repertoire have been produced by students under Maňas’s guidance: Radek Poláček, ‘Brněnský rukopis Liber Missarum z roku 1550 a v něm obsažené mše Wolfganga Gräfingera’ (bachelor’s thesis, 2009; online at (accessed 30 October 2018)); id., ‘Mše Heinricha Fincka a Thomase Stolzera z brněnského rukopisu’ (master’s thesis, 2011; online at (accessed 30 October 2018)). Đorđe Miljković, ‘“Missa Matthei Parthenii” a její paleografická a transkripční problematika’ (bachelor’s thesis, 2011; online at

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

Horyna and Maňas’s article presented a first description and contents list for the two sources, along with some tentative historical conclusions that can be summarized as follows. Both books found their way into the City Archives as part of the collection of the church of St James the Greater (kostel svatého Jakuba Staršího). This was the church of the German-speaking Lutheran community in Brno. It is not completely clear whether the books were made specifically for the church, or arrived there at some later point. On the basis of a scribal concordance with one of the chant books from St James, Horyna and Maňas argue that they were made for the church, or, at least, locally produced and intended as gifts for it.3 Whatever the case, the contents of the books, along with material aspects such as their bindings, make it clear that they were not only used in a Lutheran milieu, but also originated in that context.4 CZ-Bam 15/4 bears the date ‘1550’. While its companion, CZ-Bam 14/5 is undated, an apparently identical main scribe suggests that it originated at a similar time.5 A refinement of this conclusion will be offered below, as placing the book in the context of its transmission network has consequences for its dating. The two choirbooks differ significantly from each other in their contents.6 CZ-Bam 15/4, a substantial volume of 311 folios, contains twenty-eight works:

3 4

5 6

(accessed 30 October 2018)); Hana Studeničová, ‘Antoine a Robert de Fevin: jejich mše v brněnském rukopise BAM1’ (master’s thesis, 2015; online at (accessed 30 October 2018)). An earlier article of one of the present authors also deals with a piece in one of the choirbooks: David J. Burn, ‘New Light on Conrad Rein’s Missa super Kyrie paschale’, in AfMw 71 (2014), 146–64. See, in addition: Eugeen Schreurs, ‘Noel Bauldeweyn – Magister Cantorum in Mechelen and Antwerp (?): Some Reflections Arising from a “Brumel” Mass in Brno’, in TVNM 65 (2015), 107–23; and Wolfgang Fuhrmann, ‘Brumel’s Masses: Lost and Found’, in JAF 8 (2016), 11–32. Horyna/Maňas, ‘Two Mid-16th Century Manuscripts’, 556–7. In this respect, the choirbooks can be usefully compared to the most important similar find preceding their appearance, the discovery of the choirbook CZ-Pn 59 R 5117. The most recent extended discussion remains David J. Burn, ‘Heinrich Isaac and his Recently Rediscovered Missa Presulem ephebeatum’, in ‘Recevez ce mien petit labeur’: Studies in Renaissance Music in Honour of Ignace Bossuyt, ed. Mark Delaere and Pieter Bergé (Leuven, 2008), 49–60. Horyna/Maňas, ‘Two Mid-16th Century Manuscripts’, 556. A full-scale scribal comparison would be welcome to substantiate or nuance this. Inventories of both books are given in ibid., 564–73. Some revision is now required. So far as CZ-Bam 15/4 is concerned: No. 12, Heinrich Finck’s Missa Te deum laudamus, has a concordance, without attribution and missing the discantus and tenor voices at the beginning, in D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 47, fols. 92–102; Nos. 19 and 20, the Missa super Benedicta es, either by Willaert or Hesdin, and the Missa In te domine speravi by Lupus Hellinck, are both widely known from concordances (usefully summarized under the relevant entries at (accessed 30 October 2018)); and concordances, attributed to Noel Bauldeweyn, have now been found for No. 22, the ‘Brumel’ Missa sex vocum (see Fuhrmann, ‘Brumel’s Masses’). Emendations to the inventory of CZ-Bam 14/5 are given in Table 1 below.

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twenty-six mass ordinary cycles, and two Credo settings. Pieces in the book include widely circulated settings by Josquin, Isaac, and their contemporaries, as well as the younger generation such as Adriaan Willaert and Cristóbal de Morales. Eight of the mass cycles and one of the Credos would appear to be unique. The other choirbook, CZ-Bam 14/5, runs to 210 folios in its current state, but must originally have been longer, as one or more gatherings are missing from the end. In addition to nine further mass ordinary cycles (of which three appear to be unique to the source), and a small number of miscellaneous individual items, the bulk of this manuscript comprises an extensive series of mass proper settings. A detailed inventory of CZ-Bam 14/5 is given in Table 1.7 It is this second book, and its mass propers in particular, that are the focus of the present article. In their article, Horyna and Maňas make an initial codicological assessment of the book.8 They observe that the section containing the propers forms a codicologically distinct layer within the manuscript: the paper is of a different type; the gatherings are organised almost entirely in quinternions, while the rest uses other structures; and the layout, including the number of staves per page, is different from the rest of the manuscript.9 The mass proper series is arranged in liturgical order, beginning with Easter, and provides music for twenty of the highest feasts throughout the church year. CZ-Bam 14/5 gives no composer attributions for this part of the manuscript, but concordances can be identified with the high feasts in the second volume of the posthumously published collection of Isaac’s mass propers known as the Choralis Constantinus.10 Most of the relevant cycles as they appear in the published Choralis consist of four movements: introit, alleluia, sequence, and communion (the cycle for Purification also contains a tract, to replace the alleluia if the feast falls in Lent, and the cycle for Easter contains a gradual). The versions preserved in CZ-Bam 14/5 consist almost always of cycles of just three movements: introit, alleluia, and sequence. Only in two instances – the two highest feasts of the year, Christmas and Easter – are communions also 7

This summary differs from Horyna and Maňas primarily through the identification of a number of additional concordances. 8 Horyna/Maňas, ‘Two Mid-16th Century Manuscripts’, 558–9, with gathering structure indicated in the inventory, at 568–73. 9 Ibid., 558. 10 The Choralis Constantinus was issued in three volumes by Hieronymus Formschneider in Nuremberg in 1550 and 1555 (RISM I 89, 90, and 91). All Choralis Constantinus references in Horyna and Maňas’s inventory are accidentally made to volume III instead of volume II. Literature on the Choralis is extensive. A useful recent starting point is offered in Heinrich Isaac and Polyphony for the Proper of the Mass in the Late Middle Ages and Renais­ sance, ed. David J. Burn and Stefan Gasch (Turnhout, 2011).

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Composer

Title

Movements

Concordances / Notes

[Responses] Unica 1 Cover–1r 2 2r –9r HF [Heinrich Finck] Fa ut K–G–C–S (no ‘Osanna’) Unicum 3 9v –17r [Brumel / La Rue] De beata virgine K–G–C–S–[A reuses music of S] 4 17v –20v Offitium De Martyribus K–G–S (no ‘Osanna’)–A x1 Unicum? Uses Aus tiefer Not as c.f. in top voice 5 21r –25r Anthonius Brumell Alombre dung Buissonet K–G–C–S–A x3 6 25v –35r Josquin [Missa Ad fugam] K–G–C–S–A 7 35v –38r [Isaac (introit only)] [Easter propers] Int.–All.–Seq. Int.: Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 6 Rest are unica? 8 38v –45r [Conrad Rein] Officium paschale K–G–S–A x1 Various concordances; see Burn, ‘New Light’ 9 45v –46r [Andreas de Silva] [Regina caeli] 10 46v –57r [Jacob Obrecht?] [Missa Sancti Ioannis] K–G–C–S (no Osanna)–A x1 I-Rvat Cap. Sis. 160 11 57v –59r [Wir glauben all / Et in unum dominum] 12 59v –69r P: Moulu Cum et sine Pausis K–G–C–S–A x3 Many concordances 13 69v –74r [Missa Paschalis] K–G–C–S–A x1 Unicum? 14 76v –77r [Conrad Rein] [Easter propers] Comm. RISM 15391 D-ERu 473/4 15 77v –87r [Heinrich Isaac] De Sancto Spiritu Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 8 16 87v –91r De Sancta Trinitate Int.–All.–Seq. Unicum? 17 91v –100r [Heinrich Isaac] De Corpore Christi Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 9 18 100v –107r [Heinrich Isaac] De S: Joanne Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 10 19 107v –112r [Heinrich Isaac] De S: Petro et Paulo Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 12 20 112v –121r [Heinrich Isaac] De Visitacione B: Virginis Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 13 21 121v –128r [Heinrich Isaac] De S: Maria Magdalena Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 14 22 128v –134r [Heinrich Isaac (Int.)] De Sancta Anna Int.–All.–Seq. Int.: Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 23 (Presentation) All. + Sequ.: PL-WRu 1 F 428; D-Dl 1/D/505

No. Folio

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23 134v –141r [Heinrich Isaac] De Assumptione B: Virginis Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 15 24 141v –148r [Heinrich Isaac] De Nativitate B: Marie Virginis Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 18 25 148v –157r [Heinrich Isaac] De sancta Cruce Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 20 26 157v –163r [Heinrich Isaac De dedicatione Templi Int.–All.–Seq. Int. + All.: Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 19 (Int. + All.)] Seq. unicum? 27 163v –169r [Heinrich Isaac] De Omnibus Sanctis Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 21 28 169v –176r [Heinrich Isaac] De divo Martino [et Nicolao] Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 22 29 176v –183r [Heinrich Isaac] De Conceptione Marie Viginis Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 25 30 183v –191r [Heinrich Isaac De Sancto Nicolao Int.–All.–Seq. Int.: Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 16 (Int. + All.)] (Geberhard) All.: Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 17 (Pelagius) Seq. = unicum? 31 191v –197r [Heinrich Isaac] De Nativitate Christi Int.–All.–Seq.–Comm. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 1 32 197v –204r [Heinrich Isaac] De Epiphania Domini Int.–All.–Seq. Choralis Constantinus II (1555): 3 33 204v –210v [Heinrich Isaac] De Purificatione Int.–All.–Seq.–Tr. (frag.) Choralis Constantinus II (1555): Int. + Tr.: Purif.: All. + Sequ.: Circumcis. Table 1: Contents of CZ-Bam 14/5

A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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found. As Isaac’s four-movement cycles are the originals, this difference must be accounted for as a deliberate decision somewhere in the transmission process to remove the bulk of the communions. Text-critical analysis – expounded more fully below – will show that it was the scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 that took this decision, presumably in response to the specific ritual habits of St James. A fragmentary, though presumably originally complete, tract, appears just before the manuscript breaks off. The possibility that the manuscript also originally contained additional cycles (and perhaps additional sections of music in other genres) cannot be ruled out. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the second volume of the Choralis Constantinus, at least, is very fully represented, such that the losses in that respect are relatively minor. It is possible that the manuscript as a whole represents only a part of the mass proper repertory available at St  James: old inventories suggest that CZ-Bam 14/5 had a now-lost companion choirbook that likely contained additional propers.11 If this was indeed the case, then this missing book most likely contained a temporale and/or a common of saints, as the high feast cycle is largely complete. While there is clearly much research still to do on these choirbooks, Horyna and Maňas’s article lays a firm foundation on which to build. We have no intention of taking issue with the majority of their findings. What does concern us is uncovering CZ-Bam 14/5’s relationship with known sources of Isaac’s mass propers. Horyna and Maňas turn to this issue just before the conclusion of their article, and present the following claim: The Mass Propers in Bam 2 [=CZ-Bam 14/5] have some concordances with settings from the second part of the posthumous edition of Isaac’s Mass Propers cycle, the Choralis Constantinus (Nuremberg, 1555). However, Bam 2 is not a copy of this printed version: the orthography suggests it most likely originated earlier and was based on different sources.12

No further arguments or evidence are offered in support of this claim, yet it is one that is remarkable, to say the least, in the context of the transmission of Isaac’s propers. To understand why this is so, some background information is needed on the transmission and surviving source materials relating to the Choralis Constantinus.

11 12

Horyna/Maňas, ‘Two Mid-16th Century Manuscripts’, 556. Ibid., 562–3.

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II. A background to the Choralis Constantinus The Choralis Constantinus is a monumental three-volume collection of Isaac’s mass propers (along with five chant-based mass ordinaries) published in Nuremberg more than thirty years after Isaac’s death by Hieronymus Formschneider in 1550 (volume 1) and 1555 (volumes 2 and 3).13 It was the first multivolume collection devoted to a single composer to issue from a German press, and contains some 400 individual musical items. Many puzzles surround the collection, including for whom and under what circumstances Isaac originally composed the music, how it was transmitted to the printing press so long after Isaac’s death, and what happened to the music along the way. While various answers have been proposed to these questions, much remains hypothetical, as the surviving source material with which to answer them is scattered and fragmentary. A new source may thus shed important new light on any or all of these issues, and either confirm or overturn existing theories. In the case of the Brno source and its concordances with the second volume of the Choralis Constantinus, there is more at stake, however, than just these general issues. It is commonly accepted that Isaac composed the Choralis propers for two separate institutions, the imperial court of Maximilian I, and the cathedral of Constance, and that the cycles for these two recipients were brought together in the Choralis print.14 Exactly which parts of the Choralis print originally belonged to which institution cannot definitively be determined, but it is generally agreed that the high feasts of the second volume of the Choralis were for Constance, whilst the temporale, common of saints, and ‘seorsum de sanctis’ contained in the first and third Choralis volumes were for the imperial court.15 13

14

15

The most recent comprehensive study of the background to the Choralis is David J. Burn, ‘The Mass-Proper Cycles of Henricus Isaac: Genesis, Transmission, and Authenticity’, 2 vols., DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 2002; consultable online at (accessed 30 October 2018) and (accessed 30 October 2018). This hypothesis was first proposed in Werner Heinz, ‘Isaacs und Senfls Propriums-Kompositionen der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München’, PhD thesis, Universität Berlin, 1952, and significantly expanded in Gerhard-Rudolf Pätzig, ‘Liturgische Grundlagen und handschriftliche Überlieferung von Heinrich Isaacs “Choralis Constantinus”’, PhD thesis, Universität Tübingen, 1956. Again first proposed in Heinz, ‘Isaacs und Senfls Propriums-Kompositionen’ and expanded by Pätzig, ‘Liturgische Grundlagen’. The conclusion was challenged most significantly in Martin Bente, Neue Wege der Quellenkritik und die Biographie Ludwig Senfls. Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte des Reformationszeitalters (Wiesbaden, 1968), but subsequently reaffirmed in David J. Burn, ‘What Did Isaac Write for Constance?’, in JM 20 (2003), 45–72. Most recently, this division was called again into question in David J. Rothenberg,

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Whatever the case, there is a striking difference in surviving pre-print manuscript sources for the three Choralis volumes. The presumably imperial parts are partially represented in older manuscripts – most notably a series of choirbooks from the Bavarian court chapel that preserve half of the first Choralis volume and the ‘seorsum de sanctis’ section of the third (D-Mbs Mus.mss. 26, 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39).16 On the other hand, for the Constance part – that is, the second Choralis volume – very little substantial survives in any source before the print, and the few extensive post-publication sources that are known are print copies (see Table 2).17 It is precisely this situation that makes Horyna and Maňas’s claim so provocative: given the rarity of other concordances, CZBam 14/5 opens an important window on the circulation of Isaac’s music, and if CZ-Bam 14/5 is independent of the print, then it would be a major new witness in the transmission of Isaac’s propers. Horyna and Maňas do not expand on their brief remarks cited above, and, as far as we know, have not subsequently returned to the issue. What follows accordingly attempts to subject this proposal for the first time to detailed text-critical scrutiny, and, in so doing, reach a grounded conclusion concerning the relationship between CZ-Bam 14/5 and the Choralis print.

16

17

‘Isaac’s Unfinished Imperial Cycle: A New Hypothesis’, in Burn/Gasch, Heinrich Isaac and Polyphony for the Proper of the Mass, 125–40. Rothenburg’s proposal awaits full scholarly discussion. Detailed inventories of these books can be found in Martin Bente et al., Bayerische Staats­ bibliothek. Katalog der Musikhandschriften 1: Chorbücher und Handschriften in chorbuchartiger Notierung, Kataloge Bayerischer Musiksammlungen 5/1 (Munich, 1989). The sources are also digitized, and available through the website of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, (accessed 30 October 2018). A stemma summarizing the Choralis transmission is attempted in Burn, ‘The Mass-Proper Cycles’, 122. This now needs revising in part due to new conclusions concerning the source relationships that have arisen in the process of making the new Choralis edition, and in part because of a number of source discoveries. Most important among the latter, aside from CZ-Bam 14/5, are D-Rtt F.K. Musik 48/II, discussed in Barbara Eichner, ‘Getting Proper-ly Started: Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus and the Introduction of Poly­ honic Mass Propers in South-German Monasteries’, in Burn/Gasch, Heinrich Isaac and Polyphony for the Proper of the Mass, 269–95; and D-OB Sign. Lit. 3, discussed in Johannes Hoyer, ‘Frater Christian Frantz’ Chorbuch von 1577 aus der Benediktinerabtei Otto­ beuren’, in Neues musikwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 10 (2001), 15–70. Hoyer’s concordance list is not entirely reliable. For example, p. 49, item 8, the Alleluia Post partum virgo, conflates Isaac’s setting in the second volume of the Choralis with a different setting transmitted in various manuscripts and RISM 15455.

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CC concordances Notes

c.1530 D-Mbs Mus.ms. 39 I: 26–42 Copied at the ducal court in Munich 1530s? D-Mbs Mus.ms. 33 I: 26–42 Copied from D-Mbs Mus.ms. 39. 1540s D-Mbs Mus.ms. 26 I: 26–42 Partly copied from D-Mbs Mus.ms. 39. II: 5 (Comm.) 1537/40 Heyden, De arte canendi II: 14 (Seq. vs. 20); 25 (Seq. vs. 1) See DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s III: Paschalis (Sanctus, part) Choralis Constantinus?’. c.1540 D-ERu 473/4 II: 8 (Int., All., Comm.), 10 (Int., All., Comm.), Copied in the Cistercian monastery of Heilsbronn; 12 (Int., All., Comm.), 13 (Int., All., Comm.) from print exemplar. 1541 D-ERu 473/1 II: 5 (Int., Comm.) Copied in the Cistercian monastery of Heilsbronn; from print exemplar. 1543 D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 32 I: 2 (Int. with differing verse, Seq.) Copied in Stuttgart for court chapel. II: 6 (Int.) [pre-1544] D-HEu Cod. Pal Germ. 318 I: complete The ‘Heidelberg Inventory’; all books now lost. II: all but three cycles included III: almost complete 1545 D-ERu 473/3 II: 8 (All., Comm.) Copied in the Cistercian monastery of Heilsbronn; from print exemplar. 1545 RISM 15455 II: 1, 2 (Int., All.), 3 (Int.) Via Sixt Dietrich. 1545 RISM 15457 II: 4 (Tr. vs. 2) 1547 Glarean‚ Dodekachordon II: 25 (Seq. vs. 1) From Heyden. 1549 RISM 154916 I: 33 (Tr. vs. 3), 35 (Tr. vs. 2), 37 (Tr. vs. 8-9), Bicinium collection; contains all CCI duets, 42 (Tr. vs. 3) and a selection from CCII; from print exemplar. II: 5 (Tr. vs. 4), 15 (Seq. vs. 4) pre-1550 D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 40 II: 9 (Int., All., Seq.) Copied in Stuttgart for court chapel; from print exemplar. II: 5 (Comm.)

Date Source

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CC concordances Notes

c.1550 H-Bn 8 I: 2 (Int., All., Seq.) Copied from print exemplar; see DeFord, II: 1 (Int., All.), 2 (Int., All., Seq.), ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s 3–6, 7 (Int., All.), 8, 10, 14 Choralis Constantinus’, 194 n. 48. III: Apostolis (Kyrie without Christe II); Paschalis (Kyrie I, Christe I & II; a different Kyrie II) c.1550 H-Bn 2 II: 1 (Int., All.), 3–5, 6 (All.) Copied from H-Bn 8. 1550 D-Rp C 96 II: 1 (All.), 7 (All., Seq., Comm.), Probably copied in Regensburg; from print exemplar. 8 (Int., All., Seq.) 1552–53 CH-Zz 169 II: 6 Copied at St Gallen by Clemens Hör. III: Paschalis (no Sanctus or Agnus; Gloria adapted) post-1555 H-Bn 24 I: 2 (All., Seq.) Copied from H-Bn 8. II: 1 (Int., All.), 2 (Int., All., Seq.), 3–5, 6 (Int., All.),7 (Int., All., Seq.), 8 (Int., All., Seq.), 10 (Int., All.), 14 (All., Seq.) III: Apostolis (partial); Paschalis (partial); Solemnis (partial) post-1555 H-Bn Mus. pr. 1 II: 1 (Int., All.), 2 (Seq.), 3 (Int., All., Seq.), Copied from H-Bn 8. 4 (Int.), 5 (Int., Tr.), 6 (Int.) 1558 D-LEu 49/50 II: 1 (Int., All.), 14 (All., Seq.) III: 18 1560 D-Rp C 100 I: 2 (Int.) Probably copied in Regensburg. II: 7 (Int.) post-1564 H-Bn 20 I: 2 (All., Sequ), 25–7, 28 (Int.), Copied from H-Bn 8. 33–6, 37 (Int., Tr.) II: 1, 2 (Int., Seq.), 3 (Int.), 4, 7, 8, 10, 14 (All., Seq.) III: Apostolis (Kyrie without Christe II)

Date Source

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1566 D-ROu Mus. Saec XVI-49 I: 2 (Int.) II: 1 (Int. incompl.), 3 (Int.), 13 (Int.) 1570 D-Rtt F.K. Mus. 48/II I: 1 Copied from print; see Eichner, ‘Getting Proper-ly Started’. II: 1, 3 (Int., All., Comm.), 4, 5 (Int., Tr., Comm.), 6 (Int., Gr., Comm.), 7, 8, 9, 13, 14 (Comm.), 15, 18 (Int., All., Comm.), 19 (Int., All., Comm.), 21 (Int., Comm.), 23 (Int., All., Comm.), 25 (Comm.) III: 2 (Int. 1, All. 2, Comm. 4), 5 (Int. 1, 2, All. 1, Comm. 2), 6 (Int. 3, All. 1), Tr. 3 1571 D-Dl Mus. 1/E/24 III: 1 (All.); Apostolis (Kyrie and Gloria only) Copied from RISM 15455. 1571–73 D-Rp A.R. 839 II: 1 (Int.) Copied from RISM 15455; Regensburg, probably for school. 1573 D-Mbs Mus.ms. 3936 II: 20 1575 D-As 23 II: 1, 2 (Int., All., Seq.), 3, 4, 5 (Int., Comm.), 6, 7, 19 (Int., All., Comm.) III: 1 (Comm. 2), 5 (Int. 2) 1575–79 D-Ngm 8820Q II: 1 (Int.) Copied from RISM 15455. 1576 D-As 7 I: 1, 2, 24 (Comm.) = II: 14 (Comm.) II: 8, 9, 14 (Comm.) = I: 24 (Comm.), 15 (Int., All., Seq.), 17 (Int., Comm.), 18 (All., Seq.), 21 (Int., Seq. incompl., Comm.), 23 (Int., Comm.), 24 (Comm.), 25 (Comm.) III: 3 (Int. 2, All. 4, Comm. 5), 5 (Int. 1, All. 1), 6 (All. 1), 9 (Int.)

A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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Table 2: Manuscripts containing Choralis Constantinus II concordances

Copied from RISM 15455; probably from a Latin-school in Saxony.

See Hoyer, ‘Frater Christian Frantz’ Chorbuch’, and the caveat in the present article, n. 17.

CC concordances Notes

1576 D-OB Sign. Lit. 3 I: 2 (Int., All.) II: 1 (Int. vs.), 5 (Int.), 8 (Int.), 9 (All.), 15 (All.), 22 (All.), 23 (All.) III: 4 (Int. 2, 6), 5 (Int. 3, 4), 6 (All. 3), Tr. 5, 11 (Int., All.), 13 (Int.), 23 (All.), 24 (Int., All.) 1583–84 D-Dl Glashütte 5 I: 2 (Int., All., Seq.) II: 1 (Int., All.) III: Apostolis (Kyrie & Gloria only) 1590 D-Z XCIV/I II: 1 (Int.), 7 (Int.) 1597 D-Mbs Mus.ms. 89 II: 1 (Int.) 1648 H-Bn Mus. pr. 17 II: 5 (Int.)

Date Source

David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

III. The place of CZ-Bam 14/5 in the Choralis transmission A first indication that CZ-Bam 14/5 and the Choralis print are related comes from their shared use of unusual mensuration and proportion signs. These signs are one of the most notorious aspects of the Choralis, and one that has profoundly shaped the reception of Isaac’s music both in the sixteenth century and more recently.18 Recent research by one of the present authors, however, has shown that the majority of these peculiar signs were not original to Isaac. Rather, they would appear to have been added by the Nuremberg music theorist Sebald Heyden (1499–1561), and then later taken up in the Choralis print.19 The argument, in summary, hinges on three related observations: first, and most crucially, that some of the signs appear only in Heyden’s De arte canendi (1537/40) and the Choralis, and nowhere else; second, that Heyden is known to have renotated existing music in order to demonstrate his theoretical proposals;20 and, third, that the signs in the Choralis frequently appear to serve no purpose apart from notational complexity and theoretical demonstration. Such alteration is also historically perfectly plausible: the preface to Johannes Ott’s Novum et insigne opus musicum of 1537 announces the Choralis as forthcoming, demonstrating that the print was planned long before it finally appeared.21 At exactly the same time, in exactly the same city, Heyden was preparing the treatise with which the Choralis signs can be connected, and, moreover, that treatise contained the first published versions of a number of Choralis pieces. The shared signs can be illustrated with the most famous and extreme example of such puzzling proportions: De radice Iesse, the second verse of the sequence for the Conception of Mary (see Figures 1 and 2).22 As printed in the 18

19

20 21

22

Especially influential in the sixteenth century was Glarean’s Dodekachordon (Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1547; RISM 15471), and in modern times, Willi Apel, The Notation of Polyphonic Music, 900–1600 (Cambridge MA, 1942). See also Philip Gossett, ‘The Mensural System and the Choralis Constantinus’, in Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Music in Honour of Arthur Mendel, ed. Robert L. Marshall (Kassel, etc., 1974), 71–107. Ruth I. DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s Choralis Constanti­ nus?’, in Burn/Gasch, Heinrich Isaac and Polyphony for the Proper of the Mass, 167–213, and ead., Tactus, Mensuration, and Rhythm in Renaissance Music (Cambridge, 2015), 339–74. An example, from Josquin, is given in DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus?’, 195–6. Nuremberg: Formschneider, 1537 (RISM 15371). This part of the Choralis’s history is extensively discussed in Royston Gustavson, ‘Commercialising the Choralis Constantinus: The Printing and Publishing of the First Edition’, in Burn/Gasch, Heinrich Isaac and Poly­ phony for the Proper of the Mass, 215–68. We use the term ‘verse’ for each monophonic or polyphonic section of Isaac’s sequences. These sections usually coincide with verses as defined by the poetic-musical forms of the chants, but in a few cases, Isaac’s alternatim plan does not coincide with the structure of the chant. Isaac invariably leaves the odd-numbered verses in chant and sets the even-num­

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Choralis, each voice undergoes a different series of progressive proportional mensural shifts.23 Yet, as Glarean showed when he reproduced the example in his Dodekachordon, the notation is needlessly complex, and can be considerably simplified (see Example 1).24 CZ-Bam 14/5 notates the piece identically to the Choralis, except for two places. First, in the tenor, the CZ-Bam 14/5 scribe gives 𝇇2, while the Chora­ lis print gives 𝇈2. Perhaps this was simply a mistake or a misreading. At any rate, the CZ-Bam 14/5 sign is clearly erroneous. And second, in the bassus, the CZ-Bam 14/5 scribe gives 𝇍2 instead of the print’s 𝇍𝇌. Here, the print’s sign is extremely strange, and known only from the Choralis and Heyden.25 The CZ-Bam 14/5 reading makes sense, and may have arisen as an attempt at correcting a sign that the scribe is unlikely ever to have encountered before. That CZ-Bam 14/5 shares all the unusual signs in its concordances with the print can most simply be explained by proposing that the manuscript and print are not independent of each other, but, rather, both relate to the same Nuremberg tradition following Heyden’s notational doctoring. Nonetheless, that still leaves several possible scenarios by which the two sources could be related: they could both draw on the same exemplar; or one could be dependent (either directly or indirectly) on the other. To determine which of these options is most likely, a detailed assessment of shared notational errors and alterations is needed. First, it can be demonstrated that CZ-Bam 14/5 was not the source for the print. This would in any case be highly unlikely in terms of chronology and geography. That it can be proven text-critically allows the abstract possibility to be definitively ruled out. The evidence comes from the second verse of the sequence for St Martin, Atque illius nomen. For that section, exceptionally, CZ-Bam 14/5 and the Choralis print give entirely different superius voices (see

23

24

25

bered verses in polyphony. All sources of his music contain only the polyphonic verses; the users of these sources would have taken the monophonic verses from separate chant books. Similar proportional reductions also occur in other Choralis propers, and are a frequent occurrence in Heyden’s De arte canendi. See DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus?’, esp. 190–203. Glarean’s simplified notation is based on Heyden’s ‘resolution’ of the example. Dode­ kachordon, 462–3. Glarean texts the example with the first verse of the sequence, rather than De radice Iesse, which is the second verse. The two verses use the same chant melody; see Graduale Pataviense (Vienna: Johannes Winterburger, 1511; VD16 G 2728), fol.  216; digitized at (accessed 30 October 2018); facsimile edition: Graduale Pataviense, Wien 1511 (Faksimile), ed. Christian Väterlein, EdM 87 (Kassel, etc., 1982). DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus?’, 191–2.

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

Example 2). This is the most far-reaching difference between the two sources. That the version preserved in the Choralis is the original can be demonstrated by taking account of a compositional feature of Isaac’s mass propers: namely, that they are always based on the relevant plainchants whose liturgical texts they set. Comparison of the two versions of Atque illius nomen with a relevant chant source show clearly that the Choralis version paraphrases the chant in the top voice, and that the CZ-Bam 14/5 version hardly refers to the chant at all (see again Example 2). We must thus conclude that CZ-Bam is an attempt to recompose the voice, either because the original had gone missing in transmission, or, perhaps, to adapt to a local chant form. This then leaves two main alternative possibilities: that both CZ-Bam 14/5 and the Choralis drew on the same common exemplars; or that CZ-Bam 14/5 is dependent on the print itself. The only common exemplar that could logically fill that role is the one used by Ott, and later Formschneider, as a basis for the print. Several surviving sources contain pieces from Choralis II that can be shown on the basis of date, provenance, and textual details to have been copied from that exemplar: D-ERu 473/4, D-ERu 473/1, D-ERu 473/3, D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 40, H-Bn 8, D-Rp C 96, and RISM 154916 (see Table 2). Comparison of those sources with CZ-Bam 14/5 demonstrates that CZ-Bam 14/5 must have been copied from the print. The most conclusive evidence is found in the three pieces in Example 3, in which clear-cut errors in the print are retained in CZ-Bam 14/5 where D-ERu 473/4 has correct readings. Examples 3a and 3b have minim passing tones on strong beats, and Example 3c has a note that looks like a suspension, but with an augmented fourth and a major seventh at the preparation and a consonance where the suspended dissonance should be.26 The probability of these errors arising independently in the print and CZ-Bam 14/5 is effectively zero. CZ-Bam 14/5 also shares several other errors with the print in pieces for which we have no independent sources. Where the print and copies of its lost exemplar have different, equally plausible, readings, CZ-Bam 14/5 usually agrees with the print.27 The last group of cases is not definitive, since the variants could have arisen in the copies of the exemplar, but they are nonetheless suggestive.

26

27

Isaac’s principles of dissonance treatment are the subject of a forthcoming article by one of the present authors (DeFord). The assertions in this article about what is and is not normal in his style are based on that study. A complete catalogue of variants in CZ-Bam 14/5 and all other sources of Choralis II will be available online in conjunction with the forthcoming edition of Isaac’s mass propers by the present authors and Stefan Gasch.

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Fig. 1: De radice Iesse, as published in the Choralis Constantinus II (D-Mbs Mus.pr. 123-1/3, urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00094085-7, reproduced under a Creative Commons license)

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Fig. 2: De radice Iesse in CZ-Bam 14/5, fols. 179 v –80 (photo: Grantley McDonald)

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

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-

ra

w

˙

-

w

w

˙

˙

w

w

› ra

ve

w

w

sol

ve

-

-

w

-

-

›

sol

Ex. 1: De radice Iesse transcribed in simplified notation (after Glarean)

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2

A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers ° b› & 25

ve

-

&b › ‹ ri ˙ &b ‹

-

-

? ¢ b∑

ri

lu

lu

w -

›

›

∑ ˙

›

ve

-

w™

-

mi

-

-

-

-

w

-

-

-

-

w™ -

-

˙ ˙ ˙

-

ri

w

-

w

mi

˙ w w

-

w

-

-

w

w

w

w

-

w -

w

›

-

w

w

lu

-

-

w

-

lu

-

›

›

Ú

- nis

ma

&b C w ‹ - nis

˙™

&b ‹

˙™

œ ˙

ma

-

œ ˙

nis

˙

˙

-

˙

˙

ma

-

˙

˙

-

˙

w

-

sa - pi

&b › ‹ ae ? w ¢ b

ti

˙ -

-

-

-

-

›

-

-

-

su

w su

ae

tem

-

&b w ‹

-

w

-

-

w -

plum

w

-

-

w

-

›

nu

sa

-

-

-

su

˙ ˙ ˙ w

Cw

-

-

-

-

pi

ae

˙ w

w

w

w

›

-

-

˙

pi

w

-

pi

-

œ œ w

en - ti

˙ -

glo

-

en

-

-

w

w

w

˙ plum

w

glo (ii)

-

glo

-

w™

glo

-

˙

3› 2

-

w

w

w

tem

-

-

-

w ri

w

-

-

-

w -

˙

-

-

w -

-

˙

w

-

ri

˙

w

-

ri

ri

-

tem

-

-

§

ae.

§

› -

w

-

˙

-

-

˙ ˙ ˙

w™ ∑

-

w™

w -

-

-

ti -

ae

w

-

w

˙ -

w

› -

te

w -

-

›

ae

-

-

Ú

w

w

-

-

-

w

›

w™

mi

› -

-

˙

w -

›

w

˙

w

ae

-

plum

œ ˙ w

-

-

›

-

su

ae

-

w

sa

˙ ˙ ˙

Ú

3 w™ 2

w

˙™ -

-

3 2 w™

plum

w

w™

nu

-

w

-

w

›

ae

›

° b› &

œ w

-

›

-

w

w

(i)

w

w

w

›

43

&b w ‹ ? w ¢ b

-

œ œ w

e - ti

w

› sa

› -

∑ w

›

-

w

-

mi

nu

œ ˙™ ˙

› -

-

nu

œ ˙

ma

en

&b Ó ‹

˙

˙™

- nis

° b› &

˙™

-

Ú

37

-

˙

-

? 3 ™ ¢ b2›

˙

˙

-

-

-

˙ w

w

31

° b &

-

-

-

›

-

w™

›

ri

w

-

-

ae.

-

ae.

§ §

-

-

-

ae.

(i) Sb. in Glarean (ii) Glarean notates the closing passage in this voice in coloration with 2/1 proportion.

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MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 86

-

-

w

w

-

-

˙

-

-

œ

li

w -

us

w

Ó

que

-

At

li

w

-

w

w

il

w

Ú

Ú

˙

o -

men

o

˙

-

mnis

w

Ó

˙

∑

∑

o - mnis

œ

œ

˙ w he

he

w

he

w

o - mnis

mnis

˙ ˙

-

˙ w

-

˙

Ú

Ú

he

('omnis hereticus' chant phrase in bass)

˙

Ó

men

w

men

w

men

œ

il

w

Ú

que

At

-

w

w

Ú

Ú

-

˙

-

-

- re

no

˙

-

-

œ

-

re

˙

re

-

-

ti

˙

-

-

˙

ti

œ

˙

-

œ œ w

˙

∑

re

-

˙

il

w

us

w

-

no

˙

-

-

Ú

-

w

-

w

-

ti

w

fu

-

-

-

ti

˙

-

-

-

-

cus

w™

cus

w™

cus

w

Ó

gi

w

cus

œ

-

us

w

˙

il

-

-

œ

fu

w

-

fu

Ó

-

at

w

-

˙

˙

-

-

-

˙™

-

˙

-

-

-

no

˙™

˙™

-

∑

-

-

-

w -

-

-

-

œ ˙

-

˙ œ œ œ œ at

w

pal

˙ fu

men

›

Ó

˙

us

›

il

w

œ us

w™

at

œ

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

fu

˙

fu

˙

gi

˙

gi

œ

w

∑

-

w

li

w

que

w

At

li

œ w

-

w

il

œ

œ œ œ œœ ˙

li

w

Ó

que

At -

w

w

Ú

que

At -

œ

œ

-

li

˙

-

-

˙

gi

-

˙

˙

li

-

-

-

˙

at

˙

-

˙

Ó

œ œ ˙

-

œ œ œ

-

œ œ œ

-

˙

∑

œ

œ

˙

w

-

-

˙™

˙

w gi - ant

˙

˙ pal - li

˙

gi - at

˙

˙™

-

˙

pal - li

˙

-

˙

pal - li

˙

-

œ œ

-

-

˙

˙

˙

-

-

˙ -

-

-

-

˙

-

œ

-

˙

-

-

˙ pal

-

˙

li

˙

-

œœ ˙

-

no

w

-

w

pal

-

Ú

-

œ ˙

-

-

˙

-

˙

-

˙

-

w

w

-

˙™

men

›

-

men

w

Ó

us

˙™

œ

li

w

w

w

-

no

˙™

no

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

w

-

˙

-

˙

-

-

-

-

œ

dus.

§

dus.

§

dus.

§

dus.

§

dus.

§

dus.

-

œ œ œ

œ œ œ ˙

no

œ œ œ ˙

Ex. 2: Sequence for St Martin, verse 2, comparison of Choralis and CZ-Bam 14/5 readings, along with chant model (1511 Graduale Pataviense, fol. 262v)

-

? œ œ w ¢ b

Ú

&b ‹

-

Ú

-

˙

-

° b & ‹

&b ˙

-

&b œ œ ˙

&b ‹

que

At

Ú

& bC ‹

w

Ú

° bC & ‹

Choralis

? Cw ¢ b

Ú

& bC

CZ-Bam 14/5

Shared lower voices

Ú

&b ‹

& bC

Chant (GP 1511, up a fourth)

David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

Despite this relationship, there are eleven instances, excluding obvious cases where the notated rhythms do not add up correctly, in which the print has errors and CZ-Bam 14/5 has correct readings that agree with copies based on the printer’s exemplar.28 The only possible explanation for this is that the scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 was aware of the full counterpoint in the music that he was copying and corrected errors where he noticed them. This is not implausible, given that composers of the time worked with notation in separate parts and did not use scores.29 The errors that the scribe corrected, four of which are shown in Example 4, are all evident given the context of the other voices, and some are blatantly obvious. In Example 4a, the conflict between the a1 in the discant and the g1 pedal that runs throughout the verse in the altus jumps out at a glance. In Example 4b, the incorrect e in the bass creates prominent parallel octaves approaching the final cadence. In Example 4c, the pervasive melodic sequence is unmistakable. The only relatively subtle error corrected by the scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 is the one in Example 4d. The version of the passage in the print is not technically incorrect, but it creates an awkwardly misplaced accent on the word ‘tuum’ and obscures the imitation in augmentation between altus and tenor. Perhaps the scribe was astute enough to pick up this error, or perhaps he knew the piece from another source. If CZ-Bam 14/5 in fact had a companion volume, and if that volume included numbers from volume I of the Choralis, the scribe might have realized that the introit in Example 4d is found there in correct form in the mass for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost. Any doubt about the scribe’s ability and willingness to correct errors in his source can be laid to rest by considering Example 5, in which a melodic leap of a seventh appears in both the print and an independent copy of the printer’s exemplar, and thus must have been present in the exemplar. The interval is corrected to an octave in CZ-Bam 14/5. Did the scribe copy directly from the print, or did he work with an intermediate copy – perhaps one made by someone else or a draft that he prepared 28

29

Those not shown in Example 4 are as follows: Introit for Epiphany, bass, m. 24 (note 3): f in Choralis II, g in CZ-Bam 14/5 and H-Bn 8; Introit for Epiphany, verse, bass, m.  11 (note 1): f in Choralis II, g in CZ-Bam 14/5 and H-Bn 8; Sequence for Epiphany, verse 6, tenor, m.  15 (note 3): d 1 in Choralis II, c1 in CZ-Bam 14/5 and H-Bn 8; Sequence for Epiphany, verse 12, discant, mm. 9 (note 3)–10 (note 1): e 2 d 2 in Choralis II, d 2 c 2 in CZ-Bam 14/5 and H-Bn 8; Introit for the Purification, altus, m. 47 (note 4): c1 in Choralis II, b b in CZ-Bam 14/5, H-Bn 8, and Choralis I; Alleluia for Sts Peter and Paul, verse, tenor, m. 14 (note 4): f in Choralis II, g in CZ-Bam 14/5 and D-ERu 473/4; Sequence for Corpus Christi, verse 20, tenor, m. 29 (note 1): b b in Choralis II, c1 in CZ-Bam 14/5 and D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 40. This point is documented extensively in Jessie Ann Owens, Composers at Work: The Craft of Musical Composition 1450–1600 (Oxford, 1997).

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord Ex. 3: Comparison of CZ-Bam 14/5 readings with D-ERu 473/4 and Choralis B

w ì &b ∞

7

D

A

w

Ó

nus,

A

[T]

T

B

D

--¶ ¶ ì w &b ∞ ‹ nus, DoD-ERu 473/4 ˙™ œœœ œ œ ∞ b ì & œ ì ‹ CZ-Bam 14/5 and CC II print œ œ œ œ * ˙ ì œ œ ì &b ∞ ‹

[

™™ ™™

A

]

[T]

w

Qui

ì

T

B

™ ˙ h ™ ™™™ -

de - a

(a) Introit for Sts Peter and Paul, m. 7

-

-

ì ˙™ bw ì w œ b˙ &∞ ‹ le bran D-ERu 473/4 ( e) œ ˙ w ˙ ∞ ì ì b w & ‹ CZ-Bam 14/5 and CC II print ì *˙ bw ì ( e) œ ˙ w &∞ ‹ ˙ ?∞ Ó ì ( e) œ w ì∑

[

stum

a

-

ì w &∞ gau

Do-

?b ∞ ì w

œ w ™™ œ bœ œ œ ™™

17

™™ ™™

-

˙ ì ˙ ì

]

˙ ì ˙

ì

ce -

(b) Introit for the Visitation of Mary, mm. 17–18

C 54

[D]

D-ERu 473/4

ì ˙ ˙™ &b ∞ ri

¶ ˙ --¶ ¶¶

™ œ w ™™™

[

me

-

]

o.

-

CZ-Bam 14/5 and CC II print

ì ˙ ˙™ &b ∞

™ œ w ™™™

*

D

ri

A

T

B

me

-

˙

ì ˙ ˙ ˙ &b ∞ ‹ sa - lu - ta

- ri

-

?b ∞ ì ˙ b˙ ˙

o.

-

ì &b ∞ ˙ b˙ ˙ me

¶ ˙ --¶ ¶¶

*

-

ì

w

--¶ ¶ ¶¶

o.

-

˙ ìw me

˙ ìw

-

¶ -¶-¶¶

o.

--¶ ¶ ¶¶ o.

(c) Alleluia for the Visitation of Mary, verse, mm. 54–5

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers Ex. 4: Comparison of CZ-Bam 14/5 readings with H-Bn 8 and Choralis

(b) Introit for the Purification, mm. 54–6

(a) Sequence for the Circumcision ­( Purification in CZ-Bam 14/5), verse 4, mm. 14–16 C 10

[D]

œ˙ ˙

H-Bn 8 and CZ-Bam 14/5

& X ˙™

ce -

œ˙ ˙

D

ce -

A

T

B

&X ∑

Ó w

w

˙ w

&X ‹ pto

prae

-

? X( e) œ œ œ

pto

-

pto

-

w

ce

-

-

˙

-

-

-

-

™™ ™™

˙ œ œœ œ˙ -

ce

-

-

w

-

pto

-

b

ì

-

w

-

-

w

˙ ˙ ˙ ì˙ ˙ ˙ -

ì

-

œ œ ì œ œ* ˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ

˙

CC II print

& X ˙™

œ œ ì œœ˙ ˙ œ œœœ ˙

˙

b

-

™™ ™™

ì

-

œ œ ì˙ œ œ˙ ˙ œœ ì -

pto

-

-

(c) Sequence for Epiphany, verse 14, mm. 10–11

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

(d) Introit for the Purification, mm. 25–31

himself? In light of the extensive revisions of the music discussed below, as well as the complete recomposition of the discant voice in the second verse of the St Martin sequence, it seems likely that he worked from a draft. There are very few corrections in CZ-Bam 14/5. A draft would have facilitated the process of correction and revision. Given the personal nature of the variants in the manuscript, it is hard to imagine the creator of the draft to have been anyone other than the scribe himself. IV. Scribal initiative in CZ-Bam 14/5 The scribe’s initiatives in correcting the above errors are less surprising than they might be in light of the broader picture of his treatment of the music in his source. CZ-Bam 14/5 is not simply a copy of Isaac’s music, but an edited version of it that reflects the scribe’s personal taste and the liturgical requirements of his church. The types of changes that he made are common in surviving 90

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers Ex. 5: Sequence for Corpus Christi, verse 4, mm. 3–5, comparison of CZ-Bam 14/5 readings with D-Sl Cod. mus. I fol. 40 and Choralis

copies of pieces from the Choralis II print, but they are much more extensive in CZ-Bam 14/5 than in other sources. They fall into five general categories: liturgical assignments, texts, text underlay and associated rhythmic variants, increases of musical consistency, and ornamental details. The scribe must have planned the contents of the manuscript before he began copying, because consecutive masses follow without a break within gatherings. As shown in Table 2, he repurposed the music for some saints’ feasts by assigning it to different saints. For St Nicholas, he took the introit from the mass for St Geberhard and the alleluia from the mass for St Pelagius. He supplied the latter with the words of a different chant (Tomba Sancti Nicholai) that does not match Isaac’s musical setting. For St Anne, he took the introit from the mass for the Presentation of Mary, which is based on a chant that can be adapted to a variety of saints’ feasts with minor changes of wording. For the Purification, he took the alleluia and sequence from the mass for the Circumcision. He moved the mass for the dedication of a church to a slightly different position from the one that it occupies in the print. The scribe derived the texts not from the print, but from a local chant source or his own familiarity with the words. He changed the verses associated with the music in two cases: he substituted the words of the odd-numbered verses for those of the even-numbered verses throughout the sequence for Corpus Christi; and he entered the text for verse 1 in place of verse 2 in the sequence for the Purification (reassigned from the feast of Circumcision in the Choralis). In the latter piece, he added a second text in red ink above Isaac’s text in verses 4–12. The texts in the Choralis print are full of errors in word choice, word order, and grammatical forms. Like all of the scribes who copied pieces from 91

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

Fig. 3: Sequence for Christmas, verses 2 and 4, in CZ-Bam 14/5, fols. 194v –195r (photo: Grantley McDonald)

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

Fig. 4: Sequence for the Holy Cross, verses 18 and 20, in CZ-Bam 14/5, fols. 155v –156 r (photo: Grantley McDonald)

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

the print, the scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 corrected most of these obvious errors. He also substituted variant words, presumably based on local versions of the texts, in some cases. For example, he substituted ‘obsequiis’ for ‘solemniis’ in verse 8 of the sequence for All Saints, ‘talis filii’ for ‘tanti iuvenis’ in verse 4 of the sequence for St Martin, and ‘nobis’ for ‘eis’ in verse 8 of the sequence for the nativity of St John the Baptist. His spellings follow the medieval practice of using ‘e’ where classical spelling requires ‘ae’, while the spellings in the print usually use classical forms. Horyna and Maňas interpret this observation as evidence that the manuscript is earlier than the print, but there was no linear progression from one form of spelling to the other, and many scribes continued to use older spellings until several decades later.30 The text underlay in CZ-Bam 14/5 often differs from that in the print, as it does in most copies based on the print. Scribes did not regard the print underlay, which is often quite careless, as authoritative. The scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 apparently entered only incipits of the texts for at least some of the pieces when he copied the music, then added the complete texts at a later stage, possibly without looking back at the source. If his immediate source was a draft, it may have included only the incipits. The ink is often lighter for the portions of the texts following the incipits, and in two cases, the subsequent words are blatantly wrong and cannot have been entered at the same time as the incipits. In verse 4 of the sequence for Christmas (Figure 3), the text should be ‘Quem Angeli in arce poli voce consona semper canunt’ (‘Whom the angels in the citadel of heaven hymn always in harmonious voice’), but the scribe entered the text from the preceding verse, ‘[Per quem dies] et hore labant et se iterum reciprocant’ (‘[Through whom the days] and hours pass away and succeed each other’), presumably from memory, after the incipit, creating semantic nonsense.31 In verse 20 of the sequence for the Holy Cross (Figure 4), he wrote the vagans voice across the bottom of the opening, squeezing it into the margins since it did not fit easily. He began the text following the incipit correctly, then inexplicably looked at the verse above and wrote ‘reprimit demonia’ instead of ‘fronde flore germina’ for the last two phrases in all voices. Despite these lapses, the scribe seems to have given careful consideration to the text placement in most cases. His judgments are sometimes a distinct improvement on the print, sometimes less effective, and often equally plausible. An example of a distinct improvement is found in verse 8 of the Christmas 30

31

Horyna and Maňas do not mention this spelling variant specifically, but the passage ­quoted above, from pp. 562–3 of their article, suggests that the orthography of CZ-Bam 14/5 implies an earlier date than that of the Choralis print. All of the translations in this article are by Leofranc Holford-­Strevens.

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers 6

D

° ì --¶ ¶ &∞ stris

ì w &∞ ‹ stris

T

B

de

-

Ó H ™ ™™™™ de de

w

?G-¶ ¶ ¢

lu

-

de de

˙ w

˙

lu lu

-

˙ ˙ w

fu - it fu -

-

men, it

-

fu - it fu - it

-

men, xit

-

œœ œ˙ ˙

∞- h™ ì w™

stris

- it -

˙ ì˙ œ œw

w ™ ™™ ˙ w Ó ™

˙ w

˙

fu

-

w™

de - fu - it lu quos prae - cin -

˙™ œ œ œ ì˙ w ì Ó &∞ ‹ de fu -

A

˙ ˙ w

Ó˙

ì∑

lu it

quos quos

˙ --¶ ¶

men, mi - ne

∞ ì --¶ ¶ --¶ ¶

˙

w

-

prae - strin prae - ci

ìÓ w 2 1

--¶ ¶

ìw

men, quos

-

quos cla

quos quos

quos prae

w

-

-

˙

prae prae -

prae cin

-

-

Italic = CZ=Bam 14/5 Roman = Choralis II print

#

11

° & ˙ w

prae - strin - ri -

& -¶ ¶ ‹ xit nt

& ˙ ˙ ‹ strin ? w

cin

¢

strin xit

-

-

∑

˙ w xit tas

cla cla - ri - tas

w

˙ w

-

xit xit

w

xit

# ˙ w

˙™ œ ˙ œ œ w Ó

cla

w

cla cla

ri

-

w -

mi

˙ ˙

ri ri

--¶ ¶ -

tas tas

-

œœw -

mi - li

i.

mi - li - tum De De - i.

i.

Ó ˙ ˙ ˙

tas

4 1

--¶ ¶ ¶¶

˙ ˙ w ì --¶ ¶¶ ¶ w

mi - li - tum

De

w

w

w

mi

tum

-

li

ì --¶ ¶¶ ¶

De -

-

Ó ˙

ri - tas li - tum

w

w

Ó ˙ w

Ú

-

tum

--¶ ¶¶¶ ™™™™

-

i.

w ì --¶ ¶ ¶¶

De -

i.

Ex. 6: Sequence for Christmas, verse 8, mm. 6–16, comparison of texts in CZ-Bam 14/5 with Choralis

sequence (Example 6), in which the text and underlay are exceptionally careless in the print. The correct words are ‘Nec gregum magistris defuit lumen, quos praestrinxit claritas militum Dei’ (‘Nor was light wanting for the rulers of the flocks, whom the brightness of God’s soldiers dazzled’). In the print, the word ‘praestrinxit’ is replaced with ‘praecinxit’ (with the ‘x’ missing in the altus), ‘defuit lumen’ is missing in the discant, ‘lumen’ is missing in the altus and bass, and ‘lumen’ is written incorrectly as ‘lumine’ in the tenor. The underlay in the voices with incomplete texts is extremely awkward. In the discant, the unaccented second syllable of ‘claritas’ falls on a syncopated semibreve. In the altus, the words ‘claritas militum’ are squeezed into a short phrase, requiring a syllable change on a semiminim, and the last phrase has only the word ‘Dei’, which must be set with three notes on the last syllable to accommodate the repeated note. In the bass, the words ‘quos praecinxit’ begin one note too early, so that they do not match the notes of the cantus firmus. The scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 corrected all of these errors, most likely by applying common sense to 97

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the setting of a text and cantus firmus that he knew. The result is an exquisite verse in which all voices come together in homorhythmic declamation for the key word ‘lumen’. The discant rises elegantly to a high point on that word, supported by the bass in stepwise contrary motion, and the words of each segment of text are aligned in all voices. The scribe replaced the f 1 in the altus in m. 12 with g1, perhaps to avoid the dissonance approached by skip in the print, although that dissonance is acceptable in Isaac’s style and it mitigates the parallel fifths in this example. The scribe often alters Isaac’s rhythms by splitting notes into two shorter ones, joining two notes on the same pitch into one, altering the relative values of repeated notes, or lengthening or shortening notes in relation to adjoining rests. The purpose of these variants is often to accommodate different text underlay. In some cases, it serves to correct what the scribe interpreted as faulty accentuation of the words in Isaac’s settings. The most dramatic example of this type of alteration occurs in the opening section of verse 8 of the sequence for Sts Peter and Paul (Example 7). The verse tells how St Paul, with the help of Christ, defeated learned philosophers in debates. Isaac evokes the pomposity of the philosophers with a striking dotted rhythm in all voices, presented in augmentation in the bass. He places the musical accent on the third syllable of each of the first two words, ‘Doctilogos philosophos’, although both would have been accented on the second syllable in a classical pronunciation. The scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 corrected the pronunciation of ‘philosophos’ by substituting even semibreves for Isaac’s dotted rhythm, unfortunately depriving the music of much of its rhetorical force in the process. In verse 18 of the sequence for the Holy Cross (Example 8 and Figure 4), he joined a minim and semiminim in a repeated motive on the word ‘reprimit’ to move the accent from the second syllable to the first. This change forces a change of syllable within a semiminim run, a technique that is uncommon, but not impossible, in Choralis II. The scribe’s most common motive for joining repeated notes is to avoid placing the unaccented penultimate syllable of a phrase on a repeated minim, as in Example 9. He edited out this text setting, which he obviously disliked, more than 100 times in the fifty-three pieces in CZ-Bam 14/5, but he did not catch every instance of it. A few of the scribe’s alterations were motivated by an attempt to increase motivic consistency in Isaac’s music. An interesting instance of this occurs in the introit for the nativity of St John the Baptist (Example 10), where the upper three voices have a motive in imitation on the words ‘et posuit’. The scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 modified the rhythm of the tenor to make it match the two preceding voices. This works well contrapuntally and has the advantage of 98

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MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 99

6

˙

so

-

-

w

-

phos

Do

Ú

Ú

™™ › ™™

ì∑

Do

--¶ ¶ ™

w™

cti - lo

te,

Ú

-

gos

-

™™ ™™

ì

ì

-

phi

w

-

lo - so

Ó h ™ ™™™™ œ œ œ ˙™

-

w

œœ ì˙ w

cti

w

Ú

lo

w

phi

gos

-

lo

-

-

so

ì ›

-

-

-

-

lo

›

∑

phos

ì›

™™ ™™

™™ ™™

˙

te,

Ó˙

œ œw

-

Do -

w™

w

∑

so - phos,

w

phos,

œ ì œ œw

-

œœ w

ì

™™ ™™

ì

ì

6

¢

-

Ú

Ú

w

lo - so

˙*

∞

?b ∞ ì

ì &b ∞ ‹

ì] [ ∞

Ú

-

w

-

phos

Do

Ú

Ú

ì∑

Do

--¶ ¶ ™

w™

cti - lo

w -

Ú

te,

-

gos

w

-

™™ ™™

ì

ì

-

phi

w* ™

-

lo - so

œœ ì˙ w

cti

w

Ú

Ó h ™ ™™™™ œ œ œ ˙™

phi

˙

Do - cti - lo - gos

∞ ì]

ì &b ∞ ‹

[

w™

Ó w

w w

˙

lo

--¶ ¶ ™

phi

gos

*

? ¢ b ›

-

-

™™ ™™ -

lo

* w

-

so

ì ›

-

-

-

-

lo

›

∑

phos

ìW

™™ ™™

™™ ™™

˙

te,

Ó˙

œ œw

-

Do -

w™

w

∑

so - phos,

w

phos,

œ ì œ œw

-

˙

*

œ œ w

œ w ™ œ œ ì ˙™ œ œ & b Ó w œ œ ˙ ˙ Ó h ™ ™™™ œ œ œ ˙ ‹ phi - lo - so - phos te, *™ ˙ w w ™™ *˙ w w ì --¶ ¶ ™ ™™ &b ‹ - cti - lo - gos phi lo - so phos

phi

° w* ™ &b

B

T

A

D

∞ ì

° w™ ì &b ∞

B

(b) Choralis

Ex. 7: Sequence for Sts Peter and Paul, verse 8, mm. 1–10, comparison of readings

(a) CZ-Bam 14/5

›

? ¢ b ›

œ w ™ œ œ ì ˙™ œ œ & b Ó w œ œ ˙ ˙ Ó h ™ ™™™ œ œ œ ˙ ‹ phi - lo - so - phos te, ˙ w w w w w ì --¶ ¶ ™ ì &b ‹ - cti - lo - gos phi - lo - so phos

phi - lo

Ú

Ú

w

∞

?b ∞ ì

ì &b ∞ ‹

ì] [ ∞

Ú

w

phi

w™

Do - cti - lo - gos

∞ ì]

ì &b ∞ ‹

[

w

¢

° w &b

B

T

A

D

w

Ó w

˙

w

∞ ì

° w™ ì &b ∞

A

ì

™™ ™™

ì

ì

A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

continuing the semiminim motion to the end of the phrase, but it forces a change of syllable within a semiminim run, as in Example 8. A more complex instance occurs in verse 20 of the sequence for the Holy Cross (Example 11 and Figure 4). The scribe changed the bass in m. 20 to make it match the tenor in imitation (removing the ligature to clarify the text underlay), then changed the vagans to make it compatible with the new bass. The bass entry an eleventh below the resolution of the suspension in the discant is irregular, although Isaac sometimes prepares suspensions (like the one that this bass note becomes) as dissonances, and the g approached by skip in the vagans is even more so. Nevertheless, the scribe evidently judged that the imitation, which involves the cantus firmus melody, was important enough to justify the contrapuntal awkwardness. Many of the scribe’s emendations involve ornamental details, such as adding and removing semiminim dissonances and substituting dotted for even or even for dotted rhythms. The dissonance most often added and removed is an anticipation preceding the preparation of a cadential suspension. The treatment of this ornament seems to be a matter of whim, since the scribe removes it in forty-eight places and adds it in twenty others. Example 12 shows instances of both of these changes in the Easter introit: an anticipation is added in the discant in m. 29 and a similar one is removed in the altus just four breves later, in m. 33. Singers probably took similar liberties with this conventional ornament in performance. The repeated semibreves in mm. 26–7 are joined, moving the third syllable of ‘posuisti’ to the following note, perhaps in conformity with the scribe’s version of the cantus firmus, which is quoted in the discant in this phrase. The example includes an added passing tone in m. 31. Another ornament that the scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 sometimes removes is an anticipation preceding a note other than a suspension, as in Example 13. Isaac uses anticipations in non-cadential contexts occasionally, but not often. They became increasingly rare in the later sixteenth century; our scribe may have regarded them as overly archaic, though he did not remove all of them.

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23 A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers

A 23

A

ì ˙ &b ∞ ‹ res,

˙ œ œœ œ w

˙ Ó ˙ œ œœ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œœ œ ˙

re - pri - mit, res, re- pri - mit,

T

w ì &b ∞ ‹ res,

res,

B

? ∞ bì ˙ ˙ w

˙ œ œœ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œœ Ó œ˙

re pri - mit, re - pri - mit,

re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re - pri re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re - pri -

˙ œ œœ œ ™ ˙ œ œ œ˙ w Ó

guo - res, guo - res,

re re - pri

w

Ú

-

˙ œœ Ó ˙ œ œœ œ ˙

T

w ì &b ∞ ‹ res,

Ó

res,

B

? ∞ bì ˙ ˙ w

˙ œ œœœ w

re - pri - mit, re re - pri - mit, re - pri

Ó

re pri - mit, re - pri - mit,

Ó

guo - res, guo - res,

˙ œ œœ œ ˙

re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, r

˙ œ œœ œ ™ ˙ œ œ œ˙ w

re re - pri

-

Italic = CZ-Bam 14/5 Roman = Choralis II print

pri - mit mit -

-

˙ œ œœ œ w

re - pri - mit, res, re- pri - mit,

re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re - pri - mit, re-

˙ œ œœœ w Ó

ì ˙ &b ∞ ‹ res,

Italic = CZ-Bam 14/5 = Choralis II print Ex.Roman 8: Sequence for the Holy Cross, verse 18, mm. 23–7, comparison of readings in CZ-Bam 14/5 with Choralis

ì w &b ∞

11

D

w

˙ ˙™

om - nes

A

ì w &b ∞ ‹ nes

in

ì w &b ∞ ‹ in

B

-

˙

ìÓ œ˙

˙™

w

Do

ì w &b ∞ ‹ in

w

?b ∞ ì w

w

CC II print

T

-

w

-

-

w

™™ ™™ -

œ˙

Do

-

-

-

˙

ìw

in

Do

nes

w

Do

w -

œ œ˙ ˙ *

™™ ™™

˙ ˙

mi - no,

-

mi

-

˙™

Ó

mi - no,

œ œw

w

∑

--¶ ¶

˙

in

CZ-Bam 14/5

[T]

Do

--¶ ¶

w

#

œœœ ì˙ w

∑

no,

w

*

di -

∑

mi - no,

-

w

--¶ ¶

mi

-

no,

-

Ex. 9: Introit for All Saints, mm. 11–14, comparison of readings in CZ-Bam 14/5 with Choralis D

A

ì w &b ∞

Ó ˙

˙™

o:

et

po

ì Ó ˙ ˙™ &b ∞ ‹ et po

ì ( --¶ ¶ ) [T] & b ∞

CZ-Bam 14/5

œ œ œ H ™ ™™™™ -

-

Ó

et

B

ì &b ∞ ‹ ?b ∞ ì -¶ ¶

o:

Ó ∑

Ó

-

it

os

su - it

-

os

su - it

-

Ó ˙

* * * *

˙

∑

œw œ ì œ œœ

po

po

w Ó ˙

* ˙ œ œœ œ ì ˙

et

˙ w

su

-

˙ ˙™

D-ERu 473/4, H-Bn 8, and CC II print

T

-

œœ œ ì w

-

‹

-¶ ¶ ) (-

-

œ œ œ ˙™

œw

-

ì

w me

˙

*

os

w

Ó

su - it

w

-

˙™ -

˙

os

-

w me -

w

me -

w

me -

œœw -

Ex. 10: Introit for the nativity of St John the Baptist, mm. 11–14, comparison of readings in CZ-Bam 14/5 with D-ERu 473/4, H-Bn 8, and Choralis

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-

pri - mit mit

David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

Ex. 11: Sequence for the Holy Cross, verse 20, mm. 19–21, comparison of readings in CZ-Bam 14/5 with Choralis

V. Conclusions Detailed text-critical analysis shows – in contrast to Horyna and Maňas’s claim – that CZ-Bam 14/5 does not testify to a new transmission path for the Choralis Constantinus. Rather, it would seem to be copied from the Choralis print. That, however, does not diminish CZ-Bam 14/5’s value as a source. On the contrary, CZ-Bam 14/5 remains one of the most extensive concordant sources for the second volume of the Choralis Constantinus that survives, and as such, provides a rare and welcome snapshot into that music’s transmission.32 Placing CZ-Bam 14/5 within the Choralis transmission network is not simply a valuable result in itself, but has broader implications for the manuscript, its use, and its context. The dating can now be refined to post-1555. Comparison with the print reveals the extent to which scribal initiative could be employed to adapt Isaac’s – at the time of copying quite antiquated – music to the ritual and confessional needs of its new, Lutheran environment. The many alterations 32

The only other sources that come close are D-Rtt F.K. Musik 48/II, also copied from the print, and discussed in Eichner, ‘Getting Proper-ly Started’; and D-As 7 and 23, if taken as a pair, discussed in David J. Burn, ‘Mass-Propers by Henricus Isaac Not Included in the Choralis Constantinus: The Case of Two Augsburg Sources’, in AfMw 60 (2003), 186–220, and Tobias Rimek, Das mehrstimmige Repertoire der Benediktinerabtei St. Ulrich und Afra in Augsburg (1549–1632) (Stuttgart, 2015), 89–101.

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A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers 25

CZ-Bam 14/5

[D]

ì ∑ &b ∞

[A]

ì ˙ w &b ∞ ‹

ìw

w

[

po

-

w ™ ™™™

CZ-Bam 14/5

[

--¶ ¶ su

ì ∑ &b ∞

A

ì ˙ w &b ∞ ‹

sti, po - su

ìw

w

po

-

w ™ ™™™

H-Bn 8 and CC II print

T

B

-

# ˙˙ ˙ w ì

H-Bn 8 and CC II print

D

™™ ™™

w

sti, po - su

-

-

i

# ˙˙ ˙ w ì

ì ˙ ™ œ œ œ w ™™™™ ˙ w &b ∞ ‹ le xit, ˙™ œ ˙ w ˙ w ?b ∞ ì ì i

-

*

-

-

w

i

-

w

ìw

*

su

-

w

-

n

˙ H ™ ™™™ œ w ˙ ™ -

w

i

-

w

w

-

-

sti

su

-

ì

-

-

n

w ˙ -

˙

˙ w

-

-

ì

Ú

w ìÓ ˙

˙ w

-

˙ ˙

Ú

ì

-

˙

˙ w* ™™™ ™

w

i

ì

-

-

w

-

˙ ˙

Ú

˙ ˙ ˙ œœ ˙ ˙ w ì -

per

2 30

& b --¶ ¶

ì

Ú

- sti

˙ œ œ œ œ œ w ˙ w ™™ ™™

w ™ ™™™ &b w Ó ‹ -sti su & b --¶ ¶

-

w ™™ ™™ &b w Ó ‹ -sti su Ú

? b -¶¶ me,

-

-

Ú

ì

- sti

&b ‹

-

-

w

hos

ad

Ú

w

w

su

# ˙ w

ì∑ œw

per

Ú

w

w su

*

per

Ó

-

# ˙ w

ve

ì∑

w

w

-

xit,

w et

]ì w

]™™™™

su -

w per

Ó

me,

w ˙ ˙ ì w coe - los

-

w

me,

w ˙ H* ™ ™™ ™™ -

w

per

Ú

˙ œ œ œ œ*

ìw ì

ì∑

Ú

ì w

™™ ™™

su -

Ó ˙

ì

su -

w

w

quos

hic

ì

Ex. 12: Introit for Easter, mm. 25–34, comparison of CZ-Bam 14/5 readings with H-Bn 8 and Choralis

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David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord

Ex. 13: Introit for Easter, mm. 19–20, comparison of CZ-Bam 14/5 readings with H-Bn 8 and Choralis

and corrections testify to an extensive and lively Protestant, parish culture of adapting and absorbing polyphonic music from the past.33 The scribe of CZ-Bam 14/5 was a skilled and sensitive musician, possibly a composer in his own right. He was probably responsible for the recomposed discant voice in verse 2 of the St Martin sequence; perhaps he was the composer of some of the anonymous unica in the manuscript as well. Be that as it may, his emendations to the Choralis print shed light on his understanding of Isaac’s music and his own aesthetic values. They offer valuable insights for us into both historical and musical aspects of the reception of Isaac’s work.

33

It is a common misconception that the Lutheran church opposed traditional Latin polyphony. As far as the mass proper is concerned, Georg Rhau had issued two collections, the Officia Paschalia de Resurrectione et Ascensione Domini (Wittenberg: Rhau, 1539; RISM 153914), and the Officiorum (ut vocant) de Nativitate […] &c. (Wittenberg: Rhau, 1545; RISM 15455), as part of the Lutheran core repertory before the Choralis was published and CZ-Bam 14/5 copied. The Rhau prints offer a much more limited coverage than the ­Choralis and CZ-Bam 14/5.

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David Merlin

AUF DER SUCHE NACH ISAACS ­C HORALVORLAGEN: DIE MISSA DE BEATA MARIA VIRGINE À 4 (I) UND DIE ZEITGENÖSSISCHEN ­G RADUALEAUSGABEN

Der vorliegende Beitrag versucht, die Choralvorlage für Isaacs Missa de ­B eata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) ausfindig zu machen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Forschungsgeschichte erscheint dies als ein langwieriges Unterfangen, denn mehrere „Aporie[n] gilt es [sich] ehrlicherweise von Anfang an einzugestehen“.1 Aus der Perspektive der Choralforschung sind zwei zu nennen: Erstens hat Isaac im Laufe seiner Karriere höchstwahrscheinlich unterschiedliche Liturgica als Choralvorlage verwendet. Zweitens sind nicht alle liturgisch-musikalischen Quellen der Zeit Isaacs erhalten. Bei derzeitiger Quellenkenntnis ist die Identifikation seiner Choralvorlage wohl nur näherungsweise möglich. Auch wenn kritische Gegenüberstellungen mit potentiellen Vorlagen keine exakten Übereinstimmungen zutage fördern, liegt ihr Erkenntnisgewinn jedoch nicht nur im Ausschluss von nicht in Frage kommenden Quellen, sondern auch in der Identifikation liturgischer Zugehörigkeiten. Darüber hinaus kann dabei Einsicht in die von Isaac angewandten Techniken gewonnen werden, mit denen er das unrhythmisierte monodische Modell in eine Vokallinie der mensuralen Mehrstimmigkeit umsetzte.2 1

2

Martin Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, 3 Bde., Bern 1977 (Schweizerische Musik­ forschende Gesellschaft Publikationen II/28), Bd. 3: Studien zu Werk- und Satztechnik in den Messenkompositionen von Heinrich Isaac, S.  127. Siehe auch: Theodore Karp, „The Chant Background to Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus“, in Cantus Planus papers read at the 7th Meet­ ing Sopron Hungary 1995, hrsg. von László Dobszay, Budapest 1998, S. 337–341, hier S. 338. Über die marianischen Messen Isaacs: David J. Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“, in Die Tonkunst 3 (2009), S. 27–37; Christiane Wiesenfeldt, „Funktion und Distanz. Heinrich Isaacs Missae de Beata Virgine in ihrem rezeptionshistorischen Kontext“, in Heinrich Isaac, hrsg. von Ulrich Tadday, München 2010

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David Merlin

Die sichere Autorschaft Heinrich Isaacs für die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I), ihre Lokalisierung im Repertoire der Hofkapelle Maximilians I. und der leicht erkennbare Cantus firmus in langen Notenwerten, meistens in der obersten Stimme, machen diese Komposition zu einem geeigneten Unter­ suchungsgegenstand – gerade im Hinblick auf zwei fünfhundertjährige Jubiläen: des Todestages Isaacs (26. März 1517) sowie des Todestages Maximilians I. (12. Januar 1519).3 Wie der Titel anzeigt, beschäftigt sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit der Identifikation der Choralvorlagen Isaacs in zeitgenössischen gedruckten Liturgica. Missalien, und folglich auch Missaleausgaben, beinhalten normalerweise lediglich die Incipits der Ordinariumsgesänge. Das bedeutet beispielsweise für das Kyrie, dass darin nur die erste Akklamation notiert ist. Da alle Sätze der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) nicht mit dem ersten Vers beginnen, können die Incipits aus den Missalien dazu verwendet werden, die Anfänge dieser Alternatim-Messe Isaacs zu vervollständigen.4 Allerdings sind die von Isaac als Cantus firmus benutzten Teile der einstimmigen liturgischen Melodien in den Missalien nicht zu finden. Aus diesem Grund werden hier Ausgaben des ­Graduale herangezogen, in denen die Ordinariumsmelodien vollständig notiert sind. Auf eine Betrachtung der Choralvorlagen selbst und eine Rekapitulation der bisherigen Forschungsansätze zur Frage der Vorlagen für Isaacs Proprien und Ordinarien folgen eine Zusammenstellung gedruckter zeitgenössischer Gradualien und der Vergleich der Cantus firmi der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) mit den einstimmigen Ordinariumsgesängen aus den herangezogenen Gradualien. Auf Basis der dadurch gewonnenen Erkenntnisse werden in die Schlussfolgerungen neben Beobachtungen zur Behandlung der Choralmelodie seitens Isaacs auch Gedanken zur Liturgie der Hofkapelle Maximilians I. einfließen. Handschriftliche Liturgica sind Gegenstände, die so gut wie täglich während der Liturgie verwendet wurden. Zudem handelt es sich um Unikate, die

3

4

(Musik-Konzepte 148/149), S.  135–149, bes. 135–141. Für einen Überblick über unterschiedliche Herangehensweisen zum Thema Choralmelodien in der Polyphonie: David J. Burn, „Vom Choral zur Polyphonie. Zu Kompositionstechniken in Isaacs Messproprien“, in Heinrich Isaac, hrsg. von Ulrich Tadday, München 2010 (Musik-Konzepte 148/149), S. 104–119, hier S. 109f. Zum Stand der Isaac-Forschung: David J. Burn, Blake Wilson und Giovanni Zanovello, „Absorbing Heinrich Isaac“, in JM 28 (2011), S. 1–8. Zur Bestimmung dieser Komposition: Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 33; Elisabeth Schmierer, Geschichte der Messe. Eine Einführung, Laaber 2019 (Gattungen der Musik 10), S.  59; Wiesenfeldt, „Funktion und Distanz“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 135. Zum Alternatim in den Messen Isaacs: Schmierer, Geschichte der Messe (wie Anm. 3), S. 60; zu den marianischen Alternatim-Messen: Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 27.

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lokale Gepflogenheiten, sei es in der liturgischen Ordnung, sei es in der melodischen Überlieferung, widerspiegeln. Wegen der häufigen Verwendung sowie der lokalen Spezifika scheint es schwer vorstellbar, dass sich Isaac eine notierte liturgische Handschrift aus dem Besitz einer beliebigen Kirche geliehen habe. Isaac hätte aber die Melodien aus zeitgenössischen liturgischen Handschriften der Hofkapelle persönlich abschreiben oder sie kopieren lassen können. Folglich wäre ein Faszikel mit liturgischen Gesängen für den persönlichen Gebrauch als Vorlage vorstellbar. Davon abgesehen ist die Verwendung gedruckter Liturgica als Vorlage zu erwägen. In diesem Fall hätten Isaac mehrere Exemplare zur Verfügung gestanden. Gedruckte Liturgica folgen dem römischen Ritus oder spiegeln die Gepflogenheiten eines Ordens oder einer ganzen Diözese – also nicht einer einzelnen Pfarrei, Kapelle usw. – wider. Gedruckte Exemplare hätte Isaac nicht nur selbst kaufen, sondern auch als Geschenk erhalten können. Darüber hinaus besteht die Möglichkeit, dass Isaac als routinierter Kirchenmusiker zahlreiche Melodien auswendig kannte.5 Da ein notierter Faszikel im Besitz Isaacs nicht bekannt ist und liturgische Bücher der Hofkapelle Maximilians I. nicht erhalten sind, wird im Folgenden der Fokus auf gedruckte Gradualien gelegt. Die Herausgeber moderner Editionen der Messen Isaacs haben mehrfach versucht, die Frage der Choralvorlage(n) zu beantworten. Dabei wurde immer wieder auf eine bestimmte Ausgabe des Graduale Bezug genommen. Im Jahr 1898 gestanden die Herausgeber des 10. Bandes der Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich die Tatsache ein, dass der Forschung keine Quelle bekannt war, die man als Vorlage Isaacs ansprechen kann. Aber sie hielten fest, dass sich „uns ein sehr guter Ersatz in einem Werk bietet, […] das der Meister wohl auch gekannt haben mag. Es ist dies das Graduale Pataviense, welches Winterburger in Wien im Jahre 1511 herausgegeben hat.“6 Anton von Webern äußerte sich im Vorwort des 32.  Bandes der Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich in einer ähnlichen Weise.7 Die Verfügbarkeit des von Johannes Winterburger in Wien gedruckten Graduale Pataviense und die häufige Übereinstimmung der Cantus firmi Isaacs mit den darin mitgeteilten Melodiefassungen mach(t)en diesen 5

6 7

Vgl. Karp, „The Chant Background“ (wie Anm.  1), S.  337 und 341. Dies erscheint für Ordinariumsgesänge möglich, für Propriumsgesänge einer Diözese, in der er nie residiert hat, nämlich Konstanz, eher unwahrscheinlich. Heinrich Isaac, Choralis Constantinus, Teil 1, hrsg. von Emil Bezecný und Walter Rabl, Wien 1898 (DTÖ 10), S. XII. „In Ermanglung des […] Graduales, das Heinrich Ysaak [sic] als Vorlage gedient hat, wurde für die Betrachtung der Choralbehandlung […] Winterburgers ,Graduale Pataviense‘ (1511) benützt.“ (Heinrich Isaac, Choralis Constantinus, Teil 2, hrsg. von Anton von Webern, Wien 1909 [DTÖ 32], S. XI).

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Druck zu einer naheliegenden Vergleichsquelle. Mit der Bezeichnung Graduale Pataviense ist das Musikbuch mit den Gesängen des Ordinarium und Proprium Missae gemeint, die dem liturgischen Usus der Diözese Passau8 entsprechen. Die Zugehörigkeit der Ausgabe Winterburgers zur Passauer Tradition wird sowohl auf der Titelseite, als auch im Kolophon betont.9 Ohne jeglichen Kommentar nahm der Herausgeber des 65. Teils des Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae Übertragungen der einstimmigen liturgischen Ordinariumsmelodien auf.10 Diese entstammen einem 1488 in Basel gedruckten Gradu­ ale Romanum,11 Winterburgers Graduale Pataviense sowie einer Handschrift der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen.12 Um die liturgischen Gesänge, die Isaac als Cantus firmi verarbeitet hatte, wiederzugeben, schien es also notwendig, weitere Quellen als nur Winterburgers Graduale heranzuziehen. Sämtliche Ordinariumsmelodien im Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae zur ersten vierstimmigen Missa de Beata Maria Virgine stammen aus dem Graduale Pataviense, aber nur das Gloria wird in der originalen Tonlage mitgeteilt.13 8

9

10

11

12

13

Die Diözese Passau, ein Teil der Kirchenprovinz Salzburg, erstreckte sich über Österreich ob und unter der Enns. Erst 1469 (1480) wurden die Bistümer Wien und Wiener Neustadt gegründet. Siehe dazu u.a. Alois Niederstätter, Das Jahrhundert der Mitte. An der Wende vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit, Wien 2004 (Österreichische Geschichte 1400–1522), S. 307f., geographische Karte auf S. 301. Zur Ausgabe Winterburgers: Graduale Pataviense (Wien 1511). Faksimile, hrsg. von Christian Väterlein, Kassel 1982 (EdM 87, Abteilung Mittelalter 24); Walther Dolch, Bibliographie der österreichischen Drucke des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts (Bd. 1, H. 1: Trient, Wien, Schrattental), Wien 1913, S. 95. Übertragung und Kommentar des Kolophons des Graduale Pataviense in: David Merlin, „Das von Johannes Winterburger gedruckte Antiphonar aus dem Jahr 1519: ein Antiphonale Pataviense?“, in Cantus planus. Papers read at the 16th meet­ing Vienna Aus­ tria 2011 (Wien, 21.–27. August 2011), hrsg. von Robert Klugseder, Wien 2012, S. 265–275. Das Graduale Pataviense ist in der online-Datenbank Verzeichnis deutscher Musikfrühdrucke (vdm) mit der Nummer 272 verzeichnet, siehe . Letzter Zugriff auf sämtliche Web-Adressen am 3. März 2019. Henrici Isaac Opera Omnia, hrsg. von Edward R. Lerner, [Neuhausen-Stuttgart] 1974– (CMM 65). Die Übertragungen der einstimmigen Melodien befinden sich in Bd. 1 auf S. 96–102 sowie in Bd. 2 auf S. 93–96. Die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) findet sich im 1977 erschienenen Bd. 4 (S. 44–57). Graduale Romanum, Basel: Michael Wenssler & Jakob von Kilchen 1488. Im vdm (wie Anm. 9) sind drei Einträge zu diesem Druck verzeichnet (1275, 1276 und 1277). Welcher davon in CMM 65 verwendet wurde, lässt sich nicht eruieren. Es handelt sich um die Handschrift CH-SGs Cod. Sang. 546, die in St. Gallen um 1513 angelegt wurde, siehe: http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/list/one/csg/0546. Die Ordinariumsgesänge befinden sich in einem Faszikel am Anfang des Buches, dessen Blätter nicht nummeriert sind. Die einstimmigen Ordinariumsmelodien für die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) befinden sich in CMM 65 (wie Anm. 10) an folgenden Stellen: Kyrie und Gloria: Bd. 1, S. 99f.; Sanctus und Agnus: Bd. 2, S. 96.

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Winterburgers Graduale wurde nicht nur für moderne Ausgaben herangezogen, sondern auch im Forschungsdiskurs immer wieder neu thematisiert: mal als alleinige Quelle,14 als Ersatz (für die liturgische Tradition Wiens),15 mal als Vergleichsquelle16 oder um seine Stellung zu hinterfragen.17 Nach wie vor bleibt das Graduale Pataviense eine der geeignetesten Vergleichsquellen für die Propriums- und Ordinariumsvertonungen Isaacs. Dass sich Winterburgers Veröffentlichung früh in der Forschungsgeschichte als ideales Vergleichsbeispiel durchgesetzt hat, führte weitgehend zum Ausschluss alternativer Optionen. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt einen nochmaligen Versuch dar, weitere Möglichkeiten aufzuzeigen sowie die Problematik aus einem anderen Blickwinkel zu erhellen. Die in Tabelle  1 angeführten Drucke wurden unter dem Gesichtspunkt ihrer Verfügbarkeit an Isaacs Wirkstätten zum in Frage stehenden Zeitraum ausgewählt: Es handelt sich um Gradualien aus Italien, Österreich, der Schweiz und Süddeutschland, die Isaac als Quellen für den Cantus firmus hätten dienen können und erhalten sind. Bei der Auswahl wurden nicht nur Erscheinungsjahr und -ort, sondern auch der liturgische Usus berücksichtigt. Die Erhebung des Vergleichsmaterials stützt sich auf die Auswertung einschlägiger wissenschaftlicher online-Datenbanken.18 Das Graduale von Porro aus dem Jahr 1524 konnte der 1517 gestorbene Komponist zwar nicht verwenden; trotzdem ist wichtig, auch diese Ausgabe einzubeziehen, weil sie möglicherweise für zwei ältere Editionen dieses Verlegers repräsentativ ist (unten wird darauf noch näher eingegangen).19 14 Wie z. B. in Schmierer, Geschichte der Messe (wie Anm. 3), S. 60. 15 Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs (wie Anm. 1), Bd. 3, S. 110. 16 Wie z.B. in David J. Burn, „Analysing Sixteenth-Century Chant-Based Polyphony:

17

18

19

Some Methodological Observations, and a Case-Study from Leonhard Paminger“, in Musiktheorie 27/2 (2012), S. 144–161, mit weiterer Literatur. Vor allem in: Theodore Karp, „The Chant Background“ (wie Anm. 1), bes. S. 337; sowie ders., „Some Chant Models for Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus“, in Beyond the moon. Fest­ schrift Luther Dittmer, hrsg. von Bryan Gillingham und Paul Merkley, Ottawa 1990, S. 322–349, bes. S 323. Über vdm (wie Anm.  9) hinaus wurden folgende online-Datenbanken verwendet: RELICS. Renaissance Liturgical Imprints: A Census (University of Michigan, ) und ED16. Censimento nazionale delle edizioni italiane del XVI secolo (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche, ). Weitere Gradualien, die zwar zu Lebzeiten Isaacs hergestellt wurden, werden im vorliegenden Beitrag nicht berücksichtigt. Sie sind entweder möglicherweise zu alt (um 1473), waren außerhalb der Reichweite Isaacs verbreitet (Granada) oder spiegeln offensichtlich die liturgischen Gebräuche anderer, weit entfernter Diözesen wider (Straßburg und Le Mans in Frankreich, Aarhus in Dänemark, Salisbury in Südengland). Es war leider nicht möglich, das Graduale Romanum von Moilli (Parma 1477), die Turiner Ausgaben von

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Im Kyriale-Teil jeder herangezogenen Quelle wurden die jeweils mit den Cantus firmi Isaacs kompatiblen Ordinariumsmelodien bestimmt und ihre jeweilige Rubrik in einer dafür reservierten Spalte in Tabelle 1 wiedergegeben. Ferner wird auf den Eintrag in der Datenbank Verzeichnis deutscher Musikfrühdrucke verwiesen,20 wobei für die Quellen italienischer Provenienz auf Marco Gozzis Katalog der „Biblioteca musicale L. Feininger“, eine der wichtigsten Sammlungen von Liturgica in Italien, hingewiesen wird.21 Nicht alle herangezogenen Gradualien enthalten vergleichbare Melodien für alle vier Ordinariumsgesänge, weil die Diözesen weder dieselbe Zahl an Melodien noch dieselben Melodien für denselben Festrang verwendeten. Außerdem waren die Ordinariumsgesänge für marianische Messen nicht überall die gleichen.22 Es gibt aber (mindestens) drei Ausgaben,23 die vergleichbare Melodien für alle vier Sätze der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) enthalten:24 das Graduale Romanum von Ratdolt, das Graduale Romanum von Giunta und das Graduale Pataviense von Winterburger. Häufig weisen die liturgischen Rubriken auf die marianische Verehrung hin. Manchmal lauten sie nur allgemein: de Beata Virgine, de veneratione Beatae Virginis (z.B. im Graduale Romanum vom Ratdolt). In der ersten Ausgabe des Graduale Romanum von Giunta wird der Samstag als Tag für die Messe mit besonderer marianischer Verehrung erwähnt. Manchmal wird zwar von den Rubriken der Festrang der Messe präzisiert, jedoch nicht auf eine marianische Bestimmung hingewiesen: in summis festivitatibus et de patronibus steht beim Agnus im Graduale Herbipolense, in festivitatibus minoribus duplicibus bei Sanctus und Agnus im Graduale Romanum von Giunta. Im Graduale Pataviense werden die von Isaac verwendeten Melodien von Kyrie und Gloria als solenne maius eingestuft, jene von Sanctus und Agnus hingegen bloß als mediocriter – jedoch werden sämtliche der marianischen Devotion zugeordnet. Isaac hat sich für seine Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) vier Ordinariumsmelodien bedient, die im Bezug zum Kultus der Gottesmutter standen.

20 21 22 23

24

Porro aus den Jahren 1512 und 1514 sowie jene von Prüss aus dem Jahr 1501 miteinzubeziehen. Wie Anm. 9. Marco Gozzi, Le fonti liturgiche a stampa della Biblioteca musicale L. Feininger presso il Castello del Buonconsiglio di Trento, 2 Bde., Trento 1994 (Patrimonio storico e artistico del Trentino 17). Vgl. Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 33. Eigentlich sind es fünf Gradualien: Geht man davon aus, dass Sanctus und Agnus der Ausgabe Giunta 1513–1516, die im konsultierten Exemplar wegen einer Lakune fehlen, mit jenen der Ausgabe 1499–1500 übereinstimmen, kommt man auf vier Gradualausgaben. Dazu kommt noch das Graduale von Porro aus dem Jahr 1524. Dieser Ordinariumszyklus enthält kein Credo.

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Tabelle 1. Verwendete Gradualeausgaben25 Graduale

Ort

Drucker

Jahr

Romanum

Basel

Wenssler

Folio

Rubrik

kompatible Melodien

vdm

1488 176v

-

Kyrie, Gloria

1275

183

-

Sanctus

De veneratione BV

Kyrie, Gloria

107r

De B V

Sanctus, Agnus

1496 291

r

26

Romanum

Augsburg

Herbipolense Würzburg

Romanum27

Ratdolt

Reyser

Venedig Giunta

1494 88rv –98

De B V

Kyrie

295v

-

Sanctus

296v

Agnus In summis festivitatibus et de patronibus

v

In festivitatibus sancte Marie V et in commemoratione in diebus sabbatorum

Kyrie, Gloria

335v

In festivitatibus minoribus duplicibus

Sanctus

De B Maria V

Kyrie, Gloria

Aliud festive

Sanctus

De B Maria V

Sanctus, Agnus 273

r

Gregorianum28

Straßburg

Prüss

Augustense

Basel

Wolff v. 1511 171 Pforzheim

26 27

28 29

1050

1499 348r – 1500

336

25

1082

1510 n.n.29 n.n. r

-

Agnus 659

Sämtliche transalpine Quellen weisen deutsch-gotische Choralnotation auf. Die italienischen Gradualien bedienen sich der Quadratnotation. Die Angaben in der Spalte „Rubrik“ folgen der Schreibweise des Originals. Die Spalte „vdm“ enthält die Katalognummer der online-Datenbank Verzeichnis deutscher Musikfrühdrucke (wie Anm.  9). Legende: B = Beata/ae; n.n. = nicht nummeriert; V = Virgine/is; - = nicht vorhanden. Zweibändige Ausgabe. Das Kyriale befindet sich im ersten Band (1494). Zweibändige Ausgabe, die von Franciscus de Brugis herausgegeben und von Emerich de Spira gedruckt wurde. Der Verleger Lucantonio Giunta finanzierte sie; vgl. dazu Gozzi, Le fonti liturgiche a stampa (wie Anm. 21), S. 437–438. Das Kyriale befindet sich im zweiten Band (1500). Von diesem Graduale existiert eine frühere Ausgabe (Straßburg: Prüss 1501; vdm 660). Das Kyrie befindet sich auf dem Verso des sechsten Blattes des Anfangsfaszikels, das ­Gloria folgt.

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Ort

Drucker

Jahr

Folio

Pataviense

Wien

Winterburger

1511 180r 190v

Romanum31

Romanum32

Venedig Giunta

Turin

Porro

Rubrik

kompatible Melodien

vdm

De B V solenne maius

Kyrie, Gloria30

272

Mediocriter de B V

Sanctus, Agnus

1513 364r De B V Maria –16 Lakune [?]

Kyrie, Gloria

1524 188r

33

Kyrie, Gloria

In festivitatibus minoribus duplicibus

Sanctus, Agnus

182

r

-

[Sanctus, Agnus] -

Zum Graduale Romanum von Giunta von 1513–1516 ist anzumerken, dass es sich um eine kaum veränderte Ausgabe des Graduale von 1499–1500 handelt. In dem für die Vorbereitung des vorliegenden Beitrags verwendeten Exemplar des Graduale Giunta 1513–1516 fehlen die Seiten, auf denen Sanctus und Agnus zu finden wären. Wo es möglich war Vergleiche durchzuführen, sind die Melodien der Ordinariumsgesänge, die für die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) relevant sind, in beiden Ausgaben vollkommen identisch. Es liegt also die Annahme nahe, dass dies auch für Sanctus und Agnus gilt. Aus der Turiner Werkstatt der Gebrüder Porro sind mehrere Gradualeausgaben bekannt. Sie stammen aus den Jahren 1512, 1514 und 1524.34 Für die Exemplare von 1512 und 1524 sind die Namen der jeweiligen Korrektoren dem Kolophon zu entnehmen. Im Kolophon der Ausgabe von 1524 wird explizit geäußert, dass auch die Melodien, und nicht nur der Text, verbessert wurden.35 30 31 32 33 34

35

Das Incipit (Gloria… Deo) ist eine Terz zu tief notiert. Ein Schlüsselwechsel wurde vergessen. Zweibändige Ausgabe. Nachdruck der Ausgabe 1499–1500, vgl. Gozzi, Le fonti liturgiche a stampa (wie Anm. 21), S. 438–439. Siehe ebda., S. 440. Im verwendeten Exemplar unleserlich. Vgl. Gozzi, Le fonti liturgiche a stampa (wie Anm. 21), S. 440. Nur die Datenbank RELICS (wie Anm. 18) erwähnt eine weitere Ausgabe aus dem Jahr 1514 im Quarto-Format (!). Porros Vorwort zum Graduale von 1514 wird in Giuseppe Vernazza, Lezione sopra la stampa, Cagliari 1778, S. 34–37, vollständig transkribiert. Giuseppe Vernazza diskutiert die Datierung der Gradualien von 1512 bzw. 1514, siehe ders., Appendice alla lezione sopra la stampa, Torino 1787, S. 31f. Die Herausgeber Eustachio Porta und Giovanni Antonio Lenonus (oder de Lenionibus) schrieben im Vorwort des Graduale Porros von 1524: „notas, pausas, neumasque quae superfluere videbantur, quae autem vagatim oberrabant operam dedimus ut suis in locis

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Bei den Korrektoren, die die einzelnen Ausgaben berichtigt haben, handelt es sich um verschiedene Personen. Nach dem heutigen Stand der Forschung lässt sich weder feststellen, ob Isaac die Ausgaben von 1512 oder 1514 gekannt hat, noch ob sie mit der Ausgabe von 1524 übereinstimmen. Isaac hat klarerweise nicht die jüngste Ausgabe Porros verwenden können; allerdings stimmt deren Fassung der vier Ordinariumsmelodien, die als Vorlagen für die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) in Frage kommen, mit jener der beiden Gradualien von Giunta vollkommen überein.36 Ein Vergleich zwischen den drei Gradualeausgaben von Porro bleibt noch aus, daher kann eine Übereinstimmung der Lesarten nicht vorausgesetzt werden. Dennoch ist davon auszugehen, dass auch die ersten zwei Ausgaben eine Fassung der Melodien überliefern, die den beiden (miteinander übereinstimmenden) Ausgaben von Giunta nahesteht bzw. mit diesen eine größere Ähnlichkeit aufweist als mit der transalpinen Melodienüberlieferung. Aus diesen Gründen wurde das autoptisch überprüfte Graduale von 1524 hier berücksichtigt. Im Folgenden werden die Incipits sämtlicher Sätze der ersten vierstimmigen Missa de Beata Maria Virgine Isaacs betrachtet, insbesondere wird der Cantus firmus den Lesarten der herangezogenen Gradualeausgaben gegenübergestellt. Antworten auf offene Fragen und Schlussfolgerungen werden im letzten Abschnitt präsentiert. Im Anhang sind vergleichende Transkriptionen beigelegt, denen editorische Anmerkungen vorangehen.37 Das erste Kyrie der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) weist keinen Cantus firmus mit längeren Notenwerten auf. Notenbeispiel 1 betrifft das Christe, die vierte und sechste Akklamation des Kyrie. Dazwischen wurde eine Christe-Akklamation einstimmig gesungen oder an der Orgel gespielt.38 Eine dem Cantus fi ­ rmus Isaacs entsprechende Kyrie-Melodie ist in sechs gedruckten Gradualien zu ­fi nden (vgl. die Spalte „kompatible Melodien“ in Tabelle 1). In allen herangezogenen Quellen ist die Melodie eine Quart tiefer als bei Isaac notiert (Anfangs- und Schlussnote dieser Stelle ist a), Isaac hat also das liturgische Modell auf die Oberquarte transponiert. In Ratdolt und Prüss wird kein

36 37

38

collocarentur“ – siehe Gozzi, Le fonti liturgiche a stampa (wie Anm. 21), S. 440. Eine Ausnahme bildet ein vereinzeltes Erniedrigungszeichen, das den Herausgebern zuzuschreiben ist (siehe den Kommentar zum Agnus). Für Verweise auf die jeweiligen Katalognummern in den Verzeichnissen der Ordinariumsgesänge: Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), Tabelle auf S. 28. Für die Angaben der Modi sowie der Nummer der Ordinariumsgesänge laut der Editio Vaticana: Christiane Wiesenfeldt, Majestas Mariae. Studien zu marianischen Choralordinarien des 16. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart 2012 (Beihefte zum Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 70), Tabelle auf S. 121. Für eine Darstellung des Alternatims im Kyrie der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I): Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs (wie Anm. 1), Bd. 3, S. 116.

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Erniedrigungszeichen notiert. Bis auf einige fehlende Noten laufen die Choralfassungen und der Cantus firmus parallel, und zwar auch dann, wenn die Notenwerte der Discantusstimme kürzer werden. Es fehlt in allen Vergleichsquellen die erste Note Isaacs auf e(leison). Nur Winterburger hat das f als ersten Ton auf [e]lei(son), alle andere Gradualien weisen diesen nicht auf. Von Ratdolt abgesehen fehlt außerdem in den Vergleichsquellen die drittletzte Note des Cantus firmus. Die vorletzte Note Isaacs ist nur in Prüss und Winterburger zu finden. Giunta zeigt deutlich eine vereinfachte Fassung: Allein innerhalb dieses kurzen Melodiesegments fehlen fünf Noten im Vergleich zur Lesart Winterburgers. Zusammenfassend lässt sich festhalten, dass die Melodie von Giunta insofern hervorsticht, als sie weder mit der Fassung Isaacs noch mit jener der transalpinen Drucke kompatibel ist. Dabei sei nicht vergessen, dass das Graduale von Porro mit jenem von Giunta in den hier relevanten Gesängen vollkommen übereinstimmt. Überdies steht unter den Fassungen der gedruckten Gradualien jene des Graduale Pataviense Winterburgers der Melodik bei Isaac am nächsten, wenn auch keine vollständige Übereinstimmung vorliegt. Auch im zweiten Kyrie39 liegt der Cantus firmus bei Isaac gegenüber den sechs gedruckten Gradualien, die eine vergleichbare Melodie aufweisen (vgl. Tabelle  1), eine Quarte höher. Die Melodien laufen parallel, die vierte und fünfte Note auf e(leison) sind aber bei Isaac einen Ton höher: b und a statt a und g. Somit ergibt sich im Cantus firmus eine Folge von vier absteigenden Tönen (b-a-g-f ). Weder die Note d, wie in Winterburger, Ratdolt und Wenssler, noch die Note c, wie in Prüss und Reyser, wird wiederholt. Offen muss bleiben, ob der Unterschied in den Tonhöhen (b und a statt a und g) bereits in der von Isaac verwendeten Vorlage enthalten war, oder ob der Komponist die liturgische Melodie modifiziert hat. Mitten im Melisma auf e(leison) sind drei Noten im Cantus firmus vorhanden, die einen kürzeren Wert aufweisen und eine Abweichung bei der Transposition darstellen. Anstatt g-f-g, so würde die reine Quarttransposition lauten, bringt der Cantus firmus die Noten f-g-a. Erneut erhebt sich die Frage, ob die Ursache dieses Unterschieds in Isaacs Vorlagen oder in seiner kompositorischen Verarbeitung lag. Aufgrund der Verkürzung der Notenwerte liegt der zweite Grund freilich näher. Der Schluss dieses Melodiesegments umfasst bei Isaac elf Noten mehr als in den sechs Gradualien. Isaac setzt diese Noten in einen längeren Wert um, so als ob sie der liturgischen Melodie entnommen wären. Stammen diese Noten aus der Hand Isaacs oder handelt es sich hier um einen melodischen Zusatz, um einen meloformen Tropus,40 der bereits in der Vorlage vorhanden war? 39 40

Siehe CMM 65 (wie Anm. 10), Bd. 4, S. 45. „Je nach Art der Zusätze spricht man […] von meloformen T.[ropen] (rein melodische

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Die ersten drei von Isaac komponierten Teile des Gloria41 (laudamus te, adoramus te, gratias agimus) können den Fassungen aus fünf gedruckten Gradualien gegenübergestellt werden (vgl. Tabelle 1). Vor und zwischen diesen drei mehrstimmig ausgesetzten Textabschnitten müssen die fehlenden Segmente einstimmig ergänzt oder an der Orgel gespielt werden.42 Isaac transponierte in diesem Fall die liturgische Melodie nicht. Am Anfang laufen die chorale und die polyphone Fassung parallel, Änderungen sind erst am Ende des Wortes adoramus zu beobachten. Hier füllt Isaac das Terzintervall f-a mit einer Durchgangsnote von kürzerer Dauer und fügt die Subfinalis hinzu (auch diese Note ist von kürzerer Dauer), der eine Antizipation der Finalis vorangeht. Diese drei Noten sind in keiner der herangezogenen Gradualien zu finden. Sie sind ein kleiner Zusatz, den Isaac im Laufe der Verwandlung der Melodie von der liturgischen Monodie zum Cantus firmus einer mehrstimmigen Komposition hinzugefügt hat: Sie tragen zur Bildung der Diskantklausel bei. Auf den Silben (agi)mus ti(bi) weist der Cantus Firmus zwei c mehr auf als die Lesart von Winterburger. Das zweite c ist eine von Isaac ergänzte Wechselnote. Auch hier handelt es sich um eine Diskantklausel, das c führt über die Kadenz nach d. Darüber hinaus finden sich die drei Noten am Schluss dieses Teils (Wechselnote, Finalis und Subfinalis) in keiner der herangezogenen Quellen, was die Vermutung erhärtet, dass sie von Isaac zur Ausgestaltung der Schlusskadenz, d.h. zur Bildung einer Diskantklausel, hinzugefügt wurden. Für das Sanctus43 kann der Cantus firmus mit den Fassungen sieben gedruckter Gradualien verglichen werden (vgl. Tabelle 1). Abermals transponiert Isaac die liturgische Melodie auf die Oberquarte; sie wird nach einem imitativen Auftakt (den ersten fünf Tönen in Bass und Tenor) noch einmal vom Discantus intoniert, ähnlich wie es bereits in Kyrie und Gloria der Fall war. Sämtliche Töne auf das Wort gloria werden vom Discantus zuerst mit kürzeren Notenwerten vorgetragen; dann, nach einem freikomponierten Abschnitt, kehren die Noten der Kadenz auf (glo)ria (d-c-d-f-c-a) noch einmal in längeren Notenwerten wieder. Die zweite und dritte Note auf der Silbe glo(ria) sind in keiner Vergleichsquelle zu finden. Höchstwahrscheinlich wurden sie von Isaac hin-

41 42

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Zusätze: Melismen), melogenen T. (rein textliche Zusätze: Austextierung von Melismen) und logogenen T. (zusätzliche text-melodische Einheit).“, aus: Franz Karl Praßl, Art. „Tropus“, in Österreichisches Musiklexikon online, . Siehe CMM 65 (wie Anm. 10), Bd. 4, S. 46. Für eine tabellarische Darstellung der aus Ein- und Mehrstimmigkeit samt marianischem Tropus resultierende Struktur des Gloria: Wiesenfeldt, Majestas Mariae (wie Anm.  37), Tabelle auf S. 124. Über dieses Gloria siehe auch: Wiesenfeldt, „Funktion und Distanz“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 138f.; Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs (wie Anm. 1), Bd. 3, S. 117. Siehe CMM 65 (wie Anm. 10), Bd. 4, S. 53.

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zugefügt, zudem ist eine davon von sehr kurzer Dauer (e). Abgesehen von diesen zwei Noten bleibt Isaac dem melodischen Profil des liturgischen Gesangs treu, auch wenn der Cantus firmus nicht mit langen Notenwerten gesungen wird. Obwohl verziert, ist die Struktur der Tonfolge des liturgischen Models ( f-e-d-d) auch in der vom Discantus gesungenen Melodie auf dem Wort tua erkennbar. Im Benedictus liegt der Cantus firmus auf die Oberquart transponiert im Tenor. Nicht in allen herangezogenen Gradualien ist der marianische Tropus (beginnend mit Mariae filius) überliefert, so fehlt er bei Giunta, Prüss und ­Reyser. Auf (fi)lius qui läuft der Cantus firmus nicht parallel zum Choral, sondern im Verhältnis Sext, Quint, Terz, Einklang und Quint. Isaac verändert also das melodische Profil seines Modells – sofern er sich nicht auf eine Quelle mit einer abweichenden Überlieferung der Tropusmelodie stützte. Der Cantus firmus des Agnus – es handelt sich hier um die zweite Akklamation – kann mit fünf der herangezogenen Gradualien verglichen werden (siehe Notenbeispiel  2 und Tabelle  1). Die Töne der liturgischen Melodie auf nobis fehlen in der Komposition Isaacs. Reyser und Winterburger stimmen miteinander fast vollständig überein, nur am Schluss wird bei Reyser die Finalis nicht verdoppelt (aus diesem Grund steht in der Übertragung die letzte Note in eckigen Klammern). Die Lesarten von Ratdolt und Wolff gleichen sich vollkommen. In diesen Ausgaben wird kein Erniedrigungszeichen notiert. Außerdem umfassen sie vier Noten mehr als Winterburger und Reyser. Auffällig ist die Übereinstimmung zwischen Ratdolt und Wolff. Dies könnte darauf hindeuten, dass sich Wolff am Druck Ratdolts orientierte, zumal ein Basler Plagiat eines Augsburger liturgischen Druckwerkes belegt ist.44 In Giunta fehlen nicht nur einige Noten, wie übrigens in allen anderen Sätze der Messe auch, sondern die Melodie ist um einen Ton höher notiert. Zwischen den zwei h auf (mun)di mi(serere) steht im Graduale von Porro ein Erniedrigungszeichen – im Unterschied zu Giunta weist es für diesen Gesang kein b als Generalvorzeichen auf. Dies stellt die einzige Abweichung zwischen Porro und Giunta im Rahmen sämtlicher hier betrachteter Ordinariumsgesänge dar. Die Positionierung eines Erniedrigungszeichens an dieser Stelle ist als prophylaktische Maßnahme gegen den Tritonus zu verstehen. In Isaacs Messe befindet sich der Cantus firmus zuerst im Bass um eine Undezime tieftransponiert, dann im Tenor sowie im Discantus (auf mundi) mit Versetzung in die Oberquint, anschließend wieder im Tenor (auf miserere) ebenfalls 44

Siehe David Merlin, „Die falschen Zwillingsbrüder, ossia zweimal (fast) dasselbe antiphonarium Augustense“, in Theorie und Geschichte der Monodie. Bericht der internationalen Tagung Wien 2012, hrsg. von Martin Czernin und Maria Pischlöger, Brno 2014 (Theorie und Geschichte der Monodie 7), S. 575–601.

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in Oberquinttransposition. In Notenbeispiel  2 entsprechen die Notendauern des Cantus firmus exakt der Edition. Bis auf Gruppen von schnelleren Noten am Schluss der Segmente auf die Worte (pec)ca(ta) und (mise)re[-re], welche in der Einstimmigkeit nicht vorkommen und mit Sicherheit von Isaac hinzugefügt wurden, laufen die chorale und die polyphone Fassung der Melodie konstant parallel, auch im Fall von Tönen mit kürzeren Notenwerten, wie z.B. auf peccata. Isaac hat hier die Choralmelodie nicht als Cantus firmus mit langen Notenwerten verwendet, sondern er hat sie rhythmisiert, und zwar in einer Art und Weise, die dem ihm sicherlich vertrauten Repertoire des Cantus fractus nahe kommt.45 Abschließend einige Überlegungen, die von Isaacs Choralvorlagen über seine Behandlung des Chorals bis hin zur Liturgie der Hofkapelle Maximilians führen. Unter Anwendung von drei gedruckten Gradualien hatte bereits Martin Staehelin die Hypothese einer Affiliation zur Diözese Augsburg attenuiert.46 Wie die Liste in Tabelle  1 zeigt, ist die – vorgegebene oder doch von Isaac durchgeführte? – Melodienauswahl für die Cantus firmi mit Gradualien des römischen Ritus oder der Tradition der Diözese Passau zu vereinbaren. Dass die Lesart der Melodien der Ausgaben von Giunta, Ratdolt und Wennsler miteinander nicht übereinstimmen, obwohl es sich bei allen drei um ein Graduale Romanum handelt, sollte – wie generell im Bereich der Quellen für die einstimmigen liturgischen Gesänge – nicht verwundern. Deutlich kristallisieren sich mehrere Techniken Isaacs für die Bearbeitung der Choralmelodie heraus. Folgende Beobachtungen beziehen sich allein auf die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I), erheben also keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit, stehen aber in Korrespondenz mit den Ergebnissen anderer Untersuchungen.47 Isaac modifiziert die Choralmelodie durch Transposition, Hinzufügung, Wiederholung, Versetzung, Kürzung sowie Rhythmisierung. Die Transpositionen erfolgen meistens auf die Oberquart, gelegentlich auf die 45

46 47

Hier trifft folgende Behauptung besonders zu: „cantus firmi of Obrecht and others are the fragmented reflections of a lost performance tradition of chant“; siehe M. Jennifer Bloxam, „Sacred Polyphony and Local Traditions of Liturgy and Plainsong: Reflections on Music by Jacob Obrecht“, in Plainsong in the Age of Polyphony, hrsg. von Thomas Forrest Kelly, Cambridge 1992 (Cambridge Studies in Performance Practice 2), S. 140–177, hier S. 171. Siehe Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs (wie Anm. 1), Bd. 3, S. 109–112. Über die Behandlung des einstimmigen liturgischen Modells in Isaacs Werken: ebda., Bd. 3, S. 124–132; Burn, „Vom Choral zur Polyphonie“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 113. Für eine Untersuchung in Werken Obrechts: Bloxam, „Sacred Polyphony and Local Traditions“ (wie Anm. 45); sowie dies., „Plainsong and Polyphony for the Blessed Virgin: Notes on Two Masses by Jacob Obrecht“, in JM 12 (1994), S. 51–75.

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Oktave oder auf die Oberquinte.48 Zusätze erfolgen durch Ergänzung einer oder mehrerer Durchgangsnote/n, einer oder mehrerer Wechselnote/n, einer kurzen tonleiterartigen Wendung oder durch Hinzufügung von Finalis und Subfinalis in den Kadenzen. Letztgenannte dienen dazu, die Melodie des Cantus firmus als Discantusstimme in der Klauselbildung zu führen. Die Wiederholung eines Melodiesegments findet sich im Sanctus-Satz der Messe, es handelt sich dabei gleichsam um eine doppelte Exposition, einmal mit längeren, einmal mit kürzeren Notenwerten. Manchmal interveniert Isaac durch Versetzung eines kleinen Melodiesegments um einen Ton bzw. um eine Terz nach oben oder nach unten. Meistens sind davon zwei oder drei, in einem Fall sechs Töne betroffen. Es kann aber auch vorkommen, dass zwei versetzte Melodiesegmente aufeinanderfolgen (wie im Gloria). Transpositionen solcher Art sind dadurch erklärbar, dass Tonwiederholungen vermieden sowie die polyphone Verarbeitung abwechslungsreicher gestaltet werden sollen. Schließlich kann die liturgische Einstimmigkeit in einer Art und Weise rhythmisiert werden, die stark dem Stil des Cantus fractus ähnelt (wie im Agnus). Im Fall des melodischen Zusatzes im Kyrie trifft die Annahme, die Choralvorlage habe einen meloformen Tropus enthalten, wohl eher nicht zu. Vielmehr dürften diese Noten eine freie Hinzufügung seitens des Komponisten sein. Sie sind in keiner der herangezogenen Gradualien zu finden. Hierzu wäre allerdings ein Vergleich mit älteren handschriftlichen Quellen aufschlussreich. Die Subfinalis und die Antizipation der Finalis stammen sicherlich von Isaacs Hand, da sie zur Bildung der Diskantklausel dienen. Einerseits alterniert Isaac freikomponierte Stellen mit Episoden des Cantus firmus, andererseits schreibt er eine Stimme der Polyphonie, der die Struktur der liturgischen Melodie zugrundeliegt (wie im Sanctus). Selten wird die Choralmelodie frei modifiziert, wie beim Tropus im Benedictus (auf die Silben [ fi]lius qui) – dabei handelt es sich bloß um sechs Noten. Auch in diesem Fall könnte ein Vergleich mit älteren Quellen klären, ob Isaacs Fassung eine andere Version der Choralmelodie zugrunde liegt (was allerdings unwahrscheinlich anmutet). Die Cantus firmi Isaacs sind mit Melodien aus zeitgenössischen Gradualeausgaben, d.h. mit Quellen verglichen worden, die explizit entweder dem römischen Ritus oder einem diözesanen Usus entsprechen. Die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine wurde nicht für eine Kathedrale, sondern für die Hofkapelle Maximilians komponiert. Wahrscheinlich stammen die liturgischen Modelle

48

Über Transpositionen der Choralmelodien in Isaacs Messen: Staehelin, Die Messen Hein­ rich Isaacs (wie Anm. 1), Bd. 3, S. 126f.

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aus den liturgischen Büchern der Hofkapelle.49 Da diese nicht erhalten sind, stellt sich wiederum die Frage, welchem liturgischen Usus die Hofkapelle Maximilians folgte, oder ob sie über einen eigenen verfügte. Eine Übereinstimmung aller vier Ordinariumsgesänge besteht nur zum Graduale Romanum von Giunta (samt Porro) und jenem von Ratdolt sowie zum Graduale Pataviense Winterburgers. Dennoch differieren die Melodiefassungen von Giunta (samt Porro) und Ratdolt stark von jenen Isaacs. Darüber hinaus enthalten die Ausgaben von Giunta und Porro keine Tropierung im Sanctus. Dass sich die Hofkapelle Maximilians, und somit sein Hofkomponist Isaac, für das liturgische Melodiengut keiner Quellen aus Italien bediente, verwundert nicht.50 Da die Kapelle Maximilians (auch) jene des Herzogs von Österreich war und das Herzogtum Österreich größtenteils dem Bistum Passau zugehörte, liegt eine Affinität zur Passauer Melodienüberlieferung deutlich näher als eine Übereinstimmung mit einem im Augsburg redigierten Graduale Roma­ num. Ist daraus aber zu schließen, dass die Liturgie der Kapelle Maximilians dem Usus der Diözese Passau folgte? Eine vollkommene Übereinstimmung der melodischen Fassungen liegt auch zwischen dem Graduale Pataviense und der hier untersuchten Messe Isaacs nicht vor. Dem Passauer Graduale nach gehören zudem die vier von Isaac verwendeten Melodien zu zwei unterschiedlichen Festrängen: solenne maius bzw. mediocriter. Ist diese Kombination als „künstlerische Freiheit“, die sich Isaac erlaubt hat, zu interpretieren, oder – und das ist wahrscheinlicher – deutet sie auf Unterschiede zwischen der Liturgie der Hofkapelle und jener des Bistums Passau hin? Isaac hat keine der hier betrachteten Quellen als Vorlage verwendet. Dies gilt eben auch für Winterburgers Graduale, das zu Recht in der Forschung immer wieder als die Vergleichsquelle schlechthin herangezogen wurde. Allerdings sind auch hier markante Diskrepanzen zu beobachten. Hinzu kommt, dass Isaac rund fünfzehn Jahre vor dem Erscheinungsjahr dieser Gradualeausgabe (1511) für Maximilian zu komponieren begonnen hatte (1496).51 „Isaac’s model was not from Passau itself, but from an area reflecting its influence”,52 schrieb Theodore Karp bezüglich des Choralis Constantinus. Wenn die Tradition des Passauer Hochstiftes nicht „in Reinform“ Grundlage der Liturgie der Hofkapelle Maximilians war, dann vielleicht der Usus einer Kathedrale ähnlicher Natur wie des Domes zu Wien bzw. zu Wiener ­Neustadt. 49 50 51 52

Vgl. Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beate Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 36. Vgl. Karp, „The Chant Background“ (wie Anm. 1), S. 338. Vgl. Karp, „Some Chant Models“ (wie Anm. 17), S. 323f., und Burn, „Heinrich Isaac’s Missae de Beata Maria Virgine in Context“ (wie Anm. 2), S. 36. Karp, „Some Chant Models“ (wie Anm. 17), S. 322.

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Eine Arbeitshypothese, die freilich zunächst auf eine breitere Materialbasis zu stellen wäre, könnte also lauten, dass Isaacs einstimmige Modelle an einer anderen, dennoch geographisch nicht weit entfernten Stelle zu suchen ist – vor allem an einer Institution mit einer sehr ähnlichen liturgischen Tradition und Melodieüberlieferung. Notenbeispiele Erklärungen zu den vergleichenden Transkriptionen der Melodien: — Die Melodik des Cantus firmus aus der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) von Heinrich Isaac ist der Edition im Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae (wie Anm. 10) entnommen und wird vollständig wiedergegeben samt Textierung, Ligaturen und Akzidentien. — Alle langen Notenwerte des Cantus firmus (breves, longae, maximae) sind einheitlich mit einer Ganzen übertragen worden. Sonst werden die Notenwerte so belassen, wie sie in der Edition aufscheinen. — Pausen, die sich im Original zwischen den Segmenten des Cantus firmus befinden, werden nicht berücksichtigt. — Aus Winterburgers Graduale Pataviense werden Melodie und Textierung vollständig transkribiert.

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THE TWO EGENOLFF TENOR PARTBOOKS IN BERN

Two years ago, Royston Gustavson located two new partbooks printed by Christian Egenolff.1 For some of us it was the find of the decade, because they were tenor partbooks for the set of discantus partbooks bound together in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, famously described and discussed by Nanie Bridgman in 1955.2 Bridgman had identified the printer as Christian ­Egenolff and had provided a thematic index of the contents of the three volumes. L ­ ater, Martin Staehelin had substantially added to Bridgman’s findings, noting in particular that a lot of the bassus voices from one of those three books were available in an isolated manuscript bassus partbook in Heilbronn (D-HBa MS X/2).3 Gustavson’s discovery was characteristic of the thorough scholar that he is. None of the three Paris discantus partbooks has a title; but he identified the probable titles of the partbooks from a bibliography printed in Utrecht in 1608, given that the three were cited together and their titles beautifully matched the contents of the books in Paris. Then by the most roundabout web searches he located these two volumes in the Swiss National Library in Bern – books that had been in the library since 1898 but had somehow escaped inclusion in RISM or any other musical cataloguing project. Gustavson used that information as the basis for an entirely new catalogue of Egenolff’s music prints, in which he

1

2 3

Royston Gustavson, ‘The music editions of Christian Egenolff: a new catalogue and its implications’, in Early Music Printing in German-Speaking Lands, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-­ Brandl, Elisabeth Giselbrecht, and Grantley McDonald (London, 2018), 153–95. Nanie Bridgman, ‘Christian Egenolff imprimeur de musique: à propos du recueil Rés. Vm7. 504 de la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris’, in AnnMl 3 (1955), 77–177. Martin Staehelin, ‘Zum Egenolff-Diskantband der Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Ein Beitrag zur musikalischen Quellenkunde der 1. Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts’, in AfMw 23 (1966), 93–109.

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demonstrates that the three undated volumes in Paris must indeed have been printed in 1535 and 1536, as Nanie Bridgman had guessed sixty years ago. On the other hand, Gustavson, who is primarily a bibliographer, had no major interest in the music; and he kindly allowed me to offer the first statement about the musical contents of the new partbooks. At the time, I announced to various interested parties that I was doing this. But somehow the project got buried under other items. Now seems the moment to present my findings about the music, not least because the tenor partbooks contain what was not available in the discantus partbooks in Paris, namely ascriptions. Of particular interest was an entirely new Isaac ascription for an anonymous work that I had rather thought may be by Josquin; in addition, there is a new Josquin ascription for a work that was previously known only from an extremely late ascription to Moulu; and an Agricola ascription for an otherwise unknown piece. And for the three-voice volume, the new tenor partbook neatly complements what we have from Heilbronn, with the result that nine pieces can be transcribed for the first time. What we have here are two volumes, which Staehelin correctly argued in 1966 were one of four-voice songs, almost all in French, and one of threevoice songs, predominantly in French but also in Latin, German and Italian. As Staehelin had guessed, none of these songs has more text than an opening identification tag. Table  1 lists the ascriptions for these two volumes in Bern. A very large number of them come from Petrucci’s first two music prints, the Odhecaton A of 1501 (RISM 15011) and the Canti  B of 1502 (RISM 15022). I can also give the volumes their original titles, as found on the newly discovered tenor partbooks. Royston Gustavson has made a plausible case that Egenolff took his Canti B pieces from the Peter Schöffer’s reprint of 1513 under the title Quinqua­ gena carminum (RISM 15134)– a book that survives as only a single partbook in Innsbruck.4 But the ascriptions go back to Petrucci, so that’s how I have listed them; and by and large Egenolff, like Schöffer before him, copied Petrucci’s ascriptions accurately. But it is obviously the ones that we did not already know from Petrucci that are interesting. We can begin with a Josquin ascription that really cannot be right. This is for a three-voice piece entitled ‘Comment’, no.  50 in the three-voice volume. Staehelin had identified this in 1970 as the ‘Pleni’ movement from Isaac’s four-voice mass Comment peult avoir joye, the whole mass credited to Isaac in

4

Its existence was first reported in Walter Senn, ‘Das Sammelwerk “Quinquagena Carminum” aus der Officin Peter Schöffers d. J.’, in AMl 36 (1964), 183–5.

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Correct Text

Ascription

Petrucci

Other Sources

MuWi_Bd11_K12_RZ.indd 125

ANTIONES SELECTISSIMAE LXVIII VOCUM TRIUM ([Egenolff: 1536]) C 1 Ich hab mich recht gehalten H. Heyg D-HBa MS X/2 ‘I Heygel’; D-Kl 8o Mus. 53b in hand of the composer and dated 15 February 1535 3 Der hundt Isaac handwritten ascription ‘H. Isac’, in RISM 15389 (D-Bhm copy only) 6 Das lang Lud Senfl handwritten ascription ‘LS’ in RISM 15389 (both copies) 7 Pensif mari Ja Tadinghen Odhecaton ‘Ja Tadinghen’ 8 Cela sans plus Josquin Odhecaton ‘Josquin’ endorsed by further sources 9 Le renvoy Compere Odhecaton ‘Compere’

CANTIONES VOCUM QUATUOR (Egenolph: [1536]) 3 Plus mils regretz Plus nulz regretz Josquin endorsed by many further sources 5 Mille regretz H. Ysaac not otherwise known 6 An bois an bois Au bois au bois Josquin in RISM 155615, with ascription to ‘Moullu’ 12 Pardones moy Ant. Fevin I-Fc Basevi 2442 ‘Anton Feuvin’; I-CTb 95–6/ F-Pn 1817, anon.; CH-Zz 169 with bassus 17 J’ay pris amo. J’ai pris amours Obreht Canti B ‘Obreht’ 18 Ce n’est pas Pe de la rue Canti B ‘Pe de la rue’ endorsed by B-Br MS 11239 22 Cela sans plus Obrecht in missa Canti B ‘Obreht In missa’ 27 Coment peult haver joye Josquin Canti B ‘Josquin’ endorsed by many further sources 29 Helas helas helas Ninot Canti B ‘Ninot’ 30 Noe noe noe Brumel Canti B ‘Brumel’ 31 Fors seulement Pe de la rue Canti B ‘Pe de la rue’ All other ascriptions to ‘Pipelare’ 32 Je cuide Japart Canti B ‘Japart’ 33 Basies moy Josquin Canti B ‘Josquin’ endorsed by many further sources 38 Damoiselle Ant. Fevin otherwise unknown 42 N’aimes jamais Ant. Fevin endorsed by GB-Cmc 1760

Text-tag

The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

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Correct Text

Ascription

Petrucci

Other Sources

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Table 1: Ascriptions in the Bern Egenolff partbooks

10 Fortuna Josquin (handwritten) endorsed by RISM 15011 11 Ales mon cor Alexander Odhecaton ‘Alexander’ 12 La plus des plus Josquin Odhecaton ‘Josquin’ Egenolff D has ‘La plus de la plus belle’ but T matches Odhecaton 14 Ave ancilla Brumel Canti B ‘Brumel’ endorsed by Segovia ‘Anthonius Brumel’ 15 Si sumpsero Obreht Canti B ‘Obreht’ Egenolff D has ‘Si sumapsero’ but T matches Canti B 19 Chanter ne puis Compere Canti B ‘Compere’ 20 Je vous empire Se vous voulez Agricola Canti B ‘Agricola’ 22 La regretee Hayne Canti B ‘Hayne’ 23 En amours Brumel Canti B ‘Brumel’ 30 Mi mi Arnol Schlick only D-HBa MS X/2 ‘Arnol Schlick’ 33 Wach uff mein hort Henselin von Cöln only D-HBa MS X/2 ‘Henslein von Cöln’ 34 La morra Isaac Odhecaton ‘Yzac’ endorsed by many further sources 36 Wir glauben Tiel Ung D-HBa MS X/2 ‘Tiel: Ungewitter’; Rhau Tricinia ‘Thelamonius Hungarus’ 39 O herte Gott begnade mich Matth. Greitter D-HBa MS X/2 ‘Matthe: Greitter’ 45 Ecce video coelos apertos Craen endorsed by various sources 46 Benedictus Isaac Odhecaton ‘Yzac’ endorsed by many further sources 48 Tota die Tho. Sporer D-HBa MS X/2 ‘Thomas Sporer’ 50 Comment Josquin ‘Pleni’ of Isaac’s Missa Comment peult, 4vv (ascr. in I-Mfd 2267) 53 La alfonsina Jo. Giselin Odhecaton ‘Jo ghiselin’ endorsed by other sources 55 Helas Hen. Isac Odhecaton ‘Yzac’ endorsed by other sources 56 Gentil galans Richafort endorsed by RISM 157815 58 Malheur me bat Okenghem Odhecaton ‘Okenghen’ elsewhere credited to Martini and Malcort 60 Struyss Frantz Struyss 66 Il tient a vous Alexander apparently otherwise unknown

Text-tag

David Fallows

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The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

the choirbook I-Mfd MS 2267 (Librone 3) from Milan;5 back-up ascriptions appear in A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18810 for the ‘Qui tollis’ and the Cappella Giulia songbook (I-Rvat MS Capp. Giulia XIII,27) for the ‘Et incarnatus’, but since both of those movements also appear in the six-voice mass of the same title, they hardly count as endorsements. On the other hand, there seems to me not a single note of the four-voice Comment peult avoir joye mass that looks like Josquin, and I think we can accept the authority of the Gaffurius codex that the four-voice mass is indeed by Isaac. We can easily discard that Josquin ascription in the new Egenolff print. Presumably the setter or the editor had added Josquin’s name because he knew that there was a Josquin piece with that title and that melody (though he had perhaps forgotten that the Josquin piece is in four voices whereas this piece was in only three). That ascription can stand as a reminder that many later ascriptions to Josquin are erroneous, particularly those in German prints from long after his death. All the same, we should perhaps not be so hasty about the other new J­ osquin ascription. This is for a four-voice song, Au bois au bois ma dame, no. 6 in the four-voice volume. This appears twenty years later in Le Roy and Ballard’s Sixiesme livre de chansons (RISM 155615) with an ascription to Pierre Moulu. To say that the form of the piece – refrains and verses – is not otherwise used in Josquin’s chansons is insufficient as an argument, not least because so many of Josquin’s chansons have a form used only once. To say that the counterpoint is occasionally weak is also an insufficient argument: there are plenty of fourvoice songs in volume 28 of the New Josquin Edition with feebler counterpoint. To say that in such cases of conflicting ascriptions one should generally prefer the less famous composer is also insufficient, bearing in mind that the Le Roy and Ballard ascription is twenty years later than the Egenolff one. If I had known about the ascription when I was editing the four-voice songs for the New Josquin Edition I would unquestionably have included the piece, albeit with a star to denote that it also appeared with a credible ascription to another composer and should therefore be considered a doubtful work. I have recently published this piece in a volume honouring Jaap van Benthem’s 80th birthday.6 Another ascription in the newly found partbooks tells us that Gentil galans is by Jean Richafort, no. 56 in the three-voice collection. This is in fact already present in the complete Richafort edition,7 albeit with its ascription taken from 5 6 7

Martin Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, 3 vols. Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft 28/1–3 (Bern/Stuttgart, 1977), i, 28. David Fallows, ‘A New Josquin Ascription: the four-voice Au bois, au bois ma dame, previously credited only to Moulu’, in TVNM 67 (2018), 163–76. Jean Richafort, Magnificats and Chansons, ed. Harry Elzinga, CMM 81/3 (Holzgerlingen, 1999), 26–8.

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the French print of RISM 157815: to have a further ascription from forty years earlier is obviously comforting. And it is also a reminder that those late French prints are often fairly reliable in their ascriptions, unlike so many of the German prints. On the other hand, it is very good indeed to have ascriptions in the threevoice volume for nos. 3 and 6, two of the most glorious three-voice fantasias of the early sixteenth century: Heinrich Isaac’s Der Hund and Ludwig Senfl’s Das Lang were ascribed to them hitherto only in the handwritten annotations to Formschneider’s Trium vocum carmina of 1538 (RISM 15389). So far as I am aware, nobody has ever questioned the authenticity of either; and certainly my own view of the stylistic profile of both composers begins with those pieces, which I have performed many times. But there is now a further confirmation of their authorship: it turns out that the annotations in both copies of the Trium vocum carmina are in the hand of Lucas Wagenrieder, one of Senfl’s closest colleagues, and therefore have the strongest possible confirmation.8 One tantalizing ascription in the three-voice collection is for one of the very last pieces, Il tient a vous, which it credits to Alexander, and which is absolutely in Agricola’s style so far as one can judge from the two voices that we now have. As Fabrice Fitch has repeatedly emphasized, Agricola is one of the least guessable composers of his generation, and for me it is very hard indeed to see how one could reconstruct the missing voice here. Fortunately Fitch has attempted a reconstruction, which I provide here as Ex. 1. Also hard is to guess what the form would have been, but to judge from Agricola’s other songs, it may well have been a rondeau with a four-line stanza and ten syllables to each line, with a caesura after the fourth syllable. For the rest, the ascriptions for the three-voice volume are less interesting, not least because we had several of them already from the manuscript bassus partbook that Staehelin had identified as being directly copied from Egenolff. What we can say, though, is that this was a three-voice collection of mixed content very like the slightly later collections of three-voice textless music published by Formschneider in his Trium vocum carmina of 1538 and Rhau in his Tricinia of 1542 (RISM 15428). For what it is worth I have already transcribed and edited the pieces that were incomplete but are now fully ­transcribable

8

As I noticed only at the last moment in preparing this article for the press. A preliminary statement of the matter appears in David Fallows, ‘Rem, Alamire, and Wagenrieder’, in Senfl­Studien 3, ed. Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes, and Sonja Tröster, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 9 (Vienna, 2018), 115–25, at p. 125; a fuller statement appears in the present volume, pp. 137–51.

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The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

Il tient a vous Reconstructed by Fabrice Fitch

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Ex. 1: Alexander [Agricola], Il tient a vous with the bassus reconstructed by Fabrice Fitch

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David Fallows 2 21

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The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern 3 43

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with the addition of the Bern tenor partbook.9 One of them, with the title Erasmus Lapidicida, had me completely flummoxed for some time, since none of it seemed to make sense, which is a situation I had never before encountered in a sixteenth-century print. Then I noticed that the bassus had a heading ‘aries fit piscis’, namely that the first star of the Zodiac should become the last. So I reversed the bassus and it still made no sense until I realised that the two versions of the bassus had the same problems, namely that they just had too many 6/4 chords; then I ran the retrograde of the bassus against the original bassus to yield a four-voice piece that makes perfect sense. Of the rest, the most interesting include a long fantasy by Arnolt Schlick and the opening song, Ich hab mich recht gehalten, by Hans Heugel. There is one further detail that should be added about the three-voice volume, which is that the opening piece just mentioned, Heugel’s Ich hab mich recht gehalten, appears in one of Heugel’s own manuscripts with a composition date of 15 February 1535. While, as Gustavson observes, this puts the dating of the Egenolff printed volume somewhere between then and the end of 1536, it now seems marginally more likely that it was printed in 1536. Returning, though, to the four-voice volume, there are three ascriptions to Antoine de Fevin. The case of Pardonés moy is simple, since it is endorsed by the generally reliable Florentine partbooks I-Fc Basevi 2442; the piece lacks the bassus there as well as in the Cortona/Paris partbooks (I-CTb MS 95–6/FPn nouvelles acquisitions françaises 1817), and the new Bern partbook simply duplicates what was otherwise known. Fortunately, however, the Clemens Hör partbooks in Zurich (CH-Zz Car.V.169a–d) supply the bassus (though not the altus), so we can at last reconstruct this Févin piece in its entirety. In the case of N’aimés jamais the ascription is endorsed by the generally reliable chansonnier Pepys 1760 in Cambridge (GB-Cmc 1760). But the third ascription is for a piece that seems not to be known otherwise, with a text tag reading simply 9

I am happy to supply copies to anybody who requests them at: david.fallows@manch­ ester.ac.uk.

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Damoiselle. With only two voices surviving there is perhaps not too much to say about the piece except that it seems to fit plausibly enough with what is otherwise known as Fevin’s style. But that is the context in which to introduce the new Isaac ascription. It is for a piece that I have published three times with the suggestion that it might be by Josquin.10 It is the four-voice piece with the title Mille regretz and it appears in the four-voice volume immediately after two pieces that are among the most confidently ascribed works in the entire Josquin canon, namely Plus nulz regretz and Adieu mes amours (which appears here anonymously). We still have only two voices, but it just happens that for at least the first twelve bars the remaining two voices write themselves, for they fit perfectly in canon at the fourth below. What I present here is in fact the reconstruction by Joshua Rifkin, who kindly allows me to use it – though the editorial accidentals are mine, since Rifkin is on record as thinking that editorial accidentals have no place in editions of sixteenth-century music. It does appear to be a setting of the same text that had been used in what we had known as one of Josquin’s loveliest pieces until Rifkin and Louise Litterick began questioning its ascription (though it must be conceded that a quatrain of ten-syllable lines is the most common form in sixteenth-century song). At the risk of repeating what everybody knows, the history of the Mille regretz setting we all thought was by Josquin is roughly as follows. In the year 1976 Daniel Heartz published a facsimile of a hitherto unknown Attaingnant print where Mille regretz appeared with an ascription to ‘J. lemaire’.11 That set some of us thinking but it was not until the year 2000 that Louise Litter­ ick pointed out that, with ascriptions only in Narváez’s vihuela book of 1538 (RISM A/I N 66) and Susato’s Unziesme livre of 1549 (RISM 154929), the chances of that Mille regretz being by Josquin are very slim indeed.12 One year later, in the Festschrift for Herbert Kellman (2001), I published an article that argued, largely on the basis of the musical readings, that the piece was indeed by 10

11

12

David Fallows, ‘Who Composed Mille regretz?’, in Essays on Music and Culture in Honor of Herbert Kellman, ed. Barbara Haggh, Collection « Épitome musical » 8 (Paris/Tours, 2001), 241–52, at 245; Josquin Desprez, Secular Works for Four Voices, ed. David Fallows, New Josquin Edition  28 (Utrecht, 2005), Critical Commentary, 327; David Fallows, ‘The Songbooks of Christian Egenolff’, in NiveauNischeNimbus. Die Anfänge des Musikdrucks nördlich der Alpen, ed. Birgit Lodes, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 3 (Tutzing, 2010), 355–68, at 367. Daniel Heartz, ‘The Chanson in the Humanist Era’, in Current Thought in Musicology, ed. John W. Grubbs, Symposia in the arts and the humanities 4 (Austin, 1976), 193–230, at 199–202. Louise Litterick, ‘Chansons for Three and Four Voices’, in The Josquin Companion, ed. Richard Sherr (Oxford/New York, 2000), 335–91, at 374–6.

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The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

Mille regretz Reconstructed by Joshua Rifkin

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w ˙

-

de

˙™

?b Ú ¢ b ° b & ˙

w

ner,

˙

don

Ó

Mil

œ œ ˙

le

˙

œ ˙

˙

de

˙

w -

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Ú

° b & œ œ ˙™

-

˙

œ œ ˙

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œ œ œ w

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6

&b w ‹ ban

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gretz

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?b 2 Ú ¢ b 1

b &b w ‹

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re -

Ú

2 &b 1 w ‹ Mil

-

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œ œ ˙

le

dueil

dueil

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w

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grand dueil,

Ex. 2: Mille regretz, with an ascription to Isaac and with the altus and bassus reconstructed by Joshua Rifkin*

*

Variant readings in the Egenolff print are as follows: 5 iii 1–2: s-dot; 8 i 1–2: s-rest ma’; 8 iii 3–4: m m; 9 iii 1–2: m-dot sm; 31 iii 4–5: s; 33 iii 1–2: b; 34 iii 1–2: s; 39 iii 1–2: s; 42 i 3: s m.

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David Fallows 2 23

° b & w™ b &b ˙ ‹

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40

mes

b &b w ‹ &b w ‹ jours

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36

° b & w

˙

lou - reu - se

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w

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29

° b & Ú

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w pai

œ œ œ œ w

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si grand

si grand

w et

›

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The two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern

Josquin, despite how weak the case initially looked; and in 2005 I published the work in the New Josquin Edition as authentic.13 Three years later, Rifkin issued his article ‘Who really composed Mille regretz’, challenging me on every possible front.14 A year after that, in my book on Josquin, I offered what seemed to me reasonable arguments reasserting my original position, conceding one of Rifkin’s three main points but rejecting the other two as far too subjective and adding some further considerations that seemed to me to strengthen my position.15 Two years later, Fabrice Fitch weighed in and declared himself an agnostic but asserted that my and Rifkin’s publications divided along interesting fault-lines in today’s musicology. His main conclusions, which I heartily support, were that I had overstated the case when I stated that to query Josquin’s authorship would be over-fastidious, and that Rifkin had overstated the case when he stated that its style did ‘nothing to warrant the continued inclusion of Mille regretz in the Josquin canon’.16 There matters rested until Rifkin published a blockbuster article renewing his attack and adding three very persuasive musical details that seemed to point to a younger composer with a good aural knowledge of Josquin’s later music but without access to the scores.17 While Rifkin’s latest contribution at last convinced me that the piece must be by another hand (and I know Fitch reacted similarly), there are two disquieting details here. The first is that the rhetoric seems to return to the matter of quality: certainly Rifkin does not mention quality, simply turning the focus on to the contrapuntal skill of other works from Josquin’s last fifteen years (and in one case demonstrating how he himself can add a contrapuntal detail to the last phrase of Mille regretz, thereby making the work more convincing), but that on this occasion Rifkin raises the bar of acceptability so high that broadening his views would result in Josquin having fewer than twenty surviving works. I pointed out to him that the Missa Pange lingua would fail his 13 14

15

16

17

Both references in n. 10 above. Joshua Rifkin, ‘Who Really Composed Mille regretz?’, in Quomodo cantabimus canticum?: Studies in Honor of Edward H. Roesner, ed. David Butler Cannata, Gabriela Ilnitchi Currie, Rena Charnin Mueller, and John Louis Nádas, Miscellanea 7 (Middleton, WI, 2008), 187–208. David Fallows, Josquin (Turnhout, 2009), 338–42, especially at p. 339, n. 97; but I do now see that my comments there take no account of the stylistic comments on Rifkin’s pp. 196–9 – most particularly the anomaly of repeating the music of bb. 13–15 at bb. 33–6 with text that has a different syllabic structure. Fabrice Fitch, ‘Who Really Knows Who Composed Mille regretz?’, in Essays on Renaissance Music in Honour of David Fallows: Bon jour, bon mois, et bonne estrenne, ed. Fabrice Fitch and Jacobijn Kiel, Studies in medieval and Renaissance music 11 (Woodbridge, 2011), 272–8. Joshua Rifkin, ‘Sound and Structure: Le marteau sans maître and Mille regretz’, in Qui musi­ cam in se habet: Studies in Honor of Alejandro Enrique Planchart, ed. Anna Zayaruznaya, ­Bonnie J. Blackburn, and Stanley Boorman, Miscellanea 9 (Middleton, WI, 2015), 635–73.

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test, for example; he responded that the source situation here was entirely different and that there was no possible basis for questioning Missa Pange lingua’s authenticity. My response to that was that this inverted his argument: that is to say that the lack of contrapuntal complexities in the strongly documented Missa Pange lingua itself supported the possible authenticity of the Mille regretz setting. Our arguments continue of course.18 And the second disquieting detail is that the musical details outlined both in Rifkin’s earlier article and in that of Fitch convince me that this is a composition of most extraordinary dimensions and qualities; I really do still believe it is a work of almost unfathomable genius and one of the loveliest works of its generation. All the same, I stand as having conceded one of the points in his original article; I now state that I accept the three new points in his latest article. I am now convinced that Attaingnant-Susato Mille regretz is not by Josquin. So I return to my original position about the Egenolff piece: we do now know that Egenolff gave it an ascription to Isaac; but, particularly in view of its position immediately after Josquin’s two most strongly ascribed songs, I am inclined to wonder whether he did not make a mistake. That is to say, how many details can anybody see in this piece that recall the style of Isaac? (Admittedly, half of it is by Rifkin, who is inclined also to think it could be by Josquin.) And obviously the most astonishing feature of the Egenolff piece is that the first two phrases of its tenor exactly match those opening Josquin’s most widely distributed song, Plus nulz regretz: in contrapuntal terms they are treated in a slightly different way, but it almost looks as though this Mille regretz was a preliminary sketch towards what eventually became Plus nulz regretz. Or, then again, it could be a younger composer using Josquin’s piece as a model.

18

His response to my paper reads as follows. ‘It’s that all of Josquin’s music from about 1505 onwards (let’s say) – but especially, for our purposes, Plus nulz regretz and the five-voice chansons – set up certain expectations about the kind of thing he will do: at minimum, lots of motivic integration, mostly through imitation (including canon), much of it ­involving variable interlocks. This is done at varying levels of complexity – less in Pange lingua, much more in the five-voice pieces, somewhere in the middle for Plus nulz regretz. Measured against that raster (and more than a few other things as well), Mille regretz is plainly anomalous, enough so that (in my estimation) it requires a stronger attribution than the sources provide.’

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LUCAS WAGENRIEDER AS ANNOTATOR OF BOTH COPIES OF THE TRIUM VOCUM CARMINA (NUREMBERG, 1538) AND OTHER MUSIC BOOKS

It is well known that only two sets of Hieronymus Formschneider’s Trium ­vocum carmina (RISM 15389) survive, one in Jena and the other in Berlin. And it is also well known that both copies have annotations in their tenor partbooks for many of the collection’s 100 pieces: Formschneider printed all without title or name of composer, remarking in his preface that the titles were in various different languages and would therefore look ugly and that any plausibly educated musician would in any case know the composers from their style.1 Equally well known is that those annotations name composers and/or titles: these are reported in the 1956 dissertation of Klaus Holzmann (available only in typescript) and more compactly in Howard Mayer Brown’s Instrumental Music Printed before 1600: A Bibliography (Cambridge MA, 1965).2 What was apparently reported for the first time in Royston Gustavson’s dissertation is that the Jena copy has additionally a full index added at the front.3 1

2

3

Reported in Robert Eitner, Bibliographie der Musik-Sammelwerke des XVI. und XVII. Jahr­ hunderts (Berlin, 1877), 44. He knew only the copy in Jena, discussed at greater length below; but he did later report the Berlin copy in Robert Eitner, Quellen-Lexikon der Musi­ ker und Musikgelehrten, vol. 4 (Leipzig, 1901), 32, s.v. ‘Formschneider’. The Berlin copy is now in the Universitätsbibliothek of the Universität der Künste Berlin, Raramagazin, RA 0059. I am deeply grateful to Royston Gustavson, Joshua Rifkin and Stefan Gasch for their help in assembling this report. Klaus Holzmann, ‘Hieronymus Formschneyders Sammeldruck TRIUM VOCUM CARMINA, Nürnberg 1538’, Diss., Albert-Ludwigs-Universität zu Freiburg i. Br., 1956, 109–30. Slightly confusing in Holzmann’s tabulation is that he includes also identifications added by later hands in the 19th and perhaps 20th centuries; some of these are i­ ncluded in Brown’s listing. Royston Robert Gustavson, ‘Hans Ott, Hieronymus Formschneider, and the Novum et ­insigne opus musicum (Nuremberg, 1537–1538)’, 2 vols., Diss., University of Melbourne, 1998, 773.

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What was not noticed is that the two copies are annotated by the same hand. It is as though the writer rose to Formschneider’s implied challenge by trying to identify as many pieces as possible. The Berlin copy names the composer for twenty pieces, including some that are ridiculously wrong; Jena names composers for thirty-three pieces, all correctly, so far as we can tell today. Similarly, Berlin gives titles for forty-eight pieces, whereas Jena gives them for sixty-­one pieces. Plainly the Berlin copy represents an earlier attempt to face the challenge. The binding of the Berlin copy has a date 1539 on it;4 and we shall see in a moment that the Jena entries were almost certainly made in 1544. What was also not noticed is that the annotator is beyond any question Lucas Wagenrieder, who sang alongside Senfl – both of them ‘Altisten’ – in the Imperial chapel (1510–20) and in the Bavarian ducal chapel (?1523–50). That identification is made easier by comparison particularly of the full-page index in the Jena copy with the script in Wagenrieder’s autograph letters;5 it is also aided by Birkendorf ’s and Rifkin’s recognition that the same script appears in Mus.ms. 3155 of the Bavarian State Library, on fols. 86r –101r plus just the text on fol. 86 r.6 Now that the identity is established, we can also note that works that give Senfl as the composer in the annotations to Trium vocum carmina always do so with an ‘LS’ logo, the two letters intertwined. Among the errors in the Berlin copy are: for no. 55 ‘Henricus Brumel’ rather than the correct ‘Ant. Brumel’ in Jena; for the same piece the absurd title ‘Pater matris’ rather than the correct ‘Mater patris’ in Jena. More spectacularly, Ockeghem’s Ma bouche rit is given in Berlin the entirely wrong title Mon seul plaisir (an equally famous song from the same generation, probably by Bedyngham) but correctly titled in Jena.

4

Detailed description of the Berlin copy and the other books bound together with it in Gustavson, ‘Hans Ott, Hieronymus Formschneider’, 715–18. Gustavson argues convincingly (p. 717) that the three Berlin partbooks were part of a set of seven, the remainder now in Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Ed. 1144 (1–4), described at pp. 749–52. There are early annotations in the Halle copy of Ott’s Novum et insigne opus musicum II, but there is not enough for confidence that they are in the hand of Wagenrieder. 5 Facsimiles of letters written by Lucas Wagenrieder are published in Rainer Birkendorf, Der Codex Pernner: Quellenkundliche Studien zu einer Musikhandschrift des frühen 16. Jahrhun­ derts (Regensburg, Bischöfliche Zentralbibliothek, Sammlung Proske, MS. C 120), 3 vols., Collec­ tanea musicologica 6 (Augsburg, 1994), vol. 2: Abbildungen, plates 77–80. 6 Birkendorf, Der Codex Pernner, vol. 1:, 46; Joshua Rifkin, ‘Jean Michel and “Lucas Wagenrieder”: Some New Findings’, in TVNM 55 (2005), 113–52, at 130. To avoid confusion, it should be mentioned here that the manuscript songbooks credited to Wagenrieder by Theodor Kroyer and Hans Joachim Moser were shown in Rifkin’s article to have been copied by Bernhart Rem and that the choirbooks credited to him by Martin Bente and others lack any evidence (as also pointed out by Rifkin).

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Truly puzzling, however, is the case of no. 95, here given no ascription, though it is credited to Senfl in both the Fridolin Sicher’s tablature book, CH-SGs 530 – with the fuller entry ‘Ludwieg Senffli alias Schwitzer von Zürch’ – and in Aegidius Tschudi’s partbooks, CH-SGs 463 – where it has ‘Ludovicus Senfli Helvetius Tigurinus’. The lack of any ascription in either copy of the Trium vocum carmina must cast a certain doubt on Senfl’s authorship, most particularly because of the identity of the annotater. Sicher and Tschudi had no such relationship with Senfl. Those annotations are in Jena, Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Mus. 6, a Konvolut that contains Ott’s Novum et insigne opus musicum II (RISM 15383), Formschneider’s Trium vocum carmina (RISM 15389), Petreius’s Modulationes aliquot quatuor voces selectissime (RISM 15387), Formschneider’s Missae tredecim (RISM 1539 2) and Rhaw’s Officia Paschalia (RISM 153914).7 That Wagenrieder’s index to the Trium vocum carmina appears on the back page of the preceding partbook, that for the Ott volume, is clear evidence that the books were already together when he made his entries – information that should already be clear from an incompletely preserved list of the contents of some of the other volumes in that Konvolut at the front of the tenor partbook, also in Wagenrieder’s hand. In the same Konvolut there is a copy of Formschneider’s Missae tredecim (RISM 1539 2), in which Wagenrieder has corrected the ascription of the Missa Sub tuum presidium from ‘Josquin’ to ‘petri de la rue’. His hand appears in another set of partbooks in the same library, Mus. 1, with bindings that precisely match those of Mus. 6. Mus. 1 is also a Konvo­ lut, containing volumes 1, 2 and 4 of Petrucci’s Motetti de la corona in the 1526 reprint by Pasoti and Dorico (RISM 15261, 2 and 4) as well as Ott’s Novum et insigne opus musicum I (RISM 15371).8 For the Motetti de la corona his annotations are of little interest except in showing the care with which he worked. In the bassus partbook he noticed that the printers had omitted to add text to the secunda pars of the motet Lectio actuum apostolorum, in the fourth volume, there ascribed to Josquin, so he added the text in red ink, presumably from comparison with the other voices; on the list of contents for the first volume he added for each piece the names of the composers (again spelling Josquin as ‘Jöskin’), the number of voices and the serial number within the volume. For the second volume most of that information is present, so he simply added the number of voices for each piece. For the fourth volume he inserted lines to correct the position of three ascriptions (which had been correct in Petrucci’s original) but assigned the motet Missus est Gabriel angelus not to Josquin, the 7 8

Detailed description in Gustavson, ‘Hans Ott, Hieronymus Formschneider’, 771–4. Detailed description in ibid., 767–71.

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printed ascription, but to Mouton – information that Wagenrieder could easily have obtained from the Liber selectarum cantionum (RISM 15204) of Grimm and Wirsung, compiled and edited by Senfl. He also credited the five-voice Verbum bonum et suave to J­ osquin, as otherwise reported only in the Munich University partbooks 4° Art. 401 and firmly rejected in the New Josquin Edition. More important are his annotations to the tenor partbook of Hans Ott’s Novum et insigne opus musicum I (15371) in Mus. 1: these were reported briefly by Eitner in 1877 and far more fully by Wolfram Steude in 1978 but seem to have been forgotten since.9 They include: a date ‘An. 1520’ for Josquin’s sixvoice Pater noster/Ave Maria; an ascription to ‘Johan. mouton’ for Josquin’s Veni sancte spiritus (ascribed to Josquin in many sources but in S-U MS 76b to Forestier, who is normally considered the correct composer today); an ascription to ‘Petrus Molu’ for In illo tempore, normally ascribed to Mouton (though given to Moulu in Aegidius Tschudi’s collection, CH-SGs 463); an ascription to ‘Petrus Mollu’ for Quam pulchra es, ascribed here to ‘Jos’ (as also in Berg and Neuber 1559), otherwise ascribed mainly to Moulu (but also to Verdelot and Mouton); and an ascription to ‘Jöskin’ for the motet Te Deum, credited to Josquin also in D-ROu Mus. Saec. XVI–49, though generally believed to be by Andreas de Silva, as given in I-Bc Q20. Most of these details are otherwise entirely unknown;10 and all carry considerable weight now that we have identified the annotator. But most intriguingly of all his date 1520 for Josquin’s Pater noster/ Ave Maria makes it the only work by Josquin with a documentable date, and that in the year before he died.11 It could be added that many other Konvolute in Jena match the two already discussed. Marie Schlüter lists fifteen of them, with the call-numbers Mus. 1–15, mostly with the bookplate of the elector Johann Friedrich ‘der Grossmütige’ 9

10 11

Robert Eitner, Bibliographie (see n. 1), 38. Wolfram Steude, Untersuchungen zur mitteldeut­ schen Musiküberlieferung und Musikpflege im 16. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1978), 86. The annotations are also reported in Gustavson, ‘Hans Ott, Hieronymus Formschneider’, 769, and more recently in Marie Schlüter, Musikgeschichte Wittenbergs im 16. Jahrhundert: Quellen­ kundliche und sozialgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, Abhandlungen zur Musikgeschichte 18 (Göttingen, 2010), 197. An indirect statement appears in Howard Mayer Brown, ‘Hans Ott, Heinrich Finck and Stoltzer: Early Sixteenth-Century German Motets in Formschneider’s Anthologies of 1537 and 1538’, in Von Isaac bis Bach: Studien zur älteren deutschen Musikgeschichte: Festschrift Martin Just zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Frank Heidlberger, Wolfgang Osthoff, and Reinhard Wiesend (Kassel, 1991), 73–84. Unknown, for example, to the New Josquin Edition and indeed to David Fallows, Josquin (Turnhout, 2009). And, of course, spectacularly contradicting the notion that Josquin composed the work in Ferrara, thus before 1505, as proposed in Daniel E. Freeman, ‘On the Origins of the Pater noster … Ave Maria of Josquin Des Prez’, in MD 45 (1991), 169–219; see also Fallows, Josquin, 344–6.

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Lucas Wagenrieder as Annotator of the Trium vocum carmina

(1503–54, elector from 1532 to 1547);12 almost all have matching bindings, with the discantus in cream leather, the other voices in brown leather;13 they contain partbook prints going to 1544 but no later. Mus. 1–6, 8 and 10 all contain annotations by Wagenrieder (lists of contents, liturgical assignments, various other details that duplicate information already present). It is hard to resist the conclusion that the entire set was commissioned from Wagenrieder for the elector’s library in Wittenberg between 1544 and his fall from power in 1547: they do include some volumes published by Rhau actually in Wittenberg; but there are also lots by Scotto in Venice and Attaingnant in Paris. Throughout his life Johann Friedrich was an avid book-collector and in November 1536 he signalled his intention to give his collection to the university of Wittenberg.14 With his fall from power, the books moved to Weimar and thence to Jena, where he planned to found a new protestant university (eventually established by his three sons in 1558). In fact it seems possible to date Wagenrieder’s annotations more closely still. On 24 May 1544, Georg Schramm, a bookseller in Wittenberg, wrote to Stephan Roth in Zwickau that ‘I have sold almost all the Venetian songs I brought from Frankfurt but only to the library of my lord and to Silesia’.15 Evidently he had been at the Lent fair in Frankfurt, so Wagen­ rieder’s contributions must have been added earlier in that year. The actual binding, though not yet identified, would have been done in Wittenberg. Given that the Trium vocum carmina annotations are described only in Holzmann’s typescript dissertation and that no source reports the information in the index, it seems worth listing anew the collection’s contents, as currently known, alongside Wagenrieder’s annotations and index entries. In addition, we present: first, a copy of the last surviving letter of Wagenrieder, dated 4 August 1538, thus shortly before he annotated the Berlin copy of Trium vocum carmina; and second, the page preceding the Jena tenor partbook (actually on the back of the previous partbook), containing the almost complete list of contents of the collection. These can be used to endorse my statement that Wagenrieder did 12 13 14

15

Schlüter (see n. 9), 187–91. Small inconsistencies here need to take into account that every single partbook has visibly undergone various bits of restoration across the centuries. Joachim Bauer, ‘Kurfürst Johann Friedrich I. von Sachsen und die Bücher’, in Johann Friedrich I. – der lutherische Kurfürst, ed. Volker Leppin, Georg Schmidt, and Sabine Wefers, Schriften des Vereins für Reformationsgeschichte 204 (Heidelberg, 2006), 169–89, par­ ticularly p. 182. I have this from Stefan Menzel, ‘“Ain herlich Ampt in figuris”: Sacred Polyphony at St. Marien in Wittenberg 1543/44’, in Early Music 45 (2017), 545–57, at p. 548, citing Georg Buchwald, ‘Stadtschreiber M. Stephan Roth in Zwickau in seiner literarische-buchhändlerischen Bedeutung für die Reformationszeit’, in Archiv für Geschichte des deutschen Buch­ handels 16 (1893), 6–246, at p. 232.

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the annotations; readers wishing the pursue the matter further can of course consult the three slightly earlier Wagenrieder letters published by Rainer ­Birkendorf and the contents-list of the Konvolut Mus. 10 published by Stefan Menzel (p. 554). RISM 15389 (D-Bhm)16 1

Ascription

Title

(LS logo)

Fa

RISM 15389 (D-Ju) Ascription (LS logo) Index:

2

H. Isac

L. Senfelij

Das kind lag in der wiegen

Das kind lag in der wiegen H. Isac

Helas Index:

4

19

En ung matin [Obrecht]

6

Isaaci

Hellas En ung matin

Hayne

8

[Isaac]

[Pleni from M. Fortuna]20 Hayne Index:

17

18

19 20

En ung matin . dulce trium

[unidentified]

7

16

Hellas je suis mary18

Anton. Brumel Index:

5

Fa longum Das kind lag in der wiegen (bb. 49–54); Das kind lag in der wiegen do bissen es die fliegen (II pars: bb. 22–4)17

Index: 3

Title

Allez regretz Allez regretz

[Al mein mut]

I am deeply grateful to the Mikrofilmarchiv at the Seminar für Musikwissenschaft of the Universität Basel for making their scans of the Berlin copy available to me. It should be mentioned that all three partbooks in Berlin have numerous other annotations in hands of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: these contain no independent information and are therefore not noted here (except in the case of no. 98, where the information is unsupported and wrong). Bar numbers are from the modern edition, Hieronymus Formschneider: Trium vocum carmina, Nürnberg, 1538, ed. Helmut Mönkemeyer, 2 vols. Monumenta musicae ad usum practicum: Eine Denkmalreihe für Freunde alter Musik 1 (Celle, 1985). The words ‘ je suis mary’ certainly added far later, probably in the nineteenth century. A fuller title in I-Fn Banco Rari 229 reads ‘Helas que devera mon cuer’, though the music is directly ­derived from that of Caron’s Helas que pourra devenir. This piece is in fact Brumel’s most famous song, Vray dieu d’amours, which also appears in many German sources with the text ‘So ich bedenck anfang und end’. With the sole exception of no. 13, all the Obrecht extracts printed here seem to have been taken from Petrucci’s Misse obreht (Venice, 1503).

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Lucas Wagenrieder as Annotator of the Trium vocum carmina RISM 15389 (D-Bhm) Ascription

RISM 15389 (D-Ju)

Title

9

[Du bon du cuer]

10

Pleni [from M. Fortuna]

Ascription

Title

Jöskin

Pleni sunt celi

21

Index:

Pleni sunt celi ex Missa fortuna

11

Gabrielem archangelum22 Index:

12

Si sumpsero

Gabrielem archangelum Jacobus obrecht

23

Index: Obrecht

Si dedero

[Obrecht]

[Christe from M. Si dedero]

24

13

Si sumpsero Si dedero

Index: 14 15

Si dedero

[untitled]25

16

Jöskin Index:

17

[Richafort] Compere

19 20

Navez point veu Naves point veu L. Compere

Mes pensees

[?Isaac or Hofhaimer]27 [Martini]

22

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Mes pensees

[unidentified] Die brünlein die do fliessen Bassus:

21

La bernardina26 La bernardina

Naves point veu Index:

18

Si sumpsero

Die brünlein die do fliessen

[Se mai il cielo] H. Finck28

Title taken from GB-Lbl Add. MS 35087. Apparently unique. In black ink (whereas all other entries in Berlin are in red ink, apart from no. 66); but still certainly the hand of Wagenrieder. Certainly by Agricola. Music also in D-B Ms. mus. 40021, fols. 226 v –227r. After the end in T there is an ‘alias’, also in the hand of Wagenrieder, giving the more common (and far better) reading for bars 21–2. Berlin bassus has ‘Die brünleynn die do flissenn’ in a sixteenth-century hand, apparently not that of Wagenrieder. Apparently unique.

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RISM 15389 (D-Ju)

Ascription

Title

Ascription

Title

H. Isac

Tristicia vestra

H. Isaac

Tristicia vestra

24

[unidentified]

25

Will nieman singen so sing aber ich

26

Index:

Tristicia vestra

Bassus:

Tristicia vestra vertetur in gaudium Will nieman singen so sing aber ich

Index:

[no entry]

Bassus:

Will nieman singen so sing aber ich Agricola

Comme femme desconfortee Index:

27

Alexander agricola

Cecox Index:

28

Ein frölich wesen

29

Comme femme desconfortee Alexander agricola

Caecox

Alexandri agric.

Cecox

Jacob barbireau30

Een frölic wesen

Index: 29

H. Isac

La morra

30

H. Isac

Benedictus

Bassus:

Benedictus

[Fevin]

Fors seulement

Een froelic wesen H. Isac

Index:

31

32 33

[Isaac]

35

[La martinella]32

31 32

Benedictus

Jöskin

Fors seulement Fors seulement

[Adieu fillette de regnon] [unidentified]

30

Benedictus qui venit

[unidentified]

34

29

Isaac 31

Index:

La morra La morra

H. Isac Index:

Comme femme desconfortee

Berlin bassus has ‘Eynn fröhlich wesenn’ in an early hand, apparently not that of Wagenrieder; a similar hand has written in the discantus ‘Ein froelich wesen Obrecht’. Ascription to Barbireau endorsed by E-SE MS s.s. and DK-Kk MS Ny kongelige Samling 1848, 2°. No other witness to Josquin: in Pepys 1760 as ‘Anth. de Fevin’; in Whalley as ‘Robertus Fevin’; and in LeRoy & Ballard (RISM 157814) as ‘Fevin’. In I-Fn MS Banco Rari 229, fols. 141v –142r and several further sources.

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Lucas Wagenrieder as Annotator of the Trium vocum carmina RISM 15389 (D-Bhm) Ascription 36

RISM 15389 (D-Ju)

Title

Ascription

[Martini]

La martinella Index:

37

[?Josquin]

33

[no entry]

Il nest plaisire

Il nest plaisir Index:

38

Joh. Buchner

Il nest plaisir Johan Buchner

Main müterlin Index:

39

Peccavi

40

Peccavi Peccavi Da pacem Domine / Christ ist erstanden

Da pacem Domine Index: [Rigo]

Da pacem domine

Min hert hefft alltyt verlanghen

Myn hert hefft altijt verlanghen Index:

42

Myn hert hefft altijt verlanghen34

Meynn hertz hatt alzeit verlangenn35

Myn hert heft alltyt verlanghen Index:

Discantus:

Meynn hertz hatt alzeit verlangenn

Bassus:

Maynn hertz hatt alzeytt verlangenn

43

Ghiselin

Narraige

44

[Weerbeke/ Obrecht]

34 35

pleni La narraige La narraige . pleni La Stangetta

Index:

33

Myn hert hefft altijt verlanghen

Joh. Ghyselin Index:

45

Mein müterlin … das fraget abre mich Mein müterlin

Index:

41

Title

[no entry]

[unidentified]

Also ascribed elsewhere to Isaac. To my article ‘Josquin and Il n’est plaisir’, in EM 37 (2009), 3–8, I would now add the consideration that lack of ascription in either copy of Trium vocum carmina rather counts against the possibility that Isaac was the composer and therefore in favour of Josquin. For the record, I should report that the Jena index gives nos. 41 and 42 as nos. 42 and 43. Exceptionally, in black ink and a slightly different script, perhaps added later.

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David Fallows RISM 15389 (D-Bhm) Ascription 46

RISM 15389 (D-Ju)

Title

Ascription

Fors seulement

Fors seulement36 Index:

47

48

Fors seulement

[Ockeghem]

Fors seulemont [contre ce]

[Ghiselin]

[Een frolick wesen]

Bassus:

Eyn köstlich wesenn

Index:

[no entry]

Bassus:

Fors seulement

49

Joh. Ghiselin Index:

50

[La Rue]

[Tant est gentil]

52

[unidentified] [Compere]

[no entry]

Garisses moy

Garisses moy Index:

54

[Ghiselin]

[Rendez le moy]

55

Henricus Brumel

Pater matris Index:

56

Xystus Dietrich Augustanus

Elslin liebes Elslin mein Index:

57 58

[Agricola]

Mater patris

Ant. Brumel

Mater patris

Xystus Dietrich

Elslin liebes elselin min wie gern waer ich by dir

Xysti.d

Elslin liebes elselin

[Oublier vueil] De tous biens playne

De tous biens38 Index:

61

39

Ant. Brumel

Vueit ghy37

60

38

Garysses moy

[Elslin liebes Elslin min]

59

36 37

La Alfonsina

[Tous nobles cuers]

51 53

Title

De tous biens

[C’est donc pour moy]39

Also in GB-Lbl Add. MS 35087 and Antico (RISM 1520 6). Orthography matches ‘Weit guy’ in the only other known source, Petrucci’s Canti C (RISM 15043), fols. 155v –156 r. No other source for no. 60 has an ascription; but the tenor of no. 60 follows that of ­Hayne’s setting in all details. Berlin bassus has ‘Cest tant par may’ in an early hand, apparently not that of Wagen­ rieder.

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Lucas Wagenrieder as Annotator of the Trium vocum carmina RISM 15389 (D-Bhm) 62

Ascription

Title

[Ghiselin]

[Vostre a jamais]

63

[unidentified]

64

Vostre a iamais

65

Nicol. Craen

RISM 15389 (D-Ju) Ascription

Title

Jo Ghiselin

vostre a Jamais40

Index:

Jamais vostre amour41

Index:

vostre a iamais Nicolaus Craen

Ecce video Index:

66

67

[La Rue]

Si dormiero

Discantus:

Si domiero

Bassus:

Si dormiero

(LS logo)

Fantasia

Ecce video celos apertos Ecce video celos Si dormiero

42

Index:

Si dormiero (LS logo)

Discantus: (LS logo)43 68

[Obrecht]

[Marion la doulce]

69

[La Rue]

[Sancta Maria virgo]

70 71

[unidentified] Arnold à Bruck

Ich weiss ein schönes weib

Arnoldus Brugensis

Ein schönes weib erfrewet mich

Prioris

La pris [la tient]

Index: 72 Index: 73

[Agricola]

[unidentified]44

75

En lombre dung buissonet45

En lombre dung buissonet Index:

41 42 43 44 45

La pris

[ Je n’ay dueil]

74

40

Ein schönes weib

En lombre dung buissonet

Entry followed by ‘vostre amour’, which is then crossed out. It looks very much as though Wagenrieder originally wrote ‘Jamais vostre amour’ and then corrected it. In Petrucci’s Canti C (RISM 15043) it has the title ‘Se j’ay requis’, though the preceding piece is in fact Ghiselin’s Vostre a jamais. Entered twice in the index, the first without number. In black ink. It is absolutely unclear whether this is early or late. On balance, it is likely to date from the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Berlin bassus has the word ‘Pleni’ in an undatable hand, not that of Wagenrieder. Apparently unique.

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RISM 15389 (D-Ju)

Ascription

Title

76

[Obrecht]

[Pleni from M. Malheur]

77

[?Isaac]

[Les bien amore]

78

Ascription

Es wonet lieb bey liebe46

Es wonet lieb bey liebe Index:

79

[A. de Fevin]

Es wonet lieb bey liebe

Petite camusette

Petite camusette Index:

80

Petite camusette

[unidentified]

81

Si bibero Index:

82

[Josquin]

83

[Compere]

Si bibero la plus de plus

Index:

La plus de plus

[Tout mal me vient]

84

Agricola Index:

85

[Obrecht]

[Christe from M. Malheur]

86

[Ockeghem]

Mon seul plaisier

mal iour me bat Mal heur me bat Mabe bouche rit Index:

87

[Obrecht]

[Pleni from M. Salve]

88

H. Isac

Fortuna in mi Cedant

Tota pulchra es

Mal heur me bat

Infortune je suis Tota pulchra es Mal heur me bat

Index:

46 47 48

Fortuna in mi

Tota pulchra es amica mea

48

Index: [?Ockeghem]

Fortuna desperata Je suis infortune

47

Index: 90

Ma bouche rit

H. Isac Index:

89

Belle sur toutes Belle sur toutes

Index:

91

Title

Mal heur me bat

Apparently unique. Apparently unique. Apparently unique.

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Title

92

[Obrecht]

Mal heur me bat [Crucifixus]

93

[Obrecht]

[Agnus 2 from M. Malheur]

RISM 15389 (D-Ju) Ascription

Malheur me bat Index:

94

[unidentified]

95

Ich stund an einem morgen

Mal heur me bat

Ich stund an einem morgen Index:

96

(LS logo)

Ich stund an einem morgen (LS logo)

Ich stund an einem morgen Index:

97 98

Samson

99

Ich stund an einem morgen Samson

Pater à nullo est factus49

Paulus hoffheymer

In gotes namen faren wir

Pater à nullo est factus Pater a nullo est factus

Alexander agricola

To andernacken up dem Ryn Index:

To andernaken up dem Ryn To andernaken up dem Rin In gotes namen faren wir

Index:

49

Ich stund an einem morgen

[unidentified]

Index:

100

Title

In gottes namen faren wir

A modern annotation in the Berlin discantus partbook incorrectly states that this comes from Sampson’s Missa super Es solt ein Meglein holen Wein. The motet, fully texted and ascribed to ‘Sampson’, also appears in Berg and Neuber, Selectissimorum triciniorum (Nuremberg, [ca.1560] = RISM [1560]1), no. II.

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Fig. 1: Letter by Lucas Wagenrieder to Duke Albrecht of Prussia, 4 August 1538 (D-Bga HBA A4 Kasten 199, (4.8.1538) (with kind permission)

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Fig. 2: Handwritten content in the tenor partbook of RISM 1538 9 (D-Ju Konvolut: Sign. 4 Mus.6c; urn:nbn:de:urmel-c3b31712-3dc2-403b-8d4c-726369c480fc0-00005102-1370)

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REMEMBERING ISAAC REMEMBERING ­L ORENZO: THE MUSICAL LEGACY OF QUIS DABIT

A truly seminal work of the Italian Renaissance was the motet Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, a lament created in response to the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1492. It was a collaboration by two masters whose creative lives were closely tied to Lorenzo: Angelo Poliziano, who wrote the classicizing Latin poem ­(Table 1), and Heinrich Isaac, who composed the elaborate musical setting.1 Table 1: Angelo Poliziano, Monodia in Laurentium Medicem I.

Quis dabit capiti meo aquam? quis oculis meis fontem lachrymarum dabit, ut nocte fleam, ut luce fleam?

Who will give water to my head? Who will give to my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep by night, and weep by day?

Sic turtur viduus solet, sic cycnus moriens solet, sic luscinia conqueri.

So mourns the widowed turtledove, so mourns the dying swan, so mourns the nightingale overcome by grief.

1

Isaac’s setting is edited in Heinrich Isaac, Weltliche Werke, ed. Johannes Wolf, Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich (DTÖ), Jahrg. XIV/1, Bd. 28 (Vienna, 1907), 45–8; and George Warren Drake, ‘The Ostinato Synthesis: Isaac’s Lament for Il Magnifico’, in Liber Amicorum John Steele: A Musicological Tribute (Stuyvesant NY, 1997), 77–85. The text of Poliziano’s poem used here is based on Renaissance Latin Verse: An Anthology, ed. Alessandro Perosa and John Sparrow (Chapel Hill, NC, 1979), 140–41. Its poetic form consists of four five-line stanzas, with a repetition of the first stanza at the end forming a fifth stanza, but the three-part division indicated in Table  1 follows Isaac’s musical setting, which omits the repetition of the first stanza, and includes the first two stanzas in the prima pars. All subsequent references in this essay to parts I–III reflects the 3-part division in Table 1.

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II. III.

Heu miser, miser! O dolor, dolor!

Ah, what sadness! O grief, grief!

Laurus impetu fulminis Lightning has struck down illa illa iacet subito, our laurel tree, laurus omnium celebris that laurel so dear Musarum choris, to all the choruses of muses, nympharum choris; to all the choruses of the nymphs, [Bass: Et requiescamus in pace] [Bass: And may we rest in peace] sub cuius patula coma et Phoebi lyra blandius et vox dulcius insonat: nunc muta omnia, nunc surda omnia.

beneath whose spreading boughs Phoebus played the lyre and sang so sweetly; now all is mute, now all is silent.

Quis dabit … O dolor, dolor!

I say ‘seminal’ because the progeny of this work were many. As Wolfgang Fuhrmann has shown in his 2007 article on Trauermotetten and the Quis dabit tradition, there was an extraordinary afterlife in the form of funeral motets bearing the incipit Quis dabit, one that continued into the seventeenth century.2 The offspring, however, derived more of their DNA from Poliziano than from Isaac, that is, the tradition was primarily textual, adopted and adapted in many different ways, in various musical settings, but also in the purely literary realm of neo-Latin laments. But what of the musical legacy of Isaac’s setting of Quis dabit capiti meo aquam? Did it travel forth with Poliziano’s text and enjoy any of the fame and influence that the poem did? In a sense, sort of. The incipit Monodia in Laurentium Medicem, intonata par Arrighum Isac was recorded in a 1498 Aldus Manutius editio princeps of Poliziano’s works, and the 1503 Petrucci printing of the motet bearing the same incipit indicates that it had become known outside of Florence by this time.3 But after that Poliziano’s text and Isaac’s 2

3

Wolfgang Fuhrmann, ‘Pierre de la Rues Trauermotetten und die Quis dabit-Tradition’, in Tod in Musik und Kultur. Zum 500. Todestag Philipps des Schönen, ed. Stefan Gasch and Birgit Lodes, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 2 (Tutzing, 2007), 189–244; and Blake Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament from Isaac to Layolle’, in Sleuthing the Muse: Essays in Honor of William F. Prizer, ed. Kristine J. Forney and Jeremy L. Smith (New York, 2012), 85–114, at 104–6. Opera Omnia Angeli Politiani (Venice, 1498), sig. iiVIr –iiVIv; Ottaviano Petrucci, Motetti B: de passione, de cruce, de sacramento, de beata virgine et huiusmodi (Venice, 1503) (RISM 15031). In

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Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit

music seem to part ways, and if there is any kind of legacy for Isaac’s Quis dabit music, it is most likely to be found in association with other texts, as was the case for other Isaac musical settings of occasional texts. Before suggesting some of the possible routes by which Isaac’s Quis dabit music traveled, it is necessary to review certain aspects of the music in its original setting, in both the motet and the Missa Salva nos.4 Though for some readers this may be what Taruskin called ‘an old score,’ the hope is that well-made things hold up to repeated scrutiny, and sometimes yield up new findings along the way. The motet has two musical tributaries: the mass, and the plainchant upon which the mass was based.5 The chant is the Compline antiphon for the Nunc dimittis, structured in five phrases according to how Isaac deployed them in the mass (Ex. 1).6

Ex. 1: Plainchant antiphon for Compline, Salva nos, Domine

The last of these, the phrase E, is of particular interest for both its melody and text, for it is singled out and given a special treatment by Isaac in both the mass

4

5

6

addition to the Manutius and Petrucci editions, Poliziano’s poem appears in a number of late fifteenth-century manuscripts, all but one of which transmit the incipit regarding Isaac’s musical settings; see Drake, ‘The Ostinato Synthesis’, 60 n. 7. For an edition of the mass, see Martin Staehelin, ed., Heinrich Isaac, Messen, Bd. 2, Musi­ kalische Denkmäler v. VIII (Mainz, 1973), 45–73; and on the mass and its relation to the motet, see id., Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, 3 vols., Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft Ser. 2, vol. 28 (Bern, 1977), i, 83–4, 87, 89, 95, 98; ii, 36–37, 108–9; iii, 28–33, 202–3. The precedence of the Mass to the motet has been firmly established by Martin Staehelin, ‘Communications. [Letter from Martin Staehelin]’, in JAMS 28 (1975), 160, and con­ firmed by Richard Taruskin, ‘Settling an Old Score: A Note on Contrafactum in Isaac’s Lorenzo Lament’, in Current Musicology 21 (1976), 83–93. For counter-arguments favoring the precedence of the motet, see Allan W. Atlas, ‘A Note on Isaac’s Quis Dabit Capiti Meo Aquam’, in JAMS 27 (1974), 102–10; id., ‘Communications’, in JAMS 28 (1975), 565–66, and Drake, ‘The Ostinato Synthesis’ (see n. 1), 74–6. Antiphonale Romanum (Paris, 1949), 64, the version used by Taruskin, ‘Settling an Old Score’, 86; Staehelin cites a variant version of the chant, which differs significantly at both the A phrase, and particularly the D phrase (E in Staehelin’s 6-part division of the chant); Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, iii, 29–30.

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and the motet. It is one of those rare moments in the chant repertory where the text and music do appear to enjoy an expressive relationship: compared to the other phrases, the E phrase is unique for its static, recitation-like profile, and for its range and direction. The chant descends into its lowest register of all five phrases, then also descends melodically as it yields to the almost gravitational pull of the phrygian cadence. It is hard not to think of the rest that awaits both Simeon and the attendees of a Compline service, a connection made explicit by the textual reference to peaceful rest (et requiescamus in pace). As Isaac deployed the chant in his mass setting, he did so in a fairly conventional way, conventional that is if you are looking only at its disposition in the tenor voice (see Table 2).7 Table 2: Henricus Isaac, Missa Salva nos, distribution of chant phrases Mass section

Chant phrases in tenor

Kyrie I: AB Christe: CDE *Kyrie II: E GLORIA: Et in terra: ABCD Domine deus: A Qui tollis: BCD Quoniam: ABCD *Cum sancto: E CREDO: Patrem: ABCD; ABCDE Et incarnatus: [C] Crucifixus: EAB Et in spiritum: AB; ABCDE

7

Chant in other voices E (S, B) E (B)

E (S); A (S) E (S/B duet; A) E (S, B duet); C (S, B) E (S)

B (A); C (S, A, B) [C] (S, B) E (S, A, A/T duet); [B] (S, A); ABC (B); C (A) E (S, A); AB (S canon w/T); B (B canon w/T)

The brackets (e.g. [B]) refer to chant phrases that appear in a fragmentary or altered form. Both Taruskin, ‘Settling an Old Score’, 86, and Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs, iii, 29–30 offer an analysis of the chant distribution throughout the Missa Salva nos, though neither is concerned with the presence of the chant outside the tenor part.

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Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit

SANCTUS Sanctus: ABCD Pleni: tenor tacet Osanna I: ABCDE Benedictus: ABCD *Osanna II: E AGNUS Agnus I: AB Agnus II: tenor tacet Agnus III: ABCDE

E (S/B duet, B); [A] (A, B) E (S, A, B); [A] (S,A); C (A, B) E (S); [A] (A, B) E (S, B); C (B) E (S, A, T, B: fauxbourdon)

E (S ostinato, B) E (S/B duet, B, S/A duet) ABCDE (A canon w/T)

*musical sections re-used in Quis dabit

As indicated in the middle column, Isaac mostly runs through it in order, in a manner similar to other traditional tenor masses. This is as much as Taruskin showed in his table of the chant phrases in the mass. But if you look at the migration of the chant phrases into the soprano, alto, and bass parts (right hand column), one sees a different picture. Isaac rejects the options of both free polyphony, or emphasis on the more melodically active phrases of the chant, and focuses disproportionately and continuously on the restful E phrase. It is a strange choice in some ways, to single out for such pervasive use a static and cadential phrase, something always trying and wanting to end.8 Nor did Isaac stop at allowing this phrase to migrate to other single voices, but in every Mass movement except the Kyrie he deployed it as a duet in parallel thirds or tenths, often between soprano and bass, as in the Qui tollis, where the duets are heard four times in succession (Ex. 2), but also between other pairs of voices, like the alto/tenor in the Et incarnatus est, and soprano/alto in the Agnus II. The second half of the Christe is structured on entries of the subject treated in imitation between soprano, tenor, and bass (Ex. 3), and in one extraordinary moment in the 2nd Osanna (mm. 168–73, to be discussed more fully below), all four voices slide through the motive in fauxbourdon (Ex. 4). The ‘E’ phrase upon which Isaac focused for his Mass is a slightly embellished form of a familiar figure that would lodge deeply in the canon of western music as an emblem of lament. In a mass presumably intended for a Compline 8

Staehelin notes that both Ockeghem’s deploration for the death of Binchois and Festa’s lament Super flumina babilonis (possibly for Isaac’s death, see below n. 26) employ only the last line of their chant sources as a cantus firmus; review of Edward Lowinsky, ed., The Medici Codex of 1518, in JAMS 33 (1980), 575–87, at 581.

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Ex. 2: Heinrich Isaac, Missa Salva nos, ‘Qui tollis’, mm. 57–82

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Ex. 3: Isaac, Missa Salva nos, ‘Christe’, mm. 32–55

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Ex. 4: Isaac, Missa Salva nos, ‘Osanna II’, mm. 164–77

service, Isaac seems to have come across a musical figure expressively suited to this cadential hour of the liturgical day, and to its nocturnal mood and imagery. And the placid character of such lines are best thrown into relief when decorated with garlands of gently flowing melismatic free counterpoint, something he did throughout the mass, and most conspicuously in the newly-composed heart of the motet, the middle section of his funeral lament for Lorenzo. As Staehelin was the first to point out, parts of Isaac’s Missa Salva nos were recycled in the first and third parts of the motet, borrowed polyphony making up about two thirds of part I, and just over half of part III (Table 3).9 But why did Isaac draw only on these parts of the mass? The sections of the motet in which music from the mass is reused are shown in bold in Table 2, where it is revealed that these are the only sections in the entire mass based exclusively on the E material, whether in the tenor or in the other voices. 9

Staehelin, ‘Communications’, 160. Both Taruskin, ‘Settling an Old Score’ (see n. 6), 84, and Wolfgang Osthoff, Theatergesang und darstellende Musik in der italienischen Renaissance, 2 vols. (Tutzing, 1969), ii, 177–9, provide detailed analyses of the cantus firmus migration in Isaac’s motet, though Osthoff overlooks its presence in the tenor at measures 33–7 (part I), and neither author notes its appearance in the final four measures of the bass. For another analysis of the cantus firmus treatment in Isaac’s motet, see Drake, ‘The Ostinato Synthesis’ (see n. 1), 66–70.

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Table 3: Henricus Isaac, Quis dabit Parts I & III, mass borrowing Music

Text

Part I mm. 1–8 Quis dabit capiti meo / aquam mm. 9–32 Quis oculis meis / fontem lachrimarum dabit / ut nocte fleam / ut luce fleam? mm. 33–46 Sic turtur viduus solet / sic cygnus moriens solet / mm. 47–64 Sic luscinia conqueri / Heu miser, o dolor! Part III mm. 102–19 Sub cuius patula coma / et Phoibi lyra blandius / sonat *mm. 120–40 et vox dulcius / nunc muta omnia / nunc sorda omnia.

Mass borrowing new polyphony (w/E motive in S/A) = Agnus: Osanna II (mm. 168–91) new polyphony = Gloria: Cum sancto (mm. 128–44)

new polyphony (w/E motive as T cantus firmus) = Kyrie II (mm. 56–69)

[* = mm. 19–39 in Wolf ed., DTÖ XIV/1, 28]

Thus when Isaac composed the motet he turned to his Missa Salva nos, focused only on those sections built exclusively on the E phrase, extracted all of the music, and ignored the rest of the mass music. The result is a motet that, like the mass, is as suffused with this Phrygian tetrachordal phrase. Unlike the mass, however, the motet is essentially monothematic: Isaac carefully avoided importing any other thematic material from the mass (i.e. any music based on chant phrases A–D), nor did he create any new themes for the motet. Quis dabit is thus even more dependent upon the E phrase than the mass, and in fact there is hardly a measure in the motet when the E motive is not sounding in one or more voices. Clearly the relationship of the motet to the mass (and the chant) is more complicated than a straightforward contrafactum. Every newly composed section of the motet in parts I and III, such as mm. 1–8 (soprano/alto) and 15–22 (tenor) of part I, contains some version of the E phrase in at least one of the voices (Ex. 5).

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Part II, the section that explicitly addresses Lorenzo, and the only significant swath of newly composed music in the motet, famously deploys the E phrase as a transposing ostinato that spirals downward in the bass part. As it does so, the tenor voice – Lorenzo’s voice – falls silent, and the gently weaving soprano and alto parts add poignancy and counterweight to the inexorable fall of the bass. And the section is also distinguished textually by the fact that in the bass part Isaac temporarily moves outside of Poliziano’s text and leapfrogs over the mass to borrow directly from the chant in order to reclaim the original liturgical words of the E phrase: et requiescamus in pace. One could argue that part II has no direct connection to the Missa Salva nos, which strictly speaking is true, except that the mass setting was the context in which this phrase acquired its special expressiveness for Isaac, and was the path to his decision to make it the exclusive motivic basis of the entire motet, and to its special treatment as a bass ostinato in the Laurentian heart of the motet.10 It is as if the motive that Isaac has been cultivating with increasing obsession during the course of the Mass and the first part of the motet, arrives at its real destination in Part II as a figure now completely identified with the death and burial of Lorenzo. This music did not die with Lorenzo in 1492, or with Poliziano in 1494, or even with Isaac in 1517. To suggest one aspect of its afterlife, I would like to look at a group of three madrigals, datable to the 1520s, all settings of the same text, Qual sarà mai sí miserabil canto (Table 4).11 This is another lament by Poliziano, this one a single stanza of ottava rima lifted from his play Orfeo. It is the first of four stanzas in which Orfeo grieves after just losing Euridice a second time, and it was originally sung at its Mantuan premier in 1480 by the great Florentine solo singer Baccio Ugolini. Over forty years later it was set by Costanzo Festa for three voices, Francesco Layolle for four, and Verdelot for five, and despite the loss of all but the altus and bassus parts of the Verdelot version, it is clear that the three pieces share motivic material.12 Specifically, they share motives shaped as tetrachords, initially in 10

11

12

Though there is little evidence regarding when Isaac’s music might have been performed, it is possible that the Missa Salva nos was written for a funeral or memorial service for Lorenzo, and that the motet could have been composed later for a less formal occasion or function. Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament’ (see n. 2), 86–96. The source of Poliziano’s edited text is Stefano Carrai, Angelo Poliziano: Stanze, Fabula di Orfeo (Milan, 1988), 155; the variant text used by Layolle is edited in Music of the Florentine Renaissance, ed. Frank D’Accone ([Rome], 1969), iv, xiii. The Verdelot text is very close to Carrai’s ­edition, except for the subsitution of pianto for canto in the first line. Frederick Sternfeld first drew attention to the thematic links between these three works, particularly to the use of the descending tetrachord, but he did so in the context of a ­discussion focused upon the rhetorical use of repetition: ‘Poliziano, Isaac, Festa: Rhetorical Repetition’, in Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell’Europa del ’500, ed. Gian Carlo Garfag-

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Ex. 5: Isaac, Quis dabit, mm. 1–22

ascending form to correspond with the question being asked in the first line of the poem, but mostly these pieces rely on their descending Phrygian form, and their extension into cascading hexachordal figures. These figures are assigned nini, 3 vols. (Florence, 1983), ii, 562–4; id., ‘The Lament in Poliziano’s Orfeo and some Musical Settings of the Early 16th Century’, in Arts du spectacle et histoire des idées: Recueil offert en hommage à Jean Jacquot, ed. Jean-Michel Vaccaro (Tours, 1984), 201–4; id., The Birth of Opera (Oxford, 1993), 147–51, where Festa’s setting is published in its entirety and discussed. Modern editions consulted for this study are Costanzo Festa, Opera Omnia, ed. Albert Seay, CMM 25-7 ([Neuhausen-Stuttgart], 1977), 12; Music of the Florentine Renaissance, ed. D’Accone, iv, 8–11 (Layolle). There is no modern edition of the Verdelot, since only the altus and bassus partbooks survive of its only source, Libro primo a cinque (Venice, c.1536–7).

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Table 4: Angelo Poliziano, Fabula di Orfeo (lines 261–8) a. TEXT

Poliziano text (ed. S. Carrai)

Layolle version (ed. F. D’Accone)

1 Qual sarà mai * sí miserabil canto Qual sarà mai * sì lacrimabil pianto 2 che pareggi il dolor * che pareggi ‘l dolor * del mio gran danno? del mio gran danno? 3 O come potrò mai * lacrimar tanto Hor come potrò mai * lacrimar tanto 4 che sempre pianga * che ponga fin * il mio mortale affanno? al mio crudel affanno? 5 Starommi mesto * Staromi mesto * e sconsolato in pianto e sconsolat’im pianto 6 per fin ch’e cieli * in vita mi terranno: perfin ch’ i cieli * in vita mi terranno. 7 e poi che sì crudele è mia fortuna, Da poi che così vuol la mia fortuna, 8 già mai non voglio amar * già mai non vogl’amar * più donna alcuna. più donn’alcuna. [* marks caesura within poetic line] How can ever such woeful song equal the pain of my great suffering? How can I ever find enough tears to mourn constantly my mortal affliction? I shall remain sad and disconsolate in my lament as long as the heavens keep me in this life. And since my fate is so cruel, I do not wish ever again to love any woman. b. MUSIC Costanzo Festa 3-part Brussels, Bibliothèque du Conservatoire Royal (c.1485/90–1545) de Musique, MS FA VI.5 (1530s), RISM 154218 Francesco Layolle 4-part Cinquanta canzoni a quatro voci (1492–c.1540) (Lyons: Jacques Moderne, 1540) (RISM A/I L 1179) Philippe Verdelot (c.1480/5–after 1530) 5-part

Madrigali a cinque libro primo (Venice: Ottavio Scotto, c.1536/7) [altus & bassus only]

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repeatedly to the expressive words of the lament such as miserabil and lacrima­ bil pianto. Moreover, the tetrachords and hexachords perform a clarifying role with respect to the syntactic structure of the text.13 An isolated stanza of ottava rima is a strambotto (or rispetto spicciolato as Poliziano called it). Strambotto texts consist of eight lines of eleven syllables each, and each line tends to observe a caesura (marked with asterisk in Table 4), a semantic division of the line into a short and a long subphrase. The tetrachords tend to align with these short phrases, and the hexachords with the long phrases. I will return to the topic of the strambotto form below, but my focus for the moment is on the Layolle setting, which bears a specific relationship with Isaac’s motet. Layolle’s beautifully crafted four-part setting is saturated with Phrygian tetrachords and their hexachordal extensions (bracketed and labeled ‘T’ & ‘H’ in Ex. 6). The repetition of the tetrachord in the bass line throughout the first half of the piece begins to assume the function of a basso ostinato, and mm.  9–27 are formed entirely from it. This much suggests a link to Isaac’s motet: the monothematic deployment of a very similar tetrachordal figure both across the polyphonic fabric and as an ostinato in the bass, all in conjunction with a lament text by Poliziano. More than suggestive, however, is Layolle’s direct modeling of a six-measure patch of polyphony on the extraordinary Isaac passage mentioned above, which originated in the Osanna II (mm. 168–73) of the Missa Salva nos, and it is recycled as mm. 9–14 of the motet (Ex. 5). The comparable section falls near the end of Layolle’s madrigal (mm. 46–52), and the two passages are juxtaposed in Ex. 7. Though the counterpoint differs, the concept is identical: in each piece, all four voices are extended versions of a descending tetrachord, and each voice traces its own version of a descent within the compass of a tetrachord. Isaac’s lines stick melodically and rhythmically closer to his E motive, and are the logical extension of his obsession with this figure in the motet. The delayed entrance of the soprano allows the lower three parts to proceed in fauxbourdon parallel motion and avoid the voice-leading problems that arise when trying to have all four parts descend at once. But that also requires him to extend his bass line in mm. 12–14 beyond its initial tetrachordal descent in the first four measures, to cadence a third lower. Layolle’s treatment is melodically freer, which enables him to manage the descent of all four voices together within their tetrachordal ranges. But both share the goal of a dense and intensified presentation of their drooping themes, with Layolle’s coming at the very moment 13

The term hexachord is used here in the broader sense of any six-note scalar figure, regardless of its solmisation form based on ut.

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Ex. 6a: Francesco Layolle, ‘Qual sara mai’ (Cinquanta canzoni, no. 5)

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Ex. 6b: Francesco Layolle, ‘Qual sara mai’ (Cinquanta canzoni, no. 5)

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when Orpheus laments his cruel fate, when fortuna seems to ensnare him as she spreads her web across the full musical texture. This clear allusion to Isaac’s motet allows us to reevaluate the other aspects of Layolle’s madrigal in light of its connection to Issac, Lorenzo, and Florence. For one thing, the tetrachords and ostinato-like treatment of them in Layolle’s work now seem much more likely to be part of his Isaac borrowing. By the 1520s there were many other sources of tetrachord-drenched laments, most of them from the chanson des regretz literature of the early decades of the sixteenth century (Ex. 8). Here we find them in the tetrachordal and hexachordal forms in which they would appear in the madrigals, and similarly linked to the most doleful words, such as ‘lamentation,’ ‘desolation,’ ‘plongez,’ ‘complains,’ and ‘dolour.’ These figures were similarly worked into the imitative polyphonic fabrics of these chansons as clearly etched musical emblems, including what is perhaps the work most thoroughly constructed from descending phyrygian tetrachords, Mille regretz (Ex.  8c).14 And the pattern found in the Qual sarà mai madrigals of tetrachord figures stretching into cascading hexachords, often initiated by dotted rhythms, can be clearly seen in Josquin’s chanson (mm. 19–24) as a pair of duets to the words ‘et paine douloreuse’ (Ex. 8c4).15 Layolle was very likely aware of these works, since French chansons des regretz turned up often in Italian sources, and Layolle, though Florentine, lived in Lyons much of his adult life and collaborated with French music publishers there.16 To what extent the French repertoire is based on Isaac’s recasting of this figure as an emblem of lament is not clear, but either way it probably does not alter the likelihood that Layolle’s work draws on both, that is, he is looking directly to Isaac’s motet while also aware of the refinements this figure 14

15

16

The attribution of this work to Josquin has been disputed; see David Fallows, ‘Who Composed Mille Regretz?’, in Essays on Music and Culture in Honor of Herbert Kellman, ed. Barbara Haggh, Collection Epitome musical (Paris and Tours, 2001), 241–52. For an edition of the chanson, see David Fallows, ed., New Josquin Edition (Utrecht, 2005), v. 28, no. 25; cf. also David Fallows’s contribution about the Egenolff tenor partbooks in the present volume. A particularly clear example is Josquin’s Je me complains (Ex. 8b), where the tetrachord/ hexachord sequence happens twice, and constitutes most of the work’s thematic material. For a more extended discussion of the descending hexachordal figures in the Regretz chanson literature, see Owen Rees, ‘Mille regretz as Model: Possible Allusions to “The Emperor’s Song” in the Chanson Repertory’, in JRMA 120 (1995), 44–76. Though Rees does not recognize descending Phrygian tetrachord as a ­feature of these chansons, he does identify the melodic figure of a rising fourth followed by the descent of a tone (his ‘motive A’) as a significant recurring figure, and this figure is repeated exactly in the opening of Layolle’s madrigal, and in varied forms in the openings of the Qual sarà mai settings of Festa and Verdelot. Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament’ (see n. 2), 106–7.

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Ex. 7a: Isaac, Quis dabit, mm. 9–14

Ex. 7b: Francesco Layolle, Qual sarà mai, mm. 47–52

underwent in the chanson repertoire, including both its simplification into a descending four-note scale, and its extension into cascading hexachords. What is clear is that this figure lodged in the madrigal repertoire as a representation of lament, and appeared in subsequent works en route to its more systematic use by Monteverdi and other early opera composers.17 But there are other aspects of Layolle’s piece that look to the Laurentian past, and these in turn lead to the issue with which I will conclude: the cultural and political context of Layolle’s homage to Isaac.

17

For example, Verdelot’s Gran dolor della mia vita, and Rore’s Strane ruppi, aspri monti. In his study of the ‘tear motif’ in Dowland’s Lachrimae (1604), Peter Holman notes that by the late sixteenth century the descending tetrachord had become a ‘standard emblem of grief’, to be heard in madrigals by Giovanni Gabrieli, Marenzio, and Wert, among others, as well as in Victoria’s 1572 setting of O vos omnes; Dowland: Lachrimae (1604) (Cambridge, 1999), 40–2. See also Peter Williams, The Chromatic Fourth During Four Centuries of Music (Oxford, 1997), which begins with the chromatic madrigals of Vicentino and Rore. On its use in the early 17th century, see Ellen Rosand, ‘The Descending Tetrachord: An E ­ mblem of Lament’, in MQ 65 (1979), 346–59.

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a. Cueurs desolez (de la Rue)

b. Je me complains ( Josquin)

c. Mille regretz ( Josquin)

d. Nimphes nappes ( Josquin)

e. Plusieurs regretz (anon.)

f. Secretz regretz (de la Rue) Ex. 8: Tetrachordal motives from the Chansons des Regretz-Repertory

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Ex. 9: Francesco Layolle, Qual sarà mai, Cantus

In the 1520s, the choice to set a strambotto to music was not without its implications. By then it was a venerable form in sharp decline, and one strongly associated with oral tradition, especially with the solo singing of the great improvvisatori like Benedetto Gareth in Naples, Serafino Aquilano, and Baccio Ugolini.18 Its Florentine roots were strong, for it was largely Poliziano who through his own strambotti had shifted the form from the regions of popular, oral poetry to a more cultivated tradition through infusions of language drawn from Petrarch and other Tuscan poets, thus preparing the way for strambot­ tisti like Serafino. When Baccio stepped onto the Mantuan stage in 1480 to sing Poliziano’s lines, the strambotto was in its youth as an oral genre with an unwritten musical tradition. Layolle’s setting of the same text is a very late manifestation of the shift towards a more literate and cultivated version of the 18

On the strambotto, see Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament’ (see n. 2), 89–93, and the works cited there; and more generally on the art of the improvvisatori, id., Singing to the Lyre in Renaissance Italy: Memory, Performance, and Oral Poetry (Cambridge, 2019).

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strambotto, but one in which vestiges of the oral tradition are still to be found. The signs of this orality in strambotto settings are declamatory melodies that tend to move in a fairly narrow range; homophonic textures built on a cantus/ tenor framework and frequent motion in parallel imperfect consonances between the cantus and a lower voice; and the recycling of melodic material from the first pair of lines for the subsequent pairs of lines. Colin Slim some time ago identified these qualities in an early Verdelot setting of a strambotto text, Quando madonna io vengo a contemplarte, which he identified as the piece beneath the right hand of the sitter in an early sixteenth-century portrait.19 Pictured in the background of the painting is a lira da braccio, which signals the link between Verdelot’s madrigal and the oral performance tradition of the strambotto. In Layolle’s madrigal, a glance at the cantus melody (Ex. 9) shows its debt to this older oral tradition: there is repetition of melodic material across the first four lines (line three resembles one, line four resembles two), and this mirrors the typical paired-line rhetoric of strambotto texts, in this case framed as a pair of questions. In the second half of the poem (lines 5–8) questions give way to declarations, as Orpheus resigns himself to a life of misery and celibacy. This rhetorical shift is matched by a change in the structure of the cantus melody. These last four melodic lines are all variations of one another: the first half of the caesura in each line consists of a compact up and down traversal of the upper register between a1 and c2, while the second half (with the exception of line seven) returns to the lower register by means of the descending hexachord. Line seven stands apart as being part of the polyphonic tetrachordal descent that is modeled on Isaac’s music (Ex.  7). In the more extended setting of line eight, the work’s predominantly chordal texture comes unraveled; amidst overlapping cascades of descending hexachords, the dismemberment of the texture perhaps evokes Orpheus’ ultimate fate at the hands of the Dionysian maenads as punishment for his rejection of women. Layolle is thus bending towards his own Florentine past, one in which the ottava rima of the strambotto and solo singing to the accompaniment of a lira da braccio were essential components of Florentine cultural identity, both in its traditional civic version represented by the singing of canterini in their customary performance venue of Piazza San Martino, and the humanist transformation of it in the circles of Marsilio Ficino and Lorenzo de’ Medici.20 This was 19 20

H. Colin Slim, ‘An Iconographical Echo of the Unwritten Tradition in a Verdelot ­Madrigal’, in Studi Musicali 17 (1988), 33–56. Blake Wilson, ‘Dominion of the Ear: Singing the Vernacular in Piazza San Martino’, in I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance 16 (2013), 273–87. For an introduction to both the civic and humanist traditions of cantare ad lyram, see id., ‘Canterino and Improvvisatore: Oral

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certainly true for Lorenzo’s group of litterati, including Baccio and Poliziano, for whom cantare ad lyram – singing and improvising vernacular poetry to the lyre – was a much more frequent and culturally significant activity than most imagine.21 It is for that reason that I also read the lines in part III of Poliziano’s poem (‘sub cuius patula …’) as continuing the reference to Lorenzo in part II, which is suggested by the syntax which makes the first three lines of part III a dependent clause of part II: Lightning has struck down our laurel tree… beneath whose spreading boughs Phoebus played the lyre and sang so sweetly.

In other words, this is not just a reflexive humanist nod to the mythological figure of Apollo and his lyre, but a deliberate and poignant reference to Lorenzo as a performing poet: to the irreplaceable loss of the protection afforded by the laurel tree, to the loss of his patronage as Phoebus/Apollo, and to the exalted activity of sung poetry the two men shared, now rendered silent by death. It is the silencing of Lorenzo’s poetic voice and lyre, both literally and figuratively, that is the central image of the lament. And it is only a little bit strange that Isaac reflects this silence not in part III at the words ‘muta’ and ‘surda,’ but in anticipation of them in part II with the rubric tenor laurus tacet. But given the strength of this passion shared between Poliziano and Lorenzo, the reference to Apollo and sweet singing to the lyre cannot have been impersonal. This is a reference Isaac had to have understood well, not just because he witnessed the literary activities of Lorenzo and Poliziano, but because he also participated in them as someone sympathetic to Italian vernacular musical culture and involved in setting Italian verse. The attempt to understand Layolle’s madrigal and its retrospective attributes in the cultural and political context of Florence in the 1520s generates as many questions as answers, for this was a complex period of rapid flux and shifting fortunes and loyalties. A work that pays homage to the Laurentian era with a lament certainly looks like it is engaging in the most common of humanist rhetorical tropes: praise of the past, blame of the present, that is, lamenting the present state of things in light of a golden age past. This was precisely the theme, for example, that in 1485 was given by Bernardo Bembo to

21

Poetry and Performance’, in The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, ed. Anna Maria Busse Berger and Jesse Rodin (Cambridge, 2015), 292–310. Lorenzo and his circle are discussed at length in my forthcoming Singing to the Lyre (see n. 19), Ch. 4.

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the Florentine improvisatory singer Aurelio Brandolini upon which to fashion a poem impromptu. He promptly improvised and sang 48 Latin couplets on the topic ‘let him deplore our age, but praise antiquity’.22 And there was plenty to lament in the 1520s in Florence. The Italian wars that had begun with the French invasion in 1494 had swept aside Medici rule in Florence and the Aragonese dynasty in Naples, upended what there was of political stability in the entire peninsula, and lead to the Sack of Rome in 1527. After Lorenzo’s death in 1492 and the Medici expulsion in 1494, Florence went through four years of Savonarolan theocracy, followed by the final convulsive years of republican ideals. Piero Soderini had been elected republican leader for life in 1502, then Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici conquered the city in 1512, and became Pope Leo X the following year. After a failed republican conspiracy in 1522, the republic was temporarily restored in 1527, only to fall again in 1531 after ­Medici armies besieged the city for eleven months. Florentines regarded these increasingly aristocratic Medici with ambivalence, to say the least, and through the 1520s there continued to be republican sympathizers. Layolle and Verdelot were among them.23 As Philippe Canguilhem has shown, their madrigals would not have been the only ones to express longing for the golden age of Laurentian Florence, when arts and letters flourished in period of relative political stability, and when the Medici were not openly aristocracizing themselves.24 Layolle was in Florence until he left for Lyons around 1518, and Verdelot is documented in Florence from 1521–27, though he was probably there longer. Though the two men did not overlap, they both had clear literary ties to the strongly republican group of intellectuals that met in the Rucellai garden. Costanzo Festa, the third composer to contribute a setting of Poliziano’s text, is not known to have been in Florence at all, but in Rome in the papal chapel and Leo X’s employ by 1514.25 So how 22

F. Alberto Gallo, Music in the Castle: Troubadours, Books & Orators in Italian Courts of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Centuries (Chicago, 1995), 78–80. 23 Giuseppe Gerbino, Music and the Myth of Arcadia in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 2009), 75–6; and Anthony M. Cummings, The Maecenas and the Madrigalist: Patrons, Patronage, and the Origins of the Italian Madrigal (Philadelphia, 2004), passim. 24 Philippe Canguilhem, ‘Musique et politique à Florence dans la première moitié du XVIe siècle: Le status du madrigal à la lumière de nouvelles sources’, in Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation 6 (2008), 205–23, at 215–17. Canguilhem argues throughout this article for the politicized nature of many Florentine madrigals during the 1520s and 1530s. 25 Staehelin/Lowinsky, The Medici Codex of 1518 (see n. 9), 580–2, where he takes up Alexander Main’s suggestion that Festa may have been in Florence during his younger years (he is called Constantius Festa Florentinus Italus in the Aegidius Tschudi manuscript), and had contact with Isaac, for whose death in 1517 Festa may have intended his lament Super flu­ mina babilonis, a speculation now lent some credibility by his involvement in the Qual sarà mai project.

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Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit

did these three men, all with Florentine connections but who never may have overlapped with one another there, come to set the same text, using shared melodic material linked to lament and in three different textures? This has the hallmarks of a gara, a poetic contest in which contestants competed using a shared theme, but this still required an instigator, a patron who oversaw the project, and one such person might have been Filippo Strozzi (1488–1538).26 He provides a telling portrait of how complex Medici loyalties became in early sixteenth century. He was a keen patron of the early madrigal, and had direct contact with both Festa and Layolle during the period 1528–36.27 Strozzi was married to Lorenzo the Magnificent’s granddaughter and was a Medici supporter through the papacy of Leo X, so he had reason to sponsor a project that glorified the Laurentian past. On the other hand, he became disillusioned with Medici rule, and in 1528 joined Layolle’s Florentine expatriate community in Lyons. So Strozzi also had reason to align with republican sympathizers. Festa had the least incentive of the three to protest Medici rule, but the most incentive to do Filippo’s bidding since Strozzi was Festa’s creditor, patron, and godfather to his child.28 In this scenario, the trio of madrigals can be understood as a political critique of Medici usurpation of the republic, and Orpheus’ Eurydice and the Florentine republic share the same fate: both briefly recovered, only to be lost for a second and final time. On the other hand, Layolle and Verdelot were not that extreme in their politics. They did not, as far as we know, participate in any conspiracies, and Verdelot was unlikely to since he, like Festa, was directly tied to Medici patronage. So another possible scenario is that these three madrigals were the result of a commission from a Florentine patron, perhaps a member of one of 26

27 28

A well-established convention of poetic contests (like that of Aurelio Brandolini describ­ed above) was the provision, often in the moment, of a theme upon which the contestants were to fashion their verses in competition with one another. No doubt there were ­instances when composers were called upon to perform an analogous task. Filippo certainly would have recalled his brother Lorenzo’s earlier involvement with the multiple settings of the latter’s poem Questo mostrarsi, another Poliziano project with which Layolle, too, was involved; Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament’ (see n. 2), 87. Yet another Strozzi-inspired collaboration took place when Layolle, Willaert, Girolamo Scotto, and Simon Boyleau all wrote musical settings of one of Filippo’s poems, Rompi l’empio cor; Richard J. Agee, ‘Ruberto Strozzi and the Early Madrigal’, in JAMS 36 (1983), 1–17, at 11 n. 35. Richard J. Agee, ‘Filippo Strozzi and the Early Madrigal’, in JAMS 38 (1985), 227–37; ­Wilson, ‘Poliziano and the Language of Lament’ (see n. 2), 107–10. It is an interesting coincidence that Festa had earlier set a different Quis dabit text, and, according to Staehelin, his setting of Super flumina babylonis was a lament possibly occasioned by the death of Isaac; see Staehelin/Lowinsky, The Medici Codex of 1518 (see n. 9), 581–2.

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the academic sodalities with a less political and anti-Medicean agenda, maybe even a Medici, and that they represent a more purely literary and cultural nostalgia for the Florentine past. We know from the work of Anthony Cummings that these academic gatherings focused on the issues that attend these madrigal settings: the poetic and musical legacy of the fifteenth century, and the fundamental question of how one best set the Tuscan vernacular to music.29 Nostalgia for the cultural golden age of the Florentine past was often part of the cultural environment of the early sixteenth-century Florentine academies. The creative tension between emerging polyphonic practice and traditional solo singing to the lyre, which Layolle’s madrigal captured, was embodied in the membership of these groups where composers like Layolle and Verdelot could rub shoulders with improvisatory singer/poets like Bernardo Accolti, Atalante Migliorotti, and Filippo’s own brother Lorenzo Strozzi.30 Migliorotti, it should be noted, was sought by the Mantuan Court in 1490 to sing the part of Orpheus in an attempt to revive Poliziano’s play. Doubtless there are other and perhaps better interpretations of these works to be fashioned, but a common thread in all of them is reverence in and nostalgia for the golden age of Laurentian Florence, for its climate of political stability in which the arts and letters once thrived. And the sense of its loss must have felt complete with the passing in 1517 of its greatest polyphonic composer, Heinrich Isaac, whose death, while a half millenium in the past for us, was only a few years in the past for Layolle and his colleagues. As the Florentine among them, Francesco Layolle seems to have understood that he could not pay homage to the Florentine golden age without invoking his fellow citizen Arrigo.

29 Cummings, The Maecenas and the Madrigalist, passim; and for a slightly later period (the

1540s), Robert Nosow, ‘The Debate on Song in the Accademia Fiorentina’, in EMH 21 (2002), 175–221. 30 Cummings, The Maecenas and the Madrigalist (see n. 24), 82–90.

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HEINRICH ISAAC’S MISSA COMME FEMME DESCONFORTÉE: A MUSICAL OFFERING TO THE VIRGIN MARY

Sometime during the 1490s Isaac penned a mass setting based on the plaintive chanson Comme femme desconfortée.1 This work is part of a substantial body of surviving mass settings based upon secular songs that emerged in the 1450s and flourished well into the sixteenth century. But what did its performance signify to the singers and worshippers present? And how did the text of the original chanson comment conceptually on the words of the Ordinary? It is often challenging to infer a specific symbolic correlation between mass and model due to the standardized nature of the latter’s text. But in order to elucidate the cultural context of the chanson mass one must address the question of what these works signified to those that made, sang, and heard them. As Bonnie Blackburn has argued, the singing of motets containing devotional and personal addresses to Christ, the Virgin, or the community of saints had the power to benefit the souls of both the composer, the listeners, and of course, the singers themselves.2 Likewise, in the case of the chanson mass, the preexisting connotations of the secular model added another dimension to the performance, intensifying the devotional experience of the mass for all those present. There are ten extant sacred works such as Johannes Ghiselin’s Regina celi, Josquin’s Stabat Mater, and Ludwig Senfl’s Ave, Rosa sine spinis that use the tenor from Comme femme des­ confortée as a cantus firmus.3 Almost all of these sacred works are settings of texts associated with Marian devotion, indicating the strong Marian connotations 1 2 3

The mass survives in four sources: Ottaviano Petrucci, Misse henrici Jzac (Venice, 1506); E-Boc MS5; I-Rvat MS Capp. Sist. 49; S-Uu Vokalmusik i Handskrift 76e. Bonnie Blackburn, ‘For Whom do the Singers Sing?’, in EM 25 (1997), 593–609. David Rothenberg provides a full list of sacred reworkings in David Rothenberg, The Flower of Paradise: Marian Devotion and Secular Song in Medieval and Renaissance Music (Oxford, 2011), 195–7. For a list of all extant works that quote from the chanson see David Fallows, A Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs (Oxford, 1999), 116–7.

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of this chanson. Isaac’s choice of cantus firmus and his subsequent re-working of the tenor would seem to point to, as with other works based on this song, a mass written and received as a symbolic offering to the Virgin Mary. For centuries, composers have devoted music to the Virgin and portrayed idealized representations of her in their music. Correspondences between Marian prayer and courtly verse existed as early as the twelfth century. Poets and composers began to use earthly language to express devotion to the Virgin, and subsequently, aspects of Marian piety became emmeshed within the traditions of courtly love.4 The fifteenth-century chanson Comme femme desconfortée is transmitted in eleven fifteenth-century manuscript sources, and thus clearly enjoyed widespread familiarity during its time of currency.5 Comme femme is a rondeau with six-line stanzas, comprising two main sections that will be referred to as section A (mm. 1–15 of Ex. 1) and section B (mm. 16–31 of Ex. 1). The text of the chanson depicts a female in mourning: the disconsolate woman, thus providing an especially popular textual analogy for the sorrowful Virgin weeping at the foot of the cross, the most acclaimed expression of which is Josquin’s spectacular setting of the Stabat Mater, in which the chanson tenor stands in for the woeful Virgin. Michael Long has argued that the static nature of the augmented tenor line juxtaposed with the surrounding faster moving vocal parts assigns a particular structural importance to the cantus firmus and therefore to the Virgin herself.6 During the fifteenth century and the earlier decades of the sixteenth century certain chansons proved intensely popular for sacred or indeed secular re-workings; for example, De tous biens plaine by Hayne van Ghizeghem was adapted a remarkable fifty-two times.7 Comme femme desconfortée was another popular polyphonic model that generated a compositional family of eighteen

4

See Sylvia Huot, Allegorical Play in the Old French Motet: The Sacred and Profane in Thir­ teenth-Century (Stanford, 1997); David Rothenberg, The Flower of Paradise; Craig Wright, The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music (Cambridge, 2001). 5 Fallows, A Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs, 116–7. The chanson is anonymous in all of its sources except the Mellon Chansonnier, fols. 32v –33r, where it is attributed to Binchois. Whilst Fallows has accepted this attribution, Wolfgang Rehm situates the chanson amongst Binchois’ doubtful works: Wolfgang Rehm, Die Chansons von Gilles Binchois, 1400–1460 (Mainz, 1957). 6 Michael Long, ‘Symbol and Ritual in Josquin’s Missa Di Dadi’, in JAMS 42 (1989), 1–22, at 2. 7 For an overview of popular secular models see Honey Meconi, ‘Art-Song Reworkings: An Overview’, in JRMA 119 (1994), 1–42.

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Heinrich Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée: A Musical Offering to the Virgin Mary

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8

This as well as the following examples are reproduced from Heinrich Isaac, Opera Omnia, ed. Edward R. Lerner, CMM 65-6 (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1984). The main source for Lerner’s edition is Petrucci’s 1506 print of Isaac’s masses: Ottaviano Petrucci, Misse henrici Jzac (Venice, 1506).

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related settings.9 It is likely that composers were influenced by their contemporaries’ choice of model, which was probably the case with Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée. Agricola, Ghiselin and Isaac were working in Florence in the 1490s and each of them produced works based on the Comme femme tenor. These compositions all carry explicit Marian connotations, adding weight to the argument that Isaac envisioned his mass as an expression of devotion to the Virgin: two of Agricola’s instrumental pieces survive with Marian texts in D-B Mus. ms. 40021, and Ghiselin produced two motets – Regina caeli and Invi­ olata, integra et casta es – that combine the Comme femme tenor in double cantus firmus technique with a similar Marian chant.10 Only one other mass survives that is related to the chanson, Vinders’s Missa Stabat Mater, and one independent setting of the Credo by Pierre de la Rue.11 The former is modeled on Josquin’s Stabat Mater and the latter is a parody of Isaac’s motet, Angeli archangeli; thus, neither case presents a direct re-working of the original chanson. Whilst Vinders takes Josquin’s counterpoint as his primary compositional model he nevertheless succeeds in drawing upon the Marian subtexts of the chanson. The first appearance of the chanson tenor, in what will be seen to be a telling reflection of Isaac’s mass, occurs at the only part of the mass text that makes direct reference to the Virgin: ‘Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine’. Rothenberg has noted that motives developed from the chanson become more prominent within the polyphonic texture from this point onwards in the mass.12 It seems that once Mary is inscribed into the work via the text of the Ordinary, so her musical counterpart begins to intensify. The cantus firmus itself only appears at two other moments in Vinders’s mass: at the Osanna of the Sanctus and in the first statement of the Agnus Dei. The chanson’s second appearance serves to heighten the musical embodiment of the Virgin during the most dramatic and significant moment of the mass: the Elevation of the Host. As Andrew Kirkman has argued, the Sanctus served to ‘signify the joining of the earthly church with the heavenly hosts in the song of praise’.13 Mary is revealed through the chanson to signify her presence at this moment in the mass, implicitly pleading with her son, via her proxy presence, for earthly souls at the moment when he appears in flesh. 9 Ibid., 4, 26. 10 Rothenberg, The Flower of Paradise, 195. 11 Vinders’s mass is transmitted in D-Mbs Mus.ms. C, fols. 144v –187r and A-Wn Mus.Hs. 12 13

15499, fols. 151v –192r. David Rothenberg, ‘Angels, Archangels, and a Woman in Distress: The Meaning of Isaac’s Angeli archangeli’ in JM 21 (2004), 514–78, at 543. Andrew Kirkman, The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass: Medieval Context to Modern Revival (Cambridge, 2010), 192.

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Heinrich Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée: A Musical Offering to the Virgin Mary

Integral to our understanding of Isaac’s mass is a six-voice motet that he wrote on the same chanson tenor, Angeli archangeli, which was likely written around the same time as his mass.14 Whilst the text of this work is most commonly thought to address the Feast of All Saints, Rothenberg has convincingly argued that it is best understood as a musical depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin. His argument is validated by the Marian connotations of Comme femme desconfortée and the manuscript transmission of the motet: one source groups the work with other Marian motets (I-Rvat MS Capp. Sist. 46, fols. 121v –125r ), while the other transmits it with a Marian contrafacted text, O regina nobilissima (D-LEu MS 1494, ‘Apel Codex’). Furthermore, he also interprets the long note values in the tenor juxtaposed with the surrounding polyphonic passagework as ‘Mary lying as a disconsolate woman on her death bed, surrounded by the ranks of angels and classes of saints who greeted her on entrance to heaven’.15 Rothenberg’s convincing proposition clearly suggests that Isaac was aware of the Marian connotations of the chanson and used the secular tenor in order to invoke symbolic devotion. Little attention, however, has been given to his mass based on the same chanson. Murray Steib has offered a brief analysis which considers the technical ways in which Isaac incorporated the cantus firmus into the mass. Steib contends that Isaac rarely makes use of literal quotations and that the source of borrowed material is somewhat disguised, which will prove to be largely different conclusions from the ones presented here. Furthermore, Steib fails to acknowledge the Marian subtexts of the chanson and therefore overlooks the symbolic significance of the mass.16 In what follows, Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée will be examined as a whole, but particular attention will be paid to its relationship with the chanson. The chanson serves as Isaac’s sole musical building block, thus giving the song particular structural significance. The chanson tenor is used as a cantus firmus throughout, and quotations from the superius and bassus also appear in other voices, though not in a systematic fashion. The rudimentary structure of the cantus firmus corresponding to section A and B of the chanson can be seen in the overview below. Both sections of the chanson are each repeated six times throughout the mass, making a total of twelve distinct statements which may be of some symbolic significance: the number twelve became associated with Marian devotion due to its role in the Book of Revelation, which features the 14 15 16

Based on the manuscript dissemination of the work, Rothenberg argues that the motet was also composed sometime during the 1490s. Rothenberg, ‘Angels, Archangels’, 547. Ibid., 543. Murray Steib, ‘A Composer Looks at His Model: Polyphonic Borrowing in Masses from the Late Fifteenth Century’, in TVNM 46 (1996), 5–41.

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image of a woman wearing a crown of twelve stars. Willem Elders has shown that a number of compositions from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries used the number twelve to symbolically express devotion to the Virgin.17 Significantly, in his Missa Assumpta est, Pierre de la Rue stated the antiphon for the feast of the Assumption twelve times.18 It is thus thinkable, that Isaac, too, fashioned the structure of his cantus firmus in order to subtly express the Marian subtext of the work. Movement

Phrase

Phrase of cantus firmus

Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei

Kyrie I and Christe Kyrie II Et in terra Qui tollis Qui tollis (suscipe) Patrem omnipotentem Ex Maria Virgine Sanctus I Pleni Osanna Benedictus Agnus I Agnus II Agnus III

A B A Free B A B A Free B Free A B AB

Table 1. Heinrich Isaac, Missa Comme femme desconfortée, structure of cantus firmus

Similarly to Angeli archangeli and Josquin’s Stabat Mater Isaac transposes the tenor up a fourth. Unlike Josquin’s strict fourfold augmentation of the c­ hanson tenor, however, Isaac generally quotes the tenor in long note values interspersed with occasional rhythmic embellishments, which bear little rhythmic relationship to the chanson. However, he retains the inherently characteristic rhythm of the opening of the chanson at the beginning of most movements, enhancing the audible presence of the secular model. As a whole, the mass bears a closer melodic than rhythmic relationship between cantus firmus and chanson.

17 18

Willem Elders, Symbolic Scores: Studies in the Music of the Renaissance, (Leiden, New York, 1994), 171–9. Ibid., 173.

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Heinrich Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée: A Musical Offering to the Virgin Mary

As is common with chanson masses from this period, each movement – except for the Credo – opens with a discernable quotation from the c­ hanson.19 The very opening of the mass comprises an exact quotation from the two upper parts of the chanson, as can be seen in Ex. 2, and thus the choice of the model is apparent to the listener from the outset. Furthermore, Isaac avoids cantus firmus embellishments at the ends of phrases throughout the mass. Even at the phrase descendit de caelis in the Credo he retains the ascending phrase of the cantus firmus rather than attempting to evoke the meaning of the text. ° b3 &2

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But it is in the Credo that Isaac’s approach really stands out, in a way that, I contend, draws particular attention to the relationship between the texts of song and mass. In contrast to the other movements, with their openings of polyphonic chanson quotations, the opening section of the Credo is characterised by an especially static tenor line consisting of long, predominantly undifferentiated note values. The other voices surround the tenor in an impressively homophonic and declamatory style. The juxtaposition between the tenor and its surrounding texture accrues particular audible emphasis to the tenor as an independent vocal line. This technique bears comparison with Isaac’s Angeli archangeli which features the long note values of the tenor surrounded by polyphonic passagework. The opening of the Credo, by contrast, comprises a fully independent cantus firmus surrounded by successive homophonic declamations. Isaac may have elected to present a freer relationship between chanson and mass at this point in order to heighten the audibility of the chanson at a later point in the movement, where its text bears witness to the climax of the chanson’s symbolic significance. In direct analogy to Vinders’s mass, this interjection occurs tellingly at the words ‘Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est’. Whilst Vinders uses the only textual reference to the Virgin to introduce the song tenor, Isaac, in contrast, alludes in his superius to the superius from 19

As Bloxam has argued, composers tended to ‘conjure the song most forthrightly’ at the beginnings of sections in chanson masses. Jennifer Bloxam, ‘A Cultural Context for the Chanson Mass’, in Early Musical Borrowing, ed. Honey Meconi (New York/London, 2004), 7–35, at 26.

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w

de

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∑

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& bC ‹ Et

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Ex. 3: Heinrich Isaac, Missa Comme femme desconfortée, Credo, mm. 53–64

mm. 16–20 of the chanson at ‘Et incarnatus est’ (see Ex. 3). This example is distinctive also in presenting the longest quotation in the entire mass from a voice of the chanson other than its tenor. The tenor remains absent at ‘Et incarnatus est’ making its presence all the more striking when it enters at ‘ex Maria Virgine’. At this point the tenor resumes with a new section of music, section B of the chanson, thus giving particular structural prominence to this passage of text, as can be seen in Ex. 4. In contrast to the rest of the mass, there is no melodic deviation from the original chanson tenor. The tenor is supported at this point by a largely homophonic and static texture in the superius, altus, and bassus. Throughout this passage the altus frequently repeats the motif of a rising fourth, reminiscent of the distinctive opening of the chanson. Overall though, the lack of polyphonic elaboration focuses aural attention directly onto the tenor line. Mary’s presence is prolonged and intensified through the impressively long statement in the tenor line, which lasts a striking nineteen measures. Since this is the only part of the mass text that directly refers to the Virgin, the special emphasis on the song at this point is clearly telling. The final section of the Agnus Dei (Agnus Dei III) is another especially interesting part of Isaac’s mass and in terms of textual interest this is perhaps the most striking section of the entire mass setting. This concluding passage 184

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° b & ˙™

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Ex. 4: Heinrich Isaac, Missa Comme femme desconfortée, Credo, mm. 65–83

of music is scored for five voices, introducing an additional tenor line. This section alone includes an entire statement of the chanson tenor, meaning that the Agnus Dei as a whole embraces two full statements of the cantus firmus as opposed to the other four movements which each state it only once. There is very little melodic elaboration within the chanson tenor and, furthermore, this section presents the first instance of a rhythmically proportional relationship between the cantus firmus and the chanson. The note values are augmented to twice their original length throughout the entire section. The Agnus Dei III also introduces a range of other potent allusions to the chanson. The superius and additional tenor line both continually reiterate a distinctive motif from the song’s opening, thus saturating the texture with 185

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the presence of the chanson. An example of these characteristic motifs can be seen in Ex. 5. Its prominence culminates in this final section where it is stated a total of forty times at four different pitches: twenty-two restatements in the superius and eighteen in the tenor. This is a remarkable number of repetitions in comparison with other works from the period that use this technique. In his study of the ‘soggetto ostinato’ Elders examines twenty-six pieces that use this technique as a symbolic device. The number of motivic restatements in Elders’s study ranges from just five to twenty-one, highlighting the unusually large number of repetitions in Isaac’s Agnus Dei III.20 It is conceivable that, as in the works that Elders examines, the number of repetitions is also symbolically significant. The number forty certainly has particular biblical significance in that it is associated with the rain and flood in Genesis and the number of days and nights that Jesus fasted. However, it is more likely that the substantial number of motivic repetitions was intended to make the secular model, and therefore the Virgin herself, indelibly apparent in the closing section of the mass. It was a common technique for composers to make explicit use of a secular model during the closing section of the mass in order to amplify and intensify the model, as is evident in several of Isaac’s other masses. In the Missa Com­ ment peult avoir joye he also employs an additional tenor line for the final Agnus Dei. Furthermore, special treatment is given to the cantus firmus in this section, but in a different fashion to that of the Missa Comme femme. The top three voices state a slightly embellished but complete version of the chanson tenor in canon, retaining a perfect rhythmical relationship with the original chanson, unlike anything that appears previously in this mass. Josquin also gives special treatment to the cantus firmus in the concluding section of Missa L’homme armé sexti toni, where the tenor quotes the second half of its model whilst the bassus produces the same melody in exact retrograde. Just as Isaac’s quotation at the opening of his mass signifies the presence of the secular model to the listeners, the hearers are left with characteristic melodies and rhythms of the chanson in their minds at the close of the mass. An alternative, four-part version of Agnus Dei I for Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée appears in I-Rvat MS Capp. Sist. 49 (fols. 80 v –81r). This unique invocation is followed by the original Agnus I and II, serving here as Agnus II and III, resulting in an entire Agnus Dei section in four voices, suggesting that it may have been fashioned specifically to accommodate the performing forces of a specific location. As in Isaac’s five-part setting of the Agnus Dei III, the four-part version of Agnus I succeeds in creating a similarly prominent portrayal of the chanson, but through very different means. The 20 Elders, Symbolic Scores (see n. 17), 61–96.

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° b &

∑

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Ex. 5: Heinrich Isaac, Missa Comme femme desconfortée, Agnus Dei, mm. 157–61

tenor line appears rhythmically and melodically identical to that of its model, whilst the superius also provides a precise statement of the upper part of the chanson. Thus, if the altus and bassus were eliminated the tenor and superius would produce an exact and complete statement of the top two voices of the chanson, except for a handful of negligible melodic elaborations. Both versions of the Agnus Dei for Isaac’s Missa Comme femme succeed in reaffirming the choice of a secular model at the closing of the work. There are a number of parallels between Isaac’s motet, Angeli archangeli, and his mass in terms of cantus firmus technique. Both works quote the chanson at the upper fourth and are devoid of any other large-scale structural device. Isaac quotes the chanson only once in his motet with section A of the motet corresponding to section A of the chanson, and a similar correspondence in section B. Similarly, in the mass there is generally one statement per movement, with the exception of the five-voice Agnus Dei, with its bi-fold statements. Both mass and motet quote the tenor in long note values with sporadic rhythmic embellishments that are reminiscent of the chanson. In both works the ­cantus firmus is largely independent of its surrounding texture, drawing audible attention to the tenor line. However, the chanson model in the motet is somewhat disguised in comparison to the mass, as Isaac rarely borrows from other voices of the chanson, and the tenor line is often concealed by the impressive six-part polyphonic texture. The words of the mass present a far less tangible connection to the Virgin than the motet, perhaps leading Isaac to reinforce the sentiments of Marian devotion in the mass through more discernable use of the chanson. Whilst the presence of the secular model in Isaac’s mass permeates the entire work, however, it emerges with particular clarity at significant moments: first, 187

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in conjunction with the reference to the Virgin Mary in the Credo, and second, in the final Agnus Dei. It seems clear not only that the inaudible polytextuality of the song text in relation to the words of the Ordinary was intended to heighten and intensify Marian devotion, but that it was enlisted to do so in a particularly calculated and discernible fashion. Isaac’s mass does not simply praise the Virgin, his compositional approach urges those present to empathize with her sorrow through the tangible and familiar model of the chanson. Furthermore, drawing on Rothenberg’s convincing insights surrounding Angeli archangeli, the close affinity between mass and motet suggests that the former might also be considered in the context of the Assumption. One might even imagine these two impressive works being performed together on that feast day, creating a glorious combined paean to the Queen of Heaven.

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EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I, AUDIBLE ­I DEOLOGY AND HEINRICH ISAAC’S OPTIME PASTOR

From 1496 onwards Maximilian, Archduke of Austria and future elected Holy Roman Emperor, worked intensively towards the creation of an own court chapel. Obviously, it was meant to emulate well-established examples like the Burgundian court chapel, which he had inherited from his father-in-law Charles the Bold and left to his son Philip the Fair, and after its establishment it quickly rose to become one of the largest and most prominent European ensembles.1 This emergence demonstrates how music was deliberately integrated into the sacral vision of his empire and its calculated propagation, which was articulated especially in visual representations.2 One of the most notable documents attesting to the role of music in propagating Maximilian’s imperial self-conception is the broadsheet by Hans Weiditz showing Maximilian attending mass.

*

1

2

This is a thoroughly revised version of my ‘Politisierte Vokalpolyphonie am Hof Maximilians I. im Kontext von Diplomatie und Zeremoniell: Heinrich Isaacs “Optime pastor”’, in Die Habsburger und die Niederlande. Musik und Politik um 1500, ed. Jürgen Heidrich, troja. Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 8.2008/2009 (Kassel, etc., 2010), 129–42. I wish to thank Laura Möckli and Stephan Summers for their translations of large parts of this article. Walter Senn, Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck (Innsbruck, 1954); Louise Cuyler, Emperor Maximilian and Music (London, 1973); Reinhard Strohm, The Rise of European Music, 1380–1500 (Cambridge, 1993), 518–24 and passim; Elisabeth Giselbrecht and L. ­Elizabeth Upper, ‘Glittering Woodcuts and Moveable Music: Decoding the Elaborate Printing Techniques, Purpose, and Patronage of the Liber Selectarum Cantionum’, in Senfl-­ Studien 1, ed. Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes, and Sonja Tröster, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 4 (Tutzing, 2012), 17–61; Nicole Schwindt, Maximilians Lieder. Weltliche Musik in deutschen Landen um 1500 (Kassel/Stuttgart, 2018). Larry Silver, Marketing Maximilian: The Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor (Princeton/Oxford, 2008).

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Fig. 1: Hans Weiditz, Emperor Maximilian hears Mass, woodcut, Augsburg, c.1519

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Emperor Maximilian I, Audible Ideology and Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor

A second glance reveals the ‘Caesar divus’ in the background, while the court chapel and organ dominate the front middle section of the image. Although the Emperor is facing the altar, his position is by no means as inconspicuous as it may seem prima facie: the sacredness of Maximilian’s imperial rule is equated with that of the Pope, an analogy which is further underlined by the equal disposition of the two coats of arms in the upper part of the picture. Beyond these political subtleties, it becomes clear that one of the particular subjects of this representation is music: on the right the choir, on the left the organ, queen of all instruments, played by the ‘monarchus organistarum’, the imperial organist Paul Hofhaimer. The prominence of the presented sacred music in this context points to its special role within the liturgy and the Emperor’s devotional practice.3 Although the reference to religious music is basically evident in this picture, the interpretation of actual sacred art music is more delicate both with respect to its liturgical character and to the corresponding political-theological symbolism. Despite crucial findings concerning ritual, ceremonial and symbolic implications during the last decades, basic problems concerning the theological justification and concept of sacred music in the Renaissance remained untouched for a long time. One of these seemingly banal questions concerns the competition between fifteenth-century European royal courts to host the most refined liturgical vocal polyphony and how this constituted a part of a communication strategy within their symbolism of dominion. While detailed research exists on the concrete embedding of particular compositions in the liturgical ceremony and their respective reflections in textual and musical structures, only a few attempts have been made to explore the ceremonial and theological arguments, which clearly advocated liturgical polyphony per se.4 The following discussion will consider this fundamental question as exemplified by sacred music at the court of Emperor Maximilian. Maximilian is a particularly suitable example, not only since his Weisskunig addresses fundamental aspects of music culture at his court in an unusual open way but 3

4

Cf. Klaus Pietschmann, ‘“Engelscher Gesanck”. Vokalpolyphonie und Herrscherkult in der Messe im 15.  Jahrhundert’, in Polyphone Messen im 15. und 16.  Jahrhundert. Funktion, Kontext, Symbol, ed. Andrea Ammendola, Daniel Glowotz, and Jürgen Heidrich (Göttingen, 2012), 21–38. Cf. Andrew Kirkman, The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass: Medieval Context to Modern Revival, (Cambridge, 2010); Klaus Pietschmann, ‘Der Fürst hört die Messe. Formen musikvermittelter Partizipation und Interaktion in der höfischen Liturgie’, in KmJb 98 (2014), 7–22. The criticism against sacred polyphony is studied by far more often and intensively, which even tempted an eminent scholar to devise a ‘crisis of music’ in the decades around 1500. Rob C. Wegman, The Crisis of Music in Early Modern Europe, 1470– 1530 (New York, 2008).

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also because the music composed for his court clearly reflects this conception. First, some aspects of the theological conception of court music practice will be discussed, in particular the relevance of elaborate vocal polyphony in this context. In a second step, I will examine the specific ceremonial and musical implications of liturgical vocal polyphony by means of a composition that originated in the context of Emperor Maximilian’s court. Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor is clearly a ceremonial motet originally composed for a specific occasion. This becomes evident through its text, implicitly referring to Pope Leo X and Emperor Maximilian, and its use of two liturgical cantus firmi. Although this motet is one of Isaac’s most ambitious compositions, it has not yet been studied in greater detail.5 After discussing Albert Dunning’s reconstruction of the genesis of the motet, an alternative hypothesis will be proposed demonstrating how the motet reacts both textually and musically to the possible ceremonial requirements. Maximilian expressed his position towards sacred court music in an unusual explicit way by dedicating a long section of his Weisskunig to questions of musical activity. Chapter 32 reads: Auf ein zeit gedacht er an kunig Davit, das der almechtig got ime sovil genad het gethan, und laß den psalter, darynnen er gar oft fand: ‘lob got mit dem gesang und in der herpfen.’ Da beweget er wie groß gefellig sölichs got were. Nach sölichem nam er fur sich kunig Alexander, der so vil kunigreich und land uberwunden hat, und laß seine geschichten, darynnen war geschriben also: der goß kunig Alexander ist oftmalen durch der menschen lieblich gesang und durch die frölichen saytenspil bewegt worden, das er seine veind geslagen hat; aus dem war der jung weiß kunig gröslichen in seinem gemuet bewegt und in seinem herzen entzundt, in dem lob gotes den kunig Davit und in der streitperkait dem kunig Alexander nachzufolgen, und er lernet mit grossem emsigen vleiss erkennen die art des gesangs und saytenspils, dann er nam fur sich die zway grossen stuck, den lob gottes und die uberwyndung seiner veind, das dann ainem kunig die zwo höchsten tugend sein. Es ist zu ermessen, so dieser kunig sölichs fur sich genomen und mit sonderm gemuet betracht, was vleyß er hierynnen furkert und was lieb er darzu gehabt hat; durch seinen vleyß begriff er in kurzer zeit den grund des gesangs und aller saitenspil, und als er kam in sein gewaltig regirung, hat er am ersten in dem lob gottes nachgefolgt dem kunig Davit, dann er hat aufgericht ain söliche canterey mit ainem sölichen lieblichn gesang von der menschn stym, wunderlich zu hören, und söliche liebliche herpfen von newen 5

Martin Just, ‘Studien zu Heinrich Isaacs Motetten’, 2  vols., PhD thesis, University of Tübingen, 1960, i, 70–1, 95–6; Albert Dunning, Die Staatsmotette, 1480–1555 (Utrecht, 1969), 46–56; Emma Kempson, ‘The Motets of Henricus Isaac (c. 1450–1517): Transmission, Structure, and Function’, 2 vols., PhD thesis, King’s College London, 1998, i, 256–9. For Wolfgang Fuhrmann’s and Gregor Metzig’s more recent discussions of the piece cf. the epilogue of this article.

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werken und mit suessen saytenspil, das er alle kunig ubertraf und ime nyemads geleihn mocht; sölichs underhielt er fur und fur, das ainem grossen furstenhof geleichet, und prauchet dieselb conterey allein zu dem lob gottes, in der cristenlich kirchen. Once he was thinking about King David, that almighty God had conferred so much grace upon him. And he read the psalter, in which he found, ‘Praise God with song and with the harp.’ Then he reflected on how very pleasing to God such a thing must be. He also took up King Alexander, who conquered so many kingdoms and lands, and he read his history. Therein was also written: the great King Alexander was often so moved by the lovely singing of people and by the merry string music that he slew his foes. That kindled the heart of the young White King to emulate King David in the praise of God and King Alexander in militancy. He learned with diligent effort the arts of singing and of string play, for he occupied himself with two things: the praise of God and the conquest of bis enemies, which are for a king the two highest virtues. When he came to be a powerful ruler, he first followed King David in the praise of God. He established a Kantorei with lovely singing by human voices, wonderful to hear, and with sweet string play, to ‘harp’ new works. He supported it through and through, as befits a great princely court, and he used the Kantorei only for the praise of God in the Christian church.6

The recourse to King David is central in this context. Maximilian refers to ­David’s song of praise when he declares the sung praise of God as a devout prince’s core task.7 It should be stressed, however, that the establishment of a choir cannot be justified by this reference, since David explicitly refused to let others sing, preferring to play the harp himself. Instead, Maximilian’s insistence on ‘lovely singing by human voices’ introduces another line of argumentation. At first glance, this characterisation could be interpreted as merely highlighting the imperial choir’s qualities, particularly in comparison with other ensembles of this kind. But Maximilian’s emphasis on the sensorial perfection of his musicians in the context of a constitutive justification of his ­l iturgical music points to a more general implication. It indeed seems strongly influenced by a theological-humanistic discourse of the late fifteenth century regarding the five human senses and its comparability of earthly and heavenly sensory perceptions. The implications of this discourse for fifteenth-century views on polyphonic music have only recently been studied to some extent,8 6

7 8

Kaiser Maximilians Weisskunig, in Lichtdruck-Faksimiles nach Frühdrucken, ed. Heinrich Th. Musper, 2  vols. (Stuttgart, 1956); translation: Larry Silver, Marketing Maximilian. The Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor (Princeton/Oxford, 2008), 193. This motive can be found also in the context of other courts, Wegman, The Crisis, 43. Some very general references are given in some of the articles in Music as heard: Listeners and listening in late-medieval and early modern Europe (1300–1600), ed. Rob C. Wegman, in

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and in this context I can only give a brief outline, which helps to understand Maximilian’s argumentation. Some authors project the question of characterising and hierarchising the senses onto a heavenly sphere, from which they then deduce implicit conclusions for this world. The song of the blessed in paradise is thereby also seen as directly connected with earthly music. The texts by Celso Maffei, who was a canon regular of S. Pietro and was associated with the wider circle of intellectuals around Marsilio Ficino, may serve as an example.9 In his Delitiosa explicatio de sensibilibus deliciis paradisi printed in 1504 and dedicated to Julius  II, Maffei writes: Tenendum est quod sancti in futuro statu melius scient proportiones vocum et sonorum secundum artem musicae quam aliquis in hoc mundo. Similiter scient fractiones vocum optime peragere et habebunt organa aptiora quam aliqui ­musici. It must be noted that, in their future existence, the saints have a better understanding of the proportions of the voices and sounds with respect to the ars musica than anybody in this world. Similarly, they can execute diminutions most perfectly and have more capable voices than any other musician.10

Maffei’s choice of words shows that he sees the song of the blessed merely as an optimisation of earthly singing. Based on the Boethian conception of an ars musica, which constitutes a comprehensive Harmony of the Spheres, vocal polyphony is conceived as the sonorous embodiment of this harmony, thus the song of the blessed consists of the most perfect form of composed polyphony, a model which is reflected by many other late medieval writings and iconographic evidence.11 At a later point, however, Maffei goes further and postulates a hierarchy of the sensorial qualities of the blessed: Suavitas vocum et sonorum quae erit in gloria excedet secundum grossam extimationem saltem quinquagesies omnem suavitatem cantus huius vitae. Sed in quibusdam sanctis erit centies tanta. Et in quibusdam milesies. Et in aliquibus

9

10 11

MQ 82 (1998), 427–691. Cf. more recently: Klaus Pietschmann, ‘Religion and the Senses in Early Modern Europe’, in The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, ed. Anna Maria Busse Berger and Jesse Rodin (Cambridge, 2015), 40–51. Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang, Heaven: A History (New Haven, 2001); Nicola Widloecher, La Congregazione dei canonici regolari lateranensi. Periodo di formazione (1402– 1483) (Gubbio, 1929). Celso Maffei, Delitiosam explicationem de sensibilibus deliciis paradisi (Verona, 1504), no fol.; my own translation. Willem Elders, Symbolic Scores. Studies in the Music of the Renaissance (Leiden, etc., 1994).

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plusque milesies tanta etc. […] Quia ergo unus sanctus secundum auditum magis meruit quam alter ideo secundum hoc suavitas obiecti audibilis erit in ordine ad ipsum maior: Et minor in alio qui minus meruit secundum effectum scilicet delectationis. The sweetness of the voices and sounds which will resound in the glory is widely believed to be about 500 times greater than any sweetness of song in this life. For some saints it will only be 100 times greater, for some 1000 times and for others more than 1000 times etc. […] Because a saint ranks higher than another with regard to his hearing, the sweetness of the audible object itself will also result in a higher place in the order, and an object which is of lesser value with regard to its uplifting effect will be more subordinate.12

Since God is at the top of this hierarchy, higher sensorial quality also implies closer proximity to God. Given the fundamental similarity between earthly and heavenly song in liturgical contexts, projecting this notion onto an earthly context was simple. Consequently, this conception, which appears in varying forms also in other fifteenth-century texts,13 can be considered as a central condition for the deliberate expansion of court polyphony established since the early fifteenth century. In this manner it became possible to provide an acoustic proof of the particular closeness of a certain court to God. Against this background we can easily explain Maximilian’s emphasis on the ‘loveliness’ of his choir’s music: it implies the highest possible proximity to the song of the blessed, thereby mirroring the eminent position of his court. Contrary to this conception, an equally insistent group of authors defended the claim of fundamental difference between earthly and heavenly music. The Dutch humanist Matthias Herbenus for example wrote in his treatise De natura cantus ac miraculis vocis of 1496: Persolvunt itaque iustum Deo canticum beatissimi spiritus, non mortalibus quidem organis sed intellectualibus, sed divinis instrumentis ac modulis; summa unitate atque perfectione, ubi omnium voces communes omnibus sine ulla discrepantia melodissime consonant. Non enim illic alius Tenor a Contratenore est, non a gravi acutus cantus alius, non diapason a diapente dissidet. The blessed spirits bring to God a proper song, although not with human voices but with spiritual ones, with heavenly instruments and songs; with the highest unity and perfection, in which the unified voices melodiously blend together

12 Maffei, Delitiosam explicationem, no fol.; my own translation. 13 It is prominent especially in Gilles Carlier’s Tractatus de duplici ritu cantus ecclesiastici, see: On

the Dignity & the Effects of Music. Egidius Carlerius. Johannes Tinctoris. Two fifteenth-century treatises, ed. and transl. by Reinhard Strohm and J. Donald Cullington (London, 1996).

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without any deviation. Thus the tenor is indistinguishable from the contratenor, the high from the low, the octave from the fifth.14

Herbenus infers that earthly song is primarily directed towards an earthly audience and is therefore bound by the principles of rhetoric to ensure the expression of words. In a later passage, Herbenus concludes that this expression is more convincingly achieved by the ancients in the time-honoured cantus planus than by many contemporary composers of vocal polyphony.15 Although he does not openly address the political implications, his verdict against an anagogic conception of earthly singing necessarily attacks the practice of liturgical court polyphony and its close approximation to the traditional concept of a Harmony of the Spheres. This helps to explain why Maximilian emphasised the choir’s role to exclusively praise God in the Weisskunig. He thereby indirectly invalidates the reproach implied by Herbenus that the imperial choir directs its song less towards the praise of God than towards the prince himself, which would constitute an abuse of earthly authority and break the limits of decorum.16 With all this in mind, we will now turn to Heinrich Isaac’s motet Optime pastor. It is well known that Heinrich Isaac was active in Florence between 1485 and 1494 before coming to Maximilian’s court two years after the Medici had been banished. From 1496 onwards, he played a significant role as court composer in the constitution and artistic profiling of Maximilian’s court choir. At the same time he maintained a close connection to the Medici family and to Florence where he eventually retired with his imperial salary and an additional pension from the city of Florence arranged by the Medici Pope Leo X.17 The main text of the motet (see appendix) by an unknown poet addresses an 14 15

16

17

Herbeni Traiectensis De natura cantus ac miraculis vocis, ed. Joseph Smits van Waesberghe, Beiträge zur rheinischen Musikgeschichte 22 (Köln, 1957), 33; my own translation. ‘Id quod in ecclesiastico plano cantu melius observatum esse video ab antiquis quam a nonnullis nostri temporis compositoribus in figurato ac florido.’ Ibid., 42. See also ­Wegman, The Crisis (see n. 4), 175–9. Another famous critique of this transcendental conception of polyphonic church music was Girolamo Savonarola, see ibid., 57–8 and my ‘The Sense of Hearing Politicized. Liturgical Polyphony and Political Ambition in ­Fifteenth-Century Florence’, in Religion and the Senses in Early Modern Europe, ed. Wietse de Boer and Christine Goettler (Leiden, 2013), 273–88. For a similar legitimisation of the singers in the Palatine court chapel in Heidelberg brought up by Johannes von Soest in his translation of the novel Die Kinder von Limburg see Sabine Žak, ‘Die Gründung der Hofkapelle in Heidelberg’, in AfMw 50 (1993), 145–63, at 157. All the relevant sources are published in Martin Staehelin, Die Messen Heinrich Isaacs. Quellenstudien zu Heinrich Isaac und seinem Messen-Œuvre, 3 vols., Bern 1977 (Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft II/28).

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‘optimus pastor’, undoubtedly referring to Pope Leo X: the name ‘Medici’ is insinuated already in the second verse (‘laceri medicus gregis ulcera sanes’), and again at the end of the second part (‘medico exultent colles’). The Pope’s name is also alluded to in the next to last verse of the first part, where Pope Leo is encouraged to join forces with the eagle, Maximilian’s heraldic animal (‘videant aquilam ducem verumque leonem’), in order to establish peace and defeat the Turks. The second part is directed towards both rulers, acknowledging their equality in terms of piety and other Christian virtues (‘vobis religio parque est reverentia recti’ etc.). Both parts conclude with a personal singers’ address leaving no doubt about whose perspective is being articulated (‘haec pia Caesarei cantores vota frequentant’). Coincidentally two different liturgical cantus firmi are intoned: the chant Da pacem Domine and the antiphon Sacerdos et pontifex. As will be shown at a later stage, their textual contents are precisely attuned to the main text. In his book Die Staatsmotette, Albert Dunning identifies the occasion for which the motet Optime pastor was composed as vow of obedience offered by the imperial ambassador and Cardinal Matthäus Lang to the newly appointed Pope Leo X in December 1513.18 This connection seemed plausible insofar as the motet is the first one in the collection Liber selectarum cantionum printed in 1520 and dedicated to the Cardinal. Lang spent the winter of 1513/14 in Rome to request – in the name of the Emperor – the help of the Pope in negotiating peace with the Venetians. Maximilian hoped to enable an alliance between the most influential European powers against the Turkish threat approaching the Balkans, to which the motet text indirectly refers. Dunning’s suggestion was generally accepted although the text of the motet by no means unequivocally points in this direction. The explicit reference to the imperial singers as bearers of the pious intercessions is particularly intriguing: ‘Haec pia Caesarei cantores vota frequentant’ – these words ostentatiously conclude both parts of the motet, leading Dunning to speculate that the imperial choir may, at least partially, have travelled along with Lang to Rome. Although this is not impossible, it seems a rather unlikely option. A fresh look into the Roman events of December 1513 clearly shows that Dunning’s conclusion stems from a misunderstanding: in fact, Matthäus Lang never administered the above mentioned obedience. The preliminary discussions for the ceremonial procedure, Lang’s request to stand beside the Pope as the Emperor’s representative, his entry into Rome on 9 December with a retinue of 400 – all these events, which Dunning conveys in detail based on

18 Dunning, Die Staatsmotette (see n. 5), 45–53.

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Ludwig von Pastor’s research,19 were not linked to an obedience. They have to be seen in conjunction with the bestowal of the cardinalate on Lang by a public consistory that had been created in the last months of the reign of Julius  II. While the imperial obedience ceremony actually took place two days later, it was conducted by the four imperial envoys Gerolamo Morone, Alberto Pio da Carpi, Pietro Bonomo and Antonio della Rovere without Lang attending. Musical performances are not mentioned in the diarium of the papal master of ceremonies, Paride de Grassi, which is not surprising since this type of occasion did not call for ceremonial music.20 Similarly, the performance of a motet at the public consistory for Cardinal Lang is very unlikely, even without taking into consideration the motet text, which would have been all the more inappropriate in this context because there was no reason for the imperial singers (if present in Rome at all) to intervene. From the Emperor’s point of view, Lang’s diplomatic mission was of a purely political nature aiming to advance the aforementioned negotiations with Venice.21 To this effect, Lang initially stayed in Rome incognito. His official entry into the town, which led to a conflict with the master of ceremonies Paride de Grassi, was thus simply due to ‘private affairs’, i.e. his acceptance of the cardinal insignia. The fact that he still wanted to claim the protocollary privileges of an imperial envoy, was, as Grassi put it, the result of his personal ‘ambitione, et vana Gloria’.22 With this information, the idea that the imperial choir accompanied Lang to Rome seems highly unlikely. Now that this contextual and functional connection can be ruled out, Isaac’s motet and the questions concerning its purpose have to be considered anew. A second look at the text may be revealing: the concluding ‘Amen’ together with the use of two cantus firmi – unique among Isaac’s motets – imply a prayerlike, (para-)liturgical character in the widest sense. This is confirmed by the fact that, contrary to other imperial state motets, the addressees are not explicitly named, but rather referred to by their official titles. As already mentioned, the words ‘medicus’, ‘aquila’, or ‘leo’ undoubtedly refer to the Medici Pope Leo X and Maximilian I. However, the metaphors suggest rather than substantiate the direct relation to concrete political figures. This also accounts for the 19

Ludwig von Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, 16 vols. (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1925), iv/1, 48. 20 Jörg Bölling, Das Papstzeremoniell der Renaissance. Texte, Musik, Performanz (Frankfurt am Main, 2006), 212–3. 21 Johann Sallaberger, Kardinal Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (1468–1540). Staatsmann und Kir­ chenfürst im Zeitalter von Renaissance, Reformation und Bauernkriegen (München, 1997), 96–104. 22 Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste, 48.

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fact that the composition could be reused for the opening of the Liber selectarum cantionum: if one ignores the allegoric-metaphoric references, the text, considered purely formally, could also apply to the ‘pontifex’ of Salzburg, Matthäus Lang, and the then reigning Emperor Charles V. The only contemporary political event explicitly alluded to is the Turkish threat which was an ongoing issue in the early sixteenth century. The cantus firmi further illuminate the two main intentions of the motet: appealing for peace and addressing the Pope. As has already been suggested, the request for peace particularly implies a union of the European powers against the Turkish Empire and was a central concern of both the Emperor and the Pope. A greater weight is attributed to the head of the church through the direct reference in the first part of the text. However, the salutation to the Pope as ‘optime pastor’ is much less evident than is suggested by our modern use of the phrase: to be proclaimed as the ‘leading shepherd’ was unusual for fifteenth-century popes and particularly for Leo’s disputatious predecessor, Julius II. The image of a bishop as a ‘good shepherd’ only emerged in response to the growing call for change on the eve of the Reformation and is reflected in particular in the canonization of Antoninus of Florence in 1523, who had developed a pastoral activity completely untypical for his time around the middle of the fifteenth century as archbishop of Florence. But preachers of the Curia and orators at the fifth Lateran council, which began in in 1512, also advocated this new image of the pope.23 In this given context, a specific role is attributed to the pope by emphasising his shepherd function. The second part is addressed not only to the pontiff, but also simultaneously to the emperor. As with the ‘optime pastor’ address, the opening words of the second part – ‘Vobis religio parque est reverentia recti’ – programmatically invoke a close spiritual connection between empire and papacy. Maximilian particularly favoured this association which raised his hierarchic status to the Pope’s level: on the one hand the spiritual shepherd, on the other the worldly leader. These first observations alone show that the motet text corresponds to the papal and imperial functional concepts to a great extent and, moreover, addresses the mutual political aim. Thus, Dunning’s misunderstanding is quite understandable: the core contents would certainly have been appropriate for a 23

John W. O’Malley SJ, ‘Preaching for the Popes’, in The Pursuit of Holiness in Late Medieval and Renaissance Religion: Papers from the University of Michigan Conference 20–22 April 1972, ed. Charles Trinkaus and Heiko A. Oberman (Leiden, 1974), 408–40; Klaus Pietschmann, ‘Ablauf und Dimensionen der Heiligsprechung des Antoninus von Florenz (1523). Kanonisationspraxis im politischen und religiösen Umbruch’, in Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 78 (1998), 388–463.

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supposed ceremony dedicated to a vow of obedience. A search for alternatives should thus remain within this political context, while searching for concrete clues within the motet. A plausible solution emerges in relation to the most obvious aspect: the liturgical function of the cantus firmi. While the chant Da pacem Domine can be variably inserted as an appeal for peace in connection with the sacramental blessing or as suffragium in the mass, in the Matins and in Vespers, the antiphon Sacerdos et pontifex is very precisely attributed by the Pontificale Romanum to the rite of the reception of a prelate or a legate (‘ordo ad recipiendum processionaliter prelatum vel legatum’), where the entering dignitary was a bishop.24 Although the words corresponding to the main text may well have been decisive for this choice (‘pastor bone in populo’), one might at least look for an occasion where this kind of ceremonial situation occurred in the corresponding political context, and where the imperial singers attended as their presence is necessarily implied by the final lines of both parts. In fact, an occasion of this kind occurred in 1514. Lorenzo Campeggi was one of the most successful papal diplomats in the first half of the sixteenth century.25 He came from a noble Bolognese family and pursued a religious career after the death of his wife in 1509. Julius II very quickly entrusted him with a diplomatic mission to the Emperor, which he fulfilled to the satisfaction of all. In October 1512, in recognition of his achievement, Maximilian endowed him with an earldom and the Pope bequeathed him the diocese of Feltre. Leo X also made use of Campeggi’s reputation as an estimated interlocutor to the Emperor, sending him on a secret mission to Flanders in September 1513. Soon after his return to Rome, he departed in December of the same year for a longer official nunciature at the imperial court. His task was similar to Lang’s secret Roman mission: Campeggi was expected to solicit a peace between the Emperor and the Republic of Venice, in order to build a compact front line of the Christian princes against the Turks.26 The positive outcome of this transaction increased the Emperor’s confidence so much, that Maximilian recommended Campeggi for the cardinalate in 1517 and then ordained him as protector of the German nation at the Holy See. 24

25 26

‘Si intrans fuerit Episcopus vel maior aut presbyter vel Episcopus Cardinalis cantores incipiant et prosequantur Antiphonam Sacerdos et Pontifex et virtutum opifex, pastor bone in populo, sic placuisti domino. Vel Responsorium Ecce sacerdos magnus qui in diebus suis placuit deo. Ideo iureiurando fecit illum dominus crescere in plebem suam. Benedictionem omnium gentium dedit illi et testamentum suum confirmavit super caput ejus.’ Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini, Pontificale Romanum (Rome: Plannck 1485), fols. 260–1. Claudio Centa, Una dinastia episcopale nel Cinquecento: Lorenzo, Tommaso e Filippo Maria Campeggi vescovi di Feltre (1512–1584), 2 vols. (Rome, 2004). Stephan Skalweit, ‘Campeggi, Lorenzo’, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (1974), xvii, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lorenzo-campeggi_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ (accessed 5 March 2019).

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Practically no documents concerning details or protocollary circumstances of this mission have survived. However, some extant letters from this time show that Campeggi was present at the imperial court only in the second half of 1514, but it cannot be excluded that he had already arrived earlier that year.27 In any case, the new nuncio would have been festively received, and, since Campeggi was himself a bishop, this reception would have been conducted according to the corresponding welcoming rite. In this case the presence of the imperial singers would have been indispensable, from which it can be concluded that this appears to be a plausible performance context for the motet Optime pastor. Two objections could be brought against this hypothesis: on the one hand, the motet text seems to presuppose the presence of the Pope, on the other hand, Isaac’s whereabouts at the time of the supposed composition of the motet are uncertain. As far as the first point is concerned, it should be pointed out that the supposed purpose of the motet for the imperial reception of the nuncio and the thinly veiled address to the Pope in the text imply that the imperial ceremony factually equated the nuncio with the Pope. There are no known sources containing detailed information on imperial ceremonials, but Matthäus Lang’s behaviour in Rome suggests by implication that regarding a nuncio as a representative of the pope was quite conceivable in Innsbruck. As already intimated, Lang had expected the presence of all curial and communal representatives for the bestowal of the cardinal’s hat, as well as a place beside the Pope in front of all the other cardinals in the public consistory. Lang’s function as representative of the Emperor required this position, and (as he insisted according to Grassi) it was the position actually accorded to him by Julius II upon his official mission the year before. It is self-evident that this request was refused under the new conditions, since Lang then appeared before the consistory not as an ambassador, but as a cardinal. A year earlier he had been received and treated as an imperial delegate in the manner described, as if he were the Emperor himself. This was unusual and did not correspond with the ceremonial rite, but as Jörg Bölling has shown, the ceremonial treatment of ambassadors at the Pope’s court was subject to a series of short-term, politically conditioned privileges and derogations from common practice.28 Thus, Lang’s unusual treatment in 1512 reflects the special interest of Julius  II in an alliance with the Emperor. Conversely, it seems plausible that the political proximity between Maximilian and the Medici Pope may have led to a corresponding treatment of Campeggi 27 Centa, Una dinastia, i, 106, n. 43. 28 Jörg Bölling, ‘Causa differentiae. Rang- und Präzedenzregelungen für Fürsten, Herzöge

und Gesandte im vortridentinischen Papstzeremoniell’, in Rom und das Reich vor der Refor­ mation, ed. Nikolaus Staubach (Frankfurt am Main, 2004), 147–96.

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through the imperial ceremonial. In this sense, the motet text also appears appropriate for the occasion, since, as shown above, it avoids explicit naming: for the same reasons that justified its inclusion in the Liber selectarum cantionum, the text does not completely exclude a possible reference to the bishop Lorenzo Campeggi, and of course the nuncio was expected by the imperial court to inform the pope about this welcome gesture and to send him the motet in order to bring it to the attention of its proper addressee. On the second objection mentioned above, I would point to the revitalization of Isaac’s relations with Maximilian’s court during the period in question which is recorded in the imperial account books. On 9 October 1514 it was ordered to resume the regular annual payment of 150 fl. and on 4 November another 2 fl. were authorized in favour of the composer.29 These dates coincide with the period in which Campeggi must have been received in Innsbruck, so a relationship between these payments and Isaac’s composition of Optime pastor seems to be possible at least. Accordingly, Isaac’s motet, with its cantus firmus Sacerdos et pontifex, could have served as a suitable liturgical polyphonic substitute for the antiphon required for Campeggi’s reception. Such compositions had a long tradition, as can be seen for example in the isorhythmic motets of Guillaume Du Fay. Their liturgical-symbolic character is also based on the combination of a very concrete main text, related to a specific event, and cantus firmi referring to liturgical chants indicating a precise moment of representation within the liturgy.30 Du Fay’s motets incorporate these cantus firmi according to the common process of isorhythm, i.e. in a highly artificial way, whereby the priority is clearly accorded to structural compositional principles. These pieces perfectly illustrate the aforementioned idea of religious music reflecting the Harmony of the Spheres. Only a few compositions of this type have survived from the second half of the fifteenth century. However, some archaic features in Isaac’s Optime pastor indicate that the composer explicitly wished to position himself in this older commemorative tradition of motet composition. Musically, this tradition is most obviously signalled through the use of two cantus firmi and significant, short duets, also typical for Du Fay’s isorhythmic motets. The three lines of the prima pars, which refer to ‘concordia’, or respectively to ‘aquila’ and ‘leo’, appear in the form of sudden, narrowly progressing duets.31 29 Staehelin, Die Messen (see n. 17), ii, 80–1. 30 Laurenz Lütteken, Guillaume Dufay und die isorhythmische Motette. Gattungstradition und 31

Werkcharakter an der Schwelle zur Neuzeit (Hamburg, 1993). Vier Staatsmotetten des 16. Jahrhunderts, ed. Albert Dunning, Das Chorwerk 120 (Wolfenbüttel, 1977), 1–22, mm. 1–2, 83–93, 40–6, 58–61 and 71–4.

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The archaic is evoked and simultaneously set to the service of direct text interpretation in the sense of a musical rhetoric. The two cantus firmi, like the duets or duet parts, have at the most a superficial structural function (isorhythm is not used in this motet). Rather, they constitute sonic representations of the two protagonists presented in the text and their declared unanimity: two princes – two voices. Furthermore, the common role as religious leaders is ostentatiously underlined at the beginning of the second part through the two-voiced, quasi unisono affirmation ‘vobis religio’.32 The two cantus firmi can also be interpreted as embodiments of the Emperor and the Pope – particularly in the secunda pars, where the first words ‘Da pacem Domine’ and ‘Sacerdos’ coincide with the main text ‘Vobis par mundi imperium’.33 The beginnings of the cantus firmi text evoke the conciliator (the worldly head) on the one hand and the priest (the holy leader) on the other and give the composition additional plasticity. Aside from the rhetorical reinterpretation of such archaic elements, their use produces sonic effects. For example, the cantus firmi are used to create monumentality, which, supported by striking fanfare motifs in the free voices, gives the motet an exceptionally celebratory character, without ever generating an impression of stasis or self-referential complexity. The series of sequences and falling-third motifs leading through all the voices in the final ‘Amen’ produce a stunning apotheosis.34 In this compositional concept, one recognises an attempt to conciliate the two constrasting ideas introduced above that concern the character of liturgical vocal polyphony. On the one hand, it refers to a musical tradition that stands for an anagogical understanding of music, which implicitly characterised Maximilian’s choir. On the other hand, the traditional parameters are used in a rhetorical way according to a central claim of reform-oriented circles, as exemplified in Herbenus’ quoted statements. The cantus firmi are equally ambiguous, since they can be interpreted both in their liturgical function, and in the sense of a personal address, or even a sonic representation of the Pope and the Emperor. Finally, the text is also conceived as a balancing act between the references to concrete personalities and their official functions, wherein the primary focus on Leo X and Maximilian can be adapted to suit the nuncio Lorenzo Campeggi, and even the Cardinal Matthäus Lang, as well as Maximilian’s successor Charles V. Above all, however, the motet expresses the union between Emperor and Pope in an ideal manner. 32 33 34

Ibid., mm. 83–8. Ibid., mm. 109–15; see also the appendix. Ibid., mm. 196–207.

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Regardless of the musical and textual elements, the composer Heinrich Isaac himself represents the embodiment of this unanimity. As former musician to the Medici family and the Emperor, whose compositions were equally valued by Maximilian and Leo, he becomes the point of intersection in the symbolic communication of two politicians, who both ascribe a central role to music within their self-representative constructs. In this sense, the motet proves to be a diplomatic statement of the first rank, ideally reflecting the political potential of liturgical vocal polyphony around 1500. Epilogue After my hypothesis on the origin of Isaac’s motet had first been presented, it was strongly rejected by Wolfgang Fuhrmann.35 Gregor Metzig soon after joined in his rejection but without offering any substantial additions.36 It is undeniable that my suggestion is based on not entirely conclusive circumstantial evidence and could be disproven with a more detailed set of facts. However, the objections of both scholars were not adequate for refuting my hypothesis. I therefore gratefully accept this opportunity to respond: 1. To the objection that placing the motet at the opening of the Liber selec­ tarum cantionum cannot be explained if it was composed for Campeggi’s entry: the traditional view taken by Fuhrmann and Metzig that Lang had the motet performed in Rome does not account for its unusual placement as opening piece either, as Lang is not mentioned in the text. I elaborated above that all textual allusions are sufficiently vague to be able to also refer to Lang: he was the ‘optimus pastor’ of the Bishopric of Gurk and surely enjoyed being designated as its ‘medicus’ and ‘leo’. The ‘pia vota’ of the imperial singers could also apply to him. Apart from that, one could of course speculate that Lang commissioned the composition of the motet on his journey through Florence and sent it to Innsbruck while also presenting the Pope with a representative copy. However, care must be taken in the case of seemingly obvious references of prominent people in certain compositions because their appearance in certain books can be deceptive. This 35

36

Wolfgang Fuhrmann, ‘“Ave mundi spes Maria” – Symbolik, Konstruktion und Ausdruck in einer Dedikationsmotette des 16. Jahrhunderts’, in Die Habsburger und die Niederlande. Musik und Politik um 1500, ed. Jürgen Heidrich, troja. Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik viii, 2008/2009 (Kassel etc., 2010), 89–128 at 107–8. Gregor Metzig, Kommunikation und Konfrontation. Diplomatie und Gesandtschaftswesen Kaiser Maximilians I. (1486–1519), Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom 130 (Berlin, 2016), 255–6.

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is exemplified in Josquin’s Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae. Its origin surely is connected neither to Philip the Fair nor to Frederick the Wise even though the mass is contained in manuscripts for both princes as Missa Philippus rex Castiliae and Missa Fridericus dux Saxoniae, respectively. If we knew the work only in one of these two traditions, speculation about its creation would probably lead to adventurous aberrations, while attempting to take the cantus firmus seriously and linking it to Ercole d’Este would probably be met with some scepticism. 2. To the objection that the allusions to the bourgeois name of the Pope do not allow identification with Campeggi: Here the basic misunderstanding prevails that the motet text does not explicitly address anyone but instead remains implicit despite the obviously intended meaning in the situation. In my interpretation, the motet takes the liturgical ceremony of Campeggi’s reception as an occasion for a tribute, which superficially addresses him directly (and names him ‘optimus pastor’ and ‘medicus’), but clearly means the Medici Pope represented by him. In addition, the text does not represent an official diplomatic address, but rather oscillates between various actors and their representatives, remotely comparable to Costanzo Festa’s and Adrien Thiebault’s motets on the imperial coronation of Charles V in Bologna on which I have published elsewhere.37 3. To the objection that the communicative situation suggested by the text does not support a performance in Innsbruck because the Pope but not the Emperor is addressed: what is correct is that neither the Pope nor the Emperor is directly addressed. Moreover, the liturgical ceremonial did not provide for the real presence of the secular sovereign in ceremonially welcoming a bishop or legate, so that he also did not need to be implicitly or explicitly addressed. The motet Supremum est mortalibus by Du Fay offered as a comparative example is inappropriate because both addressees are mentioned by name and actually attended the assumed occasion where the performance took place. In contrast, Fuhrmann and Metzig ignore the serious illogicality of the communication situation implied by a performance of the motet in Rome, where nothing speaks for the presence of the ‘Caesarei Cantores’, although they are explicitly named as the performing ensemble in the motet text. 4. To the objection that the use of the welcoming antiphon could also have referred to Lang’s reception in Rome or could go back to the text itself: the latter argument invalidates any attempt to take the selection of liturgical 37

Klaus Pietschmann, ‘A Motet by Costanzo Festa for the Coronation of Charles V’, in Journal of Musicological Research 21 (2002), 319–54.

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cantus firmi seriously. N ­ umerous recent studies have shown that especially in the context of political events ceremonial and liturgical allusions were taken very seriously. In this respect, the main text refers to the text of the cantus firmus, not vice versa. The suggestion that the motet could have been performed on the occasion of Lang’s welcoming ceremony seems simply irrelevant as Fuhrmann’s and Metzig’s own arguments could be raised here (and quite correctly so). 5. To the contention that the antiphon Da pacem is musically paramount which is only consistent with Lang’s peace negotiations in Rome: as mentioned, Campeggi’s nunciature had the same task. As a matter of fact, asking for peace in this time of the Turkish threat and continuing conflicts among the European powers was an everyday topos. Corresponding suffragia were regularly added in the mass, in the Matins and in Vespers. Thus, the antiphon (in contrast to Sacerdos et pontifex) was nearly omnipresent in the contemporary liturgy. Moreover, it is not understandable why the cantus firmus should have so explicitly referred to a mission that Lang carried out incognito, while he was officially received in Rome only for the purpose of bestowing upon him the Cardinal’s hat. 6. To the objection that Lang could not have been present when Campeggi was ceremonially welcomed: such a claim is not part of my hypothesis. For the reasons stated, Lang’s presence during Campeggi’s welcoming ceremony is indeed irrelevant to the proposed interpretation. This case illustrates the fundamental problem that basic information on the specific integration and perception of vocal polyphony in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in the various ceremonial contexts of the courts, in diplomatic relations, and even in the liturgy have not survived until today. This concerns even essential factors as dating the performances, their perceptibility, as well as forms of flanking presentation and reception, e.g. in the written texts and/ or musical notation. This makes it more difficult to assess the relationship between the compositions included in music prints and manuscripts and the respective dedicatee. Generally speaking, in both cases only hypotheses based on circumstantial evidence can be developed that are more or less plausible, contradict each other or stand side by side, but can never invalidate each other.

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Appendix Text structure in Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor Main text

C.f. 1

C.f. 2

Prima pars Optime divino date munere pastor ovili / / Tandem qui laceri medicus gregis ulcera sanes / / Sis felix pecori et nobis tuque ipse beatus. / / Sit totum pacare gregem tibi cura perennis Da pacem Domine Sacerdos et Reddatur pax alma tuis pax aurea saeptis in diebus nostris pontifex Et tua, qua polles, tam blando fistula cantu quia non est et virtutum artifex Foedere cornipetas concordi vinciat agnos / / Reginam volucrum regi tibi junge ferarum alius bonus pastor in populo Reddatur vobis ut abactis vestra Chimaeris. qui pugnet pro nobis (populo) Postmodum concordes generosi pectoris iras / / In Turcas animate, lupos et monstra Canopi nisi sic placuisti Nulla gregi quadrupes, volucris inimica resistet tu deus noster domino Dum videant aquilam ducem verumque leonem / / Haec pia Caesarei cantores vota frequentant. nisi tu deus noster sic placuisti domino Secunda pars Vobis religio parque est reverentia recti / / Vis animi et pietas clementiaque insita. / / Vobis par mundi imperium Da pacem Domine Sacerdos et gladius debetur utrique (uterquas). in diebus nostris et pontifex Vera ergo auspiciis (auspicius) / / vigeat sapientia vestris quia non est et virtutum artifex Floreat et sanctis cum moribus inclyta virtus Sit suus ingenuis honor artibus et sua merces. Tum medico exultent colles et pascua plaudant pontifice Et tanto letetur Caesare mundus. Haec pia Caesarei cantores vota frequentant. Amen.

/ alius qui pugnet pro nobis

/ bonus pastor in populo

/ / nisi tu deus noster. Sic placuisti domino. “ “

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‘ET COMENCHÈRENT LES SACQUEBOUTES DU ROY’ THE LITURGICAL USE OF INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLES AROUND 1500

The period between about 1480 and 1520 was a key phase in the history of instrumental music. A series of innovations and the intensification of long-running tendencies combined to imbue the development of instrumental music-making with a special dynamic in every dimension: in instrument making, in composition and improvisation, in performance practice and playing technique, as well as in the media used for dissemination.1 One need only recall such striking processes as the lute’s transformation into a chordal instrument, the differentiation of a textless, if not instrumentally determined composition, or the rapid expansion of music publishing to include instrumental repertoire.2 As diver*

1

2

This article offers a revised English version of the earlier essay ‘Der Zink, die Posaune, die Messe und das Haus Habsburg. Bemerkungen zu einem aufführungspraktischen Wandel um 1500’, which appeared in Arbeit an Musik. Reinhard Kapp zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Markus Grassl, Stefan Jena, and Andreas Vejvar (Vienna, 2017), 337–76. I would like to thank Marc Brooks for translating the article into English. Of the now extensive literature, here are just the most recent overviews: Victor Coelho and Keith Polk, Instrumentalists and Renaissance Culture, 1420–1600: Players of Function and Fantasy (Cambridge, 2016); Keith Polk, ‘Instrumental Performance in the Renaissance’, in The Cambridge History of Musical Performance, ed. Colin Lawson and Robin Stowell (Cambridge etc., 2012), 335–52, esp. 343–48; id., ‘Instrumental music in the fifteenth century’, in The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music, ed. Anna Maria Busse Berger and Jesse Rodin (Cambridge, 2015), 745–54; here (at 750) there is talk of a ‘creative explosion’ for the phase beginning around 1480. On these phenomena see, amongst others, Kurt Dorfmüller, Studien zur Lautenmusik in der ersten Hälfte des 16.  Jahrhunderts, Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte  11 (Tutzing, 1967), 45–68; Markus Grassl, ‘Improvisieren und Komponieren am Instrument’, in Komponieren in der Renaissance. Lehre und Praxis, ed. Michele Calella and Lothar Schmidt, Handbuch der Musik der Renaissance  2 (Laaber, 2013), 354–97, esp. 387–90; Howard Mayer Brown, Instrumental Music Printed before 1600 (Cambridge/London, 1965), 9–30.

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gent as these phenomena may at first glance appear, ultimately they all share a common denominator. Essentially, they all relate to instrumental music-making moving towards and participating in the procedures, repertoires and standards of advanced vocal polyphony. The growth in the use of notation(s) and in the literacy of professional instrumentalists, the more frequent performance by instrumental ensembles of pieces originally composed for voice and the proliferation of elaborate improvisation practices in instrumental solo and ensemble playing are all aspects of this more general phenomenon.3 Around 1500, ‘the distinctions between singers, composers and players blurred and all were involved on nearly equal footing in a rich interaction’,4 something evident in another innovation, which was occasionally even hailed as ‘revolutionary’:5 the involvement of wind players, especially cornettists and trombonists, with singers in sacred vocal polyphony or the liturgy. The phenomenon has often been touched upon in performance practice, organological studies and literature on the musical life of individual places or institutions. Along with the ‘a cappella hypothesis’,6 which became the prevailing opinion in the 1980s and 90s, wind players’ participation in church singing is now a generally accepted part of performance history: while sacred polyphony was realised purely vocally before about 1500, in the sixteenth century the instrumental colla parte accompaniment of singers, although not an ubiquitous custom, became common at least

3

Keith Polk is largely responsible for examining these processes in his extensive research. See his monographs ‘Flemish Wind Bands in the Late Middle Ages. A Study of Improvisatory Instrumental Practices’, PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1968, and German Instrumental Music of the Late Middle Ages: Players, Patrons and Performance Practice (Cambridge/New York, 1992); of Polk’s numerous essays see, in addition to those mentioned in footnote 1, in particular: ‘Patronage and Innovation in Instrumental Music in the 15th Century’, in Historic Brass Society Journal 3 (1991), 151–78, and ‘Innovation in Instrumental Music 1450–1510: The Role of German Performers within European Culture’, in Music in the German Renaissance. Sources, Style and Contexts, ed. John Kmetz (Cambridge/ New York/Melbourne, 1994), 202–14. On the relationship between instrumental practice and vocal polyphony see also the work of Rodolfo Baroncini, ‘“Se canta dalli cantori overo se sona dalli sonadori”. Voci e strumenti tra Quattro e Cinquecento’, in RIDM 32 (1997), 327–65; id., ‘“A mente e a libro”, “Artisano et sonador”: formazione, status e competenze dello strumentista del ’500’, in Il violino tradizionale in Italia. Atti del convengno Trento, 25–26.6.1994, ed. Mauro Odorizzi and Maurizio Tomasi (Trent, 1996), 9–19. 4 Polk, German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), 166. 5 Lorenz Welker, ‘Renaissance wind ensembles’, in BJbHM 14 (1990), 249–70, at 256. 6 David Fallows gives a preliminary summary of this theory: ‘Secular Polyphony in the 15th Century’ in Performance Practice. Music before 1600, ed. Howard Mayer Brown and Stanley Sadie (Houndmills/London, 1990), 201–21; Daniel Leech-Wilkinson provides a detailed historical reconstruction of its genesis in The Modern Invention of Medieval Music (Cambridge etc., 2002), 88–156.

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in some churches and chapels or at certain special occasions.7 Moreover, recent research has uncovered numerous pointers that the Habsburg court chapels, and in particular the cornettist and trombonist Augustein Schubinger (who served the House of Habsburg from 1486 to 1532), played a decisive role in the genesis of this practice.8 Nevertheless, many issues remain unresolved. They concern the details – in particular, where exactly in the liturgy the wind instrumentalists played and precisely how they combined with the vocalists. But a more fundamental inquiry also needs to be pursued systematically within a broader perspective that asks what historical prerequisites were necessary and how the preliminary stages played out. In other words, to what extent can one actually talk of a ‘revolutionary’ innovation? Even while work on the ‘a cappella hypothesis’ was at its most intense, two of its most prominent representatives felt the need for clarification. Contrary to widespread opinion, James McKinnon insisted that – apart from the organ – the infrequent use of instruments in Medieval liturgical music was not primarily due to fundamental reservations on theological grounds or even prohibitions by the church authorities. Rather, it was rooted in practical 7

8

This summary can be found already in James W. McKinnon, ‘Representations of the Mass in Medieval and Renaissance Art’, in JAMS 31 (1978), 21–52, at 48–51. McKinnon also emphasizes the necessity of differentiation in the sixteenth century. See also Lorenz ­Welker, ‘Die Musik der Renaissance’, in Musikalische Interpretation, ed. Hermann Danuser, Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft 11 (Laaber, 1992), 139–215, at 166–7. An excellent survey of the institutions in Italy where the a cappella tradition was maintained dur­ing the sixteenth century, and the churches and chapels where instrumental accompaniment was adopted, can be found in: Frank A. D’Accone, The Civic Muse: Music and Musicians in Siena during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Chicago/London, 1997), 308–13. It is also primarily thanks to Keith Polk that the significance of the Habsburg patronage in general and Schubinger in particular for instrumental music has been highlighted. See Polk, German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), 89–94; id., ‘Augustein Schubinger and the Zinck: Innovation in Performance Practice’, in Historic Brass Society Journal 1 (1989), 83–92; ‘The Schubingers of Augsburg: Innovation in Renaissance Instrumental Music’, in Quaestiones in musica. Festschrift für Franz Krautwurst zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Friedhelm Brusniak and Horst Leuchtmann (Tutzing, 1989), 495–503; ‘Patronage, Imperial Image and the Emperor’s Musica Retinue: On the Road with Maximilian I’, in Musik und Tanz zur Zeit Kaiser Maximilians I., ed. Walter Salmen, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 15 (Innsbruck, 1992), 79–88; ‘Musik am Hof Maximilians  I.’, in Musikgeschichte Tirols. Band 1: Von den Anfängen bis zur Frühen Neuzeit, ed. Kurt Drexel and Monika Fink, Schlern-Schriften 315 (Innsbruck, 2001), 629–51. Cf. also Markus Grassl, ‘Zur instrumentalen Ensemblemusik am Hof Maximilians I.’, in Die Wiener Hofmusikkapelle I. Georg von Slatkonia und die Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, ed. Theophil Antonicek, Elisabeth Th. Hilscher, and Hartmut Krones (Vienna/Cologne/Weimar, 1999), 201–12. On Schubinger’s relationship to Maximilian I and Isaac in particular, see the recent book of Nicole Schwindt, Maximilians Lieder. Weltliche Musik in deutschen Landen um 1500 (Kassel/Stuttgart, 2018), 259–60.

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conditions. Most decisively, professional instrumentalists initially belonged to a completely different socio-cultural sphere than the educated, literate clerical singers.9 The implication is obvious: as soon as instrumental music-making had found its way into complex, written, theoretically founded, polyphonic vocal music, there was no ‘ideological’ obstacle to its entering the church and interacting with singers within the framework of liturgical musical practice. And David Fallows,10 referring to exemplary cases such as the Florentine cathedral consecration in 1436 and several princely weddings of the fifteenth century, speaks of the ‘unquestionable evidence’ that instruments ‘on many occasions […] were used in church, specifically during Mass’, and were even ‘de rigueur’ on especially prestigious occasions.11 Since then, studies on the musical culture and musical life of individual places and institutions have significantly broadened our knowledge of relevant sources.12 Therefore, a (provisional) summary seems to be possible, if not necessary. The methodological and source-critical problems are obvious, not least because, as is well-known, contemporaneous descriptions of ceremonies, festivities, liturgical celebrations, etc. are mostly only cursory about the music heard. If the presence of instrumentalists is registered at all, what they played usually is not. Furthermore, these texts repeatedly confront one with indiscriminate or inaccurate terms for instruments.13 Finally, the question arises of how representative the information gathered is and whether it allows generalisation. Leslie Korrick expresses just this concern in an article of 1990. Korrick refers to 9

10

11 12 13

James W. McKinnon, ‘A Cappella Doctrine versus a Cappella Practice: A Necessary Distinction’, in La musique et le rite sacré et profane. Actes du XIIIe Congrès de la Société Internatio­ nale de Musicologie. Strasbourg 1982, ed. Marc Honegger and Christian Meyer, 2 vols. (Strasbourg, 1986), i, 238–42. However Fallows argues in the following against the use of instruments to perform vocal polyphony around 1500, using Josquin as an example; see ‘The performing ensembles in Josquin’s sacred music’, in TVNM 35 (1985), 32–64, reprinted in: id., Songs and Musicians in the Fifteenth Century (Aldershot, 1996), text no. XII. Ibid., 33. For an overview see also the document collection in the appendix to this article. However, a difference should be clarified: since the 14th century, parallel to standardising ensemble formation, the terminology has at least been partially consolidated – think, for example, of the relatively consistent naming of the alta as ‘Pfeifer’, ‘(haulz) ménéstrels’, ‘scalmeyers’ or ‘piffari’ in contrast to the ‘trumpeters’ (see Lorenz Welker, ‘“Alta capella” – Zur Ensemblepraxis der Blasinstrumente im 15. Jahrhundert’, in BJbHM 7 [1983], 119– 65). The specificity of the terms for the individual instruments also varies, depending on their respective distribution, peculiarity or novelty. While expressions such as ‘Posaune’ (trombone) or ‘Trompete’ (trumpet) can potentially conceal different wind instruments, the term ‘Zink’ (cornett) is unambiguous and always refers to the instrument in question, which only established itself in ensemble or polyphonic musical practice in the later ­fi fteenth century.

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the sixteenth-century theological writings that criticise the use of instruments in the liturgy and concludes that instrumental playing was far more widespread in worship than the evidence left by special political or dynastic occasions would suggest.14 Korrick only explicitly covers the period after about 1520.15 As McKinnon’s observations already make clear, instruments in worship were condemned with any frequency only during the sixteenth century,16 namely in the context of efforts at church reform and specifically as a defence against the ‘secular’ in church music.17 But recent research clearly shows that Korrick’s conclusion also applies to the decades around 1500. Here, substantial evidence has been assembled proving that instrument use was not confined to the liturgy on the most prestigious occasions. And although, of course, not all cases of instrument use in church have been documented, and some sources may have been lost and others are yet to be discovered,18 a critical mass of material has been reached that should allow a typology of the ‘contact’ between instruments and (music in) the liturgy in the late Middle Ages to be outlined. From the end of the 14th century at the latest, there were two occasions on which instruments and religious celebrations regularly came into contact: the numerous urban processions that were often organised by local confraternities or lay communities on feast days, and when princes and other dignitaries processioned into or within the city, which usually, and certainly in the case of coronations or weddings, led ‘obligatorily’ to churches anyway.19 Even though 14 15

16

17

18

19

Leslie Korrick, ‘Instrumental music in the early 16th-century Mass: new evidence’, in EM 18 (1990), 359–70. The oldest testimonies cited by Korrick are Erasmus of Rotterdam’s commentary on the First Letter to the Corinthians of 1519 and Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt’s Theses on Church Music of 1521/22 (see docs. 62 and 69 in the appendix). See also the list of documents with critical analysis of the liturgical use of instruments by Andrew Kirkman, The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass: Medieval Context to Modern Revival (Cambridge, etc., 2010), 233–46; Andreas Mielke, Untersuchungen zur Alternatim-­ Orgelmesse, 2 vols. (Kassel, etc., 1996), i, 44–51. Karlstadt’s invective also reflects a criticism that flared up around 1500 and was directed against polyphonic music in general. See Rob C. Wegman, The Crisis of Music in Early Modern Europe, 1470–1530 (New York, 2005). On the problem of the loss of sources and the lack of their systematic processing, see the example of Rome: Giancarlo Rostirolla, ‘Strumentisti e costruttori di strumenti nella Roma dei papi. Materiali per una storia della musica strumentale a Roma durante i secoli xv–xvii’, in Restauro, conservazione e recupero di antichi strumenti musicali. Atti del convegno internationale Modena 1982, ed. Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini et. al. (Florence, 1986), 171–226, at 174–6. For a general account see: Edmund A. Bowles, ‘Musical Instruments in Civic Processions during the Middle Ages’, in AMl 33 (1961), 147–61; id., ‘Musical Instruments in the Medieval Corpus Christi Procession’, in JAMS 17 (1964), 251–60. In addition, there is a great deal of individual information in special studies on institutions and local history; among many others, see Anthony M. Cummings, The Politicized Muse: Music for Medici

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‘soft’, i.e. mainly stringed instruments, occasionally came into use here,20 the main role was played by ‘loud’ instruments and their ensembles, i.e. larger or smaller groups of natural trumpets and the wind band known as alta ­(capella).21 The ‘hauts instruments’ were prerequisites for processions and princely entrances not just due to their suitability for open-air music but also to their symbolic value. And it wasn’t just trumpets that signified power. In the Middle Ages, a sense of prestige and power was generally expressed through great volume,22 which, to a certain extent, the alta was also felt to supply. And the acoustic enhancement of public appearance and the manifestation of authority were imperative even in urban religious processions, because they also served to represent the community and the institutions involved. The obvious question of whether on such occasions the instrumentalists moved into the church and played there cannot be consistently answered. As far as can be ascertained from the sources,23 wind players often stayed outside,24 but also were occasionally present in the church. Additionally, in the transition between the two, instrumentalists would line up at the entrance or just inside the church to play while the high-ranking persons or dignitaries arrived or entered (docs. 27, 63).25 Although the sound of the wind instruments here tradi-

20

21

22 23 24

25

Festivals, 1512–1537 (Princeton/Oxford, 1992), 54–9, 75, 128, 164–8; Jonathan Glixon, Honoring God and the City: Musicians at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260–1807 (Oxford/New York, 1993), 50–4, 87–8; Blake Wilson, Music and Merchants: The Laudesi Companies of Republican Florence (Oxford, 1992), 54–8; Kenneth Kreitner, ‘Music in the Corpus Christi Procession of Fifteenth-Century Barcelona’, in EMH 14 (1995), 153–204; particularly detailed about the Netherlands in general and Brussels in particular: Barbara Haggh, ‘Music, Liturgy, and Ceremony in Brussels, 1350–1500’, PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988, 422–46. Bowles, ‘Musical Instruments in the Medieval Corpus Christi Procession’ (see n. 19), 256–59; Sabine Žak, Musik als ‘Ehr und Zier’ im mittelalterlichen Reich. Studien zur Musik im höfischen Leben, Recht und Zeremoniell (Neuss, 1979), 128–32; Kreitner, ‘Music in the C ­ orpus Christi Procession’ (see n. 19), 183–191. For this type of ensemble, which appeared at the end of the 14th century and was subsequently maintained by numerous cities and courts throughout Europe, see Welker’s fundamental study, ‘“Alta capella”’ (see n. 13), and the concise survey in Howard Mayer Brown and Keith Polk, ‘Instrumental Music, c.1300–c.1520’, in Music as Concept and Practice in the Late Middle Ages, ed. Reinhard Strohm and Bonnie J. Blackburn, New Oxford History of Music 3,1 (Oxford/New York, 2001), 97–161, at 136–44. See the fundamental study by Žak, Musik als ‘Ehr und Zier’ (see n. 20), 7–21. A typical example of such an unclear report is doc. 1. Sabine Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation in der Kirche (Zur Verwendung von Instrumenten im Gottesdienst)’, in MD 38 (1984), 231–59, at 232–3, 242–3; ead., ‘Der Quellenwert von Giannozzo Manettis Oratio über die Domweihe von Florenz 1436 für die Musikgeschichte’, in Mf 40 (1987), 2–32, at 20, 25–6; Kenneth Kreitner, ‘Minstrels in Spanish churches, 1400–1600’, in EM 20 (1992), 533–46, at 534. See also Pietschmann, ‘Musikpflege im Dienste nationaler Repräsentation: Musiker an

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tionally emblematised the status of a ‘person of authority’ and was thus unrelated to the liturgical events themselves, some cases are known in which the instrumentalists musically underlined ritual acts within the procession framework. Typically, these were the stages of the procession that took place partly or wholly in the church and led participants to a relic or statue of a saint, whose respective display or worship the wind players then initiated or accompanied.26 A special variety of processions were offering ceremonies, which became widespread throughout Europe from the late 14th century and in which princes, citizens or even individual members of the congregation placed gifts at the altar on special occasions.27 These ceremonies, to which trumpeters and/ or an alta regularly contributed, were partly performed outside the liturgy. However, two traditions can be discerned in which such oblationes were associated with a Mass (apart from individual cases, such as the liturgy attended by Francis I of France in 1520; see doc. 68). On one hand, it was apparently a custom at the first Mass of newly ordained priests,28 and on the other, processions ending up in oblationes before the offertory have been documented several times as an integral part of masses organized by Italian confraternities such as the compagnie di laudesi in Florence or the Venetian scuole.29 The kind of music played on these different occasions can only be indirectly deduced. With (natural) trumpets, more or less elaborate fanfares or signal-like sonorities can be expected.30 The situation was different for the alta ensemble, which from the middle of the fifteenth century increasingly included polyphonic compositions in its repertoire and adopted more demanding techniques of extempore polyphony. Here, therefore, ‘artificial’ forms of musical practice can be assumed. For example, it has long been suspected that the alta improvised on chant melodies during processions.31 This hypothesis is confirmed by an eyewitness report describing the events surrounding the solemn affirmation

26

27 28 29 30 31

S. Giacomo degli Spagnioli in Rom bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts‘, in Studi musicali 31 (2002), 109–44, at 120–1; Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 238–9. As well as doc. 61 see also the example in Kristine K. Forney, ‘Music, Ritual and Patronage at the Church of Our Lady, Antwerp’, in EMH 7 (1987), 1–57, at 28; Kreitner, ‘Minstrels in Spanish churches’ (see n. 24), 534; id., ‘The cathedral band of Léon in 1548, and when it played’, in EM 31 (2003), 41–62, at 46; Robert Stevenson, Spanish Cathedral Music in the Golden Age (Berkeley/Los Angeles, 1961), 144. See Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 249–51. See just Polk’s examples from Dutch cities from the early fifteenth century: ‘Flemish Wind Bands’ (see n. 3), 72–3. See Wilson, Music and Merchants (see n. 19), 57–8; Žak, ‘Der Quellenwert’ (see n. 24), 24–5; Glixon, Honoring God and the City (see n. 19), 199–200. For the signs of a somewhat more differentiated musical idiom, e.g. using the clarin register, see Polk, German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), 49–50. Polk, ‘Flemish Wind Bands’ (see n. 3), 67.

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of the city of Bruges’s privileges by Maximilian I in 1488. According to this account, a ceremonial procession in the main square ended with a sung Te Deum and an Ave regina caelorum played by the city minstrels.32 Through a series of studies, we are now well informed about a development that took place in connection with the lofs or salves cultivated in the Low Countries. The core of these devotions, which mostly took place after vespers or compline, was the singing of Marian antiphons, above all the Salve regina, which was supplemented by further songs and prayers over time. The lofs, which had spread since the 1470s through numerous urban centres in the Low Countries, formed a focal point for various of the municipal instrumentalists’ activities: concert performances, which initially took place outside, but then also in the church, e.g. in Bruges; participation in the devotions themselves; and, beyond that, participation in the ‘adjoining’ liturgies such as the vespers or the following day’s mass.33 The wind bands’ playing in connection with the salve celebrations marks an advanced stage in the process of instrumental music-making approaching the sphere of vocal polyphony mentioned earlier. It is known from Bruges and Antwerp, for example, that the civic alta not only improvised but also performed ‘motets’, i.e. composed pieces – whether these were arrangements of existing vocal works or compositions originally intended for instrumental performance.34 Furthermore, not just the lofs but also the festivities of the Italian confraternities make apparent another important aspect: instruments were not just integrated into the liturgy in the courtly context or during celebrations of extraordinary political or dynastic significance, it also happened on the initiative of local authorities and urban institutions – particularly confraternities. This was associated with a tendency towards regularising, if not institutionalising, the involvement of instrumentalists (which, of course, was not yet an everyday occurrence here either, but reserved for certain feast days).

32 Coelho/Polk, Instrumentalists and Renaissance Culture (see n. 1), 167. 33 An excellent overview of the situation in numerous cities is offered by Haggh, ‘Music,

34

Liturgy, and Ceremony’ (see n. 19), 397–421, as well as Keith Polk, ‘Susato and Instrumental Music in Flanders in the 16th Century’, in Tielman Susato and the Music of His Time, ed. Keith Polk (Hillsdale, 2005), 61–100; see also id., ‘Flemish Wind Bands’ (see n. 3), 61–6; id., ‘Ensemble Instrumental Music in Flanders – 1450–1550’, in Journal of Band Research 11 (1975), 12–27; particularly in Bruges: Reinhard Strohm, Music in Late Medieval Bruges (Oxford, etc., 1990), 47–8, 85–6, 144–5; Keith Polk, ‘Patronage of Instrumental Music in Bruges in the Late Middle Ages’, in Yearbook of the Alamire Foundation 7 (2008), 243–52; in Antwerp: Forney, ‘Music, Ritual and Patronage’ (see n. 26), 9, 14. For Antwerp see ibid., 14, for Bruges see Strohm, Music in Late Medieval Bruges (see n. 33), 144–5.

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As far as can be seen from the reports that prove the presence of wind instruments during worship, two parts of the Mass were preferred for instrumental playing: the offertory35 and the elevation.36 While insertions by the instrumentalists during the offertory can be viewed as an extension of music-making during the offering processions mentioned above, the traditional connotations of loud sound in general and with wind instruments in particular came into effect during the elevation, where it symbolised sublimity and power as well as ‘marked presence’, i.e. it increased the (possibly limited) perceptibility of the ritual act37 (as it is in the elevation during Mass, in many analogous ritual situations this task is fulfilled by the ringing of bells). The connotations, which trumpet sound has had since the Middle Ages were also related to the use of wind instrument sonorities in ritual processes that confered the status of authority, such as coronations or consecrations.38 Several reports of such representative occasions deserve special attention, namely Simone Borghesi’s description of an event celebrating the coronation of Pope Pius III in 1503 (doc. 32), Cuspinian’s description of the festivities for the Viennese double wedding in 1515 (doc. 55) and Hartmann Maurus’s comments on the coronation of Charles V in 1520 (doc. 67). Not only do these texts mention the wind instruments in connection with the Te Deum and thus count among the few sources that associate wind instrument use with a particular liturgical chant, they also make it clear that the Te Deum was played alternatim. While Cuspinian and Maurus do not clearly state how the wind players were involved in the performance of the chant (see below), Borghesi’s report is unequivocal. It explicitly mentions alternation between the vocal choir and a wind band.39 35 36

37

38

39

See docs. 47, 49, 64, as well as several pieces of evidence in Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 251–7. See also Kreitner, ‘The cathedral band’ (see n. 26), 47. See docs. 4, 13, as well as D’Accone, The Civic Muse (see n. 7), 465–6; Kreitner, ‘Minstrels in Spanish churches’ (see n.  24), 534; id., ‘The cathedral band’ (see n.  25), 47; Glixon, Honoring God and the City (see n. 19), 199–200; Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 237; eadem, ‘Der Quellenwert’ (see n. 23), 14. On this topic see also the remarks by Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, ‘Mit Pauken und Trompeten. Strategien und Dokumentationen des zeremoniellen Einsatzes von Klängen und Musik am Papsthof des ausgehenden 15.  Jahrhunderts’, in Musikalische Performanz und päpstliche Repräsentation in der Renaissance, ed. Klaus Pietschmann, troja. Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 11.2012 (Kassel, etc., 2014), 139–54, particularly 142–3. See docs. 8, 48, 53, and 63. For a further example, consider the receiving of a new Abbot in St. Albans in 1430: Frank Ll. Harrison, ‘Faburden in practice’, in MD 16 (1962), 11–34, at 11, or the coronation of Charles V as Spanish king in 1518: Soterrana Aguirre Rincón, ‘Music and Court in Charles V’s Valladolid, 1517–1539’, in Music and Musicians in Cities and Towns, ed. Fiona Kisby (Cambridge, etc., 2001), 106–17, at 112–13. According to Borghesi, it consisted of a ‘tibia’ and three trumpets. If ‘tibia’ means a shawm according to the terminological usage of the time, the combination would be

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Several fundamental questions arise at this point. The first concerns the distribution and frequency of wind instrument use in alternatim practice. Although the sources do not permit precise statements, it can be assumed that the practice extended beyond the few documented cases. After all, the use of another instrument, the organ, in alternatim practice had been well-established since the 14th century,40 so the alternation between choir and instrumental sound was nothing unusual. In this respect, it seems plausible that wind instruments, as soon as they gained a foothold in liturgical practice, at least partially assumed the organ’s function. Not only does wind instrument participation in the Te Deum point in this direction (the alternation between singers and organ in chant has been attested many times since the fifteenth century),41 but so too does the decision of a synod in Meaux in 1511 to prohibit ‘fistulae’ to be used in the same way as the organ was in other churches (doc. 46).42 Second, the nature of the interaction between choir and wind instruments requires closer consideration. First and foremost, one could think of a regular line-by-line alternation, a practice known from organ alternatim practice and hinted at in Borghesi’s report. Some later sources from the 1540s suggest, however, that other possibilities may also be considered. Evaluated by Kenneth Kreitner, the instructions regulating the cathedral musicians’ liturgical duties – including the ‘menestriles’, i.e. a wind band – at the cathedral of León from 1548 are particularly revealing.43 Here and in similar provisions in other Spanish churches from the second half of the sixteenth century, two further possibilities became available alongside systematic alternation with the choir. The wind band could also be limited to the performance of only the first and last verse or could frame the otherwise completely vocal rendition of the chant

40

41 42

43

unusual. Alta ensembles of four players usually consisted of three (discant and tenor) ­shawms and a trombone. It is therefore also conceivable that either the author was mis­ taken or that ‘tibia’ refers to a cornett. From the extensive literature on this subject I mention just: Mielke, Untersuchungen (see n. 16); Douglas Earl Bush, ‘The Liturgical Use of the Organ in German Regions prior to the Protestant Reformation: Contracts, Consuetudinaries, and Musical Repertories’, PhD thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1982. Ibid., 52–6, 71–4, 98; Arnfried Edler, Gattungen der Musik für Tasteninstrumente. Teil 1: Von den Anfängen bis 1750, Handbuch der musikalischen Gattungen 7/1 (Laaber, 1997), 43. The document explicitly mentions the Credo (‘Symbolum Missae’). The alternatim rendition of this item of the Ordinary is not as frequently documented as that of other parts of the Mass, but it may have been quite common. See Bush, ‘The Liturgical Use’ (see n. 40), 97, 114, 121; William Peter Mahrt, ‘The Missae ad Organum of Heinrich Isaac’, PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1969, 21–2, 40–3, 52–3; see also Johannes Georg Schwarz, ‘Die Orgelbücher des Bernhard Rem als Zeugnisse der Liturige am Augsburger Karmeliterkloster St. Anna’, MA thesis, University of Vienna, 2010, 25, 34. Kreitner, ‘The cathedral band’ (see n. 26).

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with a prelude and a postlude. As Kreitner argues, the instruments thereby functioned as a kind of ‘punctuation’, i.e. they marked the beginning or the end of sections of the liturgy. Of course, it cannot be assumed that a practice demonstrable in Spanish churches since about the middle of the century was already common in other places about 50 years earlier. Individual sources from around 1500, however, point to situations like those described by Kreitner. These include Antoine Lalaing’s well-known description, given in his travelogue, of the Mass celebrated on the occasion of Maximilian’s I meeting with Philip the Fair in Innsbruck in 1503 (doc. 34). According to the oft-quoted passage, the ‘sacqueboutes’ – by which an alta or a cornett-trombone ensemble is to be understood – ‘began [comenchèrent]’ the gradual and ‘played the Deo gratias and the Ite missa est’. The formulation that the wind players ‘began’ the gradual might be read as indicating an alternatim.44 It should be remembered, however, that this part of the mass was rarely performed alternatim around 1500. In any case, graduals only occur marginally in the sources on the alternatim practice of the time – this applies both to polyphonic settings of the Mass45 and to the sources on organ playing.46 And even when they surface in connection with alternatim practice, as in Bernhard Rem’s ‘Augsburger Orgelbücher’ , it becomes apparent that the instrument took over the verse, hence did not ‘begin’.47 It is therefore more probable that Lalaing means a kind of prelude to the actual gradual chant – an interpretation that can also easily be reconciled with the word ‘comenchèrent’. Lalaing’s comment on the Deo gratias also raises interpretational problems. If the text is taken literally, the wind instruments would have replaced the singing. Whether this is what Lalaing’s imprecise comment means (he mentions the two versicles in the wrong order), however, seems doubtful. Equally, a colla parte amplification of a polyphonic choir can probably be ruled out: as is well known, the Ite missa est was completely ignored in fifteenth- and early 44 45

46

47

Walter Senn appears to tend in this direction; see ‘Maximilian und die Musik’, in Ausstel­ lung Maximilian I., Innsbruck 1969. Katalog (Innsbruck, 1969), 73–85, at 79. For example, in Heinrich Isaac’s 99 proper cycles there are only two, and among his 38 individual proper settings there is not a single gradual. See Martin Staehelin, ‘Isaac, Heinrich’, in MGG2 (Kassel etc., 2003), Personenteil ix, 672–91, at 678. See Robert Burgess Lynn, ‘Renaissance Organ Music for the Proper of the Mass in Continental Sources’, PhD thesis, Indiana University, 1973, passim. Buchner’s Fundamentum contains only one gradual (‘Haec dies/Confitemini’), which, however, sets the whole chant melody, i.e. it is probably not intended for alternatim practice. See Hans Buchner, Sämtliche Orgelwerke, ed. Jost Harro Schmidt, 2 vols., EdM 55 (Frankfurt am Main, 1974), ii, 32–7. Schwarz, ‘Die Orgelbücher’ (see n. 42), 31, 35.

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sixteenth-century polyphonic mass composition. Rather, two scenarios are likely: first, again a prelude or perhaps even a postlude was given, in which case the postlude would have stood right at the end of the whole liturgy and thereby would have ‘punctuated’ the mass, as discussed above, in a particularly striking way;48 or second, the ‘sacqueboutes’ responded to the sung Ite missa est. The latter possibility does not seem too far-fetched, as the organ practice of the (albeit later) sixteenth century provides evidence for an instrumental rendition of the Deo gratias.49 As mentioned above, the reports by Hartmann Maurus on the coronation of Charles V (doc. 67), and by Cuspinian on the Viennese double wedding (doc. 55) also demand closer scrutiny. Hartmann Maurus merely notes that the Te Deum was performed by choir, ‘tubicines’ and organ ‘alternatis vicib[us]’; however, the distribution of the roles remains open. If one understands the expression ‘tubicines’ literally, i.e. as natural trumpets that were incapable of executing the Te Deum melody, the following interpretation appears most credible: the chant was performed alternating ‘only’ between choir and organ in accordance with established practice; and the trumpeters contributed pieces just before, possibly also afterwards or even in between, independently of the chant. The Cuspinian text forces the same interpretation: it also mentions the participation of choir, organ and ‘tubae’, adding more precisely that Paul Hofhaimer ‘respondit’ to the singers.50 One can only speculate about the nature of the music that wind instruments played when they intervened in a liturgical chant. Insofar as they took over individual chant verses within the alternatim framework, however, two variants can be indirectly deduced. One alternative is polyphonic improvisation over the chant section in question. As mentioned above, there is ample evidence in other contexts that, from the late fifteenth century, wind bands mastered techniques of polyphonic improvisation on a cantus firmus. The other is that only the monophonic chant melody was played (whether by a single wind instrument, by several instruments in unison or, in the case of instruments of different registers, perhaps in octave-parallels is a question that must remain 48

The instructions from the cathedral of Léon in 1548 also stipulate that the ‘menestriles’ play the ‘Deo gratias’. As Kreitner argues, it must have been a postlude. See Kreitner, ‘The cathedral band’ (see n. 26), 44, 47–8. 49 Mielke, Untersuchungen (see n. 16), 248–9. 50 However, one uncertainty remains: a German translation of Cuspinian’s report (doc. 55, No. 4) has ‘saittenspiln’ instead of ‘tubae’. The term ‘Saitenspiel’ functioned as an unspecific umbrella term for instruments of all kinds (cf. Schwindt, Maximilians Lieder [see n. 8], 83). It cannot therefore be definitively ruled out that instruments other than trumpets were (also) used. In that case, further and closer forms of interaction between instruments and choir would be conceivable (see below).

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open and may have varied from case to case). The hypothesis of a monophonic instrumental realisation of the chant suggests itself because this was a common procedure in organ practice until the sixteenth century.51 Irrespective of alternatim practice, another fundamental question arises about wind-instrument participation in liturgical singing: is it likely that wind instruments were added to monophonic chant singing, amplifying it in unison, in parallel, or in some form of improvised polyphony? For at least two reasons, this conjecture is not entirely absurd. First, in the first half of the sixteenth century, the combination of the schola with an instrument cannot be completely ruled out, insofar as there are indications (albeit sporadic) from this period that the organ supported chant singing.52 Secondly, the involvement of cornetts and trombones in the performance of vocal polyphony means that the combination of vocal and wind sonorities lay within the realm of the possible. It should be noted, however, that no direct evidence indicates that wind instruments were used in the realisation of monophonic chant in the period around 1500. The strongest form of integration between instruments and liturgical music that can be proved to exist around 1500 is undoubtedly the colla-parte accompaniment of the polyphonic choir by a wind ensemble. Scholars agree on several aspects of the genesis of this practice. First, it is clear that one of the decisive prerequisites was the development of the trombone in its proper sense – i.e. a brass instrument with a U-slide – that, in contrast to the earlier slide trumpet, made available a set of diatonic notes below the alto/tenor register.53 Secondly, there was a close connection with the introduction into polyphonic art music of the cornett, which, thanks to its timbral qualities, combined particularly well with voices. Finally and above all, the Habsburg court since Maximilian  I is regarded as the institution that played the leading role in establishing the new practice. It is well known that the earliest relevant evidence comes from there. Two prominent sources are repeatedly cited: the depiction of the ‘musica canterey’ in Maximilian’s  I Triumphzug (triumphal procession), which shows the 51

52

53

See Franz Körndle, ‘Orgelmusik’, in Geschichte der Kirchenmusik, ed. Wolfgang Hochstein and Christoph Krummacher, Enzyklopädie der Kirchenmusik 1/1 (Laaber, 2011), 191–8, at 192–3; see also the article of Franz Körndle in this volume. Gary Towne, ‘Music and Liturgy in Sixteenth-Century Italy: The Bergamo Organ Book and its Liturgical Implications’, in JM 6 (1988), 471–509, at 489–94; Andreas Traub, ‘Ein Fragment zur Orgelbegleitung von Sequenzen’, in Mf 64 (2011), 46–9; see also Frank A. D’Accone, ‘The Performance of Sacred Music in Italy during Josquin’s Time, c. 1475– 1525’, in Josquin des Prez. Proceedings of the International Josquin Festival-Conference […] New York 1971, ed. Edward E. Lowinsky and Bonnie J. Blackburn (London/New York/Toronto, 1976), 601–18, at 617. See Lorenz Welker, ‘Bläserensembles’ (see n. 5), 260–1; David M. Guion, A History of the Trombone (Lanham/Toronto/Plymouth, 2010), 19–20.

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cornett player Augustein Schubinger and the trombonist Hans Steudl54 playing together with the imperial chapel from a choir book (doc. 50); and Antoine Lalaing’s description of Philip the Fair’s first voyage to Spain, in which there are two references to Schubinger’s collaboration with singers (docs. 29 and 30). In addition, there are further unambiguous testimonies: the report about a mass attended by Maximilian I during the Imperial Diet of Trier in 1512, in which polyphonic music was performed (‘figurier[t]’) and the bass part was played ‘mit eyner basunen [with a trombone]’ (doc. 48); a statement by Johannes Cochlaeus about the Nuremberg trombonist Johannes Neuschel, who repeatedly was called on by Maximilian between 1502 and 1517,55 and who for Cochlaeus possessed the ability to ‘mix the sound of the tuba to the harmony of human voices’ (doc. 47); and finally the no less well-known woodcut in the Weißkunig, which shows Maximilian I circled by his musicians (doc. 39). Here four singers and a cornettist56 can be seen at the upper left edge of the picture, playing music from a book lying on the table in front of them and containing notation.57 Admittedly, however, some questions remain unanswered. In particular, the constructional development of the trombone has not been conclusively settled,58 mainly due to Stewart Carter reopening the debate.59 Equally, the 54

The biographical information available on Steudl has recently been assembled by Nicole Schwindt in ‘Fünf Freunde. Bekannte und unbekannte Nachrichten zu Senfls Kollegen’, in Senfl-Studien 3, ed. Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes, and Sonja Tröster, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 9 (Vienna, 2018), 1–17, at 2–4. 55 On Neuschel: Fritz Jahn, ‘Die Nürnberger Trompeten- und Posaunenmacher im 16. Jahrhundert’, in AfMw 7 (1925), 23–52; Stewart Carter, The Trombone in the Renaissance. A His­ tory in Pictures and Documents (Hillsdale, 2012), particularly 221–33, 243–5. 56 Some authors have identified the instrument as a transverse flute, probably because of its horizontal inclination in the picture (see Hugo Leichtentritt, ‘Was lehren uns die Bildwerke des 14.–17.  Jahrhunderts über die Instrumentalmusik ihrer Zeit?’, in SIMG 7 [1906], 315–64, at 351; Louise E. Cuyler, ‘Music in Biographies of Emperor Maximilian’, in The Commonwealth of Music. In Honor of Curt Sachs, ed. Rose Brandel and Gustave Reese [New York, 1965], 111–21, at 116). However, the conical shape of the tube and the inclination of the head of the player looking at the score on the table below must be taken into account. This makes it clear that the instruments is a cornett held in side position. See Georg Karstädt, ‘Zur Geschichte des Zinken und seiner Verwendung in der Musik des 16.–18. Jahrhunderts’, in AfMf 11 (1937), 385–432, at 397 n. 1. 57 In addition, several reports only speak vaguely about the participation of wind instruments in the liturgy (docs. 24, 37, 58). 58 Guion, A History (see n. 53), 22–5; Trevor Herbert, The Trombone (New Haven/London, 2006), 60–3; Carter, The Trombone, passim. 59 Carter suspects the existence of an early form of the trombone with a short U-slide. The trombones depicted in Maximilian’s Triumphzug are also said to be such ‘short U-slide trombones’. See Carter, ‘A Tale of Bells and Bows: Stalking the U-Slide Trumpet’, in Instruments, Ensembles, and Repertory, 1300–1600. Essays in Honor of Keith Polk, ed. Timothy J. McGee and Stewart Carter (Brepols, 2013), 13–30.

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factors that led to the cornett’s ascent into the sphere of art music are not completely clear.60 But a synopsis of the relevant source material does reveal that the German-speaking region played a pioneering role in the process. For example, there is evidence that cornettists were employed by princes and cities of the Holy Roman Empire in considerable numbers already during the last three decades of the fifteenth century (docs. 2, 5–7, 9, 11, 14, 16–19, 21–23).61 On the other hand, other European centres and regions seem to have taken up the cornett only after some delay. If one disregards Mantua and Venice, where the use of cornetts is first detected in the years immediately around 1500 (docs. 20, 35), analogous reports for the rest of Italy date from around 1520.62 It is clear that this conclusion is particularly affected by the methodological uncertainties mentioned above – i.e. doubt about how well the sources reflect historical reality, and the vagueness of the instrument terminology (thus it may be that behind any one of the numerous ‘piffari’ mentioned before 1520 hides a cornettist). However, some more concrete reports attest to the cornett’s delayed arrival, at least in some parts of Italy. For example, in 1520, the Papal Master of Ceremonies, Paris de Grassi, remarked that in Rome at the time the sound of the cornett was still perceived as something unusual (doc. 70).63 For the period around 1500, one cannot assume that cornett-trombone ensembles always comprised four or more players and were therefore capable of reproducing contemporary compositions in their entirety. To be sure, in some 60 61

62

63

See the rudimentary statements by Friend Robert Overton, Der Zink. Geschichte, Bau­ weise und Spieltechnik eines historischen Musikinstruments (Mainz, etc., 1981), 20–4. This finding coincides with the well-known fact that the German-speaking area generally played a leading role in the field of wind instrument making and playing around 1500. See Polk, German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), passim; id., ‘Instrumental Music in the Urban Centres of Renaissance Germany’, in EMH 7 (1987), 159–86, and id., ‘Innovation in Instrumental Music’ (see n. 3). Cornettists are documented: in Siena for the first time supposedly in 1514 (docs. 54, 74), definitively and permanently after 1534 (D’Accone, The Civic Muse [see n. 7], 304); in the papal chapel 1520/21 (docs. 70–1; see also the list of instrumentalists who can be traced in Rome during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries at Rostirolla, ‘Strumentisti’ [see n. 18], 192–215); in the Capella Giulia 1564 (Ariane Ducrot, ‘Histoire de la Cappella Giulia au XVIe siècle, depuis sa fondation par Jules II [1513] jusqu’à sa restauration par Grégoire XIII [1578]’, in Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’école française de Rome 75 [1963], 179– 240, 467–559, at 506); in Florence since 1532 (Keith Polk, ‘Epilogue: Trombones, Trumpets, and Cornetti in Florence c.1500’, in Historic Brass Society Journal 12 [2000], 226–9, at 229). Cf. also the remarks in D’Accone, ‘The Performance of Sacred Music’ (see n. 52), 614–16. See also the Veronese piffari’s letter to the city council in 1484, in which the cornett is missing from the list of the instruments they claim to control; see William F. Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro e i pifferi e tromboni di Mantova: strumenti a fiato in una corte italiana’, in RIDM 16 (1981), 154–84, at 162–3.

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places such ‘complete’ formations were already available at the very beginning of the sixteenth century. Evidence for this consists, for example, in the well-known letter by Giovanni Alvise to Francesco Gonzaga of 1505, which included a piece for four trombones and two cornetts (doc. 35), and in a report on the Torgau princely wedding in 1500, which explicitly mentions three trombones and one cornett (doc. 21). And finally, it seems reasonable to assume that such a full ensemble lies behind the payments that the court of Maximilian I made with conspicuous frequency from 1500 to a number of trombonists and to Augustein Schubinger, who was expressly described as a ‘Zinkenbläser [cornettist]’ (doc. 24). It seems, however, that initially it was quite common to add only one wind instrument to the voices. In some sources, such as account books listing only one player (docs. 17, 25), it may simply be that other instrumentalists were not mentioned (for example because they were not paid their own wages). However, there is also clearer evidence. This includes more specifically formulated descriptions such as the above-mentioned report on a Mass with polyphonic music attended by Maximilian I in 1512, in which a trombone played the bass part (doc.  48). Finally, two pictorial sources leave no doubt: the illustration on the title page of Arnolt Schlick’s Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511), which shows a choir together with an organist and a cornettist (doc. 45), and the partial scene in the woodcut in Weißkunig with the ensemble of four singers and a cornettist (doc. 39). There are also indications from later periods that this instrumentation practice had spread somewhat. These include the frequently reproduced picture at the beginning of the tenor partbook of Tielman Susato’s Liber primus missarum quinque vocum (1546), which depicts a service with seven vocalists and one trombonist,64 but above all the custom observed in many Italian and some Spanish churches from about 1530 of (initially) employing only one wind player, be it a cornettist, trombonist or bass dulcian (‘bajon contrabajo’) player.65 In all these cases, one question arises above all: which part did the individual wind player take? It is obvious that the cornett took the treble. But the answer for the trombone is much more difficult. Assuming the voice ranges that were 64

65

RISM 15463. Most recently reprinted in Kristine K. Forney, ‘New Insights into the Career and Musical Contributions of Tielman Susato’, in Tielman Susato and the Music of His Time. Print Culture, Compositional Technique and Instrumental Music in the Renaissance, ed. Keith Polk (New York, 2005), 1–44, at 3; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 215. For Italy, see the relevant evidence in D’Accone, ‘The Performance of Sacred Music’ (see n. 52), 616; id., The Civic Muse (see n. 7), 304–8; Richard Sherr, ‘Questions concerning instrumental ensemble music in sacred contexts in the early sixteenth century’, in Le ­Concert des voix et des instruments à la Renaissance. Actes du XXXIV e Colloque Internationale d’Etudes Humanistes. Tours 1991, ed. Jean-Michel Vaccaro (Paris, 1995), 145–56, at 145. For Spain see Kreitner, ‘Minstrels in Spanish churches’ (see n. 24), 536–8.

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common in vocal polyphony around 1500, the presumed ambitus of the trombone at that time allows both the bass and the tenor to be played.66 It seems obvious to think of the tenor in compositions based on a c.f.-axis in this voice.67 However, depending on the structure of the composition, this solution is not always equally practicable.68 Further, the (few) reports that refer to the part taken by the deep wind instrument always mention the bass (docs. 48, 64). Evidently, attempts to resolve the issue by drawing upon the c.f.-construction fail completely, when the pre-existent material – in accordance with the compositional trend around 1500 – is scattered through a texture of rhythmically and melodically integrated voices. In the case of such a homogenous texture, one can only speculate about what the amplification of just one or a few lines might have meant. Conceivably this might have been for pragmatic reasons, for example, the need to compensate for a lack of singers or the wish to achieve the desired balance. Furthermore, the wish to maintain a certain tonal fullness or a sound ideal of any kind might have been involved. Ultimately, however, there is a fundamental impediment to our answering these questions: our ­limited knowledge about sonic imagination, listening experience and perception around 1500. Particular interpretational problems arise from reports that name the wind player who performed with the choir, such as Chochlaeus’s remark about 66

67

68

Determining the tonal range of the early trombone hits the problem that instruments have only been preserved since the middle of the sixteenth century and precise descriptions are not available in musical writing before 1600. However, there is a consensus in the literature about a standard pitch in the area of A. On a ‘short-slide trombone’ this results in a pitch range from F to a1. See Carter, ‘A Tale of Bells and Bows’ (see n. 59), 25–6. See further id., ‘Sackbut’, in A Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music, ed. Jeffery Kite-Powell (Bloomington/Indianapolis, 22007), 126–38, at 127–31; Guion, A History (see n. 53), 19–20, 30–2. For a concise survey of the voice range in the vocal polyphony of Josquin’s era see Fallows, ‘The performing ensembles’ (see n. 10), 44–53. Alejandro Enrique Planchart, in ‘Parts with words and without words: the evidence for multiple texts in fifteenth-century Masses’, in Studies in the performance of late mediaeval music, ed. Stanley Boorman (Cambridge, etc., 1983), 227–51, refers to the documentation of a ‘trompette’ player in the Savoyan chapel around 1450 and, on this basis, concludes that the cantus firmus carrying tenor of Dufay’s Missa Se la face ay pale, among others, was intended for a brass instrument. However, this thesis is burdened with several uncertainties. For example, it is not certain that the ‘Etienne trompette’, which is recorded in the payment books of the chapel of Savoyen from 1449 to 1455, is a player of a trombone or proto-trombone (which would certainly be necessary for the realization of the tenor part of Se la face ay pale). In addition, as Planchart himself concedes (p. 230), payments to other court servants than musicians were occasionally recorded in the chapel’s account books. In any case, it would have been sensational to integrate an instrumentalist other than the organist into a chapel at that time. David Fallows, in ‘The performing ensembles’, 34, rightly characterises the source as ‘slightly perplexing’. As Fallows has shown with several works by Josquin: ibid., 35–8.

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Johannes Neuschel (doc.  47) or Antoine Lalaing’s references to Augustein Schubinger (docs.  29 and 30). Lalaing’s comments are especially remarkable because most contemporaneous accounts of festivities, celebrations or other musical occasions provide little concrete or detailed information about the music itself. First of all, Chochlaeus’s and Lalaing’s remarks are undoubtedly symptomatic of a phenomenon increasingly observable from the mid-fifteenth century: the emergence of famous, internationally known and sought-after, i.e. ‘individualised’, instrumental virtuosos.69 However, it is not yet clear what was so peculiar about the wind instrumentalist’s playing together with singers that drew explicit attention to him or her – or, to quote Lalaing: what precisely it was that made Schubinger’s interaction with the singers ‘bon à ouir [good to hear]’? Conceivably, these words might reflect a certain fascination aroused by the mere novelty of the phenomenon itself. Perhaps Lalaing was also paying tribute to the ability of accompanying colla parte, an achievement that was presumably still quite unusual and not yet generally mastered. Insofar as prolific embellishment was considered as credentials of instrumental virtuosity in the fifteenth century, one might also think of diminutions (however much this may run counter to the aesthetics and performance practice of Renaissance vocal polyphony today). Keith Polk even wondered whether ‘splendid players of the Schubinger mold’ improvised additional parts.70 The conjecture is not implausible. The practice of adding an extempore line to an existing piece is well documented in instrumental ensemble playing around 1500.71 Research to date has inconclusively suggested the spread of what might be termed ‘mid-size instrumentation’, i.e. instrumentation that lay between a single instrument and a full-voiced cornett-trombone ensemble. In particular, there are specific references to the combination of singers with two wind instruments. The pièce de resistance is once again the portrayal of the imperial chapel performing with the cornettist Schubinger and the trombonist Steudl in Maximilian’s triumphal procession (doc. 50).72 There are also further testimo69

70 71 72

On the phenomenon of the instrumental virtuoso in the fifteenth century, see Jürgen ­Heidrich, ‘Instrumentalisten als Autoritäten’, in Autorität und Autoritäten in musikalischer Theorie, Komposition und Aufführung, ed. Laurenz Lütteken and Nicole Schwindt, troja. Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 3.2003 (Kassel, etc., 2004), 53–63. ‘Augustein Schubinger and the Zinck’ (see n. 8), 88. See Grassl, ‘Improvisieren und Komponieren’ (see n. 2), 361–2. Victor Coelho and Keith Polk, Instrumentalists and Renaissance Culture (see n.  1), 280–1, think that the artist Hans Burgkmair had intended to portray a larger number of instrumentalists, but that he had to be content with Schubinger and Steudl because of ‘space limitations’ in the picture. This hypothesis is doubtful for several reasons. Firstly, Polk and Coelho proceed from an incorrect translation of the literary programme of the ­Triumphzug. They translate the singular ‘Zingkenplasser unnd pusauner’ as ‘cornett play-

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nies originating from the Habsburg territories and the Low Countries. In 1509 the two renowned wind players Hans Nagel and Jan van Winkel were remunerated for playing polyphonic music (‘en discant’) daily with the chapel of the young Charles V during the Divine Office and Mass (doc. 42).73 And in 1519 the Lieve Vrouwegilde in Bergen op Zoom engaged, in addition to singers, a cornettist and a wind player for the ‘bascontre’ part (doc.  64). Documents mentioning wind duos outside the liturgy have also been preserved, including a report that Hans Nagel and Hans Broen played for Philipp the Fair in 1501 ‘pour son plaisir’.74 One task of such duos could have been the colla parte support of the choir in the performance of vocal polyphony (where again the question arises of which part the single trombone took). But it can also be argued that wind duos were involved in the liturgical alternatim practice. As shown above, there is reason to surmise that around 1500 the integration of wind instruments into the alternatim performance of chants became – to a certain extent – a trend. Unfortunately the pertinent sources usually do not specify the type and size of the ensembles. Concrete evidence, however, is supplied by the document testifying Hans Nagel’s and Jan van Winkel’s employment in the liturgy at the court of Charles V (and Margaret of Austria, respectively). On the one hand, the text clearly indicates that polyphonic singing took place; thus a colla parte accompaniment by the two instrumentalists present cannot be ruled out definitively. On the other hand, however, the document deals expressis verbis with daily and long-lasting duties in Mass and the Divine Office (‘ jouant journellement […]

73

74

ers and trombonists’. Secondly, Polk and Coelho refer to the woodcut of the print, but not to the original miniature, which served Burgkmair as a model and on which the musicians are arranged in a much looser way. Thirdly, such a reduction would contradict a basic feature of the Triumphzug, namely the ostentation of splendour and pomp. In the depictions of the other ensembles, this intention apparently has led, conversely, to the exaggeration of reality. (On this subject see Grassl, ‘Zur instrumentalen Ensemblemusik’ [see n. 8], 208–9). Nagel had previously worked at the courts of Henry VII of England and Philip the Fair and later as a municipal instrumentalist in Antwerp; see Bruno Bouckaert and Eugeen Schreurs, ‘Hans Nagel, Performer and Spy in England and Flanders (ca. 1490–1531)’, in Polk, Tielman Susato and the Music of His Time, 101–15. Jan van Winkel also served Philip the Fair, then the city of Utrecht and then, after his time in Mechelen, Henry VIII of England; see Georges Van Doorslaer, ‘La chapelle musicale de Philippe le Beau’, in Revue belge d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art 4 (1934), 21–57, 139–65, at 39; Keith Polk, ‘Susato and Instrumental Music in Flanders’ (see n. 33), 64, 67. See Edmond Vander Straeten, La musique aux Pays-bas avant le XIXe siècle, 8 vols. (Brüssel, 1885), vii, 272: ‘a Hans Naglen et Hans Broen, jouers de sacqubutes […] quant nagaires ils avoient joué devant mondit s[eigneu]r, pour son plaisir’. See also Carter’s iconographic sources from the 1530s and 40s showing duos of cornett or shawm and trombone: The Trombone (see n. 55), 249–50, 260.

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les heures et service divin’), hence, the instrumentalists obviously took extensive part in the liturgical services, which by no means only contained polyphony. As a matter of fact, the oldest chapel ordinance issued under Charles V in 1515, expressly permits polyphony only for the daily Mass, but not for the Divine Office. If there was any polyphonic singing at all, then according to the preserved Habsburg-Burgundian repertoire, this affected only a few, singular items, such as the Magnificat.75 Again, one could speculate about the instrumental amplification of monophonic chant. Otherwise, the most likely alternative remains that the wind duo either played alternatim or contributed ‘punctuations’ in the form of preludes or postludes. The conjecture that wind duos did not limit themselves to accompanying singers, but also played ‘independently’ and performed two-part settings, becomes even more plausible when the general profile of instrumental music of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries is considered. As recent research has shown in extenso, one of the main types of instrumental ensemble music found in the late Middle Ages was the combination of two ‘soft’ instruments (the preferred variant in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries being the pairing of a small with a large lute).76 In the emerging culture of virtuosity of the time, individual members of ‘soft duos’, such as Johannes and Carolus Fernandes or the lutenist Pietrobono de Burzellis, enjoyed considerable esteem.77 A fairly clear picture of the musical output of such two-player ensembles has now been established. Although they may sometimes have adapted res facta, it was for the most part an improvisational practice. The basis was pre-existent monophonic material – be it a song melody, a basse danse tenor or a part taken from a popular polyphonic chanson. Typically, this monophonic line was taken by the lower instrument, which stayed relatively true to the original, and a newly invented, agile upper part was played by the higher instrument.78 Some pieces that have 75

Honey Meconi, Pierre de la Rue and Musical Life at the Habsburg-Burgundian Court (Oxford/ New York, 2003), 57–9. Mary Tiffany Ferer, Music and Ceremony at the Court of Charles V. The ‘Capilla Flamenca’ and the Art of Political Promotion (Woodbridge, 2012), 127–31. 76 For an overview see Coelho/Polk, Instrumentalists and Renaissance Culture (see n. 1), 78–85; Polk, ‘Patronage and Innovation’ (see n. 3), 152–5; for an introduction see: id., ‘Voices and instruments: soloists and ensembles in the 15th century’, in EM 18 (1990), 179–98, esp. at 180–3, 187–90; id., German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), 22–30, 82–113; Vladimir Ivanoff, ‘Das Lautenduo im 15. Jahrhundert’, in BJbHM 8 (1984), 147–62. 77 Strohm, Music in Late Medieval Bruges (see n. 33), 88–9; Lewis Lockwood, ‘Pietrobono and the Instrumental Tradition at Ferrara’, in RIDM 10 (1975), 115–33; Nino Pirrotta, ‘Music and Cultural Tendencies in 15th-Century Italy’, in JAMS 19 (1966), 127–61, at 140–1, 144–6. 78 For the reconstruction of this way of music-making and its basics of compositional technique see Polk, ‘Flemish Wind Bands’ (see n.  3), 241–74; id., German Instrumental Music (see n. 3), 190–201. A concise and descriptive outline can be found in Coelho/Polk, Instrumentalists and Renaissance Culture (see n. 1), 191–202.

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been preserved from the period around 1500 can be regarded as a written reflection of this kind of music-making. Examples include La bassa castyglia on the ‘La Spagna’ melody in the Chansonnier I-Bc Q.1679 and the group of textless twopart pieces in the Segovia Codex (E-SE Ms. s.s.), of which Roelkin’s repeatedly transmitted setting of De tous bien plaine with its extravagant superius melody is probably the most prominent.80 Several factors are likely to have led to soft instrument duo practice spreading to wind instruments and thereby to liturgical alternatim playing. First, a ‘structural analogy’ can be taken as read: the combination of a high and a low stringed instrument maps onto that of cornett or shawm and trombone; the foundation on pre-existent melodic material corresponds to the use of the chant or chant verse in question. Then, both spheres overlapped, insofar as many wind instrument players were also competent string players (and vice versa). One of these was Augustein Schubinger, who was documented several times as a lutenist (doc. 31, 44).81 And finally, quite generally, a large share of fifteenth-century instrumental music consisted of c.f.-based improvisation and relied on the two-layered texture described above, namely, a rapid treble and one or more slower, low parts. These principles were also the bedrock for the extempore music-making of the three- to four-part alta, the core of which was a duet between an animated superius and a tenor taking up a given melody.82 It seems likely that the attraction of bas-ensembles arose from the richly ornamented treble; melodic instrumental players would therefore have achieved prestige as virtuosos through their ability to produce fast, highly ornamental and wide-ranging lines. Evidence for this can be found in the repertoire transmitted to us, such as Spinacino’s collections of intabulations for two lutes from 1507, in which the first lute fills out the soprano of the model with opulent diminutions.83 This form of virtuosity is explicitly addressed by Johannes 79

80 81

82

83

Manfred F. Bukofzer has dedicated a classical study to the well-known piece, which is also preserved in the Channsonier I-PEc MS 431 (G20) under the title Falla con misuras: ‘A Polyphonic Basse Danse of the Renaissance’, in id., Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music (New York, 1950), 190–216 (an edition of the piece can be found on p. 199–200). Just see John Banks, ‘Performing the instrumental music in the Segovia Codex’, in EM 27 (1999), 295–309 (a facsimile with transcription can be found on pp. 301–3). For another instance see Schwindt, Maximilians Lieder (see n. 8), 260. Augustein’s brothers Ulrich and Michael were not only ‘pfeifer’, but also known as viol, lute and harp players; see Polk, ‘The Schubingers of Augsburg’ (see n. 8), 495–6, Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 163. Further evidence of the mastery of stringed instruments by wind instrumentalists can be found in Polk, ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n. 76), 196–7. See Adam Knight Gilbert, ‘The improvising Alta capella, ca. 1500: paradigms and pro­ cedures’, in BJbHM 29 (2005), 109–23. For previous alta improvisational practice see: ­Welker, ‘“Alta capella’” (see n. 13), 149–59. Francesco Spinacino, Intabolatura de Lauto. Libro primo / Libro secondo, Venedig: Petrucci, 1507

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Tinctoris84 and in the various eulogies and poems of praise for Pietrobono.85 And it is clear that the two-layered texture opened up space for just this type of virtuousity to unfold. Should it prove to be true that wind instrumentalists were also involved in this kind of music-making, then a real insight might be gained into the musical art of Augustein Schubinger and perhaps even how it was employed in the liturgy. Appendix Reports of wind instrument use in the church and the appearance of the cornett c.1470–1520 The purpose of this directory is twofold. First, it gathers together all the evidence for the appearance of the cornett (Zink). Second, it conveys all the evidence for the use of wind instruments in the Mass and the Divine Office. Of the numerous documents related to wind instrument participation in processions and paraliturgical events, only those referred to in the main text are included. The year, the place and/or patron or institution where the relevant musician served is indicated. For sources that have been cited several times in the secondary literature, the annotations usually only reference the oldest and a recent citation. The list is partially based on already existing lists; however, these list only one specific instrument at a time, often only for one specific region or institution and independently of the specific context of use.86 Doc. 1: 1471/74 Heidelberg / Frederick I, Elector Palatine – Michael Beheim, Pfälzische Reimchronik, strophes 831–3: ‘Vnd der pfaltzgraff mit andern herrn / fuerten vnd beleiten mit ern / das sacrament zum heiligen geist. / in die pfarr ward die fart volleist / zu sant Peteren dorte / in die kirch vor der pforte / Mit manchueltigem lobgesangk, / mit schellenlúten, glockenglangk, / pusaum, trumeten, pfiffen vil, / mer sust andrer hand seitenspiel, / mit crútzen, vanen, kertzen, / mit andechtigen hertzen / Vnd mit inniclichen gebett / vnd mit heiltum, dass man da hett. / da

84 85 86

(RISM 15075–6). Vgl. Lyle Nordstrom, ‘Ornamentation of Flemish Chansons as found in the Lute Duets of Francesco Spinacino’, in Journal of the Lute Society of America 2 (1969), 1–5. Karl Weinmann, Johannes Tinctoris (1445–1511) und sein unbekannter Traktat ‘De inventione et usu musicae’ (Tutzing, 1961), 14, 45. Heidrich, ‘Instrumentalisten als Autoritäten’ (see n. 69), 58–9. Cf. the lists in Polk, ‘Patronage, Imperial Image’ (see n. 8), 86–8; id., ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n.  76), 195–6; id., ‘Instrumental music c.1500: Players, makers and musical contexts’, in BJbHM 29 (2005), 21–34, at 28–9; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), passim.

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man kam mit dyser process / ward gesungen ein löbliche mess […].’87 Doc. 2: 1474 Basel: mention of a cornett player among the city minstrels.88 Doc.  3: 1475 Pesaro: mass for the wedding of Costanzo Sforza and Camilla d’Aragona: ‘Fu trionfante la Messa di organi, pifari, e trombetti e d’infiniti tamburini eziando di due capelle e di molti cantori, li quali cantavano mò l’uno, mò l’altro, et erano circa 16 cantori per capella.’89 Doc. 4: 1475 Rimini: mass for the wedding of Roberto Malatesta and Isabetta Aldrovandino: ‘[…] si condusse alla Cattedrale, la quale stava dall’alto al basso riccamente adobbata, conforme al restante dell’apparato, e poco dopò giunsero Roberto, Federigo, molti Prelati, e l’ambasciarie tutte, ove subito si cantò da Bartolomeo, vescovo Messa solenne, con una piena, e sonora musica di diversi concerti d’istromenti, e di voci, & il levarsi del Santissimo Sacramento fu accompagnato da cento piferi, e da cinquanta Trombetti, mandati da diverse potenze al servigio di queste nozze.’90 Doc.  5: 1476 Count Palatine of the Rhine: appointment of Hans Schwartz, who in 1498 is documented as ‘zinckenplaser’ (see Doc. 19).91 Doc. 6: 1483 Innsbruck / Count Siegmund of Tyrol: payment to ‘Jeronimus, Zinkenplaser von Bayern’.92 87

88 89

90 91

92

Edited in Quellen zur Geschichte Friedrichs I. des Siegreichen, ed. Conrad Hofmann, 2 vols., Quellen und Erörterungen zur bayerischen und deutschen Geschichte 3 (Munich, 1863) ii, 1–258, at 145; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 84, 396. Fritz Ernst, ‘Die Spielleute im Dienste der Stadt Basel im ausgehenden Mittelalter (bis 1550)’, in Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 44 (1945), 79–236, at 207. Otto Kinkeldey, Orgel und Klavier in der Musik des 16. Jahrhunderts. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Instrumentalmusik (Leipzig, 1910), 165 (after Ordine delle Nozze dell’Illustrissimo Signor Missier Constantio Sforza […] [Vicenza, 1475]; Fallows, ‘The performing ensembles’ (see n. 10), 33, 56 n. 8. Ibid., 33, 56 n. 9 (after Cesare Clementini, Raccolto istorico della fondatione di Rimino, e dell’ori­ gine, e vite de’ Malatesti, 2 vols. [Rimini, 1627], ii, 528). Gerhard Pietzsch, ‘Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte der Musik am kurpfälzischen Hof zu Heidelberg bis 1622’, in Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur. Abhandlun­ gen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse 6 (1963), 583–763, at 729–30; Polk, ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n. 76), 196. Walter Senn, Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck (Innsbruck, 1954), 10; Polk, ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n. 76), 196.

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Doc.  7: 1485 Augsburg: payment to ‘bayder Herren von Wirttemberg […] zinckenplasern’.93 Doc.  8: 1486 Frankfurt am Main: election of Maximilian  I as King of the ­Romans in St. Bartholomäus church: ‘da waren uff dem lettener des keysers, des konigs, hertzogen von Sachsen und pfaltzgraven trommeter und phiffen und bliesen alle durch eynander eine wile und abermals.’94 Doc. 9: 1487 Nuremberg / Frederick V of Brandenburg, Magnus II of Mecklenburg: payment to ‘zwayen zinckenplasern marggraf Fridrichen und dem hertzogen zu Meykelburg’.95 Doc. 10: 1487 Breslau: The members of the confraternity of ‘Lautenschlager, Trometer, Pfeiffer, Fidler und der Instrument und Saitenspil gleich’ have ‘gewillet, alle Jar eine schöne Messe am Donnerstage vor Fastnacht daselbst zu St. Jakob zu singen, iglicher mit seinem Instrument, als er aufs beste mag.’96 Doc. 11: 1493 Augsburg: wedding of a civic ‘zinckenblaser’.97 Doc. 12: 1493 Milan / Maximilian I: mass at the occasion of the marriage of Maximilian I and Bianca Maria Sforza in Milan Cathedral – letter of Beatrice d’Este to Isabella d’Este: ‘Ne li dui extremi canti del coro erano facti doi lochi eminenti, l’uno per li cantori, l’altro per li trombetti […]. Vene el Reverendissimo Arcivescovo de Mediolano parato cum li ordinari, et comenzò a celebrare la missa cum grandissime solemnitate de soni di trombe, pifferi et organi et canti de la capella, li quali nel celebrare de la missa se accomodavano al tempo suo.’98 93 94 95 96

97 98

Otto zur Nedden, ‘Zur Geschichte der Musik am Hofe Kaiser Maximilians I.’, in ZfMw 15 (1932/33), 24–32, at 26; Polk, ‘Instrumental music c.1500’ (see n. 86) 28. Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 245 (according to the records of a servant of the city scribe). Polk, ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n. 76), 196. Walter Salmen, ‘Zur Geschichte der Ministriles im Dienste geistlicher Herren des Mittelalters’, in Miscelánea en homenaje a Monsenor Higinio Anglés, 2 vols. (Barcelona, 1958–61), ii, 811–19, at 815, after: Scriptores rerum silesiacarum oder Sammlung schlesischer Geschichtschreiber, ed. Gustav Adolf Stenzel (Breslau, 1847), iii, 135. Walter Salmen, ‘Dances and Dance Music, c.1300–c.1530’, in Strohm/Blackburn, Music as Concept and Practice in the Late Middle Ages, 162–90, at 179. D’Accone, ‘The Performance of Sacred Music’ (see n. 52), 615; Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 175.

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Doc. 13: 1494 Siena: decree of the Concistoro obliging the civic trumpeters to play at elevation: ‘Viso quod hoc mane tubicenes, qui tenentur sonare tubas in elevatione Corporis Domini in capella Campi Fori, non sonuerunt, et volentes eos punire ut alias sint diligentiores […].’99 Doc. 14: 1495 Basel / Maximilian I: payment to ‘des romischen konigs zinken bloser’.100 Doc. 15: 1495 Mantua: Francesco II Gonzaga attends an outdoor mass service during a military campaign – letter of Francesco to Isabella d’Este: ‘[…] udissimo tutti una solemne messa in loco ben aparato et cum cantori et piphari et tromboni et su le altre cose, gli era il paramento de lo inimico Re de Franza guadagnato nel loco.’101 Doc. 16: 1496 Leipzig: at the occasion of the wedding of George of Saxony and Barbara of Poland payment [1.] to the cornett player of Margrave John Cicero of Brandenburg, [2.] to ‘hertzoge friderichs [Frederick the Wise?] Zcyngkenblaser’.102 Doc. 17: 1496 Brussels: a German cornettist (‘teutonicus […] cornu’) plays at mass in St. Gudule.103 Doc. 18: 1496 court of Count Eberhard II of Württemberg: mention of two cornett players.104 Doc. 19: 1498 Count Palatine of the Rhine: payment by the court of Maximilian I to ‘Hannsl Zincken plaser des pfallunczgrafen’.105 99 D’Accone, The Civic Muse (see n. 7), 474–8. 100 Ernst, ‘Die Spielleute’ (see n. 88), 222; Polk, ‘Augustein Schubinger’ (see n. 8), 88; accor101 102

103 104 105

ding to Polk, the player probably was Augustein Schubinger. Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 174. [1.:] Rudolf Wustmann, Musikgeschichte Leipzigs. Erster Band: Bis zur Mitte des 17. Jahrhun­ derts (Leipzig/Berlin, 1909), 28; [2.:] Gerhard Pietzsch, ‘Die Beschreibung deutscher Fürstenhochzeiten von der Mitte des 15. Jahrhunderts bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts als musikgeschichtliche Quellen’, in Anuario Musical 15 (1960), 21–62, at 34; Polk, ‘Voices and instruments’ (see n. 76), 196. Haggh, ‘Music, Liturgy, and Ceremony’ (see n.  19), i, 219; Polk, ‘Patronage, Imperial Image’ (see n. 8), 88, who surmises this cornettist to be Augustein Schubinger. Josef Sittard, Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Württembergischen Hofe. Erster Band. 1458–1733 (Stuttgart, 1890), 3; Polk, ‘Instrumental music c.1500’ (see n. 86), 29. Wessely, ‘Archivalische Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte des maximilianeischen Hofes’, in

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Doc. 20: 1498 Mantua: Bartolomeo Bagatella recommends to Francesco II Gonzaga to employ a student of Piero Tromboncino, an instrumentalist from Ferrara, who ‘sona zentilmente de trumbone ed anche di fiauto et di chorneto’.106 Doc. 21: 1500 Torgau: wedding of John the Steadfast of Saxony and Sophie of Mecklenburg: ‘Dinstag nach esto mihi hat der brewtigam und die Brawt sampt andern fürsten und fürstinnen In der Capeln auf dem Slosse messe gehoret, haben die genannten synger meiner gnedigsten und gnedigen Hern [John the Steadfast] zwue messen gesungen mit Hulf der orgall, dreyer posaun und eins zincken, desgleichen vier Cromhorner zum positief fast lustig zu horen.’107 Doc. 22: 1500 Augsburg / Count Palatine of the Rhine: payment to ‘Hennslin des phaltzgraven Zingenplaser’.108 Doc. 23: 1500 Maximilian I: payment to the chapel’s choirboys, ‘so am Pfingstag in den Zingkhen gesunngen haben’.109 Doc. 24: 1500–1501 / 1503–1515 Maximilian I: several payments by the court and the city of Augsburg to Augustein Schubinger, ‘zynnckenblaser’ or ‘busawner’, and to several ‘busaner / busawner’ etc., in particular Jörg Holland (1500–1515), Peter Holland (1500/01), Jobst Nagl (1500–1508) and Jörg Nagl (1500–1515), Jörg Eyselin (1504/05), Ulrich Völlen (1504), Hans Steudl (1504–1515, Hans ( Johannes) Neuschel (1503–1515).110 Doc. 25: 1501 Mechelen / Philip the Fair: payment to ‘Meester Augustin, diener ons genadige Herr Hertoge Phillips van dat hij speelde ter hoo[g]missen In Sint Rombouts kerk.’111

106 107

108 109 110 111

StMw 23 (1956), 79–134, at 129; Pietzsch, ‘Quellen und Forschungen’ (see n. 91), 700, 729–30. Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 160. Adolf Aber, Die Pflege der Musik unter den Wettinern und wettinischen Ernestinern. Von den Anfängen bis zur Auflösung der Weimarer Hofkapelle 1662 (Bückeburg/Leipzig, 1921), 82; ­Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 221–2, 428. Wessely, ‘Archivalische Beiträge’, 132. Hertha Schweiger, ‘Archivalische Notizen zur Hofkantorei Maximilians I.’, in ZfMw 14 (1931/32), 363–74, at 367. Zur Nedden, ‘Zur Geschichte der Musik’ (see n. 93), 28; Wessely, ‘Archivalische Beiträge’, 85, 88, 101–16; Polk, ‘Patronage, Imperial Image’ (see n. 8), 86. Polk, ‘Augustein Schubinger’ (see n. 8), 83 n. 1; id., ‘Susato and Instrumental Music’ (see n. 33), 65.

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Doc. 26: 1501 Nuremberg: mention of a civic wind ensemble comprising five musicians, one of whom plays a ‘zincken’.112 Doc. 27: 1501: Rome / Pope Alexander VI: Louis XII of France attends a mass at San Luigi dei Francesi with music performed by the papal chapel – letter of Agostino Vespucci, ambassador of Florence at the Holy See, to Machiavelli: ‘[…] et questo anno, per havere facto la invitata lo Re di Francia a tutti li cardinali, oratori, prelati e baroni di Roma, stamattina vi è stato ogniuno, videlicet 16 cardinali, tutti l’ambasciatori si truovono in Roma, tutti li baroni et altri signori, e tutti stati a la Messa, che durò 3 hore di lungo. Fuvi la capella del papa, che è cosa mirabile; li sua pifferi che ad ogni cardinale arrivando li faceano lor dovere; tutti li trombecti; altri delicatissimi instrumenti, id est l’armonia papale che è cosa dulcisona et quasi divina.’113 Doc. 28: 1501ss.: court of Frederick the Wise of Saxony: 1501/02 payment to ‘Hennslin Zinckenblaser’, 1503 to the cornettist ‘Symon’, 1514 and 1528 to the cornettist ‘Hans’.114 Doc. 29: 1502 Philip the Fair: mass on Whit Sondyy (15.5.) in Toledo Cathedral – account by Antoine Lalaing, Voyage de Philippe le Beau en Espange en 1501: ‘[…] Le roy [Ferdinand II of Aragon], la royne [Isabella of Castile], Monsigneur [Philip the Fair] et Madame [Joanna of Castile] allèrent ouyr la messe ensamble, laquele célèbra l’evesque de Scalhorghe. […] Les chantres du roy chantèrent une partie de la messe, les chantres de Monsigneur l’aultre partie; avoecq lesquelz chantres de Monsigneur jouoit du cornet maistre Augustin: ce qu’il faisoit estoit bon à oyr, avoec les chantres.’115 Doc.  30: 1503 Philip the Fair, Margaret of Austria: mass in Bourg en Bresse ­(Savoy) – account by Antoine Lalaing, Voyage de Philippe le Beau en Espange en 1501: ‘Monsigneur et sa soeur [Margaret of Austria] ouyrent la messe, très-solennèlement célébrée par ledict évesque en la chapelle de mondict Signeur, où ses 112 113

Polk, ‘Instrumental music c.1500’ (see n. 86), 29. Pasquale Villari, Niccolò Machiavelli e i suoi tempi, 3 vols. (Florenz, 1877), i, 561; Fallows, ‘The performing ensembles’ (see n.  10), 33, 56 n.  12; Pietschmann, ‘Musikpflege im Dienste nationaler Repräsentation’ (see n. 25), 120–3. 114 Aber, Die Pflege (see n. 107), 55, 59, 106; Overton, Der Zink (see n. 60), 160, 175. 115 Collection des voyages des souverains des pays-bas, vol. 1: Itinéraires de Philippe le Hardi, Jean sans Peur, Philippe le Bon, Maximilien et Philippe le Beau, ed. Louis Prosper Gachard (Brüssel, 1876), 178; Vander Straeten, La musique (see n. 74), 154; Knighton, Música y músicos en la corte de Fernando el Católico, 1474–1516 (Zaragoza, 2001), 147.

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chantres et les chantres du duc [of Savoy] chantèrent trés-bien les ungs après les aultres, et avoecq les chantres jouoit de son cornet maistre Augustin lequel foisoit bon à ouyr.’116 Doc. 31: 1503–1506 Philip the Fair: Augustein Schubinger is mentioned several times in court documents, i.a. as ‘ joueur de lut et de cornet’ (1504) ‘ jouer de cornet du roi des Romains’ (1505) and ‘ joueur de lut’ (1506).117 Doc.  32: 1503 Siena: festivities on the occasion of the coronation of Pope Pius III – account by (Simone?) Borghesi: ‘Completa coronatione, Te Deum alte intonuit. Statim angeli XVI […] responderunt: Te Deum confitemur, et universum hoc canticum quod hac de causa fuerat compositum, tibia una et tribus tubis contortis quas trombones vulgo appellant vicissim respondentibus decantatum est.’118 Doc.  33: 1503 Royal court of England: an instrumentalist called Bonatus is documented as cornettist.119 Doc. 34: 1503 Innsbruck / Maximilian I, Philip the Fair: Requiem for Hermes Maria Sforza and mass in Innsbruck, St. Jakob (26.9.) – account by Antoine Lalaing, Voyage de Philippe le Beau en Espange en 1501: ‘[…] et là furent chantées solemnèlement deux messes. La première, de Requiem, chantèrent ledict évesque et les chantres de Monsigneur [Philip the Fair] […]. La seconde messe fu de l’Assumption Nostre-Dame, chantée par les chantres du roy [Maximilian I], et offrirent le roy et la royne et Monsigneur come devant. Et comenchèrent le Grade [Graduale] les sacqueboutes du roy, et jouèrent le Deo gratias et Ite missa est, et les chantres de Monsigneur chantèrent l’Offertoire.’120 116 Gachard, Collection des voyages, 287; Vander Straeten, La musique, 158; Polk, ‘The Schubin-

gers of Augsburg’ (see n. 8), 501. Vander Straeten and Polk erroneously state Lausanne as the city where this service took place. 117 Vander Straeten, La musique (see n. 74), 149, 158, 170; Polk, ‘The Schubingers of Augsburg’, 501–2; id., ‘Instrumental music c.1500’ (see n. 86), 29. 118 Edited in Curzio Mazzi, La Congrega dei Rozzi di Siena nel secolo XVI, 2 vols. (Florence, 1882) i, 46; see also Fallows, ‘The performing ensembles’ (see n. 10), 56–7 n. 12; opposite to wrong indications in the earlier literature, Fallows states correctly, that the ceremony did not take place in Rome, but in Siena, Piccolomini’s home town; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 126, 403. 119 Francis W. Galpin, Old English Instruments of Music (London, 1910), 191; Overton, Der Zink (see n. 60), 149. 120 Gachard, Collection des voyages (see n. 115), 316–17; Georges Van Doorslaer, ‘La chapelle

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Doc. 35: 1505 Venedice–Mantua: letter of Giovanni (Aloixe) Alvise, member of the ‘piffari’ of the Doge of Venice, to Francesco II Gonzaga, to which a setting for four trombones and two cornetts is attached (and in addition a motet [‘moteto’] for four trombones and four shawms [‘piffari’], the same motet in an arrangement for eight flutes, a piece for five trombones and a piece for five unspecified instruments).121 Doc.  36: 1505 Salamanca Cathedral: payment ‘a los sacabuches […] porque taneron ciertas festas en la iglesia’.122 Doc. 37: 1505 Maximilian I: mass during the Imperial Diet of Cologne – letter of the envoys of the Archbishop of Worms (18.6.): ‘Wissent das die Ro. Kgl. mt. hut dinstags erstmals offenbar usz und zu kirchen gangen ist; hat sich auch mit kleydung als eyn kunig in eynem gulden stuck und sust mit andern hofflicheitten in der kirchen in der messe mit sengern busunern pfyffern und orgeln und sunderlich mit eynem nüwen instrument der music uns gantz frembd kummen, auch demselben keynen nammen gebben [probably a regal – M.G.] […] lassen sehen und horen […].’123 Doc. 38: 1505 Maximilian I: mass during the Imperial Diet of Cologne (22./23.7.) – account by Mertin Fucker: ‘vnd do begunten der Koninklicher Maiestait Senger ein Mysse van vnser liever Frauwen in Discant tzo syngen, dayr ynnen wart geblaisen myt syncken vnde basonen, wylche seer genoichlich was tzo hoeren.‘124 Doc. 39: 1505–1516 Maximilian I: Marx Treitsaurwein / Hans Burgkmair d.Ä. / Leonhard Beck, Weißkunig, woodcut showing Maximilian with his musicians

121

122

123

124

musicale’ (see n. 73), 52; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 224, 428–9. Dietrich Kämper, Studien zur instrumentalen Ensemblemusik des 16. Jahrhunderts in Italien, Analecta musicologica 10 (Köln/Wien, 1970), 54; Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 182–3. Dámaso García Fraile, ‘Las calles y las plazas como escenario de la fiesta barroca’, in Música y cultura urbana en la edad moderna, ed. Andrea Bombi, Juan José Carreras, and Miguel Ángel Marín (Valencia, 2005), 307–34, at 324; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 325, 439. Monumenta Wormatiensia. Annalen und Chroniken, ed. Heinrich Boos, Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Worms 3 (Berlin, 1893), 508; Moritz Kelber, Die Musik bei den ­Augsburger Reichstagen im 16. Jahrhundert, Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte 79 (München, 2018), 42. Deutsche Reichtstagsakten unter Maximilian I. Achter Band: Der Reichstag zu Köln 1505, Teil 2, ed. Dietmar Heil, Deutsche Reichstagsakten. Mittlere Reihe 8 (Munich, 2008), 1160.

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Fig. 1: Weißkunig, MS A-Wn Cod. 3033 Han, fol. 29 v

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in a studio (fig. 1; accompanying text: ‘Die geschicklheit in der musiken und was in seinen ingenien und durch jn erfunden und gepessert worden ist’).125 Doc. 40: 1507 Maximilian I: service following a Requiem for Philip the Fair during the Imperial Diet of Constance: ‘Do das ampt uß was, fing ain barfúßerminch von Kúngfel[d] ain loblich schoen sermon an, darnach fing man in orgonis ein kostlich ampt zu singen mit orgeln, brosunen, zincken und allerhand saitenspil.’126 ‘Darnach hub man ain frölich ambt an von unnser lieben frawe mit frölichem gesang mit pusaunen und Orgeln das sang der k.mt. Cappelan her Eberhart.’127 Doc. 41: 1508 Florence: charters of the Compagnia di San Zanobi – provisions about the festivities on the feast day of Saint Zenobius: ‘Et così dare opera che nel mezo della chiesa cathedrale si cantino le laude consuete dopo la compieta della vigilia et del dì di tale solenità, dinanzi al leggio et alla testa del predecto vescovo et confessore, ad tale acto preperata con lumi et con li angeli pendenti dalla stella, secondo el modo consueto et con li organi et trombetti, come è di anticho costume.’128 Doc. 42: Mechelen 1509: payments of Margaret of Austria to the wind players Hans Nagel und Jan Van Winckel for their service in the chapel of Charles V: ‘A messire Clais Van Lyere [followed by the names of the chapel singers], et Hans Naghele et Jehan Van Vincle, joueurs d’instruments d’icellui sr, la somme de huit cens livres […] pour, par ordonnance d’iceulx srs et de madite dame de Savoye [Margaret of Austria], avoir servy continuellement devers mondit sr [Charles V], en sadite chappelle, en chantant et jouant journellement en discant les heures et service divin.’129 125

First modern edition: Der Weisskunig. Nach den Dictaten und eigenhändigen Aufzeichnungen Kaiser Maximilians I., ed. Alwin Schulz, Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 6 (Wien, 1888), 79; a digitalisation of the manuscript (A-Wn Cod. 3033 Han) is available on www.onb.ac.at. 126 Franz Körndle, ‘So loblich, costlich und herlich, das darvon nit ist ze schriben. Der Auftritt der Kantorei Maximilians I. bei den Exequien für Philipp den Schönen auf dem Reichstag zu Konstanz’, in Tod in Musik und Kultur. Zum 500. Todestag Philipps des Schönen, ed. Stefan Gasch and Birgit Lodes, Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 2 (Tutzing, 2007), 87–109, at 89 (after Villinger Chronik by Heinrich Hug [1495–1533]). 127 Ibid., 106 (after an anonymous chronicle from Tegernsee). Körndle assumes that Isaac’s Missa Virgo prudentissima and the eponymous motet were performed at that occasion. 128 Wilson, Music and Merchants (see n. 19), 223, 242. 129 Vander Straeten, La musique (see n.  74), 268–9; Polk, ‘Ensemble Instrumental Music in

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Doc. 43: 1510 Heidelberg / court of the Count Palatine of the Rhine: appointment of Dietherich Schwartzinger as ‘drumpter und zinckenpläser’.130 Doc. 44: 1510 Constance: payment of the cathedral chapter to Augustein Schubinger: ‘Ex parte Augustini lutiniste d. Cesaris. Als derselb Augustini etlich tag im chor zur orgel vnd den sengern vff dem zingken geblasen hat, ist capitulariter concl., im zu erung 2 fl. zeschencken’.131 Doc. 45: 1511: Arnolt Schlick, Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten, Speyer: Peter Drach 1511, picture on the title page showing a cornettist, a female organist and singers in church.132 Doc. 46: 1511 Meaux: synod proscribes the use of instruments: ‘utuntur tympano et fistulis, cantando Hymnos, Symbolum Missae, et caetera sicuti organa solent in aliis ecclesiis’.133 Doc.  47: 1512: statement about Johannes Neuschel by Johannes Cochlaeus, ­Cosmographia Pomponii Mele […] Brevis quoque Germaniae descriptio, Nuremberg: Johann Weißenburger 1512, Cap. IV § 31: ‘Novi Joannem Meuschel, virum, qui peregre profectus, multis regibus serviit; musice peritissimus, tubarum nedum inflator, sed egregius quoque exculptor nobiscum sepe humano concentui tube sonoritatem permiscet. Eius tubae ultra septingentia missa sunt milliaria.’134

130 131

132

133 134

Flanders’ (see n. 33), 22; Bouckaert/Schreurs, ‘Hans Nagel’ (see n. 73), 107–8. Denes Bartha, ‘Zur Geschichte der Hofmusik in Heidelberg’, in ZfMw 12 (1929/30), 445; Pietzsch, ‘Quellen und Forschungen’ (see n. 91), 730. Manfred Krebs, ‘Die Protokolle des Konstanzer Domkapitels: 5. Januar 1510 – Dezember 1513, Nr. 3832–4840’, in Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 104, N.F. 65 (1956), Beiheft, S. 24 (Nr. 4091); Schwindt, Maximilians Lieder (see n. 8), 279. Edition (with facsimile of the title page), in MfM 1 (1869), 77–114; Arnolt Schlick, Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (Mainz 1511), ed. Elizabeth Berry Barber, Bibliotheca organologica 113 (Buren, 1980), 2. Yvonne Rokseth, La musique d’orgue au XV e siècle et au début du XVIe (Paris, 1930), 152; Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 251. Johannes Cochlaeus, Brevis Germanie descriptio (1512), ed. Karl Langosch, Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte der Neuzeit 1 (Darmstadt, 1976), 90–1; Fritz Jahn, ‘Die Nürnberger Trompeten- und Posaunenmacher im 16.  Jahrhundert’, in AfMw 7 (1925), 23–52, at 30; Martin Kirnbauer, ‘Das Instrumentarium’, in Schrift und Klang in der Musik der Renaissance, ed. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, Handbuch der Musik der Renaissance 3 (Laaber, 2014), 356–408, at 389.

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Doc. 48: 1512 Maximilian I: mass during the Imperial Diet of Trier – description of the Diet by Peter Maier, secretary of the elector of Trier: ‘Gemeltten Samstags ist Keys. Mt. langs der statt graben […] Ire gepiet gangen ghen Sand Maxmin vnd zu S. Paulin, das Salve singen, orgelen vnd drumpten laissen, vnd zu S. Symeon.’ ‘Quasimodo geniti hat Kaiserlich Mt. zu dene Cartusern Misse figurieren vnd orgeln, vnd den basse mit eyner basunen darinne blasen laissen.’ ‘Cantate hat der Keiser im pallas Misse gehoret, die ist discantiert. Darinn mit zincken vnd basunen geblasen.’135 Doc. 49: 1512ss. court of the Count of Mecklenburg: payments 1512 to a ‘zu Güstrow wohnhafte[n] Zinkenbläserjunge[n]’, 1512–1514 to ‘Hironimus, Zinkenbläser’, 1512 to ‘Lucas Holland, Zinkenbläser und Bassuner’, 1515 to ‘Georg Schmekell, Trummeter und Zinkenbläser’.136 Doc. 50: 1512 ff. Maximilian I: Marx Treitsaurwein / Jörg Kölderer / Hans Burgkmair d.Ä. et.al., Triumphzug – ‘Musica Canterey’: picture of eight adult singers, seven choirboys, the cornettist Augustein Schubinger and the trombonist Hans Steudl, performing together from a choirbook. Accompanying text: ‘Item vnnder den Pusaunen solle der Stewdl maister sein, vnnder den Zynngken der Augustin, vnnd Iren Reim solle fueren ain knabel auf dem wagen, solle auf die maynung gemacht werden: Wie Sy auf des kaisers beschaidt die pusaunen vnn Zynngken auf das frölichst gestimpt haben. / Posaun und Zincken han wir gestelt / zu dem Gesang, wie dann gefelt / der Kaiserlichen Mayestat / dadurch sich offt erlustigt hat aufs fölichist mit rechtem grundt / wie wir desselben hetten kundt.’137 Doc. 51: 1513 Metz: civic instrumentalist playing at offertory: ‘Nous avions les menestriers et couple de la ville, lesquelles juairent de leurs 135 136

137

Edited in Christian von Stramberg, Rheinischer Antiquarius, Abt. I/2 (Koblenz, 1853), 336– 57; Zur Nedden, ‘Zur Geschichte der Musik’ (see n. 93), 31. Clemens Meyer, Geschichte der Mecklenburg-Schweriner Hofkapelle. Geschichtliche Darstellung der Mecklenburg-Schweriner Hofkapelle von Anfang des 16.  Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart (Schwerin, 1913), 11. The literary program was edited for the first time by: Franz Schestag, ‘Kaiser Maximilian I. Triumph’, in Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses 1 (1883), 154–81. The woodcuts have been reproduced several times; cf. for example: Rolf Dammann, ‘Die Musik im Triumphzug Kaiser Maximilians I.’, in AfMw 36 (1974), 245– 89, at 254, and http://sosa2.uni-graz.at/sosa/druckschriften/triumphzug/index.html; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 234–5, reproduces the miniature paintings which served as models for the woodcuts.

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instruments à l’offertoire de la grant messe de st. Jaicque’.138 Doc. 52: 1513 Rome: coronation of Pope Leo X in St. Peter’s: ‘Perfecte le decantate laude, fu adornato de habito sacerdotale per celebrare la messa […], la qual finita […] fu da doi cardinali […] sopra del suo capo imposto un regno di tre corone circundato […], con gran tumulto di tubicine et altri instrumenti, et allegrezza di populo, fu coronato.’139 Doc. 53: 1514 Oudenaarde: mass endowement by Godefrood Van den Hecke: ‘scalmeyers’ are ordered to play during offertory in the mass at All Saint’s Day in Sainte-Walburge church.140 Doc. 54: 1514–1522 Siena: Gano d’Enea serves as singer and probably as cornett player at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (cf. also doc. 70).141 Doc. 55: 1515 Maximilian I: ‘double wedding’ in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna (22.  7.): – latin account by Johannes Cuspinian, Congressus ac celeberrimi concentus […] descriptio, Vienna: Johann Singriener 1515 (VD16 C 6482), [1., 3.]; anon., Der namhaftigen Kay.Ma. […] zamenkumung […], s.l., s.d. (VD16 C 6484) (German translation of Cuspinian’s Congressus) [2., 4.]; anon., Die verainigung Kaiserlicher Ma. […], Augsburg: Erhard Oeglin 1515 (VD16 ZV 15169) [5.]: [1.] ‘Ep[iscop]us Viennen[sis] celebrauit summu[m] officium, quod cum summa reuere[n]tia & amoenissimis concentibus diversorum musicorum peragebat[ur].’ (fol. C4 r ) – [2.] ‘Hat der bischof von Wien[n] vnd kay. Ma. Capelln mit allerlay seitenspiln das hochambt gesunge[n] […].’ (fol. D1r) [3.] ‘Creati sunt tu[m] a Caesare & tribus Regib[us] plusq[uam] ducenti milites siue equites aurati, vt vulgus loquitur. Quo perfecto, asce[n]dit Cardinalis Strigonien[sis] ad summu[m] altare da[n]s benedictione[m] […]. Mox o[mn]es inflatae sunt tubae & mirabilis auditus est concentus. Simul ca[n]tores, Te Deu[m] laudamus p[ro]nunciaba[n]t. Et in organis magister Paulus [Hofhaimer] respondit.’ (fol. C4v) – [4.] ‘Darnach hat der kayser […] vn[d dy drew künig […] zway hundert rittern geschlagen. Darnach hat der Cardinal von 138

Gedenkbuch des Metzer Bürgers Philippe von Vigneulles nach der Handschrift des Verfassers, ed. Heinrich Michelant (Stuttgart, 1852), 249; Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 257. 139 Cummings, The Politicized Muse (see n.  19), 46, 191 (after Giovanni Giacomo [Jacopo] Penni, Cronicha delle magnifiche et honorate pompe […] [Rome: Marcello Silber, 1513]). 140 Edmond Van der Straeten, Les ménestrels aux Pays-Bas du XIII e au XVIII e siècle (Brüssel, 1878; repr. Geneva, 1972), 77; Polk, ‘Susato and Instrumental Music’ (see n. 33), 88. 141 D’Accone, The Civic Muse (see n. 7), 292.

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Gran auff dem hochen altar den segen […] verku[n]det […]. vnd von stundt mit allen saittenspiln aufgeplasen vnd das lobsang Te deum laudamus gesungen […]. (fol. D1r–v) [5.] ‘[…] vnd schlugen all Vier ob zwaynzig Rittern. Nach demselben gieng der Cardinal von Gran auff den altar vnd gab Benedictionem […]. darnach sanng man Te deum laudamus vnnd die trumetter pliessen allenthalben […]. (fol. B2v)142 Doc. 56: 1515 Venice: The scuola grande San Marco appoints four wind players, who master ‘sì de trombe e piffari, come de fiauti et corneti’ and who should perform in processions as well as during mass (‘a tutta la messa debano sonar’).143 Doc. 57: 1515 Reims: coronation of Francis I of France: ‘Et après [after consecration and acclamation] tous les trompettes du roy, ensemble les orgues de l’église commencerent à sonner; et le peuple estant en l’eglise cria vive le roy.’144 Doc. 58: 1516 Rome / Pope Leo X: service on Maundy Thursday – account by Paris de Grassi, Diarium: ‘Cantores hodie inceperunt cantare psalmum miserere mei Deus partim cum canto figurato et simphonia’.145 Doc. 59: 1516ss. Francis I of France: starting with Jean-Baptiste und Augustin de Vérone ‘cornets’ are mentioned in the rosters of the royal household.146 Doc. 60: 1517 Saint-Denis: coronation of Queen Claude de France:

142

Leopold Nowak, ‘Zur Geschichte der Musik am Hofe Kaiser Maximilians  I.’, in Mit­ teilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien 12 (1932), 71–91, at 73–5 (with detailed informations on the sources). 143 Glixon, Honoring God and the City (see n. 19), 130–1. 144 Christelle Cazaux, La musique à la cour de François I er, Mémoires et documents de l’École des chartes 65 (Paris, 2002), 168 (after Théodore und Denys Godefroy, Le cérémonial française [Paris: Sébastien Cramoisy, 1649], i, 246). 145 John Shearman, Raphael’s Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel (London, 1972), 12 n. 73; Cummings, The Politicized Muse (see n. 19), 14. 146 Cazaux, La musique, 131–3. Following Michel Brenet, ‘Notes sur l’introduction des instruments dans les églises de France’, in Riemann-Festschrift. Gesammelte Studien (Leipzig, 1909), 277–86, at 281–2, Cazaux erroneously identifies Augustin de Vérone, who served at the French court until his dead in 1540, with the ‘Augustin’ in the retinue of Philip the Fair, i.e. with Augustein Schubinger.

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‘Puis commença la messe monseigneur le légat, laquelle fut respondue par les chantres de la Chapelle du roy, et moult somptueusement fut dicte, et en grant triumphe; et a chascune pose sonnoient trompettes et clerons.’147 Doc. 61: 1517/18 Bergen op Zoom: payment to ‘de zanghers deser stadt van dat zij opten ommeganck avont in den kerken alhier voer theilich Cruyce songhen met organen ende discante met oick der stadt speeluyde’.148 Doc.  62: 1518 Maximilian  I: mass for the wedding of Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg and Susanna of Bavaria during the Imperial Diet of Augsburg – anon. account (D-WRl Ms.): ‘[the service] ist mit großer Solennität unnd Zirheit unnd sunnderlichen durch key. Mat. Cantores, Organisten, Paßawner unnd Zinckenplaßer Triumphlich gehalten worden.’149 Doc. 63: 1519 Karl V: meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Barcelona Cathedral: ‘[…] anaven los Ministrils y socabutxos, ab trompetas y clarins sonant devant los Cavallers de dit orde des Tuson […] entraren per lo Portal major, en la Seu, aont molt solemnement cantaren las vespres y complete, ab los xandres de la Capella y ab la orga major de la Seu.’150 Doc. 64: 1519 Bergen op Zoom: payment by the Lieve Vrouwegilde to ‘Christoffle den trompet van dat hij bascontre metten sanghers gespellt heft’ and to ‘Roelande de pipere omdat hij metter sincken spelt’.151 Doc. 65: 1519 Padua, Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta: on vigil of Assumption ‘el fo cantà un Vespro solenissimo cum cantori, organi e tromboni’.152

147 Cazaux, La musique, 171 (after Théodore und Denys Godefroy, Le cérémonial français,

2 vols., [Paris, 1649], i, 477).

148 Keith Polk, ‘Ensemble Instrumental Music in Flanders’ (see n. 33), 21 n. 65. 149 Aber, Die Pflege (see n. 107), 83; Pietzsch, ‘Die Beschreibungen’ (see n. 102), 36; Carter, The 150

151

152

Trombone (see n. 55), 238. Kreitner, ‘Minstrels in Spanish Churches’ (see n. 24), 537; Emilio Ros-Fabrégas, ‘Music and Ceremony during Charles V’s 1519 Visit to Barcelona’, in EM 23 (1995), 375–91, at 384, 390 n. 40. Korneel Slootmans, ‘De Hoge Lieve Vrouw van Bergen op Zoom’, in Jaarboek van de ­O udheidkundige Kring »de Ghulden Roos« te Roosendaal 25 (1965), 193–233, at 212; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 211. Prizer, ‘Bernardino Piffaro’ (see n. 63), 176–7.

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Doc. 66: 1519: Erasmus von Rotterdam, In novum testamentum […] annotationes, Basel: Johann Froben 1519 (VD16 B 4197), Chap. ‘Annotationes in priorem ad Corinthios’, p. 350: ‘Obsecro quid sentiunt de Christo, qui credunt illum huiusmodi vocum strepitu delectari. Nec his contenti, operosam quandam ac theatricam musicam, in sacras aedes induximus, tumultuosum diversarum vocum garritum […]. Omnia tubis, lituis, fistulis, ac sambucis perstrepunt. cumque his certant hominum voces.’153 Doc.  67: 1520: coronation of Charles  V at Aachen – Hartmann Maurus, ­Coronatio Caroli V., Cologne: Heinrich Mameranus 1550 (VD16 M 5848), fol. F1r: ‘Deinde [after the coronation ceremony] Chorus, tubicines, & organa alternatim vicib. summa cum alacritate canticum: Te Deum, asolverunt.’154 Doc. 68: 1520 Francis I of France – letter of the English ambassador to cardinal Wolsey (27.5.): ‘The King was at mass today at the Jacobins, where high mass was sung by the bishop of Amiens. At the King’s offering, the chapel, with the hautbois and sacbuts, sang and played together, which was as melodious a noise as ever was heard.’155 Doc.  69: 1520 Francis  I of France: mass on the occasion of a meeting with ­Henry VIII of England at Camp du Drap d’Or (23.6.): ‘Le premier introit fut dict par les chantres d’Angletterre, le second par ceulx de France, et fut accordé entre les chantres de France et d’Angletterre de quand l’organiste de France toucheroit des orgues, qu’ils chanteroient, et pareillement quand l’organiste d’Angleterre joueroit, que ceulx d’Angleterre chanteroient. Et par ainsi maistre Pierre Mouton commença à jouer le Kyrie avec les chantres de France, qu’il faisoit bon ouyr. Le Gloria in excelsis, par l’organiste d’Angleterre, le Patrem par ceulx de France là où estoient les corps de sabbutes et fifres du Roy avecques les chantres, et les faisoit si bon oyr qu’il est impossible d’oyr plus grande melodye. Le Sanctus fut dict par ceulx d’Angleterre, et l’Agnus Dei par ceulx de France qui dirent à la fin plussieurs motetz.’156 153 154 155 156

Cf. Fallows, ‘The performing ensembles’ (see n. 10), 35, 58 n. 29; Korrick, ‘Instrumental music’ (see n. 14), 360, 369 (with incorrect indication of the source). Cf. Žak, ‘Fürstliche und städtische Repräsentation’ (see n. 24), 246. Edited in J[ohn] S[herren] Brewer, Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 9 vols. (London, 1867), iii, 292; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 198–9. Brenet, ‘Notes sur l’introduction’ (see n. 146), 282; Cazaux, La musique (see n. 144), 206; Carter, The Trombone (see n. 55), 107, 402 (nach Jean Lescaille, L’ordonance et ordres du tour­ ney, joustes et […] rencontre [Paris: Pierre Vidoue, 1520]).

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Doc.  70: 1520 Rome: mass attended by the Duchess of Bari in the Sistine ­Chapel – account by the papal master of ceremonies Paris de Grassi, Diarium (GB-Lbl Add.Ms. 8444): ‘[…] et Missa per cantores elegans et mirabilis fuit per cornua musicalia, quae divina videbantur, ita ut omnes de novo modo miraremus et stuperemus’.157 Doc.  71: 1520/21 Rome / Leo X: Iohannes Maria, ‘musico del Cornecto’, is listed as a member of the papal chapel.158 Doc. 72: 1521 Zurich: the city of Basel allots clothes to ‘zweyen zingken bloser von Zurich’.159 Doc. 73: 1521/22: Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt, 53 Theses De cantu grego­ riano disputatio: ‘Thesis 18: Si cum illo [i.e. ‘cantus mensurativus’] et organa, tubas et tibias in theatra chorearum et ad principum aulas relegamus.’160 Doc. 74: 1522 Siena: singers are accompanied with ‘cornua’ during a mass at Pentecost in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta: ‘Nam cum et pueri et cantores figurato cantu, ut moris est, illi concinerent, admiscebant cornua voces comitantia, super organis autem puer canens melliflue, lascivas amoris cantilenas immiscuit.’161

157 Shearman, Raphael’s Cartoons (see n. 145), 12 n. 73; Zak, ‘Capella – castello – camera. Gesang

und Instrumentalmusik an der Kurie’ in Studien zur Geschichte der päpstlichen Kapelle. Tagungsbericht Heidelberg 1989, Capellae apostolicae sixtinaeque collectanea acta monumenta 4 (Città del Vaticano, 1994), 175–223, at 195. 158 Herman-Walther Frey, ‘Regesten zur päpstlichen Kapelle unter Leo X. und zu seiner Privatkapelle’, in Mf 9 (1956), 139–56, at 140–1; Rostirolla, ‘Strumentisti’ (see n. 18), 204. 159 Ernst, ‘Die Spielleute’ (see n. 88), 235. 160 Edition: Hermann Barge, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (Leipzig, 1905), 492; Korrick, ‘Instrumental music’ (see n. 14), 360. 161 D’Accone, The Civic Muse (see n. 7), 293 (after an account by Sigismondo Tizio, Historia­ rum Senensium, I-Fn MS FN II.V.140).

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ANMERKUNGEN ZU ORGEL, ALTERNATIM UND ABLASS UM 1500

Vor genau 40 Jahren fand in Innsbruck anlässlich der Restaurierung der bekannten Ebert-Orgel in der dortigen Hofkirche jenes denkwürdige Symposium statt, dessen Ergebnisse im Tagungsband Orgel und Orgelspiel im 16. Jahr­ hundert publiziert wurden.1 Wesentliche Aspekte von Liturgie, Orgelspiel, der sozialen Verhältnisse von Orgelbauern sowie der Orgeltechnik sind damals erfasst und teilweise erstmals ins Blickfeld der Forschung geraten. Jüngere Veröffentlichungen zum Thema scheinen die wichtigen Erkenntnisse von 1978 kaum zu kennen.2 Will man das Bild von den Orgeln und dem Orgelspiel in der Zeit eines Heinrich Isaac nach über 40 Jahren Forschungsgeschichte zum Thema noch erweitern und ausdifferenzieren, kann man jedoch nicht an dem damals erreichten Forschungsstand vorbeigehen. Im Zentrum der Erörterungen stand die Orgel, die Jörg Ebert 1561 in der Innsbrucker Hofkirche errichtet hatte. Aufgrund des guten Erhaltungszustandes und der seinerzeitigen Restaurierung wird sie wie selbstverständlich bis heute geradezu als Referenzinstrument betrachtet und für Konzerte und Aufnahmen genützt. Daher ist der Eindruck entstanden, Musik der Zeit Isaacs ließe sich darauf besonders gut darstellen. Im Hinblick auf die verschwindend kleine Zahl an noch vorhandenen Orgeln aus dem Zeitraum vom späten 15. bis zum späten 16. Jahrhundert nimmt Innsbruck zweifellos eine Sonderstellung ein und bietet mit dem Aufstellungsort eine unmittelbare Nähe zur Herrscherfamilie der Habsburger. Dies darf freilich nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass der Abstand zu Maximilian I. mehr als eine Generation beträgt. Und gerade die angesprochene historische Zeitspanne erweist sich für den Orgelbau als 1 2

Orgel und Orgelspiel im 16.  Jahrhundert, hrsg. von Walter Salmen, Innsbruck 1978 (Inns­ brucker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 2). Vgl. etwa Roger Moseley, „Digital Analogies: The Keyboard as Field of Musical Play“, in JAMS 68 (2015), S. 151–227.

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bemerkenswert innovativ. Die Entwicklung weg vom mittelalterlichen Blockwerk muss dabei als regelrechter Umbruch betrachtet werden, ermöglichte sie doch ein systematisch einsetzbares Gegenüber von lautem Klang und leiseren Registrierungen. Beachtung finden sollte aber auch die sich allmählich vollziehende Erweiterung des Ambitus der Klaviaturen hin zur Spielbarkeit polyphon angelegter Kompositionen von Künstlern wie Paul Hofhaimer, Hans Buchner oder Leonhard Kleber. Für den Wirkungsbereich Maximilians  I. wäre daher die durch Jan von Dobrau zwischen 1512 bis ca. 1517 geschaffene Orgel in der Fuggerkapelle bei St. Anna in Augsburg ein deutlich besseres Beispiel. Zahlreiche Umbauten und die Zerstörungen des zweiten Weltkrieges haben von ihr allerdings nicht mehr übriggelassen als die von Jörg Breu d. Ä. mit Gemälden ausgestatteten Flügeltüren. Gehäuse und äußerliches Erscheinungsbild wurden wiederhergestellt, im Inneren befindet sich jedoch eine moderne Orgel mittlerer Größe. Aber ganz unabhängig von einer Rekonstruktion erkennt man die grundsätzlichen Probleme: Anders als eine Geige oder eine Trompete, deren Erscheinungsbild seit dem 16. Jahrhundert zunehmend uniform gestaltet ist, war von Anfang an jede Orgel nicht nur äußerlich, sondern auch von der Zusammensetzung der Register, also klanglich ein Individuum. Wir können daher nicht einfach von der Orgel sprechen, sondern müssen immer ergänzen, um welche Orgel es sich handeln soll. Die räumlichen Gegebenheiten, aber auch die finanziellen Möglichkeiten schufen Bedingungen, denen sich ein Orgelbauer zu unterwerfen hatte. Dazu kamen die Strukturen des handwerklichen Umfelds, bei deren Erforschung ein Blick auf benachbarte Disziplinen lohnenswert erscheint. Erst in Umrissen ist zu erkennen, dass es etwa signifikante Parallelen gibt zwischen den Auftragskonstruktionen bei der Anschaffung eines Altarretabels mit Schnitzwerk und Tafel- sowie Fassmalerei einerseits und andererseits der Situation beim Aufbau einer Orgel, deren Herstellung ebenfalls entsprechend einer weitgehenden Arbeitsteilung erfolgen konnte. Von Ort zu Ort trifft man allerdings auf verschiedene Konstellationen. In seiner Dissertation über die ungefassten Altarretabel geht Georg Habenicht auf solche Fälle ein. 1504 rät der Schreiner Hans Erns dem Propst des Doms von Speyer zu einer polychromen Fassung der gerade aufgerichteten Schwalbennestorgel: myn hern vast nutz were, die orgel und gerust hie nieden zu malen und azestichen. Zum anderen wer vast nutzlich, dwyl myn hern allen zugehor hetten zu dem malen, daßelbig dem maler uberhaubt zu verdingen […].3 3

Georg Habenicht, Die ungefaßten Altarwerke des ausgehenden Mittelalters und der Dürerzeit, Diss. Universität Göttingen 2000, Online-Publikation 2002 (letzter Zugriff: 20. September 2018), S. 98.

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Auch in [Bad] Windsheim weisen die Rechnungsbücher der Pfarrkirche St. Kilian für 1489 Tätigkeiten des Malers Jakob Mülholzer an Altären und der neuen Orgel aus.4 Der wenige Jahre zuvor abgeschlossene Orgelbau in der Kirche St. Jakob zu Rothenburg o. d. Tauber zeigt, wie komplex sich die Vergabe der Tätigkeiten an ortsansässige Handwerker wie Schreiner oder Schlosser darstellt, und wie gering der eigentliche Anteil des Orgelmachers selbst war.5 Zu den heterogenen Lösungen, die sich hinsichtlich des Herstellungsprozesses beobachten lassen, fügen sich die räumlichen Bedingungen, aus denen immer wieder andere Erscheinungsformen und Aufstellungsplätze für das Gehäuse hervorgingen. Eine räumliche Einheit von Orgel-Standort und Sängern war nicht zwingend erforderlich. Ein Schwalbennest mit Instrument konnte oberhalb des Chorgestühls nur angebracht werden, wenn hinter der Außenmauer des Presbyteriums die Blasebälge – geschützt vor Regenwasser und Sonnenhitze – unterzubringen waren. Da ein Alternatim von Choralsingen und Orgel auch bei größerer Entfernung gut funktioniert, ergab sich mit Gewissheit im Hinblick auf die musikalischen Aufgaben von Orgel und Gesang im Gottesdienst über lange Zeit kein echtes Problem. Erst als mit der sich ausbreitenden mehrstimmigen Musik in den urbanen Zentren eigene Vokalensembles gebildet wurden, entstand die Notwendigkeit einer stärkeren Anbindung dieser Kantoreien an die Position des Instruments. Orgeln im Umkreis Maximilian I. Zum Interesse an eigener polyphoner Kirchenmusik trugen auch die Besuche bei, die Maximilian I. den – vor allem im süddeutschen Bereich liegenden – Reichsstädten abstattete. Im Jahr 1490 kam König Maximilian etwa nach ­Donauwörth. Die im 16. Jahrhundert niedergeschriebene Chronik des Benediktiners Johann Knebel aus dem Kloster Heilig Kreuz bemerkt zu diesem Ereignis das Interesse Maximilians an einer Orgel, denn in der neu erbauten Pfarrkirche hatte eine solche gefehlt:6 Ist Kunigliche Mayestat Nach Etlichen tagen gen schwebischen werd kumen […] Vnd liebe zu dem gotts zier alß dan ersthin In der müesamen vnd kostbreuchigen bauung Der pfarkichen (wie Du oben hast gehort) Daß alles Inen nit genüg waß, darvmb sy vervnder nit haben aufgehert gott zu lob die selben 4 5

6

Ebda., S. 144f. Franz Körndle, „Orgeln in mittelalterlichen Stadtkirchen“, in Musik der mittelalterlichen Metropole. Räume, Identitäten und Kontexte der Musik in Köln und Mainz, ca. 900–1400, hrsg. von Fabian Kolb, Berlin/Kassel 2016, S. 325–352, bes. 330–334. Johann Knebel, Chronik von Donauwörth (Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, Oettingen-­ Wallersteinsche Bibliothek, Cod.III.2.2.18), fol. 194 r.

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z­ ieren. Darmit aber gott nit allain mit singen vnd lesen da gelobt wurd sunder auch alß Der kunigllich Prophet Dauid vnß lernett Daß mir gott solen loben In der bauggen vnd Im kor In den saiten vnd In der orgel. Deß halben sy gott zu lob Im Jar alß man 90 zelet ain schone vnd ain lieblich orgel gebauet vnd In daß langkhauß ob der eethhür gesetzet vnd nit ain lain die Orgel sonder auch ainen maister. Da so dieser kunst bericht vnd kinstlich waß mit erlich Jerlichem sold darzu gesoldet, Darmit die eer vnd lob gottes stattlich gefudert wurde. Wellicher maister Inen von seiner kunst wegen In nachvolgender zeit wurd durch die fursten von sachsßen abgesetzt.

Reste von Wandmalereien in der Münster-Pfarrkirche dokumentieren in etwa die Position, an der sich die Orgel befunden haben muss. Unklar bleibt, wer der Organist gewesen sein könnte, der schon nach kurzer Zeit vom sächsischen Hof abgeworben wurde. Innerhalb seines Herrschaftsbereichs manifestiert sich dieses Interesse Maximilians an Details der Kirchenmusik in den Übereinkünften mit dem Orgelmacher Wolfgang Reichenauer. Auf ihn war die Forschung schon früh aufmerksam geworden.7 Maximilian beauftragte ihn offenbar 1498 mit dem Bau von mehreren großen Orgeln, wenn er seine Arbeiten mit dem Instrument in der Innsbrucker Pfarrkirche abgeschlossen habe:8 Mit dem Orglmacher haben wir vnns auf nachfolgend maynung vertragn […] Wann Er die Orgl, so Er yetzo Zu Ynnsprugg ausgemacht hat, vnd Nemlich also daß Er vnns Zehen Jar zu dienen Zusagn vnnd sich des gegen vnns verschreyben vnd vnns Zehen grosse wergkh vnd ain positif in derselben Zeit machen sol, so wollen Wir Jme die Zehen Jarlanng, Jedes Jars ij guld[en] dienstgelt [fol.  80 r] vnnd dafür für yedes wergkh vij hundert gulden Remisch fur Speyss vnd Lon, auch verrer wohin Er geschikt wirdet vber Lannd fürlon, damit Er sein Zewg fuern müge geben vnnd ausrichten. Desgleichen Jm allen Zewg als Zyn pley Leder drat holtz etc. bestellen. Auch mit Tischler Slosser Maler vnnd annder hanndtwerckslewt, verfügen damit Sy Jme des so Er zu yedem Wergkh notdurfftig ist machen. Er sol auch nit mer dann die Lad, das Clauier Pedal, vnnd was von Pheiffenwerkh ist zumachen schuldig sein, Er sol auch das Positif darein machen vnd nichts dafür nehmen, aber Er mag kain Pusawn darein machen will aber vleis haben, sunst etwas newes darein Zumachn. […] Darauf sollen Sy Jme laut sollichs vertrags gelt vnd Zewg geben, vnd etwann das ausgemacht ist, vnns

7

8

Franz Waldner, Nachrichten über die Musikpflege am Hofe zu Innsbruck nach archivalischen Auf­ zeichnungen. I. unter Kaiser Maximilian I. von 1490–1519, Bd. 1, Langensalza 1897/98, S. 25 und 33f. Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesarchiv, Oberösterreichische Kammer, Kopialbücher – Bekennen 1498, fols. 79 v –80 r. Vgl. Johann Friedrich Böhmer, Regesta Imperii XIV. Ausgewählte Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter Maximilian I. 1493–1519. Zweiter Band, 1. Teil: Maximilian I. 1496–1498, bearbeitet von Hermann Wiesflecker, Wien/Köln/Weimar 1993, S. 353.

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eylennds wissen lassen, damit Wir Sy vnnd den Orglmacher berichten mügn, Wo vnns das erst gross Wergkh an den Zehen zumachen gemaint sey.

Auch hier erfährt man, dass der Orgelmacher lediglich die Spieleinrichtung mit Manual und Pedal herstellen sollte, außerdem die Windlade und die Pfeifen. Andere Arbeiten wurden auf Schreiner, Schlosser, Maler und weitere Handwerker aufgeteilt. Da die Blasebälge im Text nicht erwähnt werden, fiel möglicherweise sogar dieses Gewerk nicht in den Aufgabenbereich des Orgelmachers. Das nötige Material stellte man ihm bereit. Für seine Tätigkeiten sollte Reichenauer für zehn Jahre fest angestellt werden und verpflichtet sein, in diesem Zeitraum nach Ansage zehn Kirchenorgeln und ein Positiv (oder mit einem Positiv) anzufertigen. Allerdings fehlen alle Hinweise auf die betreffenden Orte. Nicht ausgeschlossen werden kann ein Scheitern all dieser Pläne. Daher kann nur gemutmaßt werden, welche Absichten Maximilian mit der vertraglichen Bindung Reichenauers verfolgt haben könnte. Dieser Handwerker war wohl aus Gründen der klanglichen Qualität, die man seinen Instrumenten nachsagte, ausgewählt worden. Als Antoine de Lalaing 1503 nach Innsbruck kam, wo sein Herr, Philipp der Schöne, mit dessen Vater Maximilian I. zusammentraf, hielt er seinen Eindruck von der dortigen Reichenauer-Orgel in einer Tagebuch-Notiz fest:9 L’église parochiale de la ville a unes orghes, les plus belles et les plus exquises que jamais je véy. Il n’est instrument du monde quy n’y joue: car ils sont tous la-dedens compris, et coustèrent plus de dix milles francs au faire. („Die Pfarrkirche der Stadt hat eine der schönsten und erlesensten Orgeln, die ich jemals gesehen habe. Es gibt kein Instrument auf der Welt, das ich (noch) spiel(en) muss, denn sie sind alle hier eingeschlossen; es kostete mehr als 10.000 franc sie zu machen.“)

Ähnlich euphorisch klingen die Aufzeichnungen des Antonio de Beatis, der 1517 über seinen Aufenthalt in Innsbruck berichtet. In den vorangegangenen 20 Jahren waren allerdings bereits etliche Umbauten erfolgt, weshalb de Beatis in der Pfarrkirche wohl eher das Werk des Jan von Dobrau erlebte. Indirekt besagt der Umstand, dass die Zufriedenheit mit der technischen Seite von Reichenauers Arbeiten nicht umfassend gegeben war. Neben mutmaßlichen Mängeln könnten allerdings auch die zunehmenden Ansprüche hinsichtlich Registerschaltungen und vor allem beim Ambitus für die Umbaumaßnahmen 9

Louis Prosper Gachard, Jean de Vandenesse und Laurent Vital, Collection des Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas, Bd. 1: Itinéraires de Philippe le Hardi, Jean sans Peur, Philippe le Bon, Maximilien et Philippe le Beau [u.a.], Brüssel 1876 (Collection de chroniques belges inédites et de documents inédites relatifs à l‘histoire de la Belgique 14,1), S. 310.

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verantwortlich gewesen sein. So meinte de Beatis über die veränderte Orgel, sie sei zwar nicht übermäßig groß, aber sehr schön und verfüge doch über zahlreiche Register und vorzügliche Stimmen. Hervorzuheben sei, wie Pfeifen den Klang von Trompeten, Flöten, Hörnern, Bässen, Schalmeien, Trommeln und das Singen verschiedener Vögel mit solcher Naturtreue nachahmten, dass kein Unterschied zur Natur selbst mehr wahrgenommen werden könne. Von allen Orgeln, die er während seiner Reise kennengelernt habe, sei diese die vollkommenste gewesen.10 Tatsächlich erwähnt de Beatis in seinem Reisediarium regelmäßig die Orgeln in den Kirchen, die sein Dienstherr, Kardinal Luis de Aragona so sehr bewunderte. Dazu gehörten Brixen, Konstanz, Straßburg, Speyer, Löwen, Nantes und Vienne.11 Am 25. Mai 1517 kam de Beatis mit seinem Herrn in Augsburg an, wo der Kardinal mit Jakob Fugger zu tun hatte, den de Beatis als „numorum rex“ (König des Geldes) bezeichnet.12 Ausführlich schildert er die Fuggerkapelle bei St. Anna und ihre Orgel, die dem Verhältnis nach groß und schön sei.13 Bei der kurzen Aufenthaltsdauer von nicht einmal zwei Tagen muss offenbleiben, ob das Instrument auch gehört werden konnte. Der Chronik des Wilhelm Rem entsprechend war die Kapelle samt Orgel gerade in diesem Jahr fertiggestellt worden: Anno dni. 1517 da ward des Jacob Fuggers kappel […] gar ausgemacht. Die hatt vil gelt kost, ettlich leutt schätzten sie auff 30 M fl; aber ain gutter werckman, der maint, sie kost über 8 M fl nicht, und maint, er wellt ain sölliche von neuen um 6 M fl bauen.14

Im Diarium des Antonio de Beatis findet sich dazu die Notiz, Jakob Fugger selbst habe die Kosten der Kapelle mit 23.000 Gulden beziffert.15 Seit Hans Joachim Moser wollte die Forschung in der Orgel der Fugger­ kapelle bei St. Anna in Augsburg eine Art Idealtypus erkennen.16 Die Informationen dazu sind in der Tat schon fast ideal, auch bei einem Vergleich mit dem etwa 25 Jahre älteren Donauwörther Bericht von Johann Knebel. Vor allem ist 10

Antonio de Beatis, Die Reise des Kardinals Luigi d’Aragona durch Deutschland, die Niederlande, Frankreich und Oberitalien, 1517–1518, [übersetzt und] hrsg. von Ludwig Pastor, Freiburg im Breisgau/München u.a. 1905 (Erläuterungen und Ergänzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes 4,4), S. 31. 11 Ebda., S. 14, 29, 41, 43f., 56, 78 und 80. 12 Ebda., S. 34. 13 Ebda., S. 35. 14 Die Chroniken der schwäbischen Städte: Augsburg, Bd. 5, Leipzig 1896 (Die Chroniken der deutschen Städte vom 14. bis 16. Jahrhundert 25), S. 82. 15 Beatis, Die Reise, S. 35. 16 Hans Joachim Moser, Paul Hofhaimer: ein Lied- und Orgelmeister des deutschen Humanismus, Stuttgart/Berlin 1929, S. 22.

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der Orgelbauer mit Jan von Dobrau bekannt. Dieser Jan von Dobrau nannte sich in einer Inschrift auf dem Gehäuse RÖ KAY MAST ORGELMACHER IHAN VON DOBRAW, er muss also – ähnlich wie Reichenauer – in Diensten von Kaiser Maximilian I. gestanden haben. Vermutlich auf Hans Joachim Moser geht die Annahme zurück, Hofhaimer habe die „Sankt-Annen-Orgel“ in Augsburg 1512 „abgenommen“ und von da an mit Jan von Dobrau zusammengearbeitet.17 Auf dieser Hypothese beruhen alle jüngeren Angaben in der Literatur, sogar für den akribischen Manfred Schuler stand „außer Zweifel, daß Hofhaimer auf der von Jan Behaim von Dobrau erbauten Orgel gespielt hat.“18 Einen Nachweis dafür scheint es aber bislang nicht gegeben zu haben. Erst ein Druck, der über Vorgänge auf dem Reichstag von 1518 berichtet, bringt Gewissheit. Darin lauten zwei Einträge, in denen die Tage nach dem Jakobsfest (25. Juli) angesprochen werden:19 Gestern […] sein Kay. May. Churfürsten vnd fursten / hertzoge Friderichen / hertzog Heinriche vnd hertzog Otten von Bayern […] zu den Carmeliten geritten vnd hat daselbst von Kay. May. organisten vnnd capellan herr Eberharten / als in loco Patrocinij eine gesungene vesper gehort. Heut hat mein gnedigster herre der Churfürst zu sachssen mitsampt hertzog Joergen von sachssen das gesungne ampt von sant Annen / auch bey den Carmeliten gehort Kay. May. capellan hat gesungen / herr Pawl hoffheymer auff der Focker orgeln geslagen / vnd der Prouinciall von Bamberg das ampt gehalten.

Dieser Bericht ist in mehrerlei Hinsicht interessant. Einerseits bestätigt er lange gehegte wissenschaftliche Annahmen, andererseits erwähnt er das Fest der Heiligen Anna mit Vesper und Amt, also der Messe. Besonders wichtig ist aber die Nennung der Orgel selbst als „Focker orgeln“, womit er festhält, dass dieses Instrument der Familie Fugger gehörte und nicht den Karmelitern von St. Anna, auch wenn diese sich verpflichten mussten, regelmäßig Gottesdienste mit Gebeten für verstorbene Angehörige abzuhalten. Diese Orgel war Privateigentum und durfte nur mit Erlaubnis der Fugger gespielt werden. Der Custos verwahrte auch den Schlüssel für die Kapelle und für den Zugang zum Instrument.20 Bei den 1518 genannten Gottesdiensten wird ausschließlich die Orgel, 17 Ebda. 18 Manfred Schuler, „Paul Hofhaimer in seinen Beziehungen zu Augsburg“, in Musik in 19 20

Bayern 50 (1995), S. 11–21, hier S. 16. Nau getzeiten von Itzt gehaltem keiserlichen Reichstag zu Augspurg, Leipzig: Wolfgang Stöckel 1518 (VD16 ZV 21468), fol. Aiiv. Abschriften des Stiftungsbriefs im Fugger-Archiv, Dillingen: 5.1.4 Fuggerische Gemaine Stiftungen 1585–1599, fol.  25r. 5.1.10, fols.  89 r –91v. Hierzu: Hermann Kellenbenz und Maria Gräfin Preysing, „Jakob Fuggers Stiftungsbrief von 1521“, in Zeitschrift des Histori­ schen Vereins für Schwaben 68 (1974), S. 95–116, hier S. 106.

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nicht aber die Kantorei erwähnt. Vermutlich sind also wesentliche Teile der Liturgie gar nicht gesungen worden. Einen Standard beim Orgelspiel im Alternatim hat es demnach genauso wenig gegeben wie den Idealtypus von Orgel. Bei sechs vierstimmigen Messen von Heinrich Isaac sind in den Stimmbüchern Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Mus.Hs. 18745 Vermerke zum Alternatim („ad organum“) angebracht, weshalb in diesen Fällen ein Wechsel von Vokalpolyphonie mit Orgel als sicher anzunehmen ist.21 Über die Ausführung des Orgel-Anteils liegen keine Informationen vor, sie dürfte von den Bedingungen am jeweiligen Ort abhängig gewesen sein. In den 25 Jahren von Donauwörth bis zu St. Anna in Augsburg hat sich im Orgelbau eine Menge ereignet. Aus dem System des so genannten gotischen Blockwerks, bei dem sich immer nur mit dem vollen Werk spielen ließ, hatte sich bereits die Möglichkeit herausgebildet, einzelne Register separat spielen zu können, womit Unterschiede in den Klangfarben und auch in der Lautstärke vernehmbar wurden. Je höher der Rang eines Festtags war, desto stärker durfte ein Organist registrieren, und desto langsamer sollte er spielen.22 In welcher Weise die Melodien des Gregorianischen Chorals oder auch polyphone Musik auf dem Instrument dargestellt werden konnten, wurde nicht zuletzt vom verfügbaren Tonumfang festgelegt. Soweit sich das erkennen lässt, blieb der Ambitus der Orgel bis ins letzte Drittel des 15. Jahrhunderts ziemlich konstant und begann mit dem H, von wo aus sich zweieinhalb Oktaven bis zum f  2 erstreckten. So weisen es nicht nur die Einträge in der Buxheimer Tabulatur-Handschrift (D-Mbs Mus.ms. 3725, bes. fol  169 r ) oder einer Clavichord-Skizze von etwa 1470 in einem Stuttgarter Manuskript (D-Sl Cod. poet. et phil. q. 52, fol. 65v ) aus, sondern auch Verträge für Orgelneubauten.23 Jürgen Eppelsheim ging 1977 von einer Tendenz aus, nach der ab etwa Mitte des 15. Jahrhunderts die Klaviaturen „nicht mehr mit der Taste H, sondern mit der Taste F beginnen“ würden.24 Diese Entwicklung dokumentiert der Vertrag einer 1480 für die Erfurter Marienkirche erbauten Orgel, deren Klaviaturanfang beim Gamma-Ut liegen sollte.25 Die Anpassung an die Untergrenze F wie bei den Blasinstrumenten, aber auch im Normalfall bei den Sängern, ist von da 21

22 23 24 25

Vgl. William Mahrt, The „Missae ad Organum“ of Heinrich Isaac. Diss. Stanford Univ. 1969; Ann Arbor: Univ. Microfilms 1970, S. 65f. Andreas Mielke, Untersuchungen zur Alter­ natim-Orgelmesse, Bd. 1, Kassel [u.a.]: Bärenreiter, 1996 (Bochumer Arbeiten zur Musikwissenschaft 2), S. 79f. Siehe auch die Abbildung auf S. 268 in diesem Band. Franz Körndle, „‚Usus organorum & horum sonus‘. Anmerkungen zum Gebrauch der Kirchenorgeln um 1500“, in BJbHM 29 (2007), S. 93–108, bes. S. 98–101. Ebda., S. 104–108. Jürgen Eppelsheim, „Beziehungen zwischen Orgel und Ensembleinstrumentarium im 16. Jahrhundert“, in Salmen, Orgel und Orgelspiel (wie Anm. 1), S. 102–114, hier S. 103. Körndle, „‚Usus organorum‘“ (wie Anm. 22), S. 105.

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aus nicht mehr weit entfernt. In der Tat belegen Abbildungen und auch erhalten gebliebene Klaviaturen noch weit ins 16. Jahrhundert hinein eine Untergrenze bei Groß F. Um 1480 repräsentierte die Großorgel in der Erfurter Marienkirche zweifellos einen modernen Status, nach 40 Jahren hätte sich das kaum noch behaupten lassen. Jüngere Instrumente wie in der Fuggerkapelle lösten sie ab, denn mit ihnen konnten Musiker wie Paul Hofhaimer auch die Entwicklung der Tastenmusik voranbringen. Mit absoluter Selbstverständlichkeit beanspruchen die Kompositionen nun eine Untergrenze der Klaviatur bis zum F. Das gilt nicht nur für Hofhaimer selbst,26 sondern manifestiert sich auf breiter Basis in den Tabulaturbüchern des frühen 16.  Jahrhunderts.27 Freilich kann an der schriftlich festgehaltenen Musik nur in etwa abgelesen werden, was sich im Bereich der Improvisation sogar noch progressiver darstellen würde. Michael Praetorius dokumentiert im zweiten Band seines Syntagma musicum von 1619 ausführlich auch die Entwicklung des Klaviatur-Umfangs vom 14. bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts.28 Innerhalb des musikgeschichtlichen Verlaufs können Neubauten für die Forschung durchaus als willkommene Idealtypen genommen werden, weil sie jeweils einen aktuell erreichten Status zu verraten scheinen. Betrachtet man (damals) neue Instrumente, die bis zum F oder dann sogar bis zum C in der großen Oktave reichten, dann könnte das perfekt zu jenem Bild passen, das uns die Kompositionen eines Paul Hofhaimer nahe legen. Neue Orgeln waren damals (wie heute) aber keineswegs die Regel. Das zeigt schon der komplexe Umbau des Instruments in der Innsbrucker Pfarrkirche, mit dem Jan von D ­ obrau ab 1513 zu tun hatte.29 Überall, wo es seit Jahrzehnten bereits Orgeln gegeben hatte, musste man auf enorme Schwierigkeiten stoßen, wenn man mit den Entwicklungen von Technik, Ambitus, Registerschaltung und Komposition Schritt halten wollte. Die nachfolgende Tabelle zeigt für den Zeitraum von der Mitte des 15. Jahrhunderts bis gegen 1530 die Neu-Aufstellung von Orgeln in einigen süddeutschen Reichsstädten, darunter Nürnberg mit St. Sebald, St. Lorenz, der Barfüßer- und der Frauenkirche sowie Nördlingen und (Bad) Windsheim. In den jeweiligen Spalten finden sich dann auch die Reparaturen und Umbauten.

26 Vgl. Moser, Hofhaimer (wie Anm. 16), S. 1f., 14–16, 20 oder 33–36. 27 Vgl. Tabulaturen des XVI. Jahrhunderts, Teil 1: Die Tabulaturen aus dem Besitz des Basler

28 29

Humanisten Bonifacius Amerbach, hrsg. von Hans Joachim Marx, Basel 1967 (Schweizerische Musikdenkmäler 6), S. 45–47, 52, 54 oder 59. Michael Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II. De Organographia, Wolfenbüttel: Elias Holwein 1619 (VD17 3:315037M), S. 97–105 sowie S. 109–113. Alois Forer, Orgeln in Österreich, Wien 21983, S. 27f.

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Neubauten, Reparaturen und Umbauten von Orgeln in Nürnberg, Nördlingen und (Bad) Windsheim zwischen 1440 und 154030

N-S g N-S kl N-L g N-L kl N-Bf

N-Fk

Nö-G Bad-W

1440 1443N 1447N 1444N 1443N 1450 1448R 1460 1465N 1464R 1466N 1470 1471R 1478U 1476N 1480 1481R 1480R 1486U 1490 1490U 1489U 1495U 1489N 1500 1499R 1498N 1499N 1510 1520 1520R 1525N 1522U 1530 1544N Neubauten, Reparaturen und Umbauten von Orgeln in Nürnberg, Nördlingen und (Bad) Windsheim zwischen 1440 und 1540

Orgeln waren enorm kostspielig, weshalb man nicht nach Belieben schon nach wenigen Jahren einen Austausch vornehmen wollte. Umbauten waren aber auch nur dann zu vertreten, wenn ohnehin eine größere Reparatur anstand. In Nürnberg ist ein solcher Umbau an der 1443 fertiggestellten Traxdorf-Orgel sehr gut dokumentiert. Bis 1450 hatte dort Conrad Paumann gewirkt. 1490, also genau zu der Zeit, als in Donauwörth der Neubau gestartet wurde, unterzog man die große Sebaldus-Orgel einer Revision. Die in den Aufzeichnungen des Kirchenmeisters Sebald Schreyer nachgewiesenen 27 Pfund Zinn hätten nur für wenige Pfeifen ausgereicht. Für das Herstellen von Platten aus Orgelmetall wäre allerdings nicht nur Zinn, sondern auch Blei erforderlich gewesen. Da aber keinerlei Ankauf von Blei in den Rechnungen erscheint, muss man annehmen, es seien womöglich überhaupt keine Pfeifen hinzugekommen, sondern lediglich Ausbesserungen vorgenommen worden.31 Und so konnte noch 30

31

N-S g = Nürnberg, St. Sebald, große Orgel; N-S kl = Nürnberg, St. Sebald, kleine Orgel; N-L g = Nürnberg, St. Lorenz, große Orgel; N-L kl = Nürnberg, St. Lorenz, kleine Orgel; N-Bf = Nürnberg, Barfüßerkirche; N-Fk = Nürnberg, Frauenkirche; Nö-G = Nördlingen, St. Georg; Bad-W = Bad Windsheim, St. Kilian – N = Neubau; U = Umbau; R = Reparatur. D-Ngm 2° Merkel Hs 1122, fols. 211v –212v. Vgl. dagegen Johannes G. Mehl, „Nürnberg – ,die deutsche Orgelstadt‘“, in Gottesdienst und Kirchenmusik (1953), S. 79–135, bes. S. 89; Hermann Fischer und Theodor Wohnhaas, „Zur Geschichte der Traxdorf-Orgel“, in 600 Jahre Ostchor St. Sebald – Nürnberg. 1379–1979, hrsg. von Helmut Baier, Neustadt/Aisch 1979, S. 117–127, bes. S. 119.

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Michael Praetorius von dieser Orgel einen Ambitus melden, der – nicht ganz unerwartet – von H bis f  2 (Pedal: A bis a 0) reichte.32 Orgeln dieser – gegebenenfalls leicht modifizierten mittelalterlichen – Art gab es vermutlich noch in größter Zahl zu Beginn des 16.  Jahrhunderts. Praetorius vermittelt auch den Gedanken, die Orgeln seien „im Babstthumb zu nichts anders / denn zum Choral gebraucht worden“, womit die Vorstellung eines einstimmigen Alternatim von Instrument und Gesang gemeint sein sollte.33 Orgel und Vokalmusik im Alternatim Die Identifizierung einer Choralhandschrift des 15. Jahrhunderts aus Fritzlar (Nordhessen) als Orgelbuch bietet nun eine hinreichende Hilfe, den Gebrauch des Instruments etwas genauer zu bestimmen.34 In Manuskript 64 aus der dortigen Dombibliothek, das offenbar bis ins 18. Jahrhundert benützt wurde,35 sind die Gesänge für Vesper und Messe in Hufnagelnotation festgehalten mit präzisen Angaben, was von der Orgel zu spielen war. Teilweise sind nur die Orgelabschnitte enthalten. Darunter finden sich auch etliche Antiphonen, Responsorien und Sequenzen, deren notierter Ambitus das A einschließt. Bei genauem Hinsehen erkennt man etwa bei der Sequenz Celi enarrant (fol. ­l xvi r ) zur Oktav des Festes Peter und Paul in die Melodien eingetragene Tonbuchstaben. Diese stimmen jedoch nicht mit den notenschriftlichen Tonhöhen überein. So signalisiert bereits zu Beginn des Gesangs ein f über der Note c die Versetzung um eine Quarte nach oben. Solche Tonbuchstaben sind konsequent jeweils über dem ersten und dem letzten Ton eines Verses geschrieben. Gerade Sequenzen haben aber oftmals die Eigenheit, von den Sängern einen großen Ambitus zu verlangen. So reicht der Umfang bei Celi enarrant entsprechend den notierten Melodien von A bis f  1. Wenn man nun eine Versetzung um eine Quarte nach oben vornimmt, wird auch die Obergrenze hinauf zum b 1 verschoben. Ein ähnlicher, ebenfalls extremer Fall bietet sich in der Antiphon ­Fidelis sermo zum Fest Maria Magdalena (fol. lxxr ). Der Umfang wäre ebenfalls A bis f  1. Hier zeigen die Tonbuchstaben eine Transposition um eine Quinte nach oben an. Es ist nicht zu entscheiden, ob ein geringer Tonvorrat in der großen Oktave oder unbefriedigender Klang in dieser Lage zu der Transponier-Entscheidung führten. Über die von der Orgel gegebene Stimmtonhöhe liegen keine Informationen vor. Dennoch dürften Indizien dieser Art auf verbreitete Praktiken schließen 32 Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II (wie Anm. 28), S. 110f. 33 Ebda., S. 102. 34 Körndle, „Orgeln in mittelalterlichen Stadtkirchen“ (wie Anm. 5), S. 337–339. 35 Gerhard List, Die Handschriften der Dombibliothek Fritzlar, Wiesbaden 1984, S. 109–116.

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lassen. Mit der Option von Transpositionen genügten die alten Orgeln dem normalen Anspruch voll und ganz, so lange von den Organisten nicht mehr zu spielen war als die einstimmigen Melodien des Chorals.36 Zusätzliche Klänge, improvisierte Läufe oder gar polyphone Stimmen dürfen wir nur für besondere Gelegenheiten im Kirchenjahr annehmen. Erst die Kompositionen jüngerer Generationen, etwa die eines Paul Hofhaimer, lassen sich mit dem Ambitus der vor dem letzten Drittel des 15. Jahrhunderts gebauten Instrumente nicht mehr darstellen. Für den Einsatz der Orgel in der alltäglichen Liturgie einer Klosteroder Pfarrkirche kamen Fragen nach den Grenzen des Ambitus gewiss selten in die Diskussion. Entscheidender dürfte gewesen sein, ob ein Zusammenwirken von Gesang und Instrument an sich praktikabel war. An dieser Stelle muss allerdings gefragt werden, ob es der üblichen Aufführungssituation überhaupt entsprach, bei Gottesdiensten mit der königlichen bzw. kaiserlichen Kantorei die große Orgel in einer Kirche zu spielen. Zu den raren Berichten über den Einsatz von großen Kirchenorgeln gehört die Notiz zum Jahr 1500 über die Teilnahme Maximilians I. an einem Gottesdienst in der Nürnberger Sebalduskirche anlässlich seines Besuches in der Reichsstadt: „Fieng man mit beden orgeln an ze schlagen und der chor ze responiren. Te deum laudamus.“37 Auch wenn nicht explizit simultanes Spiel erwähnt wird, muss man annehmen, dass die beiden Orgeln auf einen gemeinsamen Stimmton eingerichtet waren.38 Ein Wechsel zwischen Vokalkantorei und Orgeln war zweifellos leicht zu realisieren, da der Ambitus des Te Deum nicht über die Oktave c 0 –c1 hinausgeht. Gegenüber solchen Nachrichten dominieren jedoch die Informationen, aus denen die Verwendung von Kleinorgeln bei der kirchlichen Figuralmusik hervorgeht. Das bekannte Bild „Kaiser Maximilian die Messe hörend“ (siehe die Abb. auf S. 190 in diesem Band) von Hans W ­ eiditz (Petrarcameister) zeigt einen Kirchenraum, in dem vorne der Kaiser Platz genommen hat. Im Vordergrund sieht man die Kantorei an einem großen Notenpult mit Chorbuch, und links ist der Organist – vermutlich Paul Hofhaimer – an einem so genannten Regal zu erkennen. Von der charakteristischen Form der Pfeifen-Aufsätze her hat sich die Bezeichnung „Apfel­regal“ eingebürgert. Dieser Begriff erscheint erst-

36

37 38

Franz Körndle, „Orgelmusik“, in Geschichte der Kirchenmusik, hrsg. von Wolfgang Hochstein und Christoph Krummacher, Laaber 2011 (Enzyklopädie der Kirchenmusik I/1), Bd. 1, S. 191–198, bes. S. 192f; Körndle, „‚Usus organorum‘“ (wie Anm. 22), S. 93–108, bes. S. 108. Nürnberg, Staatsarchiv, Rep. 67, Nr. 1, fol. 76 r und 76 v. Vgl. Franz Körndle, „Das Instrument des Theseus. Zum Mythos der Traxdorf-Orgel in der Nürnberger Sebalduskirche“, in MusikTheorie 34 (2019), im Druck.

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mals 1619 bei Michael Praetorius,39 bezeichnet dort jedoch die Bauform eines Registers in größeren Orgeln, nicht aber ein selbständiges Instrument.40 In der Frühzeit des Regals gab es allem Anschein nach Konstruktionen des Regals, bei denen in Analogie zu den verbreiteten Tischpositiven die Pfeifen in senkrechter Aufstellung zu sehen waren. Die als kolorierte Federzeichnung auf Pergament hergestellte Fassung des Triumphzuges (A-Wn Cod. Min. 77, fol. 10) zeigt auf dem Wagen mit Paul Hofhaimer zwei solche Regale, von denen eines in einem Kasten mit geöffnetem Deckel, das andere mit senkrecht stehenden, trompetenartigen Schallstücken zu sehen ist. Ausgehend von dem Weiditz-Holzschnitt muss danach gefragt werden, ob das kleine Orgel-Instrument für eine bildliche Darstellung vielleicht nur deshalb gewählt wurde, weil die große Orgel mit einem Spieler kaum wiederzugeben war, oder ob wir es mit der Abbildung einer konkreteren Aufführungspraxis zu tun haben. Hierher gehört auch die verbreitete Annahme, der in dem Holzschnitt sichtbare Kirchenraum wäre die Fuggerkapelle bei St. Anna in Augsburg.41 Möglicherweise führt lediglich der heutige Augenschein mit einer Empore auf der linken (südlichen) Seite zu dieser Hypothese. Allerdings ist dieses Aussehen des ursprünglich gotischen Baus erst im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert mit dem Emporeneinbau in jene Gestalt gebracht worden,42 auf der die Ähnlichkeit beruht. Zudem müsste Hans Weiditz bei der Herstellung seines Holzschnittes bewusst auf die große Fugger-Orgel verzichtet haben. Aber erst sie macht die unverwechselbare Charakteristik der Kapelle aus. Mit der Fuggerkapelle scheiden alle Überlegungen aus, die sich mit einem Alternatim der großen Orgel mit den vokalen und instrumentalen Ensembles des kaiserlichen Hofes auseinandersetzen. Stattdessen sollen hier die kleinen Vertreter der Orgel, nämlich Positiv und Regal ins Blickfeld gerückt werden. Manche Dokumente sind bisher für die Bewertung der Aufführungssituation gar nicht einbezogen worden.

39 Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II (wie Anm. 28), S. 248. 40 Vgl. Reinhardt Menger, Das Regal, Tutzing 1973, S. 14. 41 Herbert C. Turrentine, „Hans Weiditz’s ‚Maximilian at Mass‘: An Intriguing Liturgica

42

Scene in the Chapel of Annakirche in Augsburg“, in Explorations in Renaissance Culture 27 (2001), S. 21–30, hier S. 24; Louise Cuyler, The Emperor Maximilian I and Music, London/ New York/Toronto 1973, S. 73; dies., „Musical Activity in Augsburg and its Annakirche, ca. 1470–1639“, in Cantors at the Crossroads. Essays on Church Music in Honor of Walter E. Buszin, hrsg. von Johannes Riedel, St. Louis 1967, S. 39; Martin Picker, „The Habsburg Courts in the Netherlands and Austria“, in The Renaissance, hrsg. von Iain Fenlon, Basingstoke/London 1989, S. 216–242, hier S. 236. Siehe die Abb. auf S. 190 in diesem Band. Bruno Bushart, „Kunst und Stadtbild“, in Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg von der Römerzeit bis zur Gegenwart, hrsg. von Gunther Gottlieb u.a., Stuttgart 1984, S. 490–504, hier S. 494.

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Zum Reichstag in Konstanz 1507 liegen verschiedene Chroniken vor, in denen etwa von der Aufführung einer Marienmesse die Rede ist, wahrscheinlich Isaacs Missa Virgo prudentissima, bei der man „mit orglen, brosunen, zincken und allerhand saitenspil“ musizierte.43 Damit entsteht der Eindruck, damals sei die große Orgel im Münster zum Einsatz gekommen. Tatsächlich deutet aber ein in Nürnberg gedruckter Bericht darauf hin, dass mit Orgel ein Positiv gemeint sein könnte. Dort lautet der Eintrag über die am Vorabend des gleichen Ereignisses gehaltene Vesper:44 „Nach der Vigilien haben koniglicher maiestat singer Salue regina gesungen, darzu maister Paulus das posetiff geschlagen“. Es handelte sich bei der Konstanzer Aufführung nicht um einen Einzelfall. Im Rahmen des Reichstages 1530 habe die Hofkapelle Karls V. bei einem Gottesdienst in der Augsburger Barfüßerkirche „ihren organist auf seinem gewonlichen positif, so mit aus Spanien kommen, schlahen lassen.45 Michael Praetorius erwähnt schließlich in der Organographia, dass etzliche vermeynen / das Regall habe den Namen daher / daß das erste / so von dem ersten Erfinder dieses Wercks gefertiget / Regi cuidam, einem Könige zum sonderlichen praesent offerirt vnd daher Regale, quasi dignum Rege, Regium vel Regale opus genennet worden sey.46

Ob sich Praetorius bei der Herleitung des Namens von einem Eintrag im Spie­ gel der Orgelmacher und Organisten des Arnolt Schlick anregen ließ, muss unklar bleiben. Dort heißt es47, vor fůnff jaren erstlich vnserm aller gnedigsten hern dem Roe mischen kayer, als ein klein instrument gleich eim positiff ein regall oder super regall güt kůnstlich funden gemacht vnd zü wegen bracht des stym anmůtig vnnd seltzam dem ge43

Franz Körndle, „So loblich, costlich und herlich, das darvon nit ist ze schreiben. Der Auftritt der Kantorei Maximilians I. bei den Exequien für Philipp den Schönen auf dem Reichstag zu Konstanz“, in Tod in Musik und Kultur. Zum 500. Todestag Philipps des Schönen, hrsg. von Stefan Gasch und Birgit Lodes, Tutzing 2007 (Wiener Forum für Ältere Musikgeschichte 2), S. 87–109, hier S. 89 und 106. 44 Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Maximilian I. Reichstag zu Konstanz 1507, hrsg. von Dietmar Heil, München 2014 (Deutsche Reichstagsakten, Mittlere Reihe 1), S. 1025. Den Hinweis verdanke ich Herrn Moritz Kelber, dessen Dissertation zur Musik bei den Augsburger Reichstagen im 16. Jahrhundert sich derzeit im Druck befindet. 45 Friedrich Wilhelm Schirrmacher, Briefe und Acten zu der Geschichte des Religionsgespräches zu Marburg 1529 und des Reichstages zu Augsburg 1530, Gotha 1876, S. 335f. Hierzu auch: Corpus Reformatorum, hrsg. von Carolus Gottlieb Brettschneider, Halle/Saale 1835, Bd. 2, Sp. 399 mit Fn. **. 46 Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II (wie Anm. 28), S. 74. 47 Arnolt Schlick, Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten, Speyer: Peter Drach III., 1511 (VD16 S 3012), fol. xjr (Bogen d iijr ). Faksimile-Neudruck … nebst einer Übertragung in die moderne deutsche Sprache hrsg. von Paul Smets, Mainz 1959.

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hoe r, vnnd seyner pfeiffen fast tzü verwondern, welcher sie nitt kendt, wer auch nůr yr form proportz oder mensur zü erdencken vnmůglich gewest, aber teglich wachsen kůnst vnd kommen mee.

Tatsächlich schloss König Maximilian  I. am 12. März 1504 mit dem Meister Lorenz Werder einen Vertrag „aines newen regal halben“. Dieser sollte „ain new haimlich regal auf das allerpest und artigest“ anfertigen und innerhalb eines Jahres liefern.48 Die inzwischen mit wachsender Zahl ausfindig gemachten Dokumente zu Kleinorgel und Regal legen es nahe, den Gründen für ihre Verwendung im Kontext der königlichen bzw. kaiserlichen Kapelle nachzugehen. Wie oben ausführlich dargestellt, standen in vielen Kirchen zwar große Instrumente zur Verfügung. Deren Tonumfang eignete sich jedoch oftmals wenig für das Spielen der aktuellen Orgelmusik aus der Generation eines Paul Hofhaimer oder eines Hans Buchner. Ein weiterer Punkt dürfte schwerwiegender sein: Er betrifft nämlich die Tonhöhe, auf die die Orgeln einerseits und die Instrumente der Hofkapelle andererseits eingestimmt waren. Solange man auf Posaunen oder Zinken verzichtete, die bei den Singstimmen mitgingen, also nur Gesang und Orgel abwechseln ließ, trat kein Problem auf. Dann konnte man sich nach einer vorhandenen Orgel richten – jedenfalls muss man diese Option einkalkulieren. Gerade aber bei Gottesdiensten, bei denen Instrumente mitzuwirkten, darf mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit das Spielen auf den Kirchenorgeln ausgeschlossen werden, denn das Einstimmen der Posaunen und der Zinken zum Stimmton der alten Orgeln dürfte ein Ding der Unmöglichkeit gewesen sein. Die Probleme entstanden nicht nur, weil die Stimmtonhöhe von Ort zu Ort unterschiedlich war, sondern weil sie sich bei Orgeln aus dem 15. Jahrhundert vermutlich schon stark nach oben verschoben hatte, war doch nach Orgelbauer-Praxis ein Stimmvorgang immer mit dem Abschneiden von Pfeifen verbunden.49 In Dokumenten zu Reparaturen wird diese Problematik immer wieder einmal angesprochen, vor allem, wenn ein Zusammenspielen der Orgel schon mit den lokal vorhandenen Ensembles nicht mehr einzurichten war. Als der Oettinger Orgelmacher Johannes Thech (Tzech) im April

48

49

Wien, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv/Finanz- und Hofkammerarchiv, HKA GB 13, fols. 259–264. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii XIV (wie Anm. 9). Bd. 4: 1502–1504, hrsg. von Hermann Wiesflecker, Wien/Köln/Weimar 2004, S. 440 N. 18369. Vgl. Otto Biba, „Orgeln und Organisten rund um Kaiser Maximilian I.“ in Georg von Slatkonia und die Wiener Hof­ musikkapelle, hrsg. von Theophil Antonicek und Elisabeth Fritz-Hilscher, Wien/Köln/ Weimar 1996 (Die Wiener Hofmusikkapelle 1), S. 213–226. Vgl. hierzu etwa die Hinweise, die Heinrich Traxdorf dem Kirchenmeister von St. Sebald in Nürnberg hinterließ: Körndle, „Orgeln in mittelalterlichen Stadtkirchen“ (wie Anm. 5), S. 350.

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1580 einen Kostenvoranschlag zur Reparatur der alten Orgel von St. Georg in Nördlingen einreichte, merkte er an:50 Zum dritten mus man das ganze werck wieder vber stimmen, dann es gar sehr disoniere, wie denn der Organist bekennen mus, vnd seint viel pfeifen gar verschniden, an welche man wieder daran setzen mus […].

1654 holte man den Musiker Johann Erasmus Kindermann und den Orgel­ macher Nicolaus Manderscheidt nach Nördlingen. Bei der Begutachtung der Orgel bemängelten sie,51 die gebräuchliche Chorhöch, [sei] durch zu viel verschneidung der Pfeiffen […] weg gebracht vnd verderbt worden, vnd solches vmb ein Semitonium hocher ist als Chorhoch itzt bestehet, dahero kein Wunder, daß die Knaben v. Discantisten, Altisten, Tenoristen Ihre stimmen im singen zu schwer vnd Zu hoch gefallen, die blasenden Instrumenta, als Cornett, Posaunen, Fagotten haben auch mit grosser beschwerung des Leibs müssen darzu gebraucht werden, die Discant vnd Bassviol, werden manche saiten vnter des Musicirens, wegen zu grosser überflissiger Hoche abgesprungen sein, welches manche Confusion in der Music verursacht wird haben.

Die Äußerungen von 1580 und 1654 dokumentieren – obwohl Generationen nach Maximilian I. – die grundsätzliche Tendenz der Orgelmacher, ihre Instrumente ohne alle Stimmvorrichtungen zu bauen, sieht man von den Zungenregistern ab. Bei Fertigstellung wurden die Pfeifen auf Tonlänge geschnitten. Korrekturen an der Stimmung konnten damit nur durch Kürzung erreicht werden, womit sich über die Jahrzehnte die Tonhöhe immer mehr nach oben verschob. Ein Einsatz der Kirchenorgel im Zusammenwirken mit königlichen oder kaiserlichen Musikern konnte also überhaupt nur sinnvoll erscheinen, wenn die Stimmtonhöhe zufällig zu den Instrumenten der Hofkapelle passte. Schon aus diesem Grund dürfte es nahegelegen haben, ein transportables Positiv oder ein Regal bei der Kantorei mitzuführen, um eine gemeinsame Basis für das Zusammenwirken mit den Blasinstrumenten erst zu ermöglichen. Damit kommt noch ein weiterer Aspekt hinzu, man möchte buchstäblich sagen, ins Spiel. Es ist kaum etwas darüber bekannt, was der Organist dann tatsächlich auf dem Instrument musizierte. Dazu möchte ich hier drei Möglichkeiten ansprechen: 1. Einstimmiges Alternatim, 2. Polyphones Alternatim

50 51

Nördlingen, Stadtarchiv, R 39 F 11 Nr. 3, fol. 10 r. Nördlingen, Stadtarchiv, R 39 F 11 Nr. 3, fol.  24 r–v. Hermann Fischer und Theodor Wohnhaas, „Die historischen Orgeln von St. Georg in Nördlingen“, in Historischer Verein für Nördlingen und das Ries 26 (1980), S. 85–117, hier S. 92.

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und 3. Alternatim plus Colla-Parte.52 Die einfachste Option beim Abwechseln zwischen Kantorei und Orgel wäre das gewöhnliche einstimmige Spiel der Orgel, wie man es in der liturgischen Praxis pflegte. Hinweise auf das Wechseln von Gesang und Orgel finden wir etwa in einem einzelnen Blatt, das sich zufällig hinten in einem Stundenbuch aus dem Kloster der Dominikanerinnen in Altenhohenau erhalten hat. Vollkommen unklar ist jedoch, aus welchen Gründen dieser Zettel in das Stundenbuch hineingeraten ist. Dieses Blatt in D-Mbs clm. 2909 aus dem späten 15.  Jahrhundert hält die Anfänge der einzelnen Abschnitte aus dem Te Deum fest und fügt abwechselnd hinzu „Schlagen“ oder „Singen“, am Ende steht „Orgl“ und „Singen“. Auf den ersten Blick bestätigt sich hier die übliche Alternatim-Praxis, die der Forschung spätestens seit Andreas Mielkes Dissertation über die Alternatim-Orgelmesse53 bestens vertraut ist. Es ist hier allerdings absolut merkwürdig, warum diese Zeilen überhaupt notiert werden mussten. Die Aufzeichnung könnte als Hinweis auf die neue Praxis des Alternatim gewertet werden. Das Alternatim ist auch beim Te Deum nicht so kompliziert, dass man dafür eine Anleitung braucht. Für die Singenden die Einteilung festzulegen, war vermutlich nicht nötig, da die Verse des Te Deum bekannt waren. Sinnvoll wird dieser Zettel, wenn man annimmt, es wurde auswendig gespielt oder man legte ein einfaches Choralbuch auf die Orgel, in das man selbst nicht hineinschreiben wollte. Hätte es eine polyphone Fassung für die Orgel gegeben, hätten sich die Wechselstellen allein aus der jeweils unterschiedlichen Notation ergeben. Hier geht es aber nicht um Polyphonie in Gesang und Orgel-Alternatim, sondern um Choralpraxis in einem Kloster, d.h. zur liturgischen Einstimmigkeit der Nonnen fügt sich die Einstimmigkeit des Orgelspiels. Da die Choralmelodien bei höheren Festtagsrängen in der Regel langsamer ausgeführt wurden, boten sie den Organisten die Gelegenheit zu improvisierten Zusatzstimmen. Ab hier bekommen die Qualitäten von Hoforganisten Bedeutung, denn vermutlich konnten diese das besser als ein Organist in einem kleinen Kloster. Wie weit die Improvisationen an das Niveau heranreichen konnten, das in den wenigen Alternatim-Kompositionen Hofhaimers anzutreffen ist, kann allerdings nicht beurteilt werden. Somit ist man bei dem polyphonen Alternatim, wobei sich die mehrstimmig gesungenen Teile des Proprium oder Ordinarium Missae mit mehrstimmig improvisiertem Orgelspiel abwechselten. Und zuletzt ist darüber nachzudenken, ob die Orgel in Gestalt eines Positivs die Sänger durch Colla-Parte-Spiel unterstützt haben könnte. Die Indizien dafür sind ziemlich übersichtlich, vermutlich weil 52 53

Vgl. hierzu außerdem den Beitrag von August Rabe in diesem Band. Andreas Mielke, Untersuchungen zur Alternatim-Orgelmesse, 2 Bde. Kassel u.a. 1996 (Bochumer Arbeiten zur Musikwissenschaft 2).

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man bisher gar nicht danach gesucht hat. Hier aber gewinnt die oben erwähnte Anweisung von König Maximilian an seinen Hoforgelmacher Wolfgang Reichenauer Bedeutung. Im Jahr 1498 wurde dieser erstmals fest angestellt mit dem Ziel, zehn neue Werke für jeweils 700 rheinische Gulden zu fertigen und das „Positif “.54 Aus den Unterlagen ist nicht zu sehen, wohin diese Instrumente gehören sollten. Womöglich kann man darin die Idee erkennen, wenigstens an den Orten im unmittelbaren Herrschaftsbereich über Instrumente mit einem einheitlichen Stimmton zu verfügen. Die Praxis von Orgelbüchern, die nur die einstimmigen Melodien des Chorals enthielten, überdauerte sogar die Reformation. Es sei hierfür auf ein Dokument aus dem 17. Jahrhundert verwiesen, das bis vor kurzem nicht zugänglich war. Der Nürnberger Organist Sigmund Theophil Staden legte im Jahr 1651 für St. Lorenz ein Officium organicum an,55 worin die Tätigkeiten und Pflichten des Organisten beschrieben sind. Obwohl Nürnberg längst der evangelischen Konfession angehörte, blieben die alten Traditionen des Orgel-Alternatim bestehen. Die Anzahl der Anrufungen im Kyrie der Messe reduzierte man auf einen einfachen Wechsel von Chor und Orgel, brachte also nur noch Kyrie gesungen und Kyrie mit Orgel, bevor man zum Christe überging. Aufschlussreich sind nun aber die Angaben zur klanglichen Gestaltung des Orgelspiels. In der Frühmesse hatte er den Introitus „mit dem Ganzen Werkh“ zu schlagen. Dann sang der Chor den Vers. Den Vers hatte der Organist offenbar nochmals „mit dem Ruckpositiv mit starken Registern“ zu spielen. Der Chor wiederholte den Introitus. Anschließend begann der Organist das 1. Kyrie „wider mit dem ganzen Werkh.“ Der Chor hatte das 1. Kyrie Eleison zu singen. Es folgte das Christe mit der Orgel und anschließend mit dem Chor. Gleiches galt für das zweite Kyrie. Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts hatte man demnach das Alternatim reduziert, so dass beim Kyrie nur noch sechs Anrufungen jeweils zuerst mit der Orgel und dann mit dem Chor vorgetragen wurden. Das Gloria in Excelsis Deo stimmte der Priester vor dem Altar an, der Organist folgte mit dem ganzen Werk Et in Terra, dann wieder der Chor mit Gratias agimus. Der Abschnitt Domine Deus sollte „mit andern Registern“ gespielt werden. Da keine weiteren Verse benannt werden, darf wohl ein regelmäßiges Wechseln der Register vermutet werden. Sanctus und Agnus Dei sollten „mit stillen Registern“ geschlagen werden. Ähnlich wie beim Kyrie oder Gloria hielt man es auch beim Magnificat in der Vesper, das der Organist mit dem ganzen Werk 54 55

Vgl. Waldner, Nachrichten über die Musikpflege am Hofe zu Innsbruck (wie Anm. 7), S. 25 und 33f. Kopie in Nürnberg, Landeskirchliches Archiv, VPKV 541. Das Original befand sich bis 2005 in Privatbesitz. Der Verbleib ist seither ungeklärt.

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beginnen, die weiteren Verse aber mit anderen Registern schlagen sollte. Über die Ausführung sagt die Notation nichts aus. Möglicherweise blieb aber mit der Schreibweise auch die Unterscheidung erhalten, an Werktagen lediglich die Melodien, an Tagen mit höherem Rang aber in langsamerer Geschwindigkeit und mit improvisiert hinzugefügten Zusatzstimmen zu spielen. Salve Regina und Ablass Für einen letzten Gedanken möchte ich an dieser Stelle zum Anfang zurückkehren mit der Erwähnung vom Orgelspiel des Paul Hofhaimer zum Salve ­R egina in der Fuggerkapelle von St. Anna in Augsburg. Es lässt sich zeigen, wie das Salve-Singen zur Orgel im späten 15. Jahrhundert in Mode kam. In Windsheim (heute Bad Windsheim) – man hatte Anfang der 1490er Jahre gerade die neue Orgel fertiggestellt –, finden sich bereits bei den ersten Aufstellungen des Organistensolds Einträge zur Pflicht beim Salve Regina die Orgel zu schlagen. Dafür sollte der Organist einen rheinischen Gulden für jedes halbe Jahr erhalten. Die reguläre Bezahlung betrug zwei Gulden pro Quartal, daher kam mit dem Salve-Schlagen in Windsheim ein jährlicher Organistensold von 10 Gulden zusammen.56 Der Zuschlag für das Salve hatte damit zu tun, dass die Kirchen bei jeder Salve-Andacht gute Einnahmen verbuchten, denn für den Besuch einer solchen Salve-Andacht konnte man einen Ablass bekommen. In der nahe gelegenen Reichsstadt Nürnberg sind unterschiedliche Arten von Ablässen bekannt. So konnte für das Engagement beim Bau von Kirchen und ihrer Ausstattung sowie bei der Gestaltung der Liturgie ebenso ein Ablass gewonnen werden wie für Stiftungen an die einzelnen Altäre, an denen die Messen für Verstorbene zu lesen waren. Der am Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts für St. Sebald zuständige Kirchenmeister Sebald Schreyer führte dazu einen Ablasskalender, in dem etwa aufgeführt ist, dass man allein im Monat Januar 29.280 Tage erlassen bekam, wenn man alle erreichbaren Optionen wahrnahm.57 Der Kalender dokumentiert aber auch zahlreiche besondere Gelegenheiten, die ebenfalls zu einem Ablass führten, darunter die Teilnahme am Salve Regina, die die vergleichsweise geringe Anzahl von 260 Tagen einbrachte.58 Aus den Geldzuwendungen für Ablässe und auch für die Mess-Stipendien verfügte der Kirchenmeister von St. Sebald über großzügige Mittel, die eine Finanzierung neuer 56 57

58

Bad Windsheim, Stadtarchiv, Rechnungsbuch St. Kilian G 38, fol. 88v (1492) und fol. 205v (1495). Nürnberg, Stadtarchiv, Cod. man. 214, fols. 1r –18v (um 1490). Hierzu: Karl Schlemmer, Gottesdienst und Frömmigkeit in der Reichsstadt Nürnberg am Vorabend der Reformation, Würzburg 1980, S. 304–313. Ebda., S. 307.

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Kirchendächer ebenso bezahlen ließen wie die Reparatur der beiden Orgeln in den Jahren 1487, 1489 und 1490, was insgesamt einen Betrag von 404 Gulden erforderte.59 Für den Bau der kleinen Orgel hatte die Familie Geuder schon 1447 vom Gesamtpreis, der 550 Gulden betrug, einen Anteil von 150 Gulden übernommen, daher ließ man auf diesem Instrument „alle Samstag von der Gewder wegen slahen vnser frawen messe.“60 Und die Familie erhielt dafür vermutlich wieder einen Ablass. Die mehrfach genannte Kapelle bei St. Anna in Augsburg ließ Jakob Fugger als Grabkapelle für sich und seine beiden Brüder errichten. Die Orgel, von der die gesamte Westwand dominiert wird, darf mit den Darstellungen auf den Flügeltüren als Teil einer auf das Seelenheil des Stifters ausgerichteten Gesamtkonzeption gewertet werden, in der liturgischer Gesang und die Musik insgesamt einen zentralen Platz einnehmen. Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte.

59 60

D-Ngm 2° Merkel Hs 1122, fols. 211v –212v und fols. 218v –219 v. Nürnberg, Staatsarchiv, Rep. 59 Salbuch 1, fol. 92r.

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‘SINGING INTO THE ORGAN’: ON THE USE OF THE ORGAN IN ALTERNATIM PERFORMANCE IN HENRICUS ISAAC’S TIME

I. Traces of alternatim practice: composed versets and ‘organ books’ A set of four partbooks at the Austrian National Library in Vienna (A-Wn Mus. Hs. 18745) contains several settings of the mass ordinary by Henricus Isaac with the inscription ad organum (see Fig. 1). These books contain texted versets in mensural notation. William Mahrt established that the indication ad organum applies to those sections that are not notated.1 The description ad organum may reflect the fact that these manuscripts were written by the professional organist Bernhard Rem.2 Here the organ plays every other verse, in alternation with the choir.3 The performance of the non-notated alternatim parts on the organ is consistent with our current knowledge of performance practice on the organ. One of the primary duties of organists during Isaac’s time was ­playing

*

1 2 3

I am indebted to Grantley McDonald for translating this paper including all quotations (except when stated otherwise). My gratitude goes to the colleagues of the ‘Common hour – Early Music Forum’ of the University of Vienna and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna for their helpful comments and feedback on an earlier version of this paper. William P. Mahrt, ‘The “Missae ad Organum” of Heinrich Isaac’, PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1969. Joshua Rifkin, ‘Jean Michel and “Lucas Wagenrieder”: Some New Findings’, in TVNM 55 (2005), 113–52. For a detailed account of alternatim practice, including a list of the parts of the liturgy that were usually taken by the organ, see Mahrt, Missae ad Organum; as well as id., ‘The Choralis Constantinus and the organ’, in Heinrich Isaac and Polyphony for the Proper of the Mass in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, ed. David J. Burn and Stefan Gasch, Épitome musical (Turnhout, 2011), 141–56; and Andreas Mielke, Untersuchungen zur Alternatim-­ Orgelmesse, Bochumer Arbeiten zur Musikwissenschaft 2, 2 vols. (Kassel, etc., 1996).

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Fig. 1: A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18745, tenor partbook, fol. 66 r

versets during the liturgy.4 The personnel involved and the circumstances of performance could lead to various performance practices. Besides playing monophonically, it is possible that players performed intabulations or specially composed versets. Furthermore, considerable variation presumably existed in the realisation of alternatim practices from place to place, and according to the solemnity of the occasion. Several possible variants must be considered: choir alternating with organ; the choir singing in monophony or polyphony; the participation of other instruments;5 or of other groups of musicians.6 But what exactly did the organists play? Before the sixteenth century, only isolated movements are preserved.7 However, beginning from the early six4

5 6

7

This is attested in numerous sources, such as employment contracts, liturgical orders, account books or contemporary accounts. See for example the contracts for organists in Ingeborg Rücker, Die deutsche Orgel am Oberrhein um 1500 (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1940), 163–8; and Franz Körndle, ‘Neue Berufe im späten Mittelalter: Orgelmacher und ­Organist’, in Der Kirchenmusiker: Berufe, Institutionen, Wirkungsfelder, ed. Franz Körndle, ­Joachim Kremer, and Matthias Schneider, Enzyklopädie der Kirchenmusik 3 (Laaber, 2015), 123–37, at 135–6. Cf. Markus Grassl’s chapter in the present book. Therese Bruggisser-Lanker, ‘Musik und Liturgie im Kloster St. Gallen in Spätmittelalter und Renaissance’, PhD thesis, University of Bern, 2004, 177–83, describes the various practices in the monastery of St Gallen (Switzerland). Listed in Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse (see n. 3), 185–9.

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teenth century we find more extensive sources with notated versets. The largest collections are the following: 1. the versets of Hans Buchner;8 2. the printed editions of Pierre Attaingnant and Girolamo Cavazzoni;9 3. the manuscripts from Castell’Arquato;10 4. the tablatures of Fridolin Sicher,11 Jan of Lublin12 and Leonhard Kleber.13 Significantly, none of the organ versets listed above can be associated with extant vocal versets. However, in some of the codices in the abbey library in St Gallen, versets for organ and polyphonic versets for the chorus are copied in alternation.14 The modest number of extant verset compositions is difficult to square with the documentary evidence concerning the frequent practice of alternatim organ playing from the eleventh century onwards.15 A plausible 8

These are transmitted in three sources (CH-Bu F I 8a, CH-Zz 284a, CH-Zz 284b), which were all written by Christoph Piperinus. On the problems presented by these sources and the question of authorship, see August Valentin Rabe, ‘Hans Buchners Fundamentum? Vorschläge für eine historiographische Neubewertung’, in AMl 90 (2018), 121–148. 9 Pierre Attaingnant, Tabulature pour le jeu D orgues | Espinetes et Manicordions sur le plain chant de Cunctipotens et | Kyrie fons. Avec leurs Et in terra. Patrem. Sanctus et Agnus dei (Paris: Pierre Attaingnant, [1531]) (Brown  15315), cf. Daniel Heartz, Pierre Attaingnant, royal printer of music: A historical study and bibliographical catalogue (Berkeley, CA, 1969), 239. Girolamo Cavazzoni, Intavolatura cioè recercari, canzoni, himni, Magnificat […] libro primo (Venice: n.p., 1543) (RISM A/I C 1571). Id., Intabulatura d’organo, cioè misse, himni, Magnificat […] libro secondo (Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1543) (RISM A/I C 1572). Id., Il primo libro de intabolatura d’organo dove si contiene tre messe […] libro primo (Venice: Antonio Gardano, [after 1543]) (RISM A/I C 1573). 10 Cf. Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse (see n. 3), 116–7. 11 CH-SGs Cod. Sang. 530; most of this manuscript was copied between 1512 and 1521, as argued in Die Orgeltabulatur des Fridolin Sicher, (St. Gallen, Codex 530), ed. Hans Joachim Marx, Tabulaturen des XVI. Jahrhunderts 3 (Winterthur, 1992). 12 PL-Kp MS 1716; this manuscript was written over an extended period before 1548; see Jan z Lublina, Tabulatura Joannis de Lublin: Ad faciendum cantum choralem fundamentum ad facien­ dam correcturam, ed. and translated into Polish by Elżbieta Witkowska-Zaremba, English translations of the treatises by Anna Maria Busse Berger, Monumenta musicae in Polonia, Seria C, Tractatus de musica [3] (Warszawa, 2015), 29–30. 13 D-Bim Mus. 40026; this manuscript was written between 1521 and 1524; see Manfred Schuler, ‘Kleber, Leonhard’, in GMO, (accessed 08 October 2018). 14 CH-SGs Codd. Sang. 542 and 543, copied and illuminated in 1562 and 1564 respectively, contain four-voice movements for mass and vespers by Barbarini Lupus, intended by alternatim performance. The music is based on the tenor, which is written in chant notation, and which sounds in equal note values. The other voices, which are written in choirbook format, are free-composed. Rubrics indicate which parts are to be taken by the organ or chorus. See the detailed discussion in Bruggisser-Lanker, ‘Musik und Liturgie’ (see n. 6). 15 Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse (see n. 3), 29.

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e­ xplanation for this is the assumption that organists usually did not write down what they played in alternatim practice. Rather, the ‘organ books’ show that players usually worked from monophonic chant books,16 which allowed them to improvise a polyphonic version of the chant (see Fig. 2).17 Accordingly, the extant manuals on the instruction of organists all place primary importance on ‘[…] learning counterpoint, and improvising over chant or other material.’ (‘[…] das contrapunckt zu lernen, und ad placitum hin zu spilen uff kor gesang oder sunst.’)18 In alternatim performance, written and unwritten practices intermingle. Since contemporary sources fail to treat the subject in its entirety, the following comments will constitute a series of approaches to the topic. We will investigate what organists played when realising the chant neither monophonically nor in the form of specially composed or intabulated versets. Previous research has not yet investigated the question of the concrete realisation of this practice, nor has it dared to make firm pronouncements about the manner, shape or the aesthetic conception of non-written alternatim practice on the organ.19 Accordingly, here we shall explain the function of the organ in alternatim practice. We shall then analyse composed versets intended for organ alternating with a chorus singing polyphony, which could provide information about organ practices. Furthermore, contrapuntal techniques are presented, that could be 16

17

18 19

‘Organ books’ here mean monophonic liturgical books intended to be used by the organist; these are listed by Leo Söhner, Die Geschichte der Begleitung des gregorianischen Chorals in Deutschland, vornehmlich im 18. Jahrhundert, Veröffentlichungen der gregorianischen Akademie zu Freiburg (Schweiz) 16 (Augsburg, 1931). Franz Körndle supplemented Söhner’s list in his paper “What is an Organ Book?” presented at the Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference in Sheffield, 08 July 2016. Magnus Williamson adds a further 13 English sources for the period 1465–1547, see Magnus Williamson, ‘English organ music, 1350– 1550. A study of sources and contexts’, in Studies in English Organ Music, ed. Iain Quinn (New York, 2018), 97–121, at 102–103. Unlike Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse, 274–5, Körndle argues that the organist played the chant monophonically. As a documentary evidence, however, he refers to Hugo van der Goes’ Trinity Altarpiece (today preserved in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh) which shows an angel playing the organ. Cf. Franz Körndle, ‘Orgelmusik’, in Von den Anfängen bis zum Reformationsjahrhundert, ed. Matthias Schneider and Christoph Krummacher, Enzyklopädie der Kirchenmusik 1, Geschichte der Kirchenmusik, Teilbd. 1 (Laaber, 2011), 190–9, at 193. Sebastian Virdung, Musica getutscht und ausgezogen (Basel: Michael Furter, 1511) (vdm 3), sig. D4v. The desirability of such a study is revealed by Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse (see n. 3), Bruggisser-Lanker, ‘Musik und Liturgie’ (see n. 6), 172; and Christiane Wiesenfeldt, Majestas Mariae: Studien zu marianischen Choralordinarien des 16. Jahrhunderts, Beihefte zum Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 70 (Stuttgart, 2012), 135, who all assume that versets were ‘improvised’ on the basis of the chant.

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Fig. 2: D-Mu 4° Cod. ms. 168 (c.1517), fols. 82v –83r The organ book was written by Bernhard Rem, who also copied A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18745.

employed on the organ when it alternated with a choir singing monophony. Finally, early texts that praise or disparage organists illuminate the ways in which contemporaries experienced and evaluated alternatim organ playing. II. ‘Singing into the organ’: the liturgical use of organ and choir In the late Middle Ages, antiphonal song was interpreted as an image of heavenly choirs of angels. Here, organ and singers were interpreted as equal partners in the liturgy.20 The organ, with its manifold timbres and its appearance, was intended both to add to the beauty of the liturgy and to give the singers support and occasional relief.21 Organ and singing were together treated as a unity in the performance of chant. This is clear in linguistic usage. Even as 20

21

Several studies have explored the symbolism and function of the organ. See for example Georg Rietschel, Die Aufgabe der Orgel im Gottesdienste bis in das 18. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1892), 6–18; Edmund A. Bowles, ‘The Symbolism of the Organ in the Middle Ages: A Study in the History of Ideas’, in Aspects of Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Birthday Offering to Gustave Reese, ed. Jan LaRue, Festschrift series 2 (New York 1966, Reprint 1978), 27–39; Mielke, Alternatim-Orgelmesse (see n. 3), 39–42. According to Arnolt Schlick, the organ was ‘customarily used in church to the praise of God, assistance in the singing of chant, and exciting the human mind from tedium’ (‘Pfleglich in kirchen züm lob gottes / erleichterung Chorgesangs / vnd erquickung menschlichs gemuts vnd verdruß / gebraucht’); see Arnolt Schlick, Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (Speyer: Peter Drach III., 1511) (VD16 S 3012), sig. A iv.

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late as Isaac’s time, the Latin word organum could refer either to the instrument or to a piece for two voices, in distinction to cantus planus. Likewise, organista could mean either an organist or a singer of a piece of organum.22 In German, we encounter expressions such as ‘organ singer’ (‘Orgelsenger’), ‘singing into the organ’ (‘in die Orgel singen’) or ‘to make the organ sing’ (‘die Orgel besingen’).23 The German word Stimme can still refer either to the human voice or to an organ stop.24 This association is made even deeper in comparisons between the organ and the human body, as attested by Conrad von Zabern, Hermann Finck and Michael Praetorius.25 Critics never ceased to complain that the text couldn’t be heard in organ versets. But since the content of the text was transported through the chant, purely instrumental performance was legitimated.26 Thus Jan of Lublin warned that those playing chant on the organ should observe the rules of grammar and word accent.27 We can thus assume a conceptual unity of organ and singing in the liturgy, in which both declaim the word of God as equal parties. Numerous written sources attest to the musical outcomes of the conceptual unity of the parties in alternatim practice. Arnolt Schlick opened his 1511 treatise Mirror of organ makers and organists (Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten) with instructions for the ideal layout of an organ. Ideally, this should facilitate communication between the parties that work together in the liturgy: 22

Generally on these terms, see Fritz Reckow, ‘Organum’, in HMT, ed. Hans H. Eggebrecht (1973), 1–12. Examples for the use of the term organum in the sense of a piece for two voices in Isaac’s time, see Bartolome Ramos de Pareja, Musica practica Bartolomei Rami de Pareia Bononiae, impressa opere et industria ac expensis magistri Baltasaris de Hiriberia MCCC­ CLXXXII: Nach den Originaldrucken des Liceo musicale mit Genehmigung der Commune von Bologna, ed. Johannes Wolf (Leipzig, 1901), 4. 23 See for example the expressions used in Hans Buchner’s employment contract, ed. in Ernst v. Werra, ‘Johann Buchner (1483–circa 1540)’, in KmJb 10 (1895), 88–92, at 90. 24 See for example Johannes Schentzer’s contract to build the organ at St Gallen in 1511; cf. Rücker, Orgel am Oberrhein (see n. 4), 123. 25 Conrad von Zabern, ‘De modo bene cantandi’, in Die Musiktraktate Conrads von Zabern, ed. Karl-Werner Gümpel, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz / Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Klasse: Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse 1956, 4 (Wiesbaden, 1956), 261–82, at 277–8; Hermann Finck, Practica musica (Wittenberg: heirs of Georg Rhau, 1556) (VD16 ZV 5843), sig. Ssiijr; Michael ­Praetorius, Syntagmatis Musici Tomus Secundus. De Organographia, Syntagma Musicum 2 (Wolfenbüttel: Elias Holwein, 1619) (VD17 3:315037M), 86–7. 26 The opposed positions are exemplified in late sixteenth-Century debates about church music; see Grantley McDonald, ‘The Debate over Church Music between Jacob Andreae and Théodore de Bèze at the Colloquy of Montbéliard (1586)’, in French Renaissance Music and Beyond: Studies in Memory of Frank Dobbins, ed. Marie-Alexis Colin and Iain Fenlon (Turnhout, 2018): 455–79, at 474. 27 Lublina/Witkowska-Zaremba/Berger, Ad faciendum cantum choralem (see n. 12), 109–11.

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One should know where to place the organ so that it can be heard well throughout the whole church. It should not be too far from the choir, as can be observed in some large churches. In such cases, the singers can hardly hear whether the organist is playing the plainsong or something else, unless he is playing with all the stops. Likewise the organist can hardly perceive or hear what the priest is singing at the altar, or when he is supposed to play once the singing has stopped.28

Conrad von Zabern, author of De modo bene cantandi cantum choralem (How to sing plainsong well, 1474), the most important treatise on the practice of singing and chant during Isaac’s time, describes how to coordinate alternatim groups. He particularly censured faulty transitions between sections that belong together, since their texts constitute parts of a single unit: Another example of unsophisticated singing consists in beginning sections that belong together in such a way that there is no connection between them, especially when this connection may be preserved with no inconvenience to the choir. For example, a Kyrie should be sung with its assigned Gloria in such a way as to preserve their relationship (correspondenter). For why else is one Gloria assigned to a certain Kyrie in chant books, and other Glorias to other Kyries?29

A contemporary German translation30 shows that the verb correspondere refers both to alternatim singing and to the coordination of different groups performing together, especially in regard to intonation.31 The division of a piece 28

29

30

31

‘Das man warnem wo das werck zü stellen sey / das es an allen örtten der kirchen zimlich gehört werd nit zü ferre von dem chor als man dan in etlichen grossen kirchen findt / das die person so do singen kömerlich hören mögen. ob der organist chorgesang oder anders spill. Nemlich so er […] nit das gantz werck brucht, des gleichen der organist khüm vernemmen oder hören mag den priester an dem altar was er sing, oder wan der gesang auss sey. dar vff dan dem organisten gebürt an zufahen.’ Schlick, Spiegel (see n. 21), sig. b. ‘Alia rusticitas est ea, quae sibi correspondere debent, sine correspondentia incipiendo cantare, maxime ubi et quando commode servari posset correspondentia sine chori gravamine. Gratia exempli Kyrie eleison cum sibi ascripto Gloria in excelsis atque Et in terra debent correspondenter cantari. Cur aliunde isti Kyrie hoc Gloria et aliis alia in libris cantualibus sunt ascripta?’ Cited from Zabern, ‘De modo bene cantandi’ (see n. 25), 278. Other translations are available in Sion M. Honea, ‘Conrad von Zabern. “De Modo Bene Cantandi” (1473) [published 1474]’, in UCO: Historical Translation Series, (accessed 24 May 2019), 1–30, at 16, and Joseph Dyer, ‘Singing with Proper Refinement from “De Modo Bene Cantandi” (1474)’, in EM 6 (1978), 207–27, at 219. ‘DIE ACHT BEURISCH weyße ist, die noten, die sich antworthen vff den angehoben gesang solten, geschiet nit also vnd wirtt der kor beswert. Exempel: Kyrieleyson, Gloria in excelsis, Et in terra pax hominibus Sollen sich gleichen, dem anheber correspondyeren, gleich zu singen, scilicet nach dem letzsten kyrieleyson, nach dem sal er auch eben anheben das gloria in excelsis deo, debet correspondere yn eyner gleycher melodey.’ Cf. Conrad von Zabern, ‘Lere von koe rgesanck’, in Gümpel, Die Musiktraktate (see n. 25), 283–97, at 294. Ibid., 295. Honea interprets this section as referring to the ‘choice of an antiphon and

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into sections or verses should not lead to a degeneration into unrelated pieces. Rather, the sense of the parts of the liturgy must be communicated. This presupposes that all participants are conscious of the function of any given section of text within the overarching liturgical action. Confusion can arise for example through defective intonation, or a lack of coordination in the tempo between sections: This too is a part of singing in measure (mensuraliter): one chorus must conform to the other in its measure. It is disadvantageous if one choir sings more quickly than the other, or draws out the measure in singing, when they are singing antiphonally or alternatim a piece divided into verses, such as a hymn or sequence, a Gloria or some such, especially when the organ is not being played.32

The groups in alternatim practice, whether with or without organ, must therefore listen carefully to each other, and adapt their tempo accordingly. Conrad’s exhortation to sing ‘with differentiation’ (differentialiter cantare) indicates that the choice of correct tempo is significant. He indicates that the tempo should be adjusted according to the degree of solemnity of the occasion: The fourth detail is singing with differentiation, that is, performing the chant according to the requirements of the season and the distinctions between ceremonies. Firstly it should be done in such a way that at great feasts the singing is done in a very drawn-out fashion; on Sundays in ordinary time and minor feasts, a moderate tempo should be observed; on weekdays, a faster tempo should be kept.33

Likewise, the musical expression should correspond to the liturgical solemnity, and should be shaped according to the feast: Likewise, one should sing in a differentiated way, such that a requiem mass, its vigil and its vespers should be sung in a lower voice and less joyfully than other services that have nothing to do specifically with the dead. Likewise, services

32

33

matching psalm tone for the recitation of the psalm […]’, see Sion M. Honea, ‘Conrad von Zabern’s “De modo bene cantandi” and Early Choral Pedagogy’, in The Choral Jour­ nal 57 (2017), 6–16, at 10. ‘Item etiam hoc pertinet ad cantandum mensuraliter, quod unus chorus alteri se conformet in mensura. Non enim expedit, quod unus chorus plus alio festinet aut prolixiorem mensuram servet in cantando, quando vicissim sive alternatim aliquid cantant per versus; ut hymnum vel sequentiam, Et in terra et alia huiusmodi, praesertim dum non luditur in organis.’ Cf. Zabern, ‘De modo bene cantandi’ (see n. 25), 267. ‘Differentialiter cantare, quod est quartum, est iuxta temporum exigentiam et officiorum differentiam cantum perficere primo hoc modo, ut in magnis festivitatibus valde tractim cantetur, in dominicis vero simplicibus et parvis festis mediocris mensura et in feriis ­brevior servetur.’ Ibid., 268.

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celebrating happy or joyful subjects should be sung more joyfully than a service for sinners, for tribulations or the like.34

Precisely the same requirement of a differentiated style of rendering the chant is found in the contracts of the organists Valentin Negelin and Melchior ­Högger in 1505 and 1515 respectively.35 Both were required to adjust the tempo, registration and musical expression of their playing according to the feast. Such examples, by relating to various facets of alternatim practice, contribute details that fill in a more complete picture. They show that the musical contribution of the alternating groups was adapted to the liturgical ceremonial, from the placement in the space to details of performance practice. The content of the liturgical texts is decisive for the musical realisation of the solemnity. The enunciation of this content was considered a collective activity of all participants, who coordinated with each another, agreed amongst themselves and reacted to each other. There was evidently no express hierarchy amongst the roles, for example a privileging of the voices over the instruments, or polyphony over monophony.36 Rather, these general principles of alternatim practice are valid regardless of the specific circumstances of the arrangement of the choirs, and independent of a specific repertoire. The passages cited are thus of great interest for performance practice in our time. III. Analysis of extant verset compositions The foregoing discussions have shown that the organ and chorus interacted closely with each other in alternatim performance. The manner in which the organist plays – whether partially or entirely independent of written notation, and thus arising in the moment – is thus determined largely by the way in which the chorus performs the chant. The choir could perform the chant either monophonically or polyphonically. 34

35

36

‘Item sic differentialiter, ut officium defunctorum, tam missae quam vigiliarum aut vesperarum, bassius cantetur et minus iucunde quam alia officia defunctos non specialiter concernentia. Item officia de iucundis vel gaudiosis materiis iucundius cantari debent quam officium pro peccatis vel pro tribulatione et aliis huiusmodi.’ Ibid., 269. See also Zabern, ‘Lere von koergesanck’, in Gümpel, Die Musiktraktate (see n. 25), 283–97, 288. Cf. Franz Körndle, ‘Usus organorum, & horum sonus. Anmerkungen zum Gebrauch der Kirchenorgel um 1500’, in BJbHM 29 (2005), 93–108, at 100–1. The contracts are reprinted in full in Rücker, Orgel am Oberrhein (see n. 4), 165–7. The distribution of the verses in Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus provides further evidence: Isaac’s polyphonic pieces always begin with the second verse, while the beginning is left to the other alternatim group or the organ; cf. Mahrt, ‘Choralis Constantinus’ (see n. 3), 143.

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Here we shall analyse composed versets by Henricus Isaac, Hans Buchner and Clemens Hör, in order to extract information about alternatim practice between an organ and a choir singing polyphony. We shall then examine techniques appropriate for working out a cantus firmus in polyphony on the organ. These techniques can be used when alternating with a choir which is singing either monophonically or polyphonically. Hans Buchner and Henricus Isaac Hans Buchner was appointed in 1506 as organist at Our Lady’s cathedral in Constance. Henricus Isaac visited this city several times, and was commissioned by the cathedral chapter to write a series of polyphonic propers for the major feast days, propers that later were included in the three-volume set of the so-called Choralis Constantinus (RISM A/I I 89–91).37 It is highly likely that the two men knew each other. Since we do not usually know the vocal counterparts to surviving instrumental versets, an examination of selected works by these composers thus may permit us to draw conclusions about the relationship between vocal and instrumental versets.38 The sequences allow good opportunities for comparison. Versets by Buchner for the feasts of Christmas, Pentecost and Assumption are extant. Buchner’s versets and the corresponding sections of Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus provide a rare example of settings that fit together in several respects. To begin, the verses are arranged in such a way that the chorus sings odd verses, and the organ plays even verses.39 Secondly, the chant is set at the same pitch in both versions, transposed either at the fourth or fifth away from the version in the Graduale Pataviense.40 By contrast, the organ versets by Jan of Lublin cannot be performed with Isaac’s choral versets, since the distribution of the verses is incompatible.41 Let us take as an example the sequence Congaudent angelorum chori, for the feast of the Assumption. In the manuscript containing the organ versets, annotations draw attention to certain contrapuntal techniques. For example, on p. 120 there are two such annotations. On the top of the page is written, ‘the chant is in the tenor’ (Choral in ten[ore]). Below is the inscription, ‘the chant is in the bass and alto, in canon 37 38

39 40 41

For a survey of the complex research history see David J. Rothenberg, ‘Isaac’s Unfinished Imperial Cycle: A New Hypothesis’ in Burn/Gasch, Isaac and Polyphony (see n. 3), 125–140. On the relationship between the Choralis Constantinus and liturgical organ playing more generally, and to Hans Buchner in particular, see Mahrt, ‘Choralis Constantinus’ (see n. 3). Cf. the overview in ibid., 152. Graduale Pataviense (Wien: Johann Winterburger, 1511) ( VD16 G 2728). PL-Kp MS 1716, fols. 133r –137r.

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at the fifth’ (Choral in bass[o] et alto, in quinta fugat) (see Fig. 3). These comments reveal an important compositional principle: in each verset, Buchner explores a different compositional idea. Moreover, the chant and its melodic potential characteristically form the basis for the composition.42 A close attention to the text may also be observed: the verses of the chant are always divided into sections according to the meaning of the text. Thus we observe the adherence to a rule stated explicitly in Jan of Lublin’s treatise How to make plainsong (Ad faciendum cantum choralem): One needs to know where one should create cadences over a chant melody in its course, in such a way that there, where in the verbal text of a given melody falls a punctuation clause, there, precisely in this place of the verbal clause one should place a cadence […]. In every piece, one should pay attention to the syntax, but [what is at stake here is] the place of verbal expression in each song according to the rules of grammar.43

Jan of Lublin emphasises the importance of observing the rules of grammar and thus the sense of the words. The instrumental versets of both Buchner and Jan of Lublin set both the chant melody and the chant text, and thus recall the concept of antiphonal performance, in which the content of the chant is present with a different appearance. This corresponds to the texted chant section, that is set in three parts in the Basel Fundamentum44 – in distinction to the vocal piece, which is intabulated without text.45 This manner of treating the text and the corresponding contrapuntal technique represents a bridge to Isaac’s compositional technique. In Isaac’s versets for the sequence Congaudent angelorum chori, each verse is likewise formed in a different way. Here, one could also summarise the contrapuntal idea in a single sentence. In the printed edition, this happens 42

43

44

45

Jost H. Schmidt, ‘Johannes Buchner, Leben und Werk: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der liturgischen Orgelmusik des späten Mittelalters’, PhD thesis, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1957, 61. ‘Sciat, ubi conclusiones faciendae sunt super cantum intermedium, eo modo, ut ubi venerit alicuius cantus clausulatio textus, tunc ibi ponatur conclusion in illo loco clausulationis textus, ut patet in cantu Veni, Sancte Spiritus: hic prima conclusio potest esse. Alia conclusio potest esse in illo verbo fidelium. Tercia potest esse in illa sententia ignem accende. Quarta potest esse in illa sententia linguarum cunctarum, ultima in fine alleluia. Ad omnem vero cantum sententiosa clausulatio verborum est attendenda, sed sententia verborum secundum regulas grammaticales in omni cantu posita.’ Lublina/Witkowska-Zaremba/ Berger, Ad faciendum cantum choralem (see n. 12), 108–9. The Fundamentum transmitted in CH-Bu F I 8a is normally attributed to Hans Buchner. However, in view of the highly questionable authorship, I refer to it here more neutrally as the ‘Basel Fundamentum’. Cf. Rabe, ‘Hans Buchners Fundamentum?’ (see n. 8). Hans Buchner. Sämtliche Orgelwerke: Fundamentum und Kompositionen der Handschrift Basel F I 8a, ed. Jost Harro Schmidt, EdM 54 (Frankfurt am Main, 1974), 22.

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Fig. 3: Hans Buchner, Sequence Congaudent angelorum chori, Ch-Bu F I 8a, p. 120

Fig. 4: Henricus Isaac, Sequence Congaudent angelorum chori. Choralis Constantinus. Tomus 2 (­Nuremberg, 1555), tenor partbook, sig. I3r

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in part in the form of canonic inscriptions. For example, in the tenor partbook of the printed edition of the Choralis Constantinus, we read, ‘Quae sine in the discant in double time’ (Quae sine in discanto in duplo) (see Fig. 4). Isaac and Buchner thus proceed in very similar ways, and occasionally come to quite similar results, as in the two succeeding verses of the Pentecost sequence Sancti spiritus assit nobis gratia (see Appendix A for all the musical examples). Isaac sets verse 18 (Tu divisum per linguas), and Buchner verse 19 (Ido­ latras ad cultum). Both set the cantus firmus in an unusual way: rhythmicised in equal breves in the tenor, without any rests. This verset is the only example of such a treatment of the cantus firmus in Buchner’s extant works.46 As a result, the settings of each verse are approximately the same length. A further similarity may be observed in the active contrapuntal voices surrounding the cantus firmus: they are written mainly in parallel, and imitate each other in the form of a decorated rising fifth. Moreover, the composers harmonise the notes of the chant in a similar way, as is exemplified in the pendulum movement of the bass at the words ‘et ritus’ (mm. 8–12 in Isaac, mm. 10–13 in Buchner). The two versets of Isaac and Buchner – even if it was not intended by the composers – show how alternatim groups might be united on the compositional level. In practice, such unity and equally high quality might probably not often be achieved, especially by less highly skilled musicians. Clemens Hör’s versets for Henricus Isaac’s Missa Paschale (i) Besides the versets of Isaac and Buchner, which show many affinities on the compositional level, a further source provides insights into the conception of alternatim versets in connection with works by Isaac. About 1553, Clemens Hör, schoolmaster in St Gallen, composed organ versets to complement Isaac’s Missa paschale (i).47 Hör, known to musicologists for a collection of pieces in organ tablature added to a medical treatise, was – to judge from these pieces – not a professional organist.48 No further pieces by Hör are known. In the dedication in the tenor partbook to Johannes Frisius, Hör wrote: After I had practised and tried the art of composition for a while, I undertook (amongst other things) to compose a setting of the mass for Easter, since I always found the melody joyful, happy and lovely, […] as a special exercise in setting 46 47

48

Schmidt, ‘Buchner, Leben und Werk’ (see n. 42), 68. Hör copied these pieces, besides others, into five (perhaps six) partbooks (now CH-Zz Ms. Car. V 169a–d), which he gave to his friend, the pedagogue Johannes Frisius. At present, at least the Altus partbook is missing. Hans J. Marx, ‘Schreiber und Datierung’, in Die Orgeltabulatur des Clemens Hör: Teil 2, ed. Hans J. Marx, Tabulaturen des XVI. Jahrhunderts 2 (Kassel, etc., 1970), 50–1.

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Fig. 5: Clemens Hör: Dedication to Johannes Frisius, CH-Zz MS Car. V 169a, fol. 3r

chant, especially also because I mixed it with Henricus Isaac’s composed setting of these chants. In places, where chant is to be organised, I composed [the versets]. In places, where the chorus replies, I inserted Henricus Isaac’s composition, or at least as much of it as I have received, […] to complete it, […] 49

It is hard to decide whether Hör’s phrase ‘chant is to be organised’ refers to monophonic chant, improvised vocal polyphony or polyphonic organ playing. But it is clear that Hör intended to complete Isaac’s mass in such a way as to produce a result that was acoustically as homogeneous as possible. He intended that the mass should be ‘complete’. Moreover, an analysis of the versets shows that Hör also strove to construct each movement according to one compositional idea. For example, in Kyrie I, elements of the chant melody are shared equally amongst all the voices and subject to pervasive imitation. The Kyrie II is taken over from Isaac exactly.50 In the Kyrie III, the tenor is oriented strong49

50

‘[…] nach dem und ich mich ain zeyt har etwas in Componieren geübt und versucht, hab ich och under anderem für mich genomen Missam in Tempore Pascali zu Componieren, von wegen das sy mich alweg ain fröliche lustige liepliche Melodey bedunckt hat, […] sonderlich zu ainer Choralischen Übung, fürnemlich och darumb, das ich Hainrici Isacs gsang hiehar dienende Compositzion darunder vermist hab, solcher ordnung, was Choral organisiert, denselben hab ich fürnemlich componiert, darnach was Chorus respondiert, hab ich des Hainrici Isaacs compositz, so vil ich desse bekomen hab, hie ingesetzt, […] damit es gantz werd, […].’ CH-Zz Ms. Car. V 169a, fols. 3r –4 r. My thanks to Edith Kapeller for correcting my transcription. In Hör’s copy, several of Isaac’s versets are written with the same pitches as in other sour-

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ly towards the chant, while the remaining voices perform a free counterpoint, repeatedly taking elements of the tenor voice as the basis of imitation. After Isaac’s Christe I, Hör begins the Christe II with a pre-imitation, before introducing the chant in the discantus. The final section of chant is treated to canonic treatment in tenor and discantus, followed by a concluding section with passages in parallel tenths. The Christe III is again taken over from Isaac. ***

The analysis of composed instrumental versets in relation to their vocal counterparts suggests several conclusions. The concept of the unity of choir and organ, as revealed by the liturgical context and in written records of musical practice, seems to be confirmed in relation to compositional technique in Isaac’s environment, at least regarding the few documents we have. Choir and organ perform versets of approximately the same duration, and each movement presents a new compositional idea. On the basis of the material presented, one might imagine that an organist alternating with a choir singing in polyphony oriented his own approach along the lines of the contrapuntal technique used in the vocal polyphony, and attempted as far as possible to create a homogeneous unity. Of course that does not mean that contrast was impossible. The sound of the organ created a natural contrast with the human voice; the use of different registrations, as far as these were technically possible on the instrument, allowed further differentiation. Schlick’s detailed discussion of the ideal disposition of the organ is instructive in this matter. He demanded that each register should be of such a character that it could be used alone, and be well suited for combination with others.51 Despite similarities in compositional technique, acoustic contrast could be created by highlighting a solo line, playing on several manuals, or even effects such as polyphonic playing of the pedals. Not long after Isaac’s death, a new organ was inaugurated at Constance, with two manuals and pedal, with thirty-one stops, including timpani and bird-song; further variety was made possible by the fact that the stops were divided into

51

ces, but with different mensurations. It is possible that Hör had access to now lost sources of Isaac’s music. He might also have changed the mensuration with a specific purpose, as did the editors of the Choralis Constantinus. In particular Johannes Ott and Sebald Heyden changed mensuration and proportion signs to make the notation fit Heyden’s theory. See Ruth I. DeFord, ‘Who Devised the Proportional Notation in Isaac’s “Choralis Constantinus?”’ in Burn/Gasch, Isaac and Polyphony (see n. 3), 167–213. ‘It is also good if the stops can all be pushed in [i.e. as opposed to a Blockwerk organ], so that the organist can let each register be heard in turn, as he or others wish.’ (‘Auch ist gut die register all ab zü ziehen das der organist gleich register allein eins noch dem andern hörn mag lassen. wie ym oder andern geliept.’) Schlick, Spiegel (see n. 21), fol. 11.

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left- and right-hand. Since Buchner was involved in the planning, it is likely that the sonic variety corresponded to his wishes, and was employed during services.52 The organist could be expected to employ a registration ­appropriate to the needs of the liturgy and the demands of the counterpoint and text. IV. Polyphonic realization of chant While an organist alternating with a choir singing in polyphony could orient himself consistently to the structure of this polyphony, or distinguish himself from it, he found himself in quite a different position when alternating with monophonic chant. The organist can also play the chant monophonically, or accompany it polyphonically. In such a case, the organ had an acoustic advantage, and would probably play considerably longer than the choir sang. The organist would have had considerably more freedom, and accordingly the result would have depended to a large degree on his competence, or lack of it. An organist of the ability of Hans Buchner or Arnolt Schlick could produce polyphony on the organ that was totally equal to vocal polyphony. It is less certain how well an average organist at a lesser church might have realised the chant. To answer this question, we shall examine techniques described in didactic works that could also be used in alternation with a choir singing polyphony. Parallel settings: Arnolt Schlick’s settings of Gaude dei genitrix In about 1520, Arnolt Schlick wrote a cycle of eight settings of Gaude dei ge­ nitrix, the ninth strophe of the Christmas sequence Natus ante saecula.53 Dedicating this work to Bernhard von Cles, Bishop of Trent, Schlick wrote: Therefore, gracious lord, I have decided to send also to your princely grace, as a particular admirer of music […] and to honor the Mother of God, something from the same music, in my opinion new and previously unheard, upon a verse of the prose or sequence of our Dear Lady for this general rejoicing. This verse I have set eight times, but no verse is like the others. Rather, each one has a different kind of counterpoint, and for each composition I have made and found a particular rule. There are certain rules for easily setting any chant melody in this fashion.54 52

53 54

Cf. the reconstruction of the specifications of the Schentzer organ, built 1516–1520, in Rücker, Orgel am Oberrhein (see n. 4), 61–4. Praetorius still praised this organ a hundred years later; see Praetorius, Syntagma II (see n. 25), 161–2. I-TRa Sezione tedesca, Nr. 105. This source was uncovered in 1949. However, the settings are largely overshadowed by the spectacular ten-voice piece Ascendo ad patrem meum. Translation adapted from Stephen M. Keyl, ‘Arnolt Schlick and instrumental music circa 1500’, PhD thesis, Duke University, 1989, 420. The German original reads: ‘Hierumb

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A little later, Schlick writes: In all of this I have not worked and applied myself for the sake of my own fame or reputation, but so that I may give occasion to those who in music are higher than their brethren to bring to fruition something more artful, better, and greater in the practice of music […], and that they may be encouraged to study and strive, in the hope of learning something further of use from it.55

This sequence strophe clearly derives from alternatim practice, but in these eight versions it is not suitable for liturgical use. Only a setting of all the required strophes of the sequence would render it so. Rather, Schlick pursues an explicitly didactic purpose, and displays his own capabilities as a composer. This is evident in his manner of presenting his work not in tablature, but in mensural notation (see Fig. 6).56 With the formulation ‘certain rules for easily setting any chant melody’, Schlick indicates that his settings are models for setting any cantus firmus polyphonically. This cycle thus provides more general information about alternatim practice on the organ. In all eight versets, the cantus firmus is set in equal note values. This approach creates the greatest degree of predictability, which is helpful for improvisation. This technique is also used for group improvisation.57 Schlick begins his cycle with a movement that employs movement in tenths. The cantus firmus is set in the tenor; an added free voice is doubled at the tenth. This illustrates a famous contrapuntal model that is described often in counterpoint treatises, for example in the Micrologus of Andreas Vogelsang (Ornitoparchus), published three years before Schlick wrote his cycle.58 Vogelsang

55

56

57 58

gnediger Herr So hab ich gedacht E. Fl. Gn. auch als einem sundern liep habern der music […] news Vor ungehortz ijber ein verss der pross oder sequentz unser lieben frawenn zu disser gemeinen freud. Zu ijberschicken welchen verss ich acht mal gesetzt doch keins dem andern gleich Sunder ijdes mal ander Contrapunct, auch uff ijde Compositz eigen Regel funden und gemacht die do gewiss sein, leichtlich allenn chorgesang uff die art zu setzenn […].’ Cf. Renato Lunelli, ‘Contributi trentini alle relazioni musicali fra l’ltalia e la Germania nel Rinascimento’, AMl (1949), 41–70, at 49. Keyl, ‘Schlick’, 421. ‘In dissem allem hab ich mich nit eignes lobs oder Rumbs halber Bearbeith und befliesen, Sonder allen damit ich den ijenen so der music hochlicher dan verwant sein, Ursach gebenn mocht, das sie Etwas Artlichers Bessers und merers In ijbungenn der music […] uff die Bau zu bringen beflissung und trachtung haben mochten, In Hoffnung auch Etwas Weiters nutz daruss zu Erlernenn […].’ Lunelli, ‘Contributi’, 49. As observed by Keyl, ‘Schlick’, 380. The use of mensural notation led Keyl to doubt whether these pieces are really intended for organ; see his discussion on 382. However, Keyl’s discussion assumes a strict separation between vocal and instrumental music, against which I argue here. See pieces that resemble the practice of sortisatio, and contain a cantus firmus in equal note values; cf. Markus Bandur, ‘Sortisatio’, in HMT, ed. Hans H. Eggebrecht (1972), 1–8. Cf. Keyl, ‘Schlick’ (see n. 54), 383.

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Fig. 6: Arnolt Schlick, Gaude dei genitrix, I-TRa Sezione tedesca Nr. 105, fols. 7v –8r

dedicated the fourth book of his treatise, which describes this contrapuntal model, to Arnolt Schlick.59 Moreover, Schlick shows in his cycle how to set the cantus firmus in tenths, thirds, sixths and fourths, and how to create a free middle voice. Schlick’s arrangement of Gaude dei genitrix offers a panorama of possibilities arising from parallel writing. Markus Grassl has shown how Schlick displays his mastery in the Tabulaturen,60 with the assistance of a repertoire intended for alternatim performance.61 Here too he attempted to present a variety of compositional procedures as well as a didactic approach based on examples. In the performance of non-notated music, clear rules reduce complexity. Schlick’s Gaude dei genitrix shows how an organist can use parallel writing to create polyphony. 59 60 61

Andreas Vogelsang, Musicae activae micrologus (Leipzig: Valentin Schumann, 1517) (vdm 506), sig. k2v. Arnolt Schlick, Tabulaturen Etlicher Lobgesang und Lidlein uff die orgeln vnd Lauten (Mainz: Peter Schöffer the Younger, 1512) (vdm 12). Cf. Markus Grassl, ‘Einige Beobachtungen zu Sebastian Virdung und Arnolt Schlick’, in NiveauNischeNimbus: die Anfänge des Musikdrucks nördlich der Alpen, ed. Birgit Lodes, W ­ iener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 3 (Tutzing, 2010), 245–81, particularly pp. 270–73.

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Imitating models: Jan of Lublin’s Ad faciendum cantum choralem Another important aspect of organ practice during Isaac’s time was the use of imitation. Didactic treatises and descriptions of performances show evidence of this contrapuntal technique. The few extant treatises written around Isaac’s time treat this subject. The Basel Fundamentum contains a table illustrating this principle.62 A little later, Tomás de Santa Maria’s Arte de tañer fantasia (1565) contains a compendium of all conceivable ways of working with imitations;63 but since Santa Maria’s style is quite different, we will not draw on it here. However, the 1540 treatise How to make plainsong (Ad faciendum cantum choralem) by Jan of Lublin is particularly instructive in this regard.64 Jan wrote this work as a pendant to his Fundamentum and devotes six chapters (Necessaria) to the use of imitation in settings of chant. Jan devotes the majority of his treatise to the problem of beginning a piece (primum necessarium). Beside the possibility of beginning all voices together, he preferred staggered entries. Like the Basel Fundamentum, he recommends introducing the cantus firmus last, but preparing its entry in the other voices.65 As the examples show, the fugal subject should be derived from the musical material in the chant. Jan offers rules for managing different opening intervals in the subjects in the various voices, for example, entries in all the voices at the distance of a fifth. However, he maintains a consistent schema, in which one voice begins and the other three enter in turn (see Fig. 7): Another example for the beginning of a chant melody in the discant is found here in the Hymn in Honor of the Apostles, Annue Christe:66

62 Schmidt, Hans Buchner. Orgelwerke (see n. 45), 34. 63 Tomás de Santa Maria, Libro llamado Arte de tañer fantasía (Valladolid: Francisco Fernandez

de Cordova, 1565) (Brown 15655 ).

64 Lublina/Witkowska-Zaremba/Berger, Ad faciendum cantum choralem (see n. 12), 53–126. 65 ‘[…] the voice in which one should play the chant melody begins as the last one after the

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entrance of the other voices […]’ (‘[…] illa vox, in qua cantus choralis planus pulsari debet, ultimo incipiat post alias voces […]’). Ibid., 70–1. Likewise, the Basel Fundamentum claims: ‘Iucundissimum est auditu si cantum quem ludendi [sic] suscepisti, ducas ab initio praesertim et in clausulis per omnes voces aut saltem alludas, quae ratio, fugandi complectitur [sic!] artem.’ (‘It sounds most delightful if you introduce from the beginning the voice you have taken as your theme, especially through all the voices at ­cadences, or at least allude to the correct contrapuntal rules.’) Schmidt, Hans Buchner. Orgelwerke (see n. 45), 23. ‘Aliud exemplum super inceptam cantus choralis in discantu patet in cantu hymni de apostolis, Annue Christe’. Lublina/Witkowska-Zaremba/Berger, Ad faciendum cantum cho­ ralem (see n. 12), 62–3.

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Fig. 7: Jan of Lublin, Annue Christe, PL-Kp MS 1716, fol. 3v

In the fifth chapter, Jan uses another schema to illustrate how to manage the polyphonic arrangement of a chant model in a whole piece: But if you wish to ornament a piece in such a way that the chant melody is placed in all the voices, first in the discant, then the bass, and then in the tenor, proceed as follows. Divide a given melody (for instance, a Responsory or Introit of some Mass) into three parts. Let first the chant melody be in the discant voice in even notes up to the punctuation clausula, and if after such a clausula you want to place the chant melody in the tenor, let the tenor rest a little for two or three tempora, and in the meantime one can introduce a two- or three-part passage or some cadence taken from the fundamentum in the same tone to which the melody belongs. There also, that is, in the clausula, let the tenor rest and begin anew – after this two- or three-part passage or after this clausula, when there follows the cadence on perfect consonances – from this tenor note, from which one should begin the chant melody in even notes. Then, if you want to place the chant melody in even notes in the bass, proceed in the same way as with the tenor.67

The text should be divided into three parts, according to the structure of the text, and distributed to discantus, tenor and bass in turns. The entry of the chant in the tenor or bass should be prepared with a short bicinium. He illustrates this with a piece that appears later in the tablature book (see Appendix A):68 67

68

‘Si vero vis ornare cantum, ut particulatim in omnibus vocibus planus imponatur cantus, ita ut primum in discanto, post hoc in bassa, postea in tenore, eo modo procedes: Divides aliquem cantum (ut responsorium vel introitum missae alicuius) in tres partes. Primum discantus sit planus usque ad conclusionem textus et post talem conclusionem si vis facere planum cantum in tenore, pauset tenor modicum per duo vel tria tempora et interim includatur aliquod bicinium aut tricinium vel aliqua clausula ex fundamento, quae sit eiusdem toni illius cantus. Ubi aut in qua clausula tenor pauset sitque repertus, super illud bicinium aut super tricinium aut super illam clausulam, ut veniat earum conclusio in concordantiis perfectis, a tenoris nota, a qua debet incipi cantus choralis planus. Postea, si in bassa voce velis cantum choralem planum facere, procedes eo modo, sicut ad tenorem.’ Ibid., 110–1. Cf. fol. 185v; a complete transcription is in Appendix A below.

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Such division of a piece can be seen in the Introit of the Mass in Honor of the Blessed Virgin, namely, Salve Sancta Parens, where the cantus planus is divided among the discant, tenor and bass.69

As described at the beginning of the treatise, this movement too begins with a pre-imitation, which introduces a motif derived from the chant in alto, tenor and bass in turn (mm. 1–6). The discantus enters at the cadence and declaims the first section of chant in breves (‘Salve sancta parens, enixa puerpera regem’). It closes both halves of the text with a cadence (mm. 13, 21). The bass enters on the final note of the cadence (m. 21). As instructed, it prepares this entry with a rest. The bass declaims the second section of chant (‘qui caelum terramque regit’), which likewise concludes in a cadence (m. 29). A short bridging ‘two- or three-part passage’ follows (mm. 29–32), then the final section of the text (‘in secula seculorum’) is played in the tenor, leading to the final cadence. Jan’s instructions for a standard procedure for dealing with imitations and framing chant arrangements provide rare insights into the process of composition, showing how a less experienced organist can follow clear rules to achieve a solid musical result. V. Praise and dispraise of organists Besides theoretical and compositional descriptions of the practice of organ playing, the literary topos of the ‘praise and dispraise of organists’ provides further perspectives on this subject. Few detailed or concrete written descriptions of organ playing survive from the decades around 1500. However, those that do survive display the aesthetic experience associated with hearing organ music, and thus illustrate contemporary perceptions. The following descriptions of hearing organists playing in alternatim show how contemporaries heard, analysed and judged the contribution of organs in alternatim practice. Hans Rosenplüt on Conrad Paumann In 1447, Hans Rosenplüt described the playing of Conrad Paumann in his ­Nuremberg oration: […] […] Noch ist ein meister in diesem geticht; There is a master in this poem Derselb hat mangel an seinem gesicht, Who is blind: 69

‘Talis autem cantus divisio patet in introitu missae de Beata Virgine, scilicet Salve Sancta Parens, ubi et in discanto et in tenore et in bassa est divisus cantus planus.’ Lublina/­ Witkowska-Zaremba/Berger, Ad faciendum cantum choralem (see n. 12), 110.

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August Valentin Rabe Der heist Conrat Pawman. Dem hat got sollich gnad getan, 260 Das er ein meister ob allen meistern ist. Der tregt in seiner sinnen list Die musica mit irem sueßen don. Solt man durch kunst einen meister krön, Er trug wol auf von golde ein kron. 265 Mit contratenor, mit faberdon, Mit primi toni tenorirt er, Auß e-la-mi so sincopirt er Mit resonanzen in acutis. Ein trawrig herz wirt freies mutes, 270 Wenn er awß oktaf discantiert Quint und ut zusammen resonirt Und mit proporzen in gravibus. Respons, antiffen, introitus, Hymni, sequenzen und responsoria, 275 Das tregt er alles in seiner memoria. Ad placitum oder gesatzt Und was fur musica wird geschatzt In chores cantum, das kann er awßen. Rundel, muteten kann er fluckmawßen. 280 Sein hawpt ist ein sollich gradual In gemeßen cantum mit sollicher zal, Das es Gott selbs hat genotiert darein. Wo mocht dann ein weiser meister gesein?70

He is called Conrad Paumann. God gave him such grace That he is a master above all masters. In the craft of his senses he bears Music with its sweet tone. If one should crown a master for his art, He would surely wear a crown of gold. He tenorises with contratenor, fauxbourdon, And with Primi toni. On e-la-mi he syncopates And makes the highest strings resonate. A sad heart becomes joyful When he discants at the octave, And makes Ut and the fifth resonate, With proportions in the lowest voices. Respondendum, antiphon, introitus, Hymns, sequences and responsories, He carries it all in his memory. Improvised or over a prescribed tone, Whatever kind of music is esteemed In choral music, that he can express. He can correct rondellus or motets. His head is like a great gradual Filled with well-measured chants, As if God himself had notated it. Where has there even been a wiser master?

Even if Rosenplüt might not understand all the words and concepts he lists here, recent research has shown that Rosenplüt does not simply pile up technical concepts from music theory, but attempted through such terms to create a comprehensive homage to Paumann with the help of a ‘dense interconnection of aspects from the fields of theology and liturgy, aesthetics, ethics, music theory and musical pratice.’71 Here, unlike in his other two surviving poems containing technical musical terminology,72 the poet refers repeatedly to alter70

71

72

Hans Rosenplüt, Hi in disem puchlein findet ir gar ein loblichen spruch von der erentreichen stat nurmberg (Nuremberg: Hans Hoffmann, 1490), vv. 257–84. Cited after Matthias Kirchhoff and Ann-Katrin Zimmermann, ‘Frühe Zeugnisse volkssprachlicher Musikterminologie: Musik in der Spruchdichtung Hans Rosenplüts’, in Jahrbuch Musik in Baden-Württemberg 17 (2010), 51–88, with translation into modern German. Fabian Kolb, ‘Organisten-Lob. Zur frühneuzeitlichen Wertschätzung des Organisten zwischen Virtuosität, Tugendhaftigkeit, Erudition und musiktheoretischer Kompetenz’, in Musica floreat! Jürgen Blume zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Immanuel Ott and Birger Petersen, Spektrum Musiktheorie 5 (Mainz, 2016), 169–202, at 180. Cf. Kirchhoff/Zimmermann, ‘Musik in der Spruchdichtung’ (see n. 70).

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natim practice. He lists the genres of responsory, antiphon, introit, hymn, and sequence which could all be performed with the participation of the organ. The metaphor of Paumann’s head as a gradual alludes to the practice of playing from an organ book, a practice which the blind Paumann naturally could not employ and which made his mastery even more incredible. Furthermore, Rosenplüt mentions polyphonic techniques: tenorising, discanting, fauxbourdon. Although Rosenplüt is not precisely describing a concrete musical event, all these techniques share one feature: all refer to polyphony built over a cantus firmus, all exist also in the practice of vocal improvisation, and accordingly refer to the polyphonic performance of monophonic materials. Fabian Kolb writes fittingly: The text suggests that Paumann could claim to be equally experienced in the theory of tuning and intervals (octaf, quint) as in the rhythms of mensural theory (sincopirt, proporzen, gemeßen cantum). He is just as familiar with the system of sacred and secular music (respons, antiffen, introitus, hymni, sequenzen, responsoria, rundel, muteten) as with the correct manner of improvisation (ad placitum), composition (gesatzt) and notation (gradual, genotirt). Moreover, he did this in such an accomplished manner that he could improve and correct other details ( fluck­ mawßen).73

Rosenplüt emphasises Paumann’s activity as organist in the liturgy74 amongst the other musical contexts in which the ‘cieco miracoloso’ worked.75 Joachim Vadianus on Paul Hofhaimer In 1517, Joachim von Watt (Vadianus) wrote a letter to Matthäus Lang, which was published in the collection of literary testimonia (libellus) that accompanied Hofhaimer’s collection of ode-settings, Harmoniae poeticae (1539):76 And in the following, unless I am quite mistaken, he has followed his gift, though whether this has come from art or nature I do not know: that much more than any other player I have heard, when observing and exploring whatever tone is presented to him, it is his habit to balance everything carefully 73 74 75

76

Kolb, ‘Organisten-Lob’(see n. 71), 171. Kirchhoff/Zimmermann, ‘Musik in der Spruchdichtung’ (see n. 70), 78. On Paumann’s biography, see Franz Krautwurst, ‘Konrad Paumann’, in Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft für Fränkische Geschichte 7a (1977), 33–48 and Bonnie J. Blackburn, ‘Conrad Paumann in Ferrara’, in TVNM 67 (2017), 69–81. Paul Hofhaimer, Harmoniae poeticae (Nuremberg: Johann Petreius, 1539) (vdm 47). All the poems are edited and translated in Paul Hofhaimer, Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke: III. Harmo­ niae poeticae (Nürnberg 1539), ed. Grantley McDonald, Denkmäler der Musik in Salzburg 15,3 (München, 2014).

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while bringing out its particular properties. And though displaying incredible variety, he would not easily admit anything to be introduced, or suffer anything that might offend against the natural sequence of the set melody. […] Moreover, Paul has the custom of harmonising plainsong (which is nowadays generally called cantus choralis) with a variety and sweetness of counterpoint, and finally by varying the rhythms and the metre, such that if anyone else were said to do the same thing more sweetly or with more variety, I would assert that such a person was no longer a human being, but something far surpassing the level of human nature. Those who have ever listened carefully to Paul believe this, as several people I know have testified to me. And since he usually performs these feats in church, in the midst of the liturgy, no one can deny that the genius and grace of this one man regularly add as much beauty to the divine service as is normally achieved by many performers, even those who play beautifully, tunefully and elegantly.77

Vadianus listened carefully to Hofhaimer’s organ playing and used technical vocabulary to praise it.78 He emphasised the variety and sweetness in the working out of the plainsong, as well as the variety in the tactus and mensuration. Moreover, Vadianus locates Hofhaimer’s performance ‘in the midst of the liturgy’, where the deployment of alternatim practices is clear. Hermann Finck’s criticism of organists Many of the aspects discussed already are found again in Hermann Finck’s polemical attacks in his Musica pratica (1556; see the text and translation in Appendix B).79 77

‘In hoc autem, nisi me animus fallit, donum nescio an artis an naturæ magis consecutus est, quòd in toni cuiuscunque propositi sibi, obseruatione, & excursu, præ cæteris quos aliquando mihi audire contingit, ad amussim omnia librare, & miræ inniti proprietati assolet. Neque facile aliquid per incredibilem illam uarietatem suam introductum admittat, aut patiatur, quod à propositæ melodiæ serie naturali abhorreat. […] Accedit ad hoc, quod cantum planum, quem propè omnes Choralem hodie uocant, in contrapuncti uarietate & dulcedine, denique & numerorum & mensuræ discrimine modulari solet, ut siquis aut suauius, aut maiori uariatione idem facere diceretur, hunc ego non iam hominem, sed multo supra humanam naturam gradu eminentem assererem. Credunt hoc, & scribenti mihi dant fidem, quicunque attentis auribus Paulum nostrum unquam audierunt, cumque id nusquam magis soleat agere, quàm cum in templis & in ipso ceremoniarum medio labore concinit, quis negarit, ab unius hominis ingenio & gratia, tantum rebus diuinis decorem accedere solere, quantum plures & hi quidem belli, canori & suaues, arte sua afferant.’ Cited after Hofhaimer, ‘Harmoniae’, 8. 78 On the pieces in praise of Hofhaimer, see Kolb, ‘Organisten-Lob’ (as in n. 71), and Jochen Reutter, ‘Der Libellus plenus doctissimorum virorum de eodem D. Paulo testimoniis in den Harmoniae Poeticae Paul Hofhaimers als Zeugnis humanistischer Gelehrsamkeit’, in Heinrich Isaac und Paul Hofhaimer im Umfeld von Kaiser Maximilian I. Bericht über die vom 1. bis 5. Juli 1992 in Innsbruck abgehaltene Fachtagung, ed. Walter Salmen (Innsbruck, 1997), 113–24. 79 Finck, Practica musica (see n. 25).

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Finck, himself an organist, emphasised at the beginning of his fourth book, ‘On the tones’ (De tonis), that a knowledge of the tones was indispensable. As a negative example he mentions organists ignorant of the modes. Finck was particularly annoyed by the fact that the ears of ignorant hearers (‘indoctorum auditorum aures’) were delighted – rather than those of more learned hearers – by players who ran up and down the keyboard for an hour and a half. He regretted the fact that organists who aimed for such effects often won more praise from the ignorant masses (‘vulgus’) than did good composers. He thus criticised organists who served their own vanity rather than true art. This expressed itself on one hand in the desire to win applause by playing as quickly as possible, and on the other in a defective knowledge of polyphony. Besides the correct treatment of the mode, Finck expected variety in various musical parameters such as tactus and mensuration, but especially that the organist should work with imitation. Finck rejected cheap musical effects, such as two-voice fugues, double-pedalling or monophonic racing about the keyboard. Only few players aimed at the ideal of suavitas: […] great artists […] strive especially after sweetness in their song, and vary it with pleasing and appropriate fugues, so that the melody is sweet, full, not broken up by frequent rests, as closely accommodated to the text as possible, and does not depart from the tone.80

Significantly, Finck – like Jan of Lublin – includes the organist’s treatment of the text as an important criterion. Biagio Rossetti’s criticism of organists As an appendix to his treatise Libellus de rudimentis musices (On the basic principles of music), Biagio Rossetti included a treatise comprising fourteen chapters with the title Compendium on the chorus and organ (De choro et organo compendium).81 The final section deals extensively with organists, whom Rossetti distinguishes into four kinds (see Appendix B). The first group comprises those experienced in placing a counterpoint beneath the plainsong, as was usual in alternatim practice. Amongst this group, the ‘ultramontani’, that is, ‘Germans’, are particularly prominent. Those of this first group are judged to be true church organists. 80

81

‘[…] quam summi artifices, qui suauitati in cantu praecipue student, eumque gratis et conuenientibus fugis uariant, ut suauis, plena, sine crebris pausis, ipsique textui, quam proprijssime fieri potest, accommodata sit cantilena, nec a suo tono recedat.’ Cf. Appendix B, p. 301. Biagio Rossetti, Libellus de rudimentis musices: Compendium musicae (Verona: Stephano Sabio and fratres de Nicolinis, 1529).

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Organists of the second group are particularly endowed with imagination, which allows them to play particularly good praeambula. They know how to play for a long time, but also concisely. However, the most praiseworthy are those of the third group, who can play polyphony in such a way that one can follow the individual polyphonic lines. They are especially talented at adapting to the choir singing the chant. However, Rossetti blames the organists of the fourth group for leaving the ambitus of the mode, or confusing the choir with their playing. He criticises a manner of playing in which the hearers cannot understand where the player is in the cantus firmus at any moment. ***

This brief list of testimonia from various times and places allows us to recognise certain common features. Firstly, organists enjoyed great influence; otherwise praise and criticism of such sharpness and extent would be out of place. Since organists could contribute so directly to the success or failure of a ceremony, it is clear that at least some of those present listened to them carefully. Playing was perceived as a communicative process, both between the parties involved in alternatim playing (for example, Rossetti’s third type of organists) and between the organists and those listening (as attested by Finck and Rossetti). The striking descriptions of musical details thus do not merely tell us something about the hearers, who were delighted or annoyed by certain compositional techniques or individual details of voice leading. They also recall Conrad von Zabern’s requirement of singing ‘with differentiation’ (differentialiter cantare), a desideratum also found in the contracts of organists. Jan of Lublin summarises the importance of the organist’s ability to adapt to the liturgy and employ variety: For in playing, a variety of mensurations and especially of ornaments or alterations brings human ears much pleasure. Just as a painter does not paint a picture with only one color, but uses various and different colors, so each player does not make an artful piece with uniform tactus, but with different ones, according as he is endowed with natural imagination, through which he can easily attain to the art.82

82

‘Nam varietas tactuum in tangendo et praesertim diversorum colorum aut mutationum multum auribus hominum praebet oblectamenti. Uti pictor uno colore non facit imaginem, sed diversis atque non aequalibus coloribus, sic unanimes tactus in tangendo non faciunt cantum artificialem, sed diversi, secundum quod unicuique naturalis fantasia data est, per quam ad artem venire facile potest.’ Lublina/Witkowska-Zaremba/Berger, Ad faciendum cantum choralem (see n. 12), 109, translation by Grantley McDonald.

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VI. Conclusion This chapter has investigated the role of the organ in alternatim practice during the life of the composer Henricus Isaac. Since the written evidence for this is slim, we also drew conclusions from the music itself. In the performance of chant, organ and song form a unity; this has several effects on performance. The available sources do not merely provide information about the circumstances in which the organ was played, but also clues about performance practice which can be applied by musicians today. These include a smooth transition between alternatim versets, uninterrupted communication between the musicians, a well-chosen position for the instrument, the choice of a correct tempo and an appropriate musical expression of the content of the text. The analysis of surviving composed versets for organ and voices reveals an attempt to create a compositional unity between organ and choir. Within this unity, the registration of the organ could create contrast, a feature employed increasingly more often during Isaac’s lifetime, according to liturgical need. On the other hand, didactic sources show how less experienced organists could also use techniques such as parallel movement, standardised imitative models and stereotyped episodic schemes for complete versets to create solid results. Traces of these features are found in literary testimonia praising or dispraising organists. Skilful alternatim performance was a good way for organists to attract the praise of their colleagues. Organists have considerable power to make or mar a liturgy. Polyphonic playing rich in variety was considered desirable. These perspectives from the fields of theory, composition and critique of organists provide the basis for an enriched impression of what happened in the fleeting moment of making music, and then disappeared into an echo.

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Appendix A

Ex. 1: Henricus Isaac, Sequence Sancti Spiritus assit nobis gratia, strophe 18 (‘Tu divisum per linguas’)

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Ex. 2: Hans Buchner, Sequence Sancti Spiritus assit nobis gratia, strophe 19 (‘Idolatras ad cultum’, Choralis in tenore, manualiter). Ch-Bu F I 8a, pp. 131–2

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Ex. 3: Jan of Lublin, Officium Virginis Mariae Salve sancta parens: Introitus

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Appendix B Finck: Liber quartus, de tonis83

Finck: Liber quartus, de tonis

[sig. Ooijv] TOnorum cognitio ualde necessaria est. Etenim ueluti latine l­oquendi et scribendi rationem discere cupienti, in primis opus est, ut ­Syntaxin probe perdiscat: Ita quoque in arte Musica praeclaram operam nauaturo n ­ ecesse est, ut Tonorum cognitionem sibi comparet, quae quidem, tam in Compositione, quam in tractatione omnino necessaria est. Nam artificiose compositurus aliquid, ante omnia Tonum ipsum consideret, ad quem unum, ceu ad certam quandam normam ac regulam totum negocium dirigendum est, uideatque ne temere uel Tonorum limites ac terminos transgrediatur, uel ipsos inter se tonos coufundat [sc. confundat]: Sed pro singulorum natura ipsius ἄρσις καὶ θέσις rationem habeat, conuenientesque clausulas quaerat. Id enim artificum praestantissimos quosque diligenter obseruasse uidemus, quorum insigniores plerosque supra, cum de inuentoribus Musicae dicerem, recensui. Deinde non minus etiam illos Tonorum cognitionem habere necesse est, qui canendi artem alijs tradituri sunt, quos uulgo Cantores appellamus.

Knowledge of the tones is very necessary. Just as it is especially important for someone who wishes to learn to speak and write Latin to learn syntax as best he can, just so it is necessary for anyone setting out in the illustrious study of music to fully assimilate the knowledge of the tones, which is entirely necessary both in composition and in discussing the work of others. For someone who is going to compose a piece artfully will consider the tone most of all. The entire business is to be directed to this one goal, as if to a sure norm and rule. He should make sure that he does not rashly transgress the limits and boundaries of the tones, or confuse the identity of the tones, but should rather observe the correct rise and fall of each one, and seek the appropriate cadences. We see that each of the most outstanding artists, of whom I surveyed many of the most outstanding in my previous account of the inventors of music, diligently observed this. Furthermore, it is no less necessary that those who will teach it to others – whom we call Kantoren in German – should also have a knowledge of the tones. For since the minds of learners who have failed to learn this doctrine of the tones cannot be kept within

Cum enim discentium animi neglecta hac Tonorum doctrina, nullis certis metis includi, nec ad praefi-

83 Finck, Practica Musica (see n. 25), sig. v. Musica (see n. 25), sig. Ooijv –Ooiijv. Ooijv –Ooiij 83 Finck, Practica

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nitam normam deduci possint: danda praecipue opera est, ut accurate in hac parte erudiantur, diligenterque exerceantur. Si quis uero hoc negligit, idem facit quod is, qui Syllogismum extra modum et figuram componit. Satis igitur liquet, Tonorum cognitionem maxime necessariam esse, adeoque praecipuum fundamentum et fontem suauitatis in ­cantilenis.

Mirari autem satis non possum, unam quorundam Instrumentistarum recentiorum, et praecipue Organariorum ambitionem, inter quos tanta aemulationis concertatio est, quilibet ut altero praestantiorem se haberi uelit. Ac quo facilius, et quidem sub plausibili specie, quod intendunt, consequantur, propriam [sig. Ooiijr] quilibet applicationem, ut uocant, sibi fingit, ne ab alijs quid didicisse, uel cum eis quid commune habere, uideri possit. Interea tamen in his paucissimi sunt, qui uel initia saltem Musices recte degustarint. Ad istam aemulationem tanta nihilominus accedit persuasio, ut se emendari non patiantur. Et si quis est, qui ipsos per omnia non probet admireturque, huic Deum ipsum irasci arbitrantur.

Cum autem aliquando in Instrumentis aut Organis artis suae specimen aliquod exhibere debent, ad

sure bounds or brought back to a predetermined norm, then one must give particular attention that they be instructed in this detail, and given careful training in it. For someone who neglects this is like someone who attempts to construct a logical argument without observing the rule of logic. Therefore it is quite clear that a knowledge of the tones is of the greatest necessity, even the most important foundation and source of sweetness in compositions. For we cannot cease wondering at the single-minded ambition of certain recent instrumentalists, especially organists, amongst whom there is such envious competition to establish artistic preeminence. But so that they might more easily pursue their purpose, and indeed beneath a plausible pretext, each one creates for himself his own “manner of performance” [applicatio], as they call it, so that he might not seem to have learned anything from anyone else, nor to have anything in common with them. But meanwhile there are very few amongst them who have digested even the most basic principles of music. Nevertheless, their desire to outdo each other in this has gone so far that they refuse to be corrected. And if anyone declines to approve and admire every detail of their performance, he might well think that he had incurred the wrath of God Almighty. And whenever they have to give some demonstration of their skill on some instrument or on the organ, 299

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unam hanc confugiunt artem, ut inanem strepitum confuse et sine ulla gratia faciant: utque indoctorum auditorum aures facilius demulceant, admirationemque sui ob celeritatem excitent, interdum per sesquihoram sursum deorsumque digitis per claues discursitant, atque hoc modo sperant, se per istum iucundum (si dijs placet) strepitum etiam ipsos montes excitaturos esse, sed tandem nascitur ridiculus mus: fragen nicht darnach wo meister Mensura, meister Tactus, meister Tonus, und sonderlich meister bona fantasia bleibe. Nam postquam aliquo temporis spatio magna celeritate per claues sine plurium uocum consonantia oberrarunt, ad extremum incipiunt fugam aliquam duarum uocum fingere, ac utroque pede, in Pedale, ut uocant, incidentes, reliquas uoces addunt. Talis autem Musica, non dico artificum, sed sanorum saltem ac recte iudicantium auribus non magis grata est, quam Asini rugitus. Vulgi enim iudicium non moror, quod quam sit peruersum et deprauatum, cum in alijs, tum uero in hac praecipue arte, adeo manifestum est, ut longiore explicatione non egeat: Interea tamen uulgus Organariorum, quia uidet reliquum uulgus uero iuditio carere, magisque admiratione capi propter celeritatem, quam ueram artem, huic uni rei studet: unde plerunque ita fit, ut istiusmodi Organistae in maiori admiratione sint

they take refuge in this one art alone: that of making a senseless noise, without order or grace. And in order to delight the ears of the ignorant the more easily, and to excite admiration of their swiftness, they sometimes run up and down the keys with their fingers for an hour and a half, and hope through this joyful noise (if it please God) to produce a mountain, but at length only produce a ridiculous mouse [Horace, Ars poetica 139]. Thereby they neglect to ask where master mensuration, master tactus, master tone, and especially master fine invention remain. For after they have wandered about over the keys in a single monophonic line for some time at high speed, they begin at last to forge some fugue for two voices, and striking the Pedal (as they call it) with both feet, they add the remaining voices. However, such music is as pleasing to the ears of listeners – I do not say artists, but at least people of sound mind and good judgment – as the braying of an ass. I do not linger on the judgment of the vulgar, since it is self-evidently so perverse and depraved in all the arts, though especially in this one, that I hardly need to fill in the details any further. But in the meantime the mob of organists, since it sees that the rest of the population is devoid of true judgment, and is more impressed by speed than real art, strives after this end alone. And for this reason it commonly happens that organists of this

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apud maximam partem hominum, quam summi artifices, qui suauitati in cantu praecipue student, eumque gratis et conuenientibus fugis uariant, ut suauis, plena, sine crebris pausis, ipsique textui, quam proprijssime fieri potest, accommodata sit cantilena, nec a suo tono recedat. Haec pauci intelligunt. [sig. Ooiijv] Alij intelligentes, quia uident se illam in compositione perfectionem assequi non posse, etiamsi se rumpant, incipiunt odisse et contemnere ueram artem, ipsosque artifices extenuare, seque multitudini insinuare student. Itaque apud illos plus uulgi iuditium, quam ulla ratio ualet, et quia magnae artis persuasione turgent, illis laudationibus uulgi magis magisque incitantur, ut isto quo ceperunt modo pergant. Sed longe aliter sentiunt artifices, qui propterea quod ad naturam praecepta, et ad praecepta usum adiunxerunt, recte de hac re iudicare possunt.

Praeterea multi ex illis, quorum mentionem feci, audent etiam Componistarum titulum sibi arrogare, cumque intra spacium dimidij anni multo sudore qualemcunque cantiunculam, quae uix tres concordantias habeat, fabricarunt, statim typis illam excudi curant, quo etiam ipsorum magnum et gloriosum nomen in uniuersa terra notum fiat. Verum hoc modo inscitiam suam turpiter prod-

kind are more admired amongst the greater part of humanity than are great artists, who strive especially after sweetness in their song, and vary it with pleasing and appropriate fugues, so that the melody is sweet, full, not broken up by frequent rests, as closely accommodated to the text as possible, and does not depart from the tone. Only a few understand this. When some people come to understand this, because they see that they cannot attain this perfection in their composition, even if they were to burst themselves open with the effort, begin to hate and despise true art, and diminish its practitioners, and strive to ingratiate themselves with the public. And so amongst them the judgment of the mob is worth more than reason, and because they are puffed up with the belief of their own great art, they are so driven on increasingly by the praises of the public, that they soon reach their goal. But artists feel very differently in this matter, who can judge correctly what rules have added to nature, and what use has added to rules. And what is more, many of those I have mentioned even dare to claim the name of composer. When, after six months of great toil they have crafted some little piece containing scarcely three chords, they immediately have it printed, so that their great and glorious name might become famous throughout the entire world. But in this way they disgrace themselves by revealing their own 301

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unt. Periti enim artis statim deprehendunt, quod et ingenio et arte ac usu destituantur, quodque ex ueris Musicae fundamentis proprijs uiribus nihil recte componere possint: Sed uel ex aliorum artificum cantilenis hinc inde clausulas sine iuditio furtim comportantes, confusum chaos consuunt, uel saltem tam diu Clauicordium sollicitant, donec habitu qualicunque acquisito, ex clauium tactu et digitorum articulatione concentum aliquem animaduertere, eumque in cartam inde transferre discant. Ac sic tandem cantilenam repletam pausis et uitijs nulla toni ratione habita proferunt. Huiusmodi Componistarum hodie magnus est numerus.

Verum haec a me non dicuntur in mei ostentationem, aut alterius cuiusquam contumeliam et contemptum, sed tantum ut illos, qui naturali inclinatione ad hanc artem colendam ducuntur, admoneam, diligenter Tonos esse cognoscendos. Vt igitur bonis ingenijs meo loco gratificer, diligenter doctrinam de cognitione et uero usu Tonorum in utroque cantu explicabo. Et quia difficilior est ratio dijudicandi naturam et proprietatem Tonorum in figurali cantu quam in Chorali, de hac re etiam quaedam non inutilia a me suo loco dicentur.

ignorance. For those who have mastered the art immediately judge that they lack talent, art and experience, and that they are unable to write anything according to the true foundations of music under their own steam. Otherwise, they plagiarise cadences from compositions by other masters here and there, without any discernment, and create a confused chaos; or they worry away at their clavichord for ages until, having acquired some habit from the articulation of the keys and their own fingers, they learn how to recognise a consonance, and how to write it down on paper. And in this way at length they bring forth a composition full of rests and mistakes, and which fails to observe the tone properly. Today there is a great number of such composers. I do not say these things to draw attention to myself, or to slander or disrespect any other person, but merely to warn those who are drawn by a natural inclination to cultivate this art that they should diligently learn the tones. That I in my turn may gratify those of talent, I shall diligently explain the doctrine of how to recognise and correctly use the tones in both chant and polyphony. And because the criteria by which we judge the nature and properties of the tone are more difficult in polyphony than in chant, I shall say some useful things about this matter in their place.

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Rossetti: Quattuor genera organistarum84

Rossetti: Quattuor genera organistarum

Possumus ergo quattuor inducere genere organistarum: 1. Sint enim nonnulli sese exercitantes in pulsando contrapuncto [93] (quod aiunt) sub cantu plano, prosarum, videlicet, hymnorum, antiphonarum, sequentiarum aliorumque id genus in qua parte ut multum pollent ultramontani, non sine Italorum rubore. Hi itaque veri et Ecclesiastici censendi sunt organistae. 2. Alios videas ex suis imaginationibus praeambula non improbanda concinne colligere, super missarum partibus ex tempore de sua industria eleganter vagari, servato tamen undique musices vigore. Sed et hi nomen sortiuntur boni organistae.

Therefore, we can introduce four kinds of organists. 1. First are those few who exercise themselves in playing counterpoint (as they call it) on the basis of the chants for proses, that is, of hymns, antiphons, sequences and similar pieces. Amongst this group, Northern Europeans are particularly outstanding, to the shame of the Italians. These then are to be judged true church organists. 2. Second are those whom you see elegantly inventing creditable praeambula from their own imagination, extemporising on the various chants for the mass, assiduously wandering about while preserving the vigour of the music at all times. These are rightly called good organists. 3. Likewise, you might see others employing all their powers to play polyphonic pieces, adapting to the chorus singing the chant, never deviating from the path of the polyphony, such that you can hear each part of the piece clearly. These too are to be praised highly and can be called the most outstanding of organists.

3. Aliquos itidem videas toto conamine carmina cantu mensurabili compacta pulsare, choro canentium in cantu plano se commodare, nec usquam a tramite cantus mensurabilis deviare, ita ut singulas quasque carminis partes possis auribus haurire. Hi quoque summo commendandi atque inter organistas primarii dici possunt.

84

84

Rossetti, Libellus (see n. 79). Cited in Biagio Rossetti, Libellus de rudimentis musices, ed. Albert Seay, Critical Texts 12 (Colorado Springs, 1981), 1–60,

(accessed 06 Albert Seay, Critical Texts 12 (Colorado Springs, 1981), 1–60, (accessed 06 August 2018).

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4. Sed plerosque videas organa concutere, nec cantum nec eius rationes cognoscentes, caeca quadam pratica et non ratione initium, quandoque finemque cantus plani vix appraehendentes, aliquando etiam extra tonum coeptum vagantes, ita ut audientes intelligentesque merito cachinnantes dicere queant: Quo se iam proripit ille? Iactant tamen se tamquam probos gnarosque organistas, verum ubi unum ‘Kyrie eleison’ in cantu plano obieceris pulsandum. Invenies eos tamquam asinos (ut vulgati est adagii) ad lyram. Hi aut melius instruendi aut certe abiiciendi sunt, nempe confusionis causam choro crebrius ministrantes, populo aut murmuris aut certe nauseae formitem obiicientes. Unde fit ut plus aloes quam mellis habentes stomachis fastidium ingerant, organistastri (si fingere vocabula fas est) potius quam organistae appellandi.

4. However, most of those you see playing the organ are ignorant of chant and its rules. They stumble around with an unsteady technique and are sometimes unsure of the beginning or end of the chant. Sometimes they begin in one mode and wander into a different one, such that those learned individuals amongst their hearers might chuckle and ask: ‘Where is he rushing now?’ However, they claim to be honest and knowledgeable organists, but when you give them a Kyrie to play on the basis of the plainchant, you will find that they are like an ass playing the lyre, as the saying goes [cf. Erasmus, Adagia I.IV.35]. These should either be better educated or simply rejected, for to be sure they often throw the choir into confusion, and give the congregation reason for murmuring and unease. For this reason they, having more bitterness than honey [cf. Erasmus, Adagia I.VIII.66], cause their hearers to feel seasick, and should be called ‘hobby organists’, if I may so invent the phrase, rather than real organists.

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ISAAC IN LAUTENINTAVOLIERUNGEN AUS HANDSCHRIFTLICHEN UND GEDRUCKTEN QUELLEN (CA. 1500–1562): EIN BEITRAG ZUR INTAVOLIERUNGSTECHNIK

Die Intavolierung in der Instrumentalmusik des 15. und 16.  Jahrhunderts ist bekanntlich eine der tragenden Säulen der Repertoireüberlieferung jener Zeit. Doch was wissen wir über die Technik der Intavolierung? Wie wird das praktizierte Intavolierungsverfahren in überlieferten theoretischen Abhandlungen erklärt? Erfasste die Intavolierung auch in diesen Abhandlungen nicht eingeschlossene Stegreif-Praktiken? Inwiefern bezog sich die Lautenintavolierung auf die vokale Vorlage? Was wurde im Intavolierungsprozess verändert und wann wurde aus der Intavolierung eine „Neukomposition“? Und schließlich, wie unterscheiden sich verschiedene Intavolierungen ein und desselben Stücks in handschriftlichen und gedruckten Lautentabulaturen? Schon allein diese Fragen berühren mehrere, weitgehend noch nicht erforschte Themenkomplexe, zu denen auch das Lautentabulatur-Repertoire mit Bezug zu Heinrich Isaac gehört – obwohl es sich dabei um einen wesentlichen Aspekt der Rezeption seiner Werke handelt.1 Zwei Bereiche sollen im nachfolgenden Beitrag thematisiert werden: Im ersten Teil werden einige Überlegungen zur Analyse der Intavolierungstechnik im Verhältnis zur Vorlage und unter Berücksichtigung von Stegreif-Praktiken sowie im Kontext des medialen Wechsels (Handschrift – Druck) angestellt. Der zweite Teil illustriert diese Überlegungen am Beispiel von sieben Intavolierungen des Benedictus aus Isaacs Messe Quant j’ay au cueur für Laute solo. 1

Der Verfasserin dieses Beitrages ist nur eine Studie bekannt, die speziell Isaacs Lautenintavolierungen gewidmet ist: Vladimir Ivanoff, „Isaac-Bearbeitungen in einer venezianischen Lautentabulatur um 1500“, in Heinrich Isaac und Paul Hofhaimer im Umfeld von Kaiser Maximilian I. Bericht über die vom 1. bis 5 Juli 1992 in Innsbruck abgehaltene Fachtagung, hrsg. von Walter Salmen, Innsbruck 1997 (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 16), S.  189–202. Die Untersuchung geht ausschließlich auf die spieltechnischen Besonder­ heiten von Isaacs La Morra und Benedictus mit Recerchar ad Benedictus ein.

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I. In Quellen des 16.  Jahrhunderts wurde die Intavolierung eher als ein rein schriftliches bzw. auf Verschriftlichung basierendes Verfahren erfasst und war in Form von pädagogischen Hinweisen meistens auf Anfänger beschränkt. In Musica getutscht (Basel 1511) empfahl Sebastian Virdung beim „tabuliren lernen“ – sowohl auf Tasteninstrumenten als auch auf Lauten – das Lied in eine simultane bzw. partiturartige Stimmenfassung abzuschreiben.2 Wie seine Beispiele verdeutlichen, hatte für ihn eine notengetreue Übertragung hohe Priorität. Diminutionen wurden dabei zwar erwähnt, waren aber nur ein darauffolgender optionaler Schritt, zu dessen Beschreibung Virdung trotz der Vorankündigung schließlich nicht kam. Eine ähnliche notengetreue „unterweisung vom absetzen“ hinterließ Martin Agricola in der Musica instrumentalis deudsch (Wittenberg 1529): Nachdem man sich die notwendigen Zeichen der Tabulatur und Mensur eingeprägt hatte, sollte man sich „alle stimmen / wie vorzalt / Aus den Noten inn buchstaben gemalt“ notieren.3 Auch Agricola unterschied nicht zwischen Lauten und Tasteninstrumenten (Orgel). Das originalgetreue Abschreiben eines Vokalstückes war für die Musiker des 16.  Jahrhunderts so wichtig, dass sie detailliert beschrieben, wie man zuerst einzelne Stimmen und danach alle Stimmen zusammen notiert: anfangen konnte man mit dem Bass und dem Tenor, um erst dann den Alt und den Diskant abzusetzen (Hans ­Judenkünig, Ain schone kunstliche vnderweisung, Wien 1523).4 Eine andere Variante war, mit dem Diskant zu beginnen und dann nacheinander Tenor, Alt und

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„Unnd setze dir das [zu intavolierende Lied – KS] in die tabulatur der lautten / Als ich dirs vor in die tabulatur des clavicordy auch hab gesetzt / Unnd wie du sichst das ich das liedlin gantz nach den noten hab tabuliert / Also soltu auch den anderen thon / die du lernen wiltt / So will ich dir dann in dem anderm buch auch eyn bessern modum geben / ettliche stymmen zu diminuieren / das es nit so gar schlecht hin gaug / Darmit sey dir genug gesagt zu disem mall von diser tabulatur der lautten […]“, Sebastian Virdung, Musica getutscht und ausgezogen, Basel: Michael Furter 1511 (VDM 3), sig. M ii r. Das Zusammensetzen von allen Stimmen in eine Art Partitur in Virdungs Traktat wird in der Musikwissenschaft oft erwähnt, auch in Bezug auf die Intavolierung als Andeutung eines Kompositionsverfahrens, siehe Thomas Schmidt-Beste, „Kompositionsprozess“, in Komponieren in der Renaissance. Lehre und Praxis, hrsg. von Michele Calella und Lothar Schmidt, Laaber 2013 (Handbuch der Musik der Renaissance 2), S. 248–271, hier S. 253f. „Der buchstaben / welcher ist dreierley / Wie oben gemelt / auch lerne darbey / Wie viel Noten gehen auff einen gantzen Tact / Und machs wie von der Orgel ist gesagt / Also das ein iglicher schlag behelt […] Darnach setz alle stimmen / wie vorzalt / Aus den Noten inn buchstaben gemalt“, Martin Agricola, Musica instrumentalis deudsch, Wittenberg: Georg Rhau 1529 (VD16 A 1066), fol. XXXVIr. Hans Judenkünig, Ain schone kunstliche vnderweisung, Wien: Hans Singriener 1523 (VD16 J 1029), fols. 50 r, 51r.

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Bass zu übertragen (Hans Gerle, Musica Teusch, Nürnberg 1532).5 Diese Praxis bestand über das gesamte 16. Jahrhundert hinweg. Die gleiche Praxis für die­ jenigen, die „ohne große Musikkenntnisse“ sind, lehrt beispielsweise Adrian Le Roy in A briefe and plaine instruction to set all Musicke of eight divers tunes in Ta­ blature for the Lute (London 1574).6 Als erstes sollten der Diskant und der Contratenor, dann der Tenor und als letzter der Bass in die Tabulaturschrift exakt übertragen werden. Le Roy geht präzise auf die Details ein, wobei er sich bemüht, seine Anweisungen in der Tradition der musica practica-Lehrschriften zu gestalten: Solmisation, Musica ficta und Mutation werden auf dem Griffbrett erklärt (sig. B iir). Die Intavolierungsmethode wird in allen acht Tonarten mit den möglichen Transpositionen und dem entsprechenden Tonumfang gezeigt. Traditionsgemäß werden die Schüler dazu aufgefordert, den Rhythmus des vokalen Originals möglichst genau in das Tabulatursystem zu „übersetzen“ (sig. A [iv] r). Zugelassene Abweichungen bestätigen im ­Grunde die substanzielle Orientierung an der vokalen Vorlage und das notwendige Umschreibverfahren.7 Laut Johannes Buchner (Fundamentum, CH-Bu F I 8a) und Vincenzo Galileis Anweisungen (Fronimo, Venedig 1568, 1584) soll das ­Vokalstück zunächst komplett aufgezeichnet werden.8 Mehrere handschriftliche Lautentabulaturen veranschaulichen das Gestalten einer abgeschriebenen Intavolierung, 5 6

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Hans Gerle, Musica Teusch, Nürnberg: Hieronymus Formschneider 1532 (VD16 G 1574), fol. 51v. „Mine entent is now to teach them that are desirous to playe on the Lute, how they maye without great knowledge of Musicks […]“, Early English Books Online, (letzter Zugriff: 15. Mai 2018): Adrian Le Roy, John Alford und Francis Kinwelmersh, A briefe and plaine instruction instruction to set all Musicke of eight divers tunes in Tablature for the Lute, London: [John Kyngston for] Iames Rowbothome 1574 (Brown 1574 2) sig. A [iii]v. Diese Lehre von Le Roy wurde vor 1568 verfasst. Das genaue Datum der französischen Edition ist nicht bekannt. Das Traktat war im 16.  Jahrhundert sehr beliebt und international bekannt. Vgl. Marie Louise Göllner, „On the Process of Lute Intabulation in the Sixteenth Century”, in Ars Iocundissima: Festschrift fur Kurt Dorfmüller zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. von Horst Leuchtmann und Robert Münster, Tutzing 1984, S. 83–96, hier S. 95, Anm. 3. Alle Stimmen sollten beispielsweise am Stückende nur zusammen erklingen. Dafür ­müssen einige Stimmen um ein paar Töne „verlängert“ werden (sig. Bii r ); in der Pause des Originals dürfen, spieltechnisch bedingt, auf der Laute einzelne Töne repetiert werden (sig. Bv ); Unisoni des Vokalstückes sind ersetzbar, Oktaven dürfen eingefügt und einzelne Töne können höher oder tiefer gesetzt werden (sig. A [iv]r ). Vincenzo Galilei, Fronimo, Venedig 1584, hrsg. und übers. von Carol Macclintock, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1985 (Musicological studies & documents 39), S. 44f. Zur Rezeption von Galileis Fronimo in Bezug auf die Intavolierungstechnik s. Michele Calella, „Komposition und Intavolierung – Musikalische Autoritäten in Vincenzo Galileis Fronimo“, in Autorität und Autoritäten in musikalischer Theorie, Komposition und Aufführung, hrsg. von Laurenz ­Lütteken und Nicole Schwindt, Kassel etc. 2004 (Trossinger Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik 3.2003), S. 119–134.

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allerdings ohne theoretische Erklärungen. Die Intavolierungen sind nicht oder kaum diminuiert (siehe beispielsweise D-Mbs Mus.mss. 2986, 1511c und 267 aus der Herwart-Sammlung, um 1550, sowie den Teil des Schreibers A aus der Krakauer Lautentabulatur UKR-LVu 1400/I, ca. 1550–15909). Die Untersuchung von Marie Louise Göllner über die Intavolierungen in Lautentabulaturen zeigen anschaulich, dass es zwei Typen der Intavolierung gab. Den ersten Typ definiert sie als „literal transcription“,10 d.h. eine in der Regel nicht diminuierte notengetreue Übertragung des vokalen Stückes, wie sie in den eben referierten Quellen bechrieben ist. Der zweite Typ der Intavolierung ist eine „final ornamented version“.11 Sie kommt dann zustande, wenn die Vorlage diminuiert wird. Diese zwei Intavolierungsmethoden – die „notengetreue“ und die „ausgearbeitete“ – sind zwei oft aufeinander folgende Techniken der Intavolierung, die die Musiker des 16.  Jahrhunderts kannten und die sie in der Praxis voneinander trennten. Die Intavolierung von Janequins La Guerre aus der Lautentabulatur D-Mbs Mus.ms. 267 zeigt sowohl eine offensichtlich „notengetreue“ Version, als auch in Skizzen notierte diminuierte Varianten diverser Abschnitte desselben Stückes.12 Das erwähnte Traktat von Le Roy enthält oft zwei Beispiele für die Intavolierung – eine abgeschriebene und eine verzierte.13 Das Problem liegt darin, dass die zweite Methode, die aus dem Stegreif-­ Musizieren hervorging, mündlich gelehrt und deshalb nicht oder nur selten schriftlich beschrieben wurde. Die Veränderungen am musikalischen Satz 9

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11 12 13

Das Intavolierungsverfahren in diesen Manuskripten sowie in D-Mbs Mus.ms. 267 hat Marie Louise Göllner in „On the Process of Lute Intabulation“ eingehend untersucht. Über die Krakauer Lautentabulatur siehe den Aufsatz der Verfasserin dieses Beitrages „Die Lautentabulatur UKR-LVu 1400/I als ein humanistisches Scholarbuch“, in Senfl-Stu­ dien 3, hrsg. von Stefan Gasch, Birgit Lodes und Sonja Tröster, Wien 2018 (Wiener Forum für ältere Musikgeschichte 9), S. 55–83 sowie die weiteren dort zusammengestellten Literaturhinweise. Die Entstehungszeiten der unterschiedlichen Teile der Krakauer Lautenta­ bulatur werden in der Musikwissenschaft insgesamt in der Zeitspanne von vor 1553 bis ins frühe 17. Jahrhundert gesehen. Die meisten Einträge sind aber um die Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts gemacht worden (Schreiber A, B, E, F, fols.  1r –47r, 55v –58v, 102v –124v), nur kurze Abschnitte (Schreiber C und D, fols. 47v –53v und 59 r –64v) weisen auf Eintragungen aus späterer Zeit hin. Göllner, „On the Process of Lute Intabulation“, S. 84. Das Thema „literal transcription“ spricht Howard Mayer Brown schon früher an. Vgl. seinen Aufsatz „Embellishment in early Sixteenth-Century Italian Intabulations“, in PRMA, 100 (1973–1974), S. 49–83, hier S. 55 und 77. Dieser Umgang mit dem Original wird aber von Brown noch nicht als ein spezielles Intavolierungsverfahren aufgefasst. Göllner, „On the Process of Lute Intabulation“, S. 84f. D-Mbs Mus.ms. 267, fols. 34 r –35v, 36 v –37r. Vgl. Göllner, „On the Process of Lute Intabulation“, S. 91–93. Le Roy, A briefe and plaine instruction (wie Anm. 6), sig. Giiv –G[iv]r.

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waren außerdem für Fortgeschrittene bestimmt und gehörten nicht zum Basiskönnen – dem Lehrstoff der überlieferten Traktate. Es ist nicht bekannt, ob die zwei Methoden in einem logischen und historischen Zusammenhang standen, denn die im Stegreif-Musizieren verwurzelte „ausgearbeitete“ Intavolierung existierte sicherlich parallel zur „notengetreuen“. Die Intavolierung spielte zudem eine deutlich größere Rolle in der Musikpraxis als nur im pädagogischen Repertoire. Betrachten wir die „ausgearbeitete“ Methode eingehender, so wird klar, dass sie das Einfügen von stereotypen Diminutionsformeln umfasste und auf dem praktischen Üben im Memorieren, Kombinieren und Einsetzen dieser Formeln fußte. Was konnte aber im Original verändert werden und wie tiefgreifend durften diese Veränderungen sein? Das Intavolieren darf dabei nicht nur im Hinblick auf rein spieltechnisch bedingte Eingriffe gesehen werden: Bei der Laute handelte es sich hierbei um Stimmenreduktionen – oft von der Vierstimmigkeit zur Dreistimmigkeit, ohne Alt-Stimme –, Oktavversetzungen, Auflösungen von langen Notenwerten in Tonrepetitionen, Transposition, einzelne Änderungen in den Kadenzen etc.14 Außerdem wurden Diminutionsformeln bis mindestens 1550 noch nicht hinsichtlich der jeweils verschiedenen Idiome der Instrumente spezifiziert.15 Marie Louise Göllner beschreibt in ihren Intavolierungsanalysen zwei benachbarte Verfahren: eine Adaption oder eine Ausarbeitung des vokalen Stückes. Die Ausarbeitung gebe die „embellished form“ wieder und diene zugleich – im Zusammenhang mit der „simple form“ der Intavolierung – einer (Neu)Komposition, deren Gestaltung durch die rhythmische Einheit der ­Semibrevis reguliert wurde.16 Die Frage nach der Grenze 14

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Dass die Nuancen des Absetzens durch die Spieltechnik oder Stimmung des Instrumentes nicht ausschließlich und oft überhaupt nicht erklärbar sind, ist aus den Arbeiten von ­Wladimir Ivanoff und Levi Sheptovitsky ersichtlich: Ivanoff, „Isaac-Bearbeitungen“, und Levi Sheptovitsky, The Cracow Lute Tablature (CLT). Study of the manuscript and critical edition, Vol. I Study, Vol. II The Catalogue and Music, Diss. Universität Paris-Sorbonne und Universität Bar-Ilan, 2003, S.  100–145. Die Verfasserin bedankt sich ganz herzlich bei Levi Sheptovitsky für die Möglichkeit der Durchsicht des Dissertationsmanuskripts. Die Behauptung, dass beispielsweise die Diminutionsformeln in Buchners Fundamentum durch den Orgelfingersatz bestimmt waren, scheint deshalb nicht ganz plausibel zu sein, siehe Michael Radelescu, „Zum Problem der Intavolierungen Hofhaimerischer Sätze“, in Salmen, Heinrich Isaac und Paul Hofhaimer (wie Anm. 1), S. 135–142, hier S. 137. „In particular we find strong evidence for three main points regarding the compositional process for lute: the use of a preliminary score in intabulation, albeit in a variety of forms; distinction between a simple and an embellished form of an intabulated work as two separate steps; preference for the semibreve as the rhythmic unit in composition but for the tradition of the breve in notation, resulting in inconsistencies in the placement of vertical lines of division. This is combined with a simplification of the rhythmic structure generally, away from the subtleties of the vocal works to the square-cut formulae of

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zwischen Intavolierung (der Adaption) und Komposition (dem Umwandeln zu einem neuen Stück oder einer anderen, neuen musikalischen Einheit) bleibt dennoch offen, vor allem weil die von Göllner beschriebenen Techniken vor dem Hintergrund der sehr eng miteinander verwobenen Verfahren der Stegreif-Praxis und des schriftlichen Komponierens verliefen, die Göllner außer Acht gelassen hat.17 Im nächsten Schritt wäre zu überlegen, inwiefern die Stegreif-Praxis die Intavolierung beeinflussen konnte, und woran die Instrumentalisten sich dabei orientierten. Die einzige Stelle, an der Le Roy die „ausgearbeitete“ Intavolierungstechnik in seiner Instruction erklärt, weist auf sein Verständnis dieser Technik hin, die er als der rhetorischen Eloquenz ähnlich beschreibt („somewhat like the eloquence of Rhetorike“). Für ihn war demnach eine organisierte Verschiedenheit wichtig. Die Passagen („running poinctes and passages“), um die es hier geht, sollten bei Bedarf zugunsten der Annehmlichkeit des Klanges eingefügt werden, wodurch ein fließender Satz entstehen sollte. Die Technik bezieht sich interessanterweise sowohl auf das Lied als auch auf den Tanz und geht somit auf die Stegreif-Musikpraxis zurück.18 Bei der rhetorischen Eloquenz geht es laut Le Roy in der Musik nicht nur um die Passagen, sondern auch um andere kompositorische „Eingriffe“: die Veränderungen der Satzstruktur im Vergleich zur vokalen Vorlage, das Kürzen oder Weglassen von Phrasen oder Abschnitten, das Gestalten von Varianten der Abschnitte, auch ohne Diminutionen, neue Zusammenstellungen anhand von originalen Soggetti usw.19

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i­nstrumental embellishments based uniformly on the unit of the semibreve.“ Göllner, „On the Process of Lute Intabulation“, S. 94. Vgl. Markus Grassl, „Improvisieren und Komponieren am Instrument“, in Calella/ Schmidt, Komponieren in der Renaissance (wie Anm. 2), S. 354–397, hier S. 354f. „To make this woorke in all poinctes parfite, and to shewe you (as a man might saie) not onely the plaine and rude Grammer, but also further somewhat like the eloquence of Rhetorike, I have thought good in this place of the first Tune (to croune as it were the worke withall) to add an example of the same song, adorned with running poinctes and passages, as wee will like wile doe in the example of eversong, given for example: to the intente the scholer maie learne to decke other songes or daunses, with like flowers and ornamentes: in which he shall bee forced sometyme, for the better grace and pleasyng of the eare, to leave out someone note of the accorde of some one of the parts: not so much for all that for necessitie, as for the pleasauntnesse of the sounde: yea, and that with full recompence of the lacke of the note, whiche shalbee omitted, by the puttyng to of running poinct or passage, wherein lieth all the cunnyng.“, Le Roy, A briefe and plaine instruc­ tion (wie Anm. 6), sig. Dv. Die Beschäftigung mit rhetorischen Techniken wäre darüber hinaus vermutlich besonders dann zu erwarten, wenn die Tabulaturen als humanistische Scholarhefte genutzt wurden. Eines der Beispiele ist die Krakauer Lautentabulatur UKR-LVu 1400/I, die humanistische Dichtung und literarische Sentenzen am Rande der Tabulaturblätter, u.a. an den Intavolierungen, beinhaltet. Vgl. Schöning, „Die Lautentabulatur UKR-LVu 1400/I

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Die Techniken gingen somit über das Verzieren und Diminuieren weit hinaus und umfassten ein breites Spektrum des „Musik-Machens“. Außerdem war das Gelingen der musikalischen Realisierung vor einem Publikum für einen mit der Technik der „ausgearbeiteten“ Intavolierung vertrauten Musiker viel wichtiger, als das Beachten des Notentextes der zu intavolierenden Vokalvorlage. Das Handwerk des Intavolierens– als Handwerk wurde die Musik im 16.  Jahrhundert generell verstanden20 – basierte wie auch das Musizieren aus dem Stegreif auf Stereotypen und Modellen. Das „notengetreue“ Intavolieren war dagegen vermutlich nur ein optionaler Teil einer viel komplexeren Praxis. Das Produzieren nach einer Vorlage war im 16. Jahrhundert de facto disziplinübergreifend. Die Literaturwissenschaft hat in diesem Bereich eine deutliche Unterteilung eingeführt, indem sie die im Vergleich zum Original leicht veränderten („Transformationen“) und stärker umgearbeiteten Texte („Nachahmungen“) unterschied.21 In der Musikwissenschaft wurde diese Unterscheidung zwar auch angewendet, doch nur im Bereich der Parodie-Technik in der Vokalmusik.22 Wichtig ist, dass unter zwei Arten musikalischer Entlehnung – „Transformation“ (die genaue, meist erkennbare Übernahme des Materials) und „Nachahmung“ (die Quelle ist „nicht sofort wahrnehmbar“)23 – , die strukturelle „Nachahmung“ differenziert betrachtet und erfasst wird: „[…] wenn zwei Kompositionen nur strukturelle Aspekte teilen, ohne Wiederholungen des Materials nicht einmal in der Form eines mensuralen Schemas.“24 Angesichts der fehlenden literarisch-textlichen Ebene in der instrumentalen Intavolierung ist die strukturelle „Nachahmung“ (z.B. kompositorische Form-Struktur oder Satztyp ohne übernommenes Klangmaterial wie Motivik, Soggetti etc.) eine der gewichtigen Komponenten in der „Übersetzung“ des Materials der vokalen Vorlage ins Instrumentale. Die Analyse einer Intavolierung erfordert insgesamt eine präzise Betrachtung aller musikalischen Komponenten unter Berücksichtigung zweier Herangehensweisen an das Original („notengetreue“ und „ausgearbeitete“ Intavolierung). Ein weiterer Aspekt ist dabei die Positionierung des Intavolators zum Original, die sich auch davon ableiten lässt, ob die Intavolierung hand-

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als ein humanistisches Scholarbuch“ (wie Anm. 9). Peter Burke, Culture and Society in Renaissance Italy: 1420–1540, London 1972, S. 284. Zit. nach der dt. Übers.: Peter Burke, Die Renaissance in Italien. Sozialgeschichte einer Kultur zwi­ schen Tradition und Erfindung, Frankfurt am Main, 1996, S. 107. Gérard Genette, Palimpseste. Die Literatur auf zweiter Stufe, Frankfurt am Main 1993, S. 14f. Vincenzo Borghetti, „Komponieren nach einer Vorlage“, in Calella/Schmidt, Komponie­ ren in der Renaissance (wie Anm. 2), S. 317–353. Ebda., S. 320. Ebda., S. 319.

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schriftlich oder im Druck überliefert wurde: Wenn eine Intavolierung in der „improvisationsnahen“ Handschrift vorkommt, handelt es sich eher um das Musik-Machen, wobei die Intavolierung skizzenhaft und erst post factum aufgezeichnet wurde. Bei den Druck-Versionen oder bei den an Drucken orientierten Handschriften hingegen handelt es sich – im Grunde – wahrscheinlich um eine fertige, präexistente Intavolierung, die mit dem Zweck veröffentlicht wird, das „Fertige“ zum Üben anzubieten. Die Qualität und die Art der Vorlage sowie ihre Überlieferungsform in der Tabulatur spielt somit eine wichtige Rolle. Die Vorlagen konnten aus dem Gedächtnis oder aus handschriftlichen oder gedruckten Noten genommen werden, und sie konnten im Zuge der Bearbeitung in einer skizzenhaften und fragmentarischen bis hin zur vollständigen und detaillierten Version aufgezeichnet werden. Ein weiterer Diskurs eröffnet sich durch die Überlegung zur Zielgruppe der Intavolierungen. Anfänger bildeten sicherlich nur einen Teil der Rezipienten des 16. Jahrhunderts. Laut Galilei wurde die Intavolierung zu einer intellektuellen Kunst für fortgeschrittene („professionelle“) Musiker.25 Bildete vielleicht die „notengetreue“ Intavolierung auch eine Gedächtnisstütze für die „professionellen“ Instrumentalisten, z.B. für weitere (ex tempore oder schriftliche) Diminutionen? Oder wurde die „notengetreue“ Intavolierung neben ihrer didaktischen Funktion mit Repräsentations- oder Aufbewahrungszweck aufgeschrieben? Im Folgenden werden Intavolierungstechniken exemplarisch am Beispiel des Benedictus aus Heinrich Isaacs Missa Quant j’ay au cueur diskutiert. II. Dankbares Material für die Analyse sind Intavolierungen aus handschriftlichen und gedruckten Quellen, die nach Art, Provenienz, Entstehungszeit und Funktion verschieden sind, obwohl sie die gleichen Stücke bearbeiten. Die zahlreichen Intavolierungen von Isaacs Benedictus seiner Missa Quant j’ay au cueur sind ein schönes Beispiel dafür. Zunächst seien die Quellen kurz charakterisiert: Die handschriftliche Thibault-Tabulatur, F-Pn Res. Vmd Ms. 27, entstanden um 1500, stammt aus dem venezianischen Raum 26 und scheint größtenteils das Stegreif-Spiel für Laute wiederzugeben. Ebenfalls zum größten Teil dem Stegreif-Musizieren widmet sich die in Krakau aufbewahrte Lautentabulatur Pl-Kj Mus. ms. 40154. Das Manuskript wurde vermutlich in den 1520er oder 1530er Jahren im süddeutschen Sprachraum geschrieben.27 Das Lautenbuch des Stephan 25 26 27

Wie Anm. 8. Ivanoff, „Isaac-Bearbeitungen“ (wie Anm. 14), S. 191. Christian Meyer, „Un repertoire de luth allemand des années 1520: Krakow, Biblioteka

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Craus, A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18688, aus der Wiener Umgebung (aufgezeichnet in den 1530er/1540er Jahren) – obwohl handschriftlich – orientiert sich an den Drucken von Hans Judenkünig (Ain schone kunstliche vnderweisung, Wien 1523) und Hans Newsidler (Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch, Nürnberg 1536) und hat eine ausgeprägt didaktische Funktion.28 Die etwas spätere handschriftliche Lautentabulatur D-Mbs Mus.ms. 272 (1549–1560) ist ebenso süddeutscher Herkunft und vermutlich eine Druckvorlage, wenn auch das Manuskript Anzeichen der ex tempore-Praktiken aufweist.29 Die Drucke von Hans Newsidler, Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch (Nürnberg: Johannes Petreius 1536) und Wolff Heckel, Lautten Buch (Straßburg: Christian Müller 1562) sind bekanntlich didaktisch angelegt. Francesco Spinacinos Intabulatura de Lauto, Libro I (Venedig: Ottaviano Petrucci 1507) schließlich ist ein Tabulaturdruck aus der venezianischen Gegend, der wiederum auf die Stegreif-Praktiken zurückgeht.30 Betrachtet man zunächst das Benedictus von Isaac als potenzielle Vorlage31 für Intavolierungen, stellt man fest, dass es sich um sehr geeignetes Material für eine instrumentale Bearbeitung handelt. Der Satz besteht aus fünf Satz-­ Typen: imitativer dreistimmiger Incipit-Satz (T.  111–119,32 Notenbsp. 1), Dreistimmigkeit mit Terz- oder Dezim-Parallelbewegungen bei einer ausgehaltenen Stimme (T.  122–125, 140f.), ein Ostinato-Satz mit einem eingebauten zweistimmigen Kanon (T. 144–148), verdünnte zweistimmige Textur mit angeschlossener stereotyper Kadenz in verschiedenen Registern (T.  128–131, 131–134) sowie weitgespannte dreistimmige Sequenzen mit ausgehaltenen Tönen (T.  149–153, 153–162). Die meisten dieser Satz-Typen korrelieren mit den instrumentalen Idiomen um 1500 und bergen mehrere Stellen für Diminutionen. Gewisse Schwierigkeiten konnten dem Lautenisten nur das imitative Incipit und der Kanon-Satz bereiten. Der Reiz des Benedictus lag wohl auch in seinen drei ausgeprägten Soggetti (a – ab T. 111; b – ab T. 120 und c – ab T. 134)

28

29

30 31 32

Jagiellonska, Mus. ms. 40154“, in FAM 39 (1992), S. 331–343, hier S. 331. Kateryna Schöning, „Unbekannte genuine Instrumentalsätze aus der Lautentabulatur des Stephan Craus (A-Wn, Mus. Hs. 18688): schriftlos – skizziert – gedruckt“, in AMl 90 (2018), S. 1–32. Das Manuskript wird neben anderen Lauten- und Orgeltabulaturen im derzeit laufenden, durch den FWF geförderten Lise-Meitner-Projekt Solistische Instrumentalmusik des 16. Jahr­ hunderts im süddeutschen Kulturraum am Institut für Musikwissenschaft an der Universität Wien erforscht. Brown, „Embellishment in early Sixteenth-Century Italian Intabulations“ (wie Anm. 10), S. 77f. Diese war möglicherweise einer untextierten Version aus Petruccis Odhecaton A entnommen. Ivanoff, „Isaac-Bearbeitungen“ (wie Anm. 14), S. 192. Die Taktzählung ist der Ausgabe Henrici Isaac Opera omnia, Bd. VII, hrsg. von Edward R. Lerner, [Neuhausen-Stuttgart] 1984 (CMM 65-7), S. 74–76, entnommen.

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sowie in der Verschiedenheit des Satzbaus, die vielfältige Möglichkeiten bot um entweder die Abschnitte zu kombinieren und nur Teile des Benedictus zu bearbeiten, oder eben eine „strukturelle Nachahmung“ durchzuführen. Spinacino (1507) bot eine der ersten Druck-Versionen des Benedictus für Laute. Das Isaac-Stück ist fast komplett originalgetreu abgeschrieben, Diminutionen kommen kaum vor. Die formale Struktur mit allen Kadenzen und Registerwechseln ist original. Leichte Veränderungen (z.B. die Verdopplung von längeren Noten, die rhythmische Glättung punktierter Noten, leichte Umspielungen von Motiven) sind auf die Spieltechnik der Laute zurückzuführen und lassen den Satz von Isaac deutlich hörbar erscheinen. Sogar die Kanon-Stelle ist erkennbar, wobei Spinacino aus zwei Kanonstimmen eine einzige Melodie kompiliert (T. 35–38). Man sieht hier ein Beispiel einer „notengetreuen“ Intavolierung, wie sie etwa Le Roy lehrte – eine schriftbezogene und didaktisch orientierte erste Variante, die dann in der Praxis ausgearbeitet werden konnte. Anzeichen der „rhetorischen Eloquenz“ hört man allerdings am Beginn des Stückes: Das Incipit steht im Kontrast zum ganzen Stück durch eine ausgedehnte diminuierte Auslegung des Soggetto a, wobei das Soggetto kaum erkennbar ist (Notenbsp. 2a, T.  1–4). Eine ähnliche Version – eine notengetreue Intavolierung mit einem reichlich diminuierten Incipit – notierte Le Roy in der „notengetreuen“ Intavolierung von Lassos Ie l’ayme bien über 50 Jahre später.33 Das Benedictus in der Intavolierung von Newsidler (1536) setzt die Tradition der auf einer schriftlichen Vorlage basierenden „notengetreuen“ Intavolierung fort, was nicht verwundert, da es sich bei seiner Tabulatur um ein gedrucktes Lehrbuch handelt.34 Die Intavolierung ist eine fast exakte Übertragung des Originals, wobei Newsidler offensichtlich viel Wert auf die Übertragung aller Satztypen legte. Er deutete sogar den Kanon-Satz an (T.  34–35). Es war ihm also wichtig, dass die Schüler diverse Satztypen instrumental verinnerlichten. Newsidler hat den Satz aber zugleich insofern verändert, als er einzelne kurze Diminutionen und vor allem stereotype Kadenzformeln aufzeichnete (Notenbsp. 2b, T.  5–6). Er konzentrierte sich zudem auf nur ein Soggetto – Soggetto a –, die anderen Soggetti sind motivisch leicht verändert oder in der Imitation nicht mehr erkennbar. Zeigte Newsidler damit dem Schüler eine der möglichen „Interpretationen“ bei der Aufführung des Stückes?

33 34

Le Roy, A briefe and plaine instruction (wie Anm. 6), sig. G[iv]r. Newsidler hinterließ auf einem weiteren Folio des Manuskripts eine treffende Anmerkung zu den „notengetreuen“ Intavolierungen: „Hie enden sich die newen liedlein. Ich hab keins colerirn wollen / dan sie sind an in selbs gut / wie sie in noten sthen / und sein den schüler nützer / als wan sie collerirt weren.“, Hans Newsidler, Ein Newgeordent Künst­ lich Lautenbuch, Nürnberg: Johann Petreius 1536 (VD16 ZV 11665), sig. siiv.

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Isaac in Lautenintavolierungen aus handschriftlichen und gedruckten Quellen (ca. 1500–1562)

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Um die gleiche Zeit (1530er–1540er) hinterließ Stephan Craus seine handschriftlichen Anweisungen zur Intavolierung in Form von mehreren Intavolierungsbeispielen ohne Kommentare. Das Tabulaturbuch beinhaltet darüber hinaus mehrere Satzmodelle der damaligen Stegreif-Praxis.35 Im Falle des Be­ nedictus notierte Craus die ersten Schritte der „notengetreuen“ Intavolierung – er schrieb nur die zwei unteren Stimmen des Originals ab. Die Diminution sollte ex tempore gemacht werden, denn die Stimmen sind kaum diminuiert dargelegt (Notenbsp. 2c). Alle Satz-Typen aus dem Isaac-Original waren auch für Craus prinzipiell wichtig, da er die Ostinato- und Sequenz-Phrasen ohne Änderungen übertrug.

35

Zu diesen Modellen gehören beispielsweise die Preambula und „freie“ Sätze ohne Titel: Preambulum, fol. 6 r, ist eine vom ganzen Kontext der Handschrift unabhängige akkordische Sequenz-Übung; der unbetitelte Satz, fol. 9 r, bietet eine Übung zur Intavolierung mit angedeuteter Soggetti-Bearbeitung; der nächste unbetitelte „freie“ Satz, fol. 10 r, bildet eine gängige Formel aus zwei gekoppelten Kadenzen; aus reinen Passagen besteht das Postludiolo, fol. 12r; Priambulum und Preambulum, fol. 25r–v, schließlich sind Tanz-Präludien. Vgl. Schöning, „Unbekannte genuine Instrumentalsätze“ (wie Anm. 28).

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Notenbsp. 2a–g: Synopse von Lautenintavolierungen von Heinrich Isaacs Benedictus aus der Missa Quant j’ay au cueur: a) Francesco Spinacino Intabulatura de Lauto, Libro I (Venedig 1507), fol. 4 r, T. 1–12 b) Hans Newsidler Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch (Nürnberg 1536), sig. piii r, T. 1–12 c) Lautenbuch des Stephan Craus A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18688, fol. 31v, T. 1–12 d) Lautentabulatur Pl-Kj Mus. ms. 40154, fols. 18r –19 r, T. 1–10 e) Wolff Heckel, Lautten Buch (Straßburg 1562), sig. F 3v ,T. 1–12 f ) Lautentabulatur D-Mbs Mus.ms. 272, fol. 71v, T. 1–12 g) Thibault-Tabulatur, F-Pn Res. Vmd Ms. 27, fol. 21r [ohne Taktstriche] Zur besseren Übersicht wurden alle Notenbsp. in der Stimmung A entziffert und der Satz aus dem Lautenbuch des Stephan Craus eine Quarte tiefer transponiert.

Wenden wir uns der Lautentabulatur Pl-Kj Mus. ms. 40154 (ca. 1520–1530), einer handschriftlichen Sammlung von Skizzen zu, fällt uns ein ganz anderer Umgang mit Isaacs Original auf. Vom ursprünglichen Benedictus bleiben die Abschnitte, die die drei Soggetti exponieren, ansonsten fallen alle Sequenzund Ostinato-Teile weg (Notenbsp. 2d). Die Intavolierung folgt in keinem Fall dem Original, sondern stellt die gut memorierbaren Soggetti-Kerne – als Gedächtnisstütze – in eigener Reihenfolge zusammen. Der Schreiber fügte dazu noch eigene Überleitungen ein. Die Skizzen veranschaulichen also womöglich eine Stegreif-Intavolierung, obwohl sie um die gleiche Zeit wie Newsidlers Druck und Craus’ Notizen entstanden. 318

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Eine parallele Existenz einer eher „notengetreuen“ und einer „ausgearbeiteten“ Intavolierung aus dem Stegreif lässt sich um die Mitte des Jahrhunderts in den Quellen beobachten. Im Tabulatur-Druck von Wolff Heckel (1562) wird die Tradition Spinacinos und Newsidlers fortgesetzt: Isaacs Benedictus ist mit dem Original fast identisch, sogar mit einer Andeutung des Kanons. Diminutionen sind nur sparsam eingefügt und alle imitativen Abschnitte sind tendenziell nicht koloriert. Wie bei Spinacino sieht man ein Relikt der ex tempore-Praxis am Beginn des Stückes, wo Soggetto a in der ursprünglichen Variante ausbleibt und stattdessen eine einstimmige Passage in der Funktion einer rhetorischen Eröffnung erklingt, um den Zuhörer „einzustimmen“ (Notenbsp. 2e). Die Münchner Handschrift D-Mbs Mus.ms. 272 aus der Mitte des Jahrhunderts orientiert sich offensichtlich an Versionen aus gedruckten Tabulaturen, ist aber vom schriftlosen Musizieren sehr geprägt. Die kompositorische Struktur inklusive Tonartenplan, Kadenzen und dreistimmiger Textur ist original. Das Stück ist detailliert und akkurat aufgezeichnet, was darauf hindeutet, dass die Nutzer dieses Tabulaturbuches vom Tabulaturblatt spielen oder erlernen sollten. Sie haben das Benedictus vermutlich nicht als Vorlage für die Stegreif-Praxis gebraucht, wie es beispielsweise beim Benedictus aus dem ­Krakauer Manuskript der Fall war. Es fällt dennoch auf, dass die Satztypen, die hier beibehalten sind, nur als Satztypen das Original verraten: Die Sequenz-­Abschnitte (T.  39–43 und 44–52) sind beispielsweise derart mit dichten und ausgeprägten Passagen 319

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verdeckt, dass sie eher auf die Erneuerung als auf das Beibehalten des Originals zielen. Der Kanon (T. 34–37) ist kaum erkennbar. Der „rhetorische Anfang“ ist ebenfalls eingefügt, er wurde hier – im Vergleich zu Spinacino oder Heckel – in die Anfangsimitationen des Soggetto a eingebaut (Notenbsp. 2f). Es ist anzunehmen, dass diese Fassung des Benedictus, die offensichtlich zu den „ausgearbeiteten“ Intavolierungen gehört, eine der möglichen schriftlosen Interpretationen von Isaacs Stück festhält und eine ihrer auf­führungspraktischen Varianten darstellt. An diesem Beispiel kann man jedenfalls die „strukturelle Nachahmung“ gut erkennen: Der Schreiber übernahm die Satz-Typen in ihrer gesamten Länge und füllte sie mit „eigenen“, d.h. mit den ihm gerade zur Verfügung stehenden idiomatischen instrumentalen Formeln aus. Der Unterschied zwischen der „notengetreuen“ und der „ausgearbeiteten“ Intavolierung ist eindeutig in der Thibault-Tabulatur zu sehen. Dazu hat der Schreiber drei Varianten des Benedictus niedergeschrieben: eine Intavolierung der zwei Unterstimmen (Tenor ad Benedictus, fol. 55r–v), eine dreistimmige Intavolierung (Benedictus, fol. 21r–v) und eine freiere Version des Benedictus (Recerchar ad benedictus, fols. 20 v –21r). Die ersten zwei Intavolierungen entsprechen dem Typ der „ausgearbeiteten“ Intavolierung. Wie aus den späteren theoretischen Anweisungen hervorgeht, wurden diese normalerweise aus dem Stegreif ausgeführt und durch zuvor erstellte „notengetreue“ Intavolierungen vorbereitet. Dass eine Intavolierung auch zweistimmig geübt wurde, entspricht wohl der Praxis der „notengetreuen“ Intavolierung. Die beiden Varianten des Bene­ dictus behalten erstaunlicherweise die originalen Satztypen bei: Die Strukturen mit Terz- und Dezim-Parallelbewegungen, die Registerwechsel, alle Ostinato-Sätze, zwei Sequenz-Abschnitte sowie die klare Kadenzgliederung sind exakt von der Isaac-Vorlage übernommen. Alle Soggetti sind, zumindest im Kern, erkennbar. Die Intavolierungen vermitteln den Eindruck, dass der Schreiber bemüht war, Isaacs Original möglichst genau wiederzugeben und einige Beispiele von möglichen Diminutionen (insbesondere in Kadenzen) hineinzuschreiben. Das formal-strukturelle Skelett des Originals von Isaacs Vorlage hatte dabei eine bindende Funktion, denn es war offenbar sehr gut memorierbar und ergab eine fruchtbare Basis für die freiere Ausarbeitung (Notenbsp. 2g). Im Ricercar ist die Isaac-Vorlage nur ein Impuls für eine Stegreif-Kreation. Der Umgang mit der Vorlage ist wiederum anders: Der modale Kadenzplan des Benedictus, Soggetti b und c, Sätze mit Dezim-Parallelbewegung sowie Ostinato-Sätze sind erkennbar. Sie werden jedoch frei kombiniert, gekürzt und mit freieren Passagen durchzogen, wie z.B. in der Überleitung zum ­B enedictus am Schluss des Recerchars (Notenbsp. 3). Wie die Schreiber mit dem Original umgingen, verraten am ehesten die Schlussabschnitte: An diesen Stellen sieht man, ob das Original als ein abge320

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Notenbsp. 3: Recerchar ad benedictus aus der Thibault-Tabulatur, F-Pn Res. Vmd Ms. 27, fols. 20 v –21r

schlossenes Stück wahrgenommen wurde oder Bedarf am Weiterkomponieren bestand, ob das Isaac-Original oder das eigene Können primär war. Der letzte Abschnitt des Isaac-Originals imitiert das Soggetto c in den Außenstimmen und schließt mit einer Kadenz (T. 162–166, Notenbsp. 4a). Spinacinos, Newsidlers, Craus’ und Heckels Schlüsse sind nah am Original. Besonders gilt dies für Stephan Craus, der sogar die für die frühe Lautenliteratur untypische Punktierung wiedergibt (Notenbsp. 4b–e). In der Krakauer Handschrift, deren Skizzen die post factum notierte Steg­ reif-Intavolierung offenlegen, tritt anstelle des Schlusses ein neuer Satz, der von dem vorherigen grafisch abgetrennt ist und außerdem in einen neuen Modus (in G) ausweicht – der einzige Fall, wo der Modus in Benedictus-Intavolierungen geändert wird (Notenbsp. 5a, b). Das weitere „Improvisieren“ resultiert in einem unmittelbar darauf aufgezeichneten Postludium der erneut zu einem Moduswechsel (in d) führt. Die Münchner Handschrift enthält ebenfalls eine deutlich freiere Interpretation des Schlusses. Wie in der Krakauer Handschrift folgt ein Postludium, das in diesem Fall zum Benedictus gehört, denn erst nach diesem Postludium steht der Vermerk „finis Benedictus“ (Notenbsp. 6). Dies bestätigt unsere frühere Beobachtung: Der Schreiber versucht, in einem Stück alle aus dem Stegreif kommenden Teile, seien es Diminutionsformeln 321

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Notenbsp. 4a–f: Synopse von Lautenintavolierungen von Heinrich Isaacs Benedictus aus der Missa Quant j’ay au cueur: a) originaler Satz, T. 162–166 b) Francesco Spinacino Intabulatura de Lauto, Libro I (Venedig 1507), fol. 5r, T. 50–54 c) Hans Newsidler Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch (Nürnberg 1536), sig. piiiiv, T. 51–55 d) Lautenbuch des Stephan Craus A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18688, fol. 32 r, T. 52–56 e) Wolff Heckel, Lautten Buch (Straßburg 1562), sig. G r, T. 53–57 f ) Thibault-Tabulatur, F-Pn Res. Vmd Ms. 27, fol. 22 r [ohne Taktstriche] Auch hier wurden alle Notenbsp. in der Stimmung A entziffert, das Benedictus aus dem ­Lautenbuch des Stephan Craus eine Quarte tiefer (d) und der Original Isaac-Satz einen Ton ­ höher (a) transponiert.

oder ganze passagenartige Abschnitte, schriftlich zu erfassen. Das Benedictus in der Thibault-Tabulatur endet rigoros mit dem Isaac-Schluss, weil ein freier Satz (Recerchar ad benedictus) schon davorsteht (Notenbsp. 4f ). Diese Tatsache ist umso interessanter, da der Schreiber das Recerchar und das Benedictus zusammen, als einen Komplex, betrachtete – das Ricercar ist das einzige Stück im ganzen ­M anuskript, das nicht mit dem am Ende üblichen Vermerk „finis“ und dem für das Manuskript typischen Finis-Zeichen endet. Das Recerchar geht unmittelbar in das Benedictus über. Dennoch vermischte der Schreiber nicht zwei Verfahrensweisen, sondern hinterließ zwei Stücke. 322

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Notenbsp. 5a: Lautentabulatur Pl-Kj Mus. ms. 40154, fol. 18v, T. 29–33 mit Postludium (Faksimile)

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                           

        [ ] 



  

  

Notenbsp. 5b: Lautentabulatur Pl-Kj Mus. ms. 40154, fol. 18v, T. 29–33 mit Postludium (Übertragung)

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   

    



 

                        

          

                  

 



        

  

  

  

  

     

 finis Benedictus



Notenbsp. 6: Lautentabulatur D-Mbs Mus.ms. 272, fol. 72 r, T. 53–68

Anhand dieser Isaac-Intavolierungen wird deutlich, dass von der Jahrhundertwende bis mindestens zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts hinein Intavolierungen sowohl ex tempore als auch nach Noten gespielt wurden. Obwohl die Etablierung des Drucks und die Entwicklung der instrumentalen Didaktik die Intavolierung beeinflusste (es wurde zunehmend versucht, möglichst viel schriftlich festzuhalten), wurden auf Stegreifpraktiken oder schriftlichen Vorlagen basierende Intavolierungen sowohl handschriftlich als auch im Druck bis zur Jahrhundertmitte gepflegt. Die Intavolierungen veranschaulichen unterschiedliche Rezeptionswege der Zeit. Isaacs Satz konnte einerseits als Impuls für die „eigene“ Stegreif-Praxis (v.a. in Form von Soggetto-Kernen oder Gerüstsätzen als Gedächtnisstütze) und die „Neukomposition“ dienen. In diesem Fall wurden freiere Sätze wie Postludien oder Präludien und neu komponierte Teile an den Isaac-Satz angeschlossen. Andererseits konnten die Musiker den Isaac-Satz als eine verbindliche Vorlage für eine „notengetreue“ Übertragung verstehen, bei der kompositorische Struktur, Kadenzgliederung, Modus, das formal-strukturelle Skelett und Soggetti konstant waren.

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PERFORMATIVE DIMENSIONEN DER ­M ENSURALNOTATION: ISAACS MISSA DE BEATA MARIA VIRGINE AUS DEM CHORBUCH ­G ESUNGEN

Zu den Quellen zurückzugehen, möglichst nah an die ursprüngliche Fassung eines Werkes zu gelangen und aus eigens angefertigten Transkriptionen zu musizieren, kann mittlerweile als Standard der historisch informierten Aufführungspraxis gelten. Dass jedoch aus der originalen Notation selbst musiziert wird, bildet nach wie vor die Ausnahme, gerade wenn es sich um Mensuralnotation in Formaten mit getrennten Stimmen, also Chorbüchern oder Stimmbüchern handelt. Zweifellos stellt die Notation der Musik um 1500 ungewohnte und teilweise auch erschwerende Herausforderungen an heutige Interpretinnen und Interpreten. Diese Herausforderungen – so die Annahme dieses Beitrags – können jedoch auch als Teil der Sache selbst angesehen werden: Sie bedingen eine eigene musikalische Praxis, indem sie spezifische Aspekte des Musizierens hervorheben und sie können darum Zugänge zu einem musikalischen Denken in Komposition und Interpretation öffnen, dessen Ausdruck wiederum diese Notation in ihrer äußeren Gestalt und den ihr zugrundeliegenden Prinzipien ist. Mittlerweile lassen sich eine Reihe aktueller Forschungsbemühungen anführen, die diese Sichtweise aus unterschiedlichen Richtungen stützen. ­Jessie Ann Owens hat in ihrer einflussreichen Studie zur Arbeitsweise von Komponisten in der Zeit zwischen 1450 und 1600 unter anderem anhand einer handschriftlichen Quelle Heinrich Isaacs nachgewiesen, dass bereits der Kompositionsprozess auf den Bedingungen eines linearen Denkens und Notierens in getrennten Einzelstimmen beruhte.1 Hieran anknüpfend konnte Anne Smith im Rückgriff auf zahlreiche Darstellungen in historischen Theorietraktaten 1

Vgl. Jessie Ann Owens, Composers at Work. The Craft of Musical Composition 1450–1600, New York/Oxford 1997, S. 258–290, sowie ihren Beitrag im vorliegenden Band.

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zeigen, wie sich dieses musikalische Denken in eine entsprechende Musizierpraxis ausdifferenzierte.2 Die Evidenz der Quellenlage führt Smith zu der These, dass allein das Singen aus der originalen Notation das Wesen der Musik um 1500 offenbar werden lassen kann.3 Diesem Ansatz fühlen sich auch die in den letzten Jahren vermehrt erschienenen Notationslehren verpflichtet.4 So verzichtet Karin Paulsmeier im Verlauf ihres didaktischen Notationskurses aus ästhetischen Erwägungen heraus konsequent auf jede Übertragung in moderne Notation.5 Um die zentrale These Smiths allerdings wissenschaftlich zu erhärten, muss das Erfahrungsfeld des tatsächlichen Musizierens mit einbezogen werden: Sollen ästhetische Qualitäten einer performativen Praxis beschrieben werden, dann scheint dies nicht ohne einen aktuellen Prozess künstlerischer Forschung möglich. Ein solcher Forschungsprozess wiederum bezieht Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen mit ein, die sich einer intersubjektiven Vermittelbarkeit nie gewiss sein können – eine Problematik, die auch in den Darstellungen von Smith und Paulsheimer aufscheint.6 Der vorliegende Beitrag nähert sich dem Phänomen historischer Notation explizit aus eben dieser performativen Perspektive. Leitend ist dabei die Auffassung von Notation nicht als einer von der Aufführung abstrahierten Repräsentation eines ‚Werkes‘, sondern als einer konkret zu nehmenden Handlungsanweisung – einer Aufforderung also, sich musika2 3 4

5

6

Vgl. Anne Smith, The Performance of 16th–Century Music. Learning From The Theorists, New York/Oxford 2011, S. 4–19. Ebda., S. 18f. Vgl. Manfred Hermann Schmid, Notationskunde. Schrift und Komposition 900–1900, Kassel u.a. 2012 (Bärenreiter-Studienbücher Musik 18); Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl (Hrsg.), Schrift und Klang in der Musik der Renaissance, Laaber 2014 (Handbuch der Musik der Renaissance 3); Karin Paulsmeier, Notationskunde 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, Teilband A, Berlin 2017 (Scripta / Schola Cantorum Basiliensis 4). Grundlage für das Verstehen der musikalischen Schrift ist für Paulsmeier „der Zusammenhang zwischen Notation und Stil: Unmittelbarer als in ihrer ursprünglichen Aufzeichnung kann uns eine Komposition nicht nahegebracht werden. Entsprechend ist es das Ziel vorliegender Arbeit, das originale Schriftbild zum selbstverständlichen Ausgangspunkt für die Interpretation werden zu lassen“ (ebda., S. 3). So muss Smith in ihrer Absicht, „implications for today“ aus ihrer Quellenforschung abzuleiten, auf die Evidenz einer nicht näher spezifizierten ästhetischen Praxis verweisen: „I am convinced that we will not get at the heart of the music, if we do not approach it in the same way, from the individual parts, allowing their flowing together, their confluence to create the whole. To do so means we have to start playing from the parts […]. Experience has shown that the product is consistently of a higher quality“ (Smith, The Performance,  S.  18). Auch Paulsmeier ist sich dieser Problematik bewusst: „Praktische Erfahrungen sind von zentraler Bedeutung, wenn es darum geht, […] die Verbindung von theoretisch-rechnerischen und musikalisch-praktischen Aspekten in der Aussage eines jeden Erscheinungsbilds von Musik aufzuspüren“ (Paulsmeier, Notationskunde, S. 3).

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lisch in einer bestimmten Weise zu verhalten, aus der heraus sich ein Werk in seiner ästhetischen Gestalt erst zu erkennen gibt. Dies bezieht Anforderungen an das musikalische Hören, die Bedingungen des Lesens und Umsetzens von Schrift in Klang, das gemeinsame ausdrucksvolle Interagieren im Ensemble, die Aufführung vor und für Publikum – letztlich also die Gesamtheit des musizierenden Körpers – mit ein. Insofern lässt sich dieser performative Zugriff auf die Notation auch als ein musikalisches „Embodiment“ begreifen:7 als ein körperlich musizierendes Abtasten der Notation nach musikalisch-gestischen „Affordanzen“.8 Was also fordert die Mensuralnotation von denjenigen, die sie ausgehend von diesen Gegebenheiten im Akt des Musizierens umsetzen? Wie gestaltet sich der Prozess des Probens im Ensemble und welchen Einfluss hat die Form des gemeinsamen Singens aus einem Chorbuch? Welche Musizierhaltungen, welche Formen des Hörens, welche Kategorien der Interpretation können dabei zu Tage treten? Und was sagt dies – hier schließt sich der Kreis zur These Smiths – über die musikalische Auffassungsgabe und das musikalische Denken aus, das für die Entstehung und Aufführung der Musik – im konkreten Fall der Musik Isaacs – maßgeblich war? I. Interpretation als Prozess künstlerischen Forschens Im Folgenden möchte ich den Versuch unternehmen, die Arbeitsweise des ­Ensembles Nusmido9 am Beispiel der im Rahmen des Tagungskonzerts aufgeführten vierstimmigen Missa de Beata Maria Virgine als einen künstlerischen

7

8

9

Zum Begriff „Embodiment“ vgl. Joerg Fingerhut, Rebekka Hufendiek und Markus Wild (Hrsg.), Philosophie der Verkörperung. Grundlagentexte zu einer aktuellen Debatte, Berlin 2013, S. 64–91. Den hier zugrundeliegenden Ansatz, das „Embodiment“-Paradigma auf das performative Interpretieren von Notentexten anzuwenden, entwickelt Pavlos Antoniadis in „Körperliche Navigation. Verkörperte und erweiterte Kognition als Hintergrund der Interpretation komplexer Klaviermusik nach 1945“, in Verkörperungen der Musik. Interdisziplinäre Betrachtungen, hrsg. von Jörn Peter Hiekel und Wolfgang Lessing, Bielefeld 2014, S. 185– 209. Ausgehend von Theorien des verkörperten Geistes kommt er zu dem Schluss, „dass die performative Körperlichkeit ein zentraler Bestandteil der kognitiven Prozesse zum Lernen und zur Aufführung ist“, ebda., S. 203. Für das Lesen und Umsetzen von Notentexten führt er den Begriff der „Körperlichen Navigation“ ein, bei dem weniger die kognitive Planung als vielmehr das körperliche Agieren Wahrnehmungsangebote – sogenannte „Affordanzen“ (nach James Gibson) – generiert, die den musikalischen Erkenntnisprozess leiten. Zur Theorie Gibsons und dem Begriff der „Affordanz“ vgl. Lawrence Shapiro, Embodied Cognition, New York 2011, S. 29–36. Das Ensemble singt in der Besetzung Shirley Radig, Ivo Berg, Martin Erhardt und Milo Machover.

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Forschungsprozess im obigen Sinn zu reflektieren.10 Für die musikalischen Ideen und Inspirationen des Ensembles sind selbstverständlich nicht allein historische Quellen im strengen Sinn ausschlaggebend. Einen wesentlichen Ausgangspunkt bilden die gemeinsamen Studien bei Rebecca Stewart, die bereits seit Ende der 1980er Jahre mit der von ihr gegründeten und geleiteten Capella Pratensis das Singen aus Chorbüchern in die Praxis umsetzte und einen explizit darauf zugeschnittenen Bachelor- und Masterstudiengang an der Musikhochschule Tilburg (NL) konzipierte.11 Das künstlerische Vorbild und damit die Übernahme von ästhetischen Leitbildern und die unmittelbare Imitation des Musizierbildes sind essentielle Bestandteile eines jeden musikalischen Lernens.12 Sie dürften nach wie vor dem Klang des Ensembles eingeschrieben sein. Gleichwohl sind das Explizit-Machen und quellenkundliche Überprüfen von musikalischen Entscheidungen, das Umsetzten in eigene Techniken von zunächst nur imitierten Stilistiken Vorgänge, mit denen sich die künstlerische Entwicklung eines Ensembles individualisiert und eigene Wege einschlägt. Von Stewart übernommen sind neben der Aufführung aus Chorbüchern zwei weitere Elemente, die ebenfalls nicht streng historisch einzuordnen sind: das Ergründen und Zurückführen von Notationen auf ihre teils zeitlich weit abliegenden Vorläufer – ein Verstehen der Notation also nicht im Sinne einer teleologischen Entwicklung auf etwas zu,13 sondern vielmehr aus einem Verbundensein mit einer ursprünglichen, historisch vorgängigen Erfahrung heraus. 10

11

12

13

Die Messe ist in den Quellen D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47 und A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18745 überliefert. Das Ensemble musiziert Messkompositionen vorzugsweise aus der Chorbuchnotation, da diese dem liturgischen Rahmen eher zu entsprechen scheint. Auch die Messe Isaacs wurde im Tagungskonzert aus dem Chorbuch musiziert, unter ausschließlicher Verwendung der Quelle D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47. Insofern beziehen sich alle Überlegungen dieses Beitrags – gemäß dem Titel – allein auf die Bedingungen des Singens aus dem Chorbuch. Inwieweit die daraus gewonnenen Erfahrungen auf das Singen aus Stimmbüchern übertragbar sind, muss hier offen bleiben. Zu weiteren Aspekten des Tagungskonzerts siehe die Anmerkungen zum Tagungskonzert am Ende des vorliegenden Bandes. Die Arbeitsweise in diesem mittlerweile geschlossenen Studiengang ist dokumentiert auf einer DVD, die anlässlich des Ausscheidens von Rebecca Stewart 2007 vom damaligen Direktor des Fontys Conservatorium Tilburg in Auftrag gegeben wurde (produziert von Edith van Dijk, V-dit videoproducties, 2007). Vgl. hierzu die explizit auf Stewart bezogene Darstellung in Ivo Ignaz Berg, „,Don’t sing – first listen!‘ Über die Bedeutung des Imitierens in der Meisterlehre: ein Erfahrungs­ bericht mit mittelalterlicher Musik“, in Üben & Musizieren. Zeitschrift für Instrumentalpäd­ agogik und musikalisches Lernen (Heft 3, 2012), S. 20–24. Dieser Sichtweise scheint Willi Apel zu folgen, wenn er seiner Verwunderung Ausdruck verleiht, „dass es des intellektuellen Bemühens von vielen Jahrhunderten bedurfte, um zwei der allereinfachsten Hilfsmittel unserer Notation hervorzubringen, nämlich den Taktstrich und den Bindebogen“. Willi Apel, Die Notation der polyphonen Musik. 900–1600, Wiesbaden 41989, S. 91.

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Und schließlich der Versuch, eine Form des Singens zu erschließen, die sich explizit von Traditionen des klassischen, mitteleuropäischen Kunstgesangs löst und sich an heute noch lebendigen Stilen modalen Singens orientiert.14 Gerade aus einer künstlerischen, an einer Aufführung orientierten Perspektive lassen sich durchaus Vorbehalte gegenüber dem Musizieren aus originaler Notation anbringen. Dazu zählt der auf der abschließenden Podiumsdiskussion geäußerte Hinweis, dass das Erlernen einer neuen Notation und das Einrichten eines Chorbuchs wertvolle Zeit vom eigentlich musikalischen Probenprozess abziehen. Zudem sei es fraglich, ob dadurch nicht weitere und ebenso lohnende historische Praktiken wie etwa das Erfinden von Diminutionen tendenziell vernachlässigt würden. Demgemäß kann es auch nicht Ziel des vorliegenden Versuchs sein, die geschilderte Herangehensweise normativ über das Musizieren aus modernen Partituren zu erheben. Vielmehr handelt es sich auch hier nur um einen bestimmten, hermeneutisch ebenso zu relativierenden Zugang, der prinzipiell gleichberechtigt neben anderen steht. Wie eingangs erwähnt, ist er dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass er die in der Tat oft zeitaufwendige Auseinandersetzung mit der historischen Notation als Teil der Sache selbst begreift. Die musikalische und interpretatorische Arbeit beginnt also bereits mit dem Entziffern der Notenzeichen selbst. Die mehrstimmige Ausführung aus dem Stegreif der in Isaacs Messe nicht vertonten Alternatim-Teile durch das Ensemble Nusmido wiederum zeigt, dass diese Auseinandersetzung mit der Schriftlichkeit im Dienst eines umfassenden Musizierverständnisses steht und auch mündliche Praktiken – darunter die Solmisation und die Improvisation – einschließt.15 Gleichwohl sind die künstlerischen Folgerungen, mithin also das verkörpernde Auffinden notationaler „Affordanzen“ nicht zwingend zu verallgemeinern oder überhaupt objektivierbar: Andere Strategien im Umgang mit Mensuralnotation sind ebenso gut denkbar. Wenn also keine Automatismen zu erwarten sind, dann kann es auch nicht Ziel der folgenden Darstellung sein, allein die Ergebnisse – also die individuelle Musizierweise und die interpretatorischen Entscheidungen des Ensembles – zu bestätigen. Vielmehr geht es 14

15

Unter der etwas vagen Bezeichnung „modalen Singens“ sind hier Gesangsstile gemeint, die im Kontext eines zumeist einstimmigen Musiziersystems der Modalität stehen wie etwa dem klassischen indischen Gesang, einer der wesentlichen Erfahrungsquellen Rebecca Stewarts (vgl. Berg, „,Don’t sing – first listen!‘“, S. 20). Zur Abgrenzung vom klassischen, mitteleuropäischen Kunstgesang, zu möglichen Annäherungen an historische Gesangsstile und dem momentanen Stand der Forschung bezüglich eines allgemeinen Stimmideals der polyphonen Musik um 1500 vgl. Thomas Seedorf, „Vokalpraxis“, in Schrift und Klang in der Musik der Renaissance, hrsg. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, Laaber 2014 (Handbuch der Musik der Renaissance 3), S. 334–339. Zur Konzeption des Konzertes vgl. die Anmerkungen zum Konzert im vorliegenden Band.

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gleichsam um eine Form der ‚dichten Beschreibung‘, die auf die Offenlegung und Reflexion des spezifischen Wegs zielt, auf dem das Ensemble – künstlerisch forschend – zu seinen Ergebnissen gelangt. II. Probenarbeit in der Stimmdisposition des Chorbuchs Singen aus getrennten Stimmen Die Stimmdisposition im Chorbuch – die Anordnung aller vier Stimmen auf einer Doppelseite, für alle einsehbar, aber eben nicht vertikal einander zugeordnet – hat zur Folge, dass die anderen Partien während des Musizierens in der Regel nicht mitgelesen werden können.16 Die Korrektur von Fehlern und die Koordination der Stimmen zueinander muss über das Gehör gesteuert werden. Die Notation setzt also die Fähigkeit voraus, sich ausgehend vom eigenen Stimmverlauf im polyphonen Geschehen zu orientieren. Bereits mit der ersten Erarbeitungsphase muss dafür eine Art des Singens gefunden werden, die das zumindest intuitive Mithören der anderen Stimmen erlaubt. Dabei geht es gerade nicht um ein passives, zögerndes Musizieren, sondern um eine stimmliche Transparenz und Flexibilität, die sich einerseits den Einflüssen im Satz öffnet – vor allem was den Wechsel von Obertönen im kontrapunktischen Zusammenspiel betrifft –17, andererseits die eigene Rolle im Ineinandergreifen der Stimmen erkennt und entsprechende Signale im Singen aussendet – etwa durch prägnante rhythmisch-melodische Bewegungen oder an strukturell wichtigen Stellen wie kadenzierenden Wendungen. Gerade die Trennung und Individualisierung der stimmlichen Linien bewirkt, dass das Ganze des Satzes von vornherein aus dem kooperativen Zusammenwirken der Stimmen heraus angelegt werden muss. Selbstverständlich wächst die Fähigkeit, von der eigenen Stimme aus zu denken und Stimmfunktionen wahrzunehmen durch die zunehmende Vertrautheit mit der musikalischen Idiomatik. Die Messe Isaacs wiederum kommt durch die relative Kürze ihrer Abschnitte und ihrer nicht allzu komplexen

16

17

Selbstverständlich sind entsprechende Fähigkeiten individuell unterschiedlich ausgebildet. Noch Mitte des 16.  Jahrhunderts war das polyphone Primavista-Spiel aus Chor­ büchern Gegenstand von Organistenprüfungen. Vgl. Owens, Composers at Work (wie Anm. 1), S. 48ff. Zu den stimmphysiologischen Hintergründen dieses obertönigen Singens vgl. Seedorf, „Vokalpraxis“, S. 334f. Beispiel eines solchen Sich-Öffnens ist der stimmliche Vollzug des Intervallverhältnisses zu einer anderen Stimme: je nach Rolle entweder sich selbst als Oberton zu einer anderen Stimme verhalten oder selbst ein obertonreiches Fundament legen, in dessen Klangspektrum sich eine obere Stimme einfügen und bewegen kann.

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Notation einer Erarbeitung aus dem Chorbuch sehr entgegen. Um einen genaueren Überblick zu gewinnen und gezielteres Proben zu ermöglichen, bietet sich das Anlegen von Probenziffern im Chorbuch an. Diese ergeben sich im Singen meist dann, wenn zwei oder mehr Stimmen zueinander Kadenzen vollziehen. Auf diese Weise entsteht eine erste, über das Hören von Gemeinsamkeiten motivierte Gliederung des Satzes. Darüber hinaus können Probenziffern an Stellen notwendig werden, die eine besondere Herausforderung darstellen und gezielt angesteuert werden müssen. Interessanterweise finden sich in der Messe an einzelnen Stellen Markierungen, die offenbar nachträglich in das Manuskript eingetragen wurden.

Abb. 1: Gloria, Domine fili, Discantus und Contratenor, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 115v und fol. 116 r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

Im obigen Abschnitt aus dem Domine fili legen die eingefügten Häkchen eine Einsatzstelle zwischen Discantus und Contratenor fest, um den im weiteren Stimmverlauf angezeigten Mensurwechsel vorzubereiten. Das Konkordanz-Zeichen steht jeweils vor dem gemeinsam gesungenen Zeitpunkt: im Discantus also vor dem Additionspunkt der Minima, im Contratenor vor der Semibrevis-Ligatur. Von welcher Hand diese Eintragungen stammen, muss hier offenbleiben, da sie in Bezug auf diese Quelle bislang noch nicht thematisiert wurden.18 Ihre geringe Größe sowie die Position im musikalischen Verlauf lassen es zumindest plausibel erscheinen, dass es sich tatsächlich um prag-

18

Das Manuskript ist online abrufbar unter (letzter Aufruf 16.01.2019).

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matische, möglicherweise im Zuge eines Probens19 oder Überprüfens angelegte Markierungen handelt.20 Trotz dieser Gliederungsmöglichkeiten bleibt die Trennung der Stimmen in ihrer Gestalt als individueller Linie das leitende Prinzip. Im praktischen Ablauf einer Probe führt dies zu einigen wesentlichen Unterschieden im Vergleich zur Arbeit aus einer Partitur. Zunächst einmal muss das Proben stärker aus dem Fluss der Musik heraus entwickelt werden. Das punktuelle Ansteuern von Stellen oder gar isolierte Ausstimmen von akkordischen Zusammenklängen bleibt allein aufgrund des höheren Aufwands die Ausnahme. Dies allerdings legt ein anderes Musizierkonzept dessen nahe, was als Qualität des ‚Zusammenseins‘ im Ensemblespiel bezeichnet wird: Im Gegensatz zu einer vertikalen Kontrolle des ‚Zusammenseins‘ an bestimmten Zeitpunkten steht hier das horizontale Bewegen der Stimmen im Vordergrund. ‚Zusammensein‘ 19

20

Mit Probenarbeit ist hier zunächst einmal nur der heutige Musizierprozess des Ensembles Nusmido gemeint. Ob ein solches modernes Verständnis von Proben als einem schrittweisen Erarbeiten und Verfeinern eines Werkes nach einer vorgefassten Interpretation, einem sukzessiven Ist-Soll-Abgleich auch den historischen Umgangsweisen mit Musik entspricht, ob also überhaupt geprobt wurde oder geprobt werden musste – dafür gibt es wohl keine historischen Belege. Gleichwohl unterliefen in den Aufführungen offenbar auch Fehler: Smith verweist (wenn auch anhand etwas späterer Quellen) auf die Rolle des Leitenden eines Ensembles als eines „rimettore“, dessen Aufgabe im Mitverfolgen und korrigierenden Wiederhineinbringen der Mitsingenden bestand (vgl. Smith, The Perfor­ mance [wie Anm. 2], S. 5f.). Im Zuge dieser Tätigkeit erscheinen Markierungen an zentralen Stellen hilfreich. Desweiteren scheint das überprüfende Durchsingen einer Komposition im Anschluss an den Kompositionsprozess ebenfalls abseits einer Aufführung stattgefunden zu haben (vgl. Owens, Composers [wie Anm. 1], S. 55f.). Auch hier wären wiederholende Durchgänge mit kleinen Eintragungen denkbar. Smith führt zuletzt eine Passage aus Nicola Vicentinos L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica (Rom 1555) an, bei der das Eintragen von Breven und Longen beim lesenden Überprüfen von Kompositionen mit mehr als sechs Stimmen angeraten wird (Smith, The Performance [wie Anm. 2], S. 6f.). An vier weiteren Stellen in der Messe finden sich diese Eintragungen: Im zweiten Kyrie drei Breven vor Schluss zwischen allen vier Stimmen – hier scheint nach einer rhythmisch komplexen Passage, in der der Contratenor sich gegenläufig zu den anderen Stimmen verhält, der Eintritt in die gemeinsame Schlusskadenz markiert zu werden; im Abschnitt „tu solus altissimus“ im Verlauf des Wortes „coronas“ zwischen allen Stimmen – hier handelt es sich um eine besonders dichte Stimmkonstellation, wobei der kanonisch zum Bassus geführte Tenor mit einem eigenen Kreuz zwei Breven zuvor in der Stimme des Bassus markiert ist; im „Pleni“ wohl als Verdeutlichung der Einsatzabfolge am Beginn; im „Benedictus“ im Verlauf des Wortes „in nomine“ möglicherweise als Einsatzpunkt des neuen, strukturellen Akkordklangs. Eintragungen desselben Typs finden sich im gleichen Manuskript D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47 auch in der Missa solemnis. Die ebenfalls dort aufgeschriebene Missa de apostolis wiederum enthält durchgängig taktstrichartige Eintragungen auf der Ebene des Tempus, die eher auf eine editorische Tätigkeit aus moderner Zeit schließen lassen.

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erscheint somit als Resultat und nicht als abstrakte Voraussetzung eines gelungenen, ineinandergreifenden Phrasierens. So tritt auch der Parameter der Intonation nie losgelöst vom musikalischen Zusammenhang als vorab zu klärende Bedingung des Musizierens auf, sondern ist – als Folge des linearen Verstehens der Musik – immer schon in den melodischen Kontext verwoben. Tonhöhen werden also nicht gleichsam punktartig und absolut einander zugeordnet, sondern erscheinen relativ zu einem gemeinsam empfundenen, melodisch-dynamischen Zusammenhang.21 Um in diesem fließenden Prozess den vielfältigen polyphonen Beziehungen auf die Spur zu kommen, liegt der Weg des Probens weniger im simultanen Singen eines vierstimmigen Satzes, als vielmehr in der sukzessiven Addition der Stimmen. Diese Herangehensweise wiederum scheint den spezifischen Entstehungsbedingungen dieser Musik – dem Prozess der Komposition und dem dahinterstehenden musikalischen Denken – nahe zu kommen, wie Owens anhand des Autographs von Isaacs Sequenz Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa nachweist.22 Gemeinsam vor dem Chorpult Bei der Einrichtung der originalen Notation fällt auf, dass das hier verwendete Manuskript D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47 in besonderer Weise den Bedingungen der Aufführung von einem Chorpult entgegenkommt. Das Format von 42 x 37 cm liegt zwischen den Maßen eines modernen DIN A3 und DIN A2. Die Blätter sind in maximal acht Notensystemen rastriert, bei weniger umfangreichen Messteilen wie etwa dem Gloriatropus Primogenitus Mariae sogar in lediglich vier. Die Lesbarkeit beim Musizieren wird durch großzügige Einrückungen der jeweils ersten und streckenweise zweiten Zeilen erhöht, gepaart mit äußerst akkuraten, großformatig geschriebenen Notenzeichen, die an jedem Zeilenende mit einem Custos den Lesefluss sicherstellen. Das gemeinsame Singen aus dem Chorbuch in seiner spezifischen Stimmanordnung erzeugt – wie bereits angedeutet – eine eigentümliche Spannung: Einerseits fehlt mit der Partitur die visuelle Koordination der Stimmen, andererseits wird eine sehr verbindliche Musiziersituation provoziert, gemeinsam vor dem Pult versammelt, individuell lesend, oft – so zeigen es auch die 21

Diesem Gedanken liegt eine gestaltpsychologische Interpretation musikalischen Zusammenhangsempfindens zugrunde. Vgl. hierzu Heinrich Jacoby, Jenseits von ‚musikalisch‘ und ‚unmusikalisch‘. Die Befreiung der schöpferischen Kräfte dargestellt am Beispiel der Musik, hrsg. von Sophie Ludwig, Hamburg 21995, S. 60f. 22 Owens, Composers at Work (wie Anm. 1), S. 270. Die Sukzessivität muss keineswegs bedeuten, dass beim Komponieren die Vorstellung einer Vierstimmigkeit nicht präsent gewesen wäre. Sie verdeutlicht vielmehr, dass diese Vierstimmigkeit aus dem Verlauf der Linien heraus gedacht und konzipiert wurde.

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bildlichen Darstellungen – relativ dicht stehend. Die Aufstellung gerade in größeren Ensembles muss sich dabei an der Sichtbarkeit des Chorbuchs und damit der Köpergröße orientieren, was tendenziell zu einer ‚gemischten Aufstellung‘ führt. Im Vergleich zum modernen Chorgesang, beim dem das Ensemble für die frontal dirigierende Person in Stimmgruppen aufgeteilt steht, können sich in dieser Aufstellung andere Qualitäten des gegenseitigen Hören- und auch körperlich Wahrnehmen-Könnens entfalten. So führt die Gesamtheit dieser Bedingungen – der räumlichen Nähe und Gemeinsamkeit des Agierens gepaart mit dem horizontalen Prinzip des Singens und Probens – eher zu einem Klangprinzip der Verschmelzung. Ein entsprechender Ensembleklang zielt weniger auf die an einer Außenperspektive orientierte Durchhörbarkeit des Satzes im profilierenden und individualisierenden Absetzen der Stimmen von einander, als vielmehr auf das jeweilige Verzahnen und gegenseitige Unterstützen der Stimmen in einem gemeinsam intendierten Klangspektrum. Der Nachvollzug dieser Disposition erzeugt auch im technischen Detail eine spezifische Verhaltensqualität:

Abb. 2: Gloria, Quoniam, Discantus und Contratenor, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 118v und fol. 119 r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

Die Notation des Discantus aus dem Gloriaabschnitt „Quoniam“ (Abb. 2) zeigt den Cantus firmus als geschlossene Gestalt. Während die moderne Partitur einen über mehrere Takte hinweg übergebundenen, neutralen ‚Liegeton‘ suggeriert, ist hier die zu singende Phrase trotz der zeitlichen Dehnung auf einen Blick ersichtlich. Um allerdings auf den gedehnten Tönen die metrische Anbindung nicht zu verlieren, ist eine stimmliche (gesangstechnische) Öffnung für den beweglichen Unterstimmensatz unabdingbar. Denn von diesem erhält der Discantus die entsprechenden rhythmisch diminuierenden Signale, um die zeitliche Spannkraft zum nächsten Ton gezielt aufbauen zu können. So ändern sich im Verlauf des ersten Discantus-Tones – was hörend zu erschließen ist – mehrmals die intervallischen Beziehungen: beginnend als stabile Oktave, dann als Dezime über dem vorgezeichneten b im Contratenor, schließlich als Sextparallele beim von der Contratenor-Ligatur mitvollzogenen Übergang zum zweiten Discantus-Ton. Die gedehnte Longa bleibt also nicht statisch als 334

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klang­l icher ‚Liegeton‘ im Hintergrund, sondern ‚rastet‘ in ihrem Verlauf mehrmals dynamisch in die neuen Obertonkonstellationen ein und entfaltet so ihre Phrasengestalt.23 Die entsprechende Gesangstechnik ist dem Singen der repetierten Einzeltonneumen im gregorianischen Choral vergleichbar, die durch mehrmaliges, zielgerichtet subtiles Wiederanschwellen des Tones eine akustisch-dynamische Vergrößerung im Raum erreichen.24 Dem Contratenor ist währenddessen die Aufgabe gestellt, die jeweils synkopischen Ansätze und die folgenden Minima-Punktierungen für den Discantus mit stimmlichen Mitteln anzuzeigen. So veranschaulicht diese Stelle, wie das ‚Zusammensein‘ im Ensemble nicht aus einem taktbezogenen Lesen und Zählen abgeleitet wird, sondern durch das Entwickeln von musikalischen Signalen aus dem Spannungsund Entspannungsgefüge der Phrase heraus entsteht. Nicht-Notieren des Selbstverständlichen Dass die Notation mit einer solchen Hör- und Verhaltensweise rechnet, zeigt sich nicht zuletzt darin, dass auf rhythmischer wie auf melodischer Ebene entscheidende Informationen nicht notiert werden, sofern diese sich aus dem Zusammenhang logisch ergeben. So sind bekanntlich Vorzeichen zu ergänzen, um dissonante Intervalle – verminderte Quinten oder übermäßige Quarten – zu vermeiden, um in Kadenzen die Leittonwirkung zu verstärken oder um Modulationen im modalen Kontext nachzuvollziehen (musica ficta). Die Notation setzt also die Fähigkeit zur umfassenden „Audiation“25 der modalen, kontrapunktischen Syntax voraus. Dabei lässt sie wiederum auch Spielraum für interpretatorische Entscheidungen: Da die Setzung der Vorzeichen nicht immer eindeutig ist, ergibt sich die Möglichkeit, nach eigenem Ermessen lineare Spannungen anzureichern, kleingliedrige Vorgänge spezifisch zu modellieren oder gar Dissonanzen im Dienst einer individuellen Linienführung als Querstand in Kauf zu nehmen. Die Entscheidungen für diese Art der Vorzeichensetzung sind selten absolut zu sehen, sondern können sich im Kontext von Tempo- und Charakterfragen während der Probenarbeit stetig verändern. Diese Freiheit besteht in rhythmischer Hinsicht zwar nicht, gleichwohl stellt das rein 23 24

25

Vgl. hierzu auch Anm. 17. Vgl. Luigi Agustoni und Johannes Berchmans Göschl, Einführung in die Interpretation des Gregorianischen Chorals. Band 1: Grundlagen, Regensburg 1987 (Bosse-Musik-Paperback 31), S. 216f. Der durch Edwin Gordon geprägte lernpsychologische Begriff der „Audiation“ meint – in Abgrenzung zum inneren Hören als Imitation – das aktiv vollziehende innere Hörenund Denken-Können musikalischer Strukturen, die nicht oder nicht mehr physikalisch präsent sind. Vgl. hierzu Wilfried Gruhn, „Audiation – Grundlage und Bedingung musikalischen Lernens“, in Musiklernen. Bedingungen – Handlungsfelder – Positionen, hrsg. von Wilfried Gruhn und Peter Röbke, Innsbruck 2018, S. 94–109.

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implizierende Notieren von Imperfektionen und Alterationen (ein Notieren also, das erst während des Musizierens erschlossen werden muss) in den perfekten Mensuren dieselbe Anforderung an die Audiationsfähigkeit der Singenden. III. Mensurales Zeitprinzip Lesen ohne Taktstriche und räumliche Proportion zur Dauer Gerade bei ersten Versuchen, aus Mensuralnotation zu musizieren, wird deutlich, wie sehr das rhythmische Lesen von der Einteilung durch Taktstriche abhängig zu sein scheint. Nicht selten stellt die Umgewöhnung ein unmittelbares Hindernis beim Singen dar und führt dazu, dass sich die Erarbeitung von ansonsten als einfach eingestuften Notentexten wesentlich verlangsamt.26 Denn ob eine Note ‚auf den Schlag‘ kommt, ist graphisch nicht vorausgreifend erkennbar und fordert gerade aufgrund des bei Isaac so zentralen Stilmittels der Synkopation anfangs eine deutlich andere Strategie für das Erschließen rhythmischer Zusammenhänge. Hinzu kommt ein weiterer wesentlicher Unterschied: Während der Takt rhythmische Einheiten notiert, deren Dauern sich aus der graphischen Proportionalität des Taktes und des inhärenten Betonungsschemas erschließen, koordiniert die Mensuralnotation die zeitliche Dauer gerade nicht zur räumlichen Ausdehnung in der Partitur. Diese Freiheit vom visuellen Taktschema jedoch bedingt ein nicht minder starkes Bewusstsein für den metrischen Puls. Dabei weist das erwähnte Prinzip, die Entscheidung über Perfektion und Imperfektion an das sinnerschließende Lesen und Hören zu koppeln, darauf hin, dass nicht allein ein neutraler Puls, sondern ebenso die Einheit der Mensur vollzogen werden muss. Im Hintergrund des gleichsam ‚barrierefrei‘ sich entfaltenden Rhythmus wirken also ebenfalls metrische Kräfte, die jedoch auf eine andere Weise Einfluss auf das Verständnis der Phrasen nehmen. Eine dem entsprechende Übe- und Probemethode besteht darin, während des Musizierens die Mensur singend mitzuzählen – allerdings nicht Pulsschläge pro Note, sondern jeweils auf der Note die relative Position in der Mensur. Anhand einer solchen Übung wird deutlich, dass das Gefühl einer metrischen Einheit nicht aus vertikal festgelegten und visuell in Bewegungsrichtung zu durchlaufenden Zeitpunkten entstehen muss. Statt um ein an der Tanzmetrik orientiertes Gewichtungsschema geht es hier also eher um ein deklamatorisches Prinzip, das seinen energetischen Sinn aus einem horizontal gerichteten Sprechduktus schöpft.27 Insofern ist es fraglich, ob etwa das aus späterer Zeit 26 27

Vgl. Smith, The Performance (wie Anm. 2), S. 19. Die Formulierung „deklamatorisches Prinzip“ meint an dieser Stelle ein grundlegendes Prinzip musikalischer Formgebung, das sich zwar von der konkreten Deklamation von

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stammende Konzept eines vertikal organisierten Dirigates in Bezug auf Mensuralnotation Sinn ergeben kann. Denn das moderne Dirigat rechnet auf visueller Ebene mit einem gleichmäßigen Durchlaufen der Partitur, wobei sich proportional zu jeder Taktzeit das Lesen zum visuellen Signal koordinieren kann. Dies scheint bei einer Anordnung, die Zeit und Raum nicht proportional zueinander notiert, weniger überzeugend möglich. Die metrischen Spannungen der Mensuralnotation wirken offenbar in anderer Weise, entfalten sich mehr ‚zwischen‘ den Tönen als ein horizontales Streben zu den Mensur-Zeiten hin, denn als ein Vollziehen von unterschiedlichen Gewichtungen ‚auf ‘ vorab gegebenen Taktschwerpunkten. Anhand des zweiten Kyries – hier in der Discantus-Stimme – lassen sich einige Implikationen dieses Prinzips ­beobachten.

12

12 + 3

1 2

3 1

3 1 +2

23 1 23 + 1

3 1

23

2

3

123

Abb. 3: Kyrie II, Tenor, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 113r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

Sätzen und Worten ableitet, von dieser aber im Sinn musikalischer Formungsprinzipien und musikalisch-praktischer Phrasierung abstrahiert und insofern auch auf melismatische Sätze wie das Kyrie zutrifft. Zur Unterscheidung der beiden Formprinzipien Tanz und Deklamation vgl. Jürgen Uhde und Renate Wieland, Denken und Spielen. Studien zu einer Theorie der musikalischen Reproduktion, Kassel 31990, S. 148–150. Zur Theorie eines elementaren musikalischen Spannungsbogens am Modell sprachlicher Deklamation vgl. Reinhard Bahr und Christoph Hohlfeld, Schule musikalischen Denkens. Der Cantus-Firmus Satz bei Palestrina, Wilhelmshaven 1994, S. 21f.

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In den ersten beiden Zeilen ist die regelmäßige Gliederung des dreizeitigen Tempus mit etwas Übung gut erkennbar. Die Gliederung gibt sich dabei nicht durch ein proportionales Raster entsprechend zum Takt zu erkennen, sondern entsteht als Abfolge optisch gleichwertiger ‚langer‘ und ‚kurzer‘ Dauern. Während die moderne Partitur die Orientierung an einer betonten ‚Eins‘ nach dem Taktstrich suggeriert, kann hier eine ungebundene Bewegungsdynamik von der kürzeren hin zur längeren Note entstehen. Diese Dynamik entfaltet sich nicht ‚auf der Eins‘ sondern eher ‚von der Drei zur Eins‘, basierend auf dem aus den romanischen Sprachen vertrauten deklamatorischen Prinzip einer ‚Betonung‘ durch Dehnung. Unter ‚Betonung‘ ist dabei auf körperlicher Ebene nicht ein vertikal nachdrückendes Lautstärke- und Gewichtungsprinzip zu verstehen, sondern der gleichsam atmende Mitvollzug des horizontalen Strebens ‚zwischen‘ den Mensurzeiten. Dass hier gerade die Übergänge und der horizontale Fluss im Mittelpunkt stehen und nicht ein vordergründiges ‚Schwingen‘ der Takte, zeigt sich auch in der Mehrstimmigkeit, in der der kadenzielle Abschluss der durchimitierten Phrase jeweils mit einer „hemiolischen“ Bewegung kontrapunktiert wird (hier am Anfang der dritten Zeile durch die Schwärzung der Notation deutlich angezeigt). Im zweiten Teil des Kyrie-­Melismas schließlich werden die Strebungen zunehmend variiert und verdichtet: Die Dehnungen verlagern sich mehr und mehr auf die zweite und dritte Zählzeit und steigern so den Drang zur Schlusskadenz. Um diese Dynamik auch im Musizieren zu entfalten, sind offenkundig andere Kategorien zu entwickeln, als es die moderne Partitur mit ihren zahlreichen am Takt orientierten Überbindungen und scheinbaren ‚offbeats‘ zu suggerieren scheint. Zeitempf inden und Phrasierung Ausgehend von diesen doch recht deutlichen Unterschieden in den Prinzipien der Notationen ließe sich darüber nachdenken, ob die Mensuralnotation nicht grundsätzlich auf einem anderen Konzept musikalischen Zeitempfindens aufbaut. Die Freiheit von der raumzeitlichen Dimension im Schriftbild könnte bedeuten, dass die musikalische Zeit weniger im Sinne eines gleichmäßig dahinstreichenden Mediums, sondern eher in Form einer erlebten Dauer, also prinzipiell in einer agogischen Kontrahier- und Dehnbarkeit aufzufassen ist – unabhängig von ihrer tatsächlichen arithmetischen Gleichmäßigkeit.28 Dieses Prinzip wiederum erlaubt eine andere Repräsentation der melodischen Phrasen respektive der „musikalischen Zeitgestalten“29 in der Nota28

29

Diese Interpretation der Mensuralnotation bezieht sich auf die aus der Phänomenologie Henri Bergson stammende Unterscheidung der Zeiterfahrungen des „Temps durée“ und „Temps espace“. Vgl. hierzu Uhde/Wieland, Denken und Spielen, S. 113. Unter „musikalischen Zeitgestalten“ verstehen Jürgen Uhde und Renate Wieland die

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tion. Bereits am Beispiel des Discantus im Quoniam-Abschnitt (Abb. 2) wurde deutlich, dass die mensurale Darstellung im Chorbuch die gesamte Phrase des Cantus firmus auf einen Blick zu zeigen vermag. Die Choralmelodie tritt also nicht in Form ‚langer Töne‘ ins Bewusstsein, die in ihrem Verlauf verschiedene Zeitpunkte durchlaufen, sondern in ihrer ursprünglich geschlossenen Gestalt, die ausgehend davon in gedehnter Dauer erfahren wird. Dies lässt sich auch auf etwas komplexere rhythmische Zusammenhänge wie dem folgenden Beginn des Christe im Contratenor übertragen.

Abb. 4: Christe, Contratenor, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 112 r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

In einer raumzeitlich proportionierten Partitur wären die Töne des Beispiels in gleichen Abständen relativ zu ihrer Dauer aufgeführt, jedoch neutral gegenüber der inneren Dynamik der musikalischen Zeitgestalt. In der Mensural­ notation hingegen nimmt die Minima-Bewegung zu Beginn mehr Platz ein als der nachfolgende Quintfall der Semibreven. Beide erscheinen als in sich zusammengehörige Bewegungen, wobei die Semibreven wiederum unmittelbar in die Oktavgeste der Ligatur eingebunden sind. Gerade über die Möglichkeit, den Raum zwischen den eigentlich längeren Tondauern zu verknappen und in einer einzelnen Notengraphie zusammenzufassen, kann die innere Dynamik auch zu einem visuellen Eindruck führen und sich in einem agogischen Lesefluss abbilden. So zielt die Phrase mindestens auf die Oktave, wobei die Ligatur-Schreibweise gerade nicht die Betonung des Spitzentones anzeigt, spezifische, über den zeitlichen Verlauf von Tönen hinweg wirkende Gestaltqualität musikalischer Phrasen. Sie beziehen sich dabei auf die grundlegenden Kategorien der „Protention“ und „Retention“ zur Wahrnehmung zeitlicher Objekte bei Edmund ­Husserl (vgl. Ebda., S.  111f.). Jin Hyun Kim bezeichnet diese zeitimmanente Erscheinungsweise musikalischen Sinns als „chronizitär“ und knüpft sie – im Sinne des Embodiment-Paradigmas – an das performative Verkörpern im Akt des Hörens. Vgl. Jin Hyun Kim, „Musik als nicht-repräsentationales Embodiment. Philosophische und kognitionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven einer Neukonzeptionalisierung von Musik“, in Musik und Körper. Interdisziplinäre Dialoge zum körperlichen Erleben und Verstehen von Musik, hrsg. von Lars Oberhaus und Christoph Stange Bielefeld 2017, S. 145–164, hier S. 148.

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s­ ondern die Realisierung der melodischen Bewegung zwischen den Tönen hin zur Oktave. Während die moderne Darstellung ein ‚Fallen‘ der Quinte nahe legt, mit gleichmäßiger Betonung aufgrund gleicher graphischer Proportion – oder deren Interpretation zumindest offenlässt –, kommt in der mensuralen Darstellung der dynamische Zusammenhang stärker zur Geltung: Beide fallenden Quintbewegungen erweisen sich darin als vorbereitende, Spannung aufspeichernde Bewegungen für die Oktavgeste. Lässt man sich auf diese Interpretation des Schriftbildes ein, wäre im Musizieren nach Möglichkeiten zu suchen, eine entsprechende zeitliche Phrasenspannung aufzubauen, ohne die Kraft dafür aus einer vertikalen Betonungsmetrik zu schöpfen, die möglicherweise eher der Musiziergewohnheit entsprechen würde. IV. Konzeptionalisierung von Melodie als Bewegung im Schriftbild Ligaturen als Angelpunkte der Phrasierung Das Phänomen der Ligatur ist ein weiteres Element der Mensuralnotation, das sich deutlich von modernen Lesegewohnheiten unterscheidet. Ob und gegebenenfalls welche Funktion allerdings die Ligaturen erfüllen, ist umstritten. Einigkeit besteht im Allgemeinen darin, innerhalb von Ligaturen zumindest keine Silbenwechsel vorzunehmen. Im obigen Beispiel des Christe-Beginns (Abb. 4) wurde wiederum deutlich, dass die Schreibweise der Ligatur unmittelbar mit dem Prinzip der nicht-verräumlichten Zeitdarstellung verknüpft ist.30 Damit scheint die Ligatur auf Notationsprinzipien zu verweisen, die nicht in erster Linie auf den Bedingungen mehrstimmiger Darstellung gründen. Willi Apel etwa zieht eine historische Verbindungslinie zur Neumennotation und darin zu den melodischen Elementarbewegungen des „pes“ und der „clivis“.31 Die Neumennotation wiederum zielt – gerade in ihrer adiastematischen Form – weniger auf die Aufzeichnung einer Melodie in ihrem Tonhöhenverlauf, als vielmehr auf die spezifische Art und Weise, wie die bereits dem Gehör nach vertraute melodische Gestalt zu singen und rhythmisch-dynamisch zu interpretieren ist. Entgegen früher Vermutungen, es könne sich bei den Neumen um Visualisierungen dirigentischer Bewegungen handeln, geht die neuere Forschung davon aus, dass 30

31

Das zeigt sich unter anderem am Versuch, Halbübersetzungen von Mensuralnotation herzustellen, die zwar die ursprünglichen Notenzeichen beibehalten, diese aber in eine vertikal organisierte, zeitlich proportionierte Partitur bringen. Die Ligatur kann in diesem Fall nicht übertragen werden. Vgl. hierzu das Computerized Mensural Music Editing Projekt (C.M.M.E), (letzter Zugriff: 30. Januar 2019). Vgl. Apel, Die Notation der polyphonen Musik (wie Anm. 12), S. 94.

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Neumen in erster Linie eine Kontroll- und Interpretationsschrift darstellen.32 Gleichwohl deuten die Neumen in ihrem dynamischen und linearen Schriftbild auf eine in einer spezifischen Körperlichkeit gründenden „Konzeptionalisierung“ melodischer Zusammenhänge als Bewegung hin.33 Als eine solche Visualisierung innerer Vorstellungen von Musik liegt der Sinn der Neumen darin, Zusammenhänge als Bewegungen aufzuzeichnen, mithin also den Fokus auf das Moment des Übergangs und das gestaltbildende Moment ‚zwischen‘ den Tönen zu legen. Gerade in ihrer kurrenten, also graphisch zusammenhängenden Form drücken pes und clivis eine dynamische Bewegung zu ihrem Ende aus, so in der Rolle, aus einem unbetontem, vorbereitenden Beginn heraus eine Spannungsebene anzusteuern (pes), oder etwa nach einem melodischen Höhepunkt eine Phrase beruhigend und zielgerichtet abzuschließen (clivis).34 Unter der Voraussetzung dieser historischen Verbindungslinie könnten sich in der Schreibweise der Ligatur also Reste dieser ursprünglichen Konzeptionalisierung von Melodie als Bewegung, die zwar rhythmisch-dynamisch, aber nicht mensural zu verstehen ist, erhalten haben. Die möglichen Varianten bezüglich der Setzung oder Nicht-Setzung von Ligaturen in unterschiedlichen Manuskripten, die die Verbindlichkeit und damit den Sinn der Ligaturen zweifelhaft erscheinen lassen, finden hierin wiederum eine Berechtigung, scheinen sie doch weniger kompositorische Entscheidungen als vielmehr interpretatorische Auffassungen auszudrücken. Im bereits erwähnten zweiten Kyrie der Messe Isaacs findet sich hierzu ein aufschlussreiches Beispiel.

Abb. 5: Kyrie II, Discantus, Tenor und Bassus, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 112v und fol. 113r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

32 33

34

Vgl. Max Haas, Art. „Notation“, in MGG Online (letzter Zugriff: 30. Januar 2019). Dieser Gedanke bezieht sich auf die Forschungen Jeanne Bambergers. Bamberger untersucht das Erlernen von Notation bei Kindern unter dem Aspekt einer Visualisierung innerer Vorstellungen von Musik. Von Kindern spontan erfundene Notationen bringen nach ihrem Verständnis Verkörperungen metaphorischer Vorstellungen zum Vorschein, gemäß der „Konzeptualisierungs-These“ George Lakoffs und Mark Johnsons. Vgl. hierzu Jeanne Bamberger, „How the conventions of music notation shape musical perception and performance“, in Musical Communication, hrsg. von Dorothy Miell, Raymond ­MacDonald und David J. Hargreaves, Oxford 22007, S. 143–170, hier S. 154. Vgl. Luigi Agustoni und Johannes Berchmans Göschl, Einführung in die Interpretation des Gregorianischen Chorals. Band 2: Ästhetik (Teilband I), Regensburg 1992, S. 19f. und S. 125f.

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Im Schlussmelisma werden Discantus, Tenor und Bassus durchgehend parallel geführt – einzig der Contratenor fungiert als rhythmischer Kontrapunkt. Auffallend ist, dass in den drei Stimmen jeweils derselbe Rhythmus mit je unterschiedlich gesetzten Ligaturen aufgeschrieben ist. Da ein syllabischer Text fehlt, können hier also einzig die melodischen Bewegungen ausschlaggebend sein, die zu je anderen motivischen Zellen zusammengefasst werden. Im analytischen Blick auf die Partitur wird deutlich, dass diese Bewegungen offenbar planvoll angelegt sind, unentwegt ineinandergreifen, sich gegenseitig verstärken oder ablösen und damit ein dynamisch verwobenes Kontinuum erzeugen, das auf die Schlusskadenz zustrebt. Die Setzung der Ligaturen in der zweiten Quelle der Messe, den Stimmbüchern A-Wn Mus.Hs. 18745, ist in diesem Fall identisch in allen Stimmen.35 Beide Indizien, die Übereinstimmung der Quellen sowie die unterschiedliche Notation dreier Stimmen im selben Rhythmus sprechen an dieser Stelle für eine bewusste Setzung der Ligaturen. Rhythmisch-melodische Bewegung ausgehend von der ­C horalnotation Der Rekurs auf die Neumennotation und die Bedingungen der Einstimmigkeit mag angesichts des enormen zeitlichen Abstands spekulativ anmuten. Gleichwohl galt die spezifische Behandlung des Chorals als eines jener Stilmerkmale, die Isaacs Ruhm als Komponist begründeten.36 Auf der Ebene der Notation lässt sich eine Beziehung auch dadurch herstellen, dass in manchen Chorbüchern der Wirkungszeit Isaacs der Cantus firmus – so er durchgängig und rhythmisch gleichmäßig in einer Stimme liegt – neben den mensural notierten Stimmen in „Hufnagelnotation“ und damit in einer stilisierten Form der Neumenbewegungen notiert wurde.37 In der Missa de Beata Maria Virgine finden sich demgegenüber durchweg komplexere Verarbeitungen des Chorals. Gerade aber in Fällen, in denen das Material des Chorals in die motivische Imitation der Stimmen eingewoben ist, lässt sich beobachten, wie die ursprünglichen Bewegungsgesten der Neumen auch unter den Bedingungen der Mensuralnotation noch nachvollziehbar bleiben.

35

36 37

Zu den Varianten zwischen beiden Quellen vgl. den kritischen Bericht in Heinrich Isaac. Opera Omnia, hrsg. von Edward R. Lerner, [Neuhausen-Stuttgart] 1977 (CMM 65-2), S. XVIf. Vgl. Owens, Composers at Work (wie Anm. 1), S. 258f. Vgl. die Jenaer Chorbücher D-Ju 34 und D-Ju 35.

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Abb. 6: Kyrie II, Graduale Pataviense (Wien 1511),38 fol. 180 r (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00001999-9) und Discantus, D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47, fol. 110 v (urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00079128-0)

Im obigen Beispiel, dem Beginn des ersten Kyrie im Discantus, übersetzt Isaac das erste Motiv des Chorals – eine typische Initialformel in Form eines „Scandicus“ – in eine punktierte Aufwärtsbewegung, die auf den metrischen Schwerpunkt der Synkope zielt. Liest man dieses Motiv aus der Erfahrung e­ ines zwar nicht-mensurierten, aber gleichwohl rhythmisch-dynamischen Choralsingens in Neumenbewegungen, dann legt dies eine Interpretation nahe, die auch die Punktierung weniger als ein arithmetisches Phänomen behandelt, sondern eher als Mittel des Durchgangs, als gleichsam „quilismatische“ Bewegung. Dementsprechend wäre auch die Synkope mehr im Stil einer rezitativischen Verstärkung zu singen, denn in einer vertikal-metrischen Funktion. In dieser Weise erschließen sich weitere Eigenschaften des motivischen Materials der Discantus-Stimme – etwa die eigentümlich isolierte Sekunde f-g drei Breven vor Schluss oder die gleichsam ins Nichts ausgreifende Folge der Fusae b -c als Auslöser der Kadenzsynkopen – aus der Erfahrung des Choralsingens. Das Verhältnis beider Notationen ließe sich angesichts dieser dichten Beziehungen möglicherweise auch umgekehrt betrachten: Könnte nicht die äußerst bewegliche Umsetzung Isaacs dafürsprechen, dass auch das Choralvorbild – selbst in der eher stilisierten Aufzeichnung in „Hufnagel­notation“ – in einer Dynamik empfunden und musiziert wurde, die noch dem ursprünglichen Gestus der Neumen verwandt war?

38

Hiermit soll nicht suggeriert werden, dass das Graduale Pataviense Isaacs Choralquelle darstellte. Im Gegenteil scheint mittlerweile festzustehen, dass dies explizit nicht der Fall gewesen ist. Der Gedanke bezieht sich hier auch mehr auf die Parallelität von Hufnagelnotation und Mensuralnotation im Allgemeinen denn auf den exakten Bezug beider Manuskripte aufeinander. Im Tagungskonzert wiederum kam das Graduale Pataviense in Unkenntnis einer geeigneteren Alternative zum Einsatz.

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V. Performative Dimensionen der Mensuralnotation Das moderne Notenbild kann seine Herkunft, seine Bindung an die Musik der letzten Jahrhunderte und die mit ihr unlösbar verbundenen Vorstellungen (z.B. auch über die Art der musikalischen Praxis) nicht verleugnen. Gerade solche sich unvermerkt einschleichenden Vorstellungen aus der neueren Musik gilt es aber auszuschalten, damit der Blick für die frühere Musik nicht getrübt wird.39

Frieder Zaminers eindringliches Plädoyer für die Verwendung der originalen Notation in der musikhistorischen Forschung fußt auf der Annahme, dass die Art der Aufzeichnung in Bezug auf die erklingende Musik kein äußerlicher, neutral bleibender Vorgang ist. Notationen sind mehr als nur objektive Repräsentationen von Werken. Sie sind ebenso durchdrungen von musikalischen Denkweisen und inneren Vorstellungen der klingenden Musik, sie sind (auch) Funktion und Ausdruck einer bestimmten musikalischen Praxis. Positiv gewendet lässt sich daraus folgern, dass das musizierende Sich-Einlassen auf die Anforderungen der Notation ein möglicher Weg sein kann, um sich diesen Vorstellungen und Denkweisen wieder anzunähern. Einen theoretischen Rückhalt für ein solches Vorgehen kann – wie eingangs vorgeschlagen – das aktuelle Forschungsparadigma des „Embodiment“ bieten, demzufolge kognitive Prozesse nicht unabhängig von ihrer Extension in die körperliche Welt denkbar sind. In der Mensuralnotation sind solche Verkörperungen kognitiver Inhalte über die spezifischen Prinzipien des Notierens vermittelt greifbar: in der Anordnung und Aufzeichnungweise der Stimmen, die eine ihnen entsprechende musikalische Praxis und Denkweise einfordern und somit gleichsam „Affordanzen“ zu einer bestimmten Wahrnehmungs- und Verhaltensweise anbieten – und im Schriftbild als „Konzeptionalisierung“ ursprünglich körperlicher Vorgänge, dessen Nachvollzug auf spezifische Kategorien der inneren Vorstellung von Musik führt. Im ästhetischen Prozess einer musizierenden Verkörperung dieser Gesamtdispositionen können diese Kategorien wiederum in einer performativen Interpretation zur Geltung kommen. Aber sie können nicht unabhängig von dieser ästhetischen Praxis restlos verfügbar gemacht werden: Ihr Zur-Sprache-Bringen bleibt auf Metaphern angewiesen. In diesem Sinn kann der hier skizzierte Prozess einer künstlerisch forschenden Suche nicht mehr leisten, als an der Notation selbst aufzuzeigen, an welchen Stellen diese gegenüber der modernen Notation alternative musikalische Denk- und Verhaltensweisen einzufordern scheint. 39

Frieder Zaminer, Der Vatikanische Organum-Traktat (Ottob. lat. 3025). Organum-Praxis der frühen Notre Dame-Schule und ihrer Vorstufen, Tutzing 1959 (Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte 2), S. 26.

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In der Ensemblepraxis wiederum kann die originale Notation als ein produktiver Widerstand fungieren. Ein Widerstand, der die künstlerische Auseinandersetzung antreibt, der dazu veranlasst, die eigene Musizierpraxis zu hinterfragen und aus anderen Stilen rührende, unbewusste Musiziergewohnheiten aufzudecken. Dieser Prozess des Suchens nach neuen Hör- und Verstehensmöglichkeiten ist nicht abschließbar. In seiner Eigenschaft als ästhetischer ­Praxis widersetzt er sich auch der hier versuchten, auf wissenschaftliche Nachvollziehbarkeit zielenden Zerlegung in einzelne Aspekte.

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TAGUNGSPROGRAMM / CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Henricus Isaac: Composition – Reception – Interpretation Internationale Tagung zum 500. Todestag Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Wien Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Interpretationsforschung, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien Samstag, 1. Juli 2017, Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Wien Welcoming Address Grantley McDonald (Wien): The Chapel of Maximilian I in a European Context Jessie Ann Owens (UC Davis): Isaac’s Autographs Revisited Blake Wilson (Carlisle, Pennsylvania): Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit John Kmetz (New York): Isaac in Basel: Great Polyphony in Modest Parish Churches and Latin Schools Giovanni Zanovello (Bloomington): Heinrich Isaac and the Vernacular Soggetto Cavato Wolfgang Fuhrmann (Mainz): Isaac, Agricola, La Rue: Easter masses at the Habsburg-Burgundian courts Klaus Pietschmann (Mainz): Isaac, Festa – and Ockeghem? The composite mass in the manuscript I-Rvat C.S. 26 Birgit Lodes/Reinhard Strohm (Wien): Isaaciana auf der Website „Musikleben des Spätmittelalters in der Region Österreich“ (www.musical-life.net)

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Konzert in der Franziskanerkirche Wien Henricus Isaac, Missa de BMV, 4vv (I) Ensemble Nusmido, August Valentin Rabe (Orgel) Sonntag, 2. Juli 2017, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien Isaacs Alternatim-Messen: Aufführungspraktische Perspektiven im Kontext Markus Grassl (Wien): Einführung David Merlin (Wien): Auf der Suche nach den Choralvorlagen Isaacs Karin Zeleny (Wien): Zur Aussprache des Lateinischen um 1500 Ivo Berg (Wien): Singen aus dem Chorbuch: Aspekte einer performativen Sicht auf historische ­Notationen Franz Körndle (Augsburg): Anmerkungen zu Orgel, Alternatim und Ablass um 1500 August Valentin Rabe (Wien): „die Orgel besingen“ – Annäherungen an die Alternatimpraxis der Orgel zur Zeit Heinrich Isaacs Markus Grassl (Wien): „Et comenchèrent les sacqueboutes du roy“. Zum liturgischen Einsatz von Instrumentalensembles und Ensembleinstrumenten um 1500 Resümee und Ausblick Roundtable mit Ivo Berg, Markus Grassl, Andrew Kirkman, Franz Körndle und Sven Schwannberger Montag, 3. Juli 2017, Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Wien Warwick Edwards (Edinburgh): Isaac’s Vernacular Music: A Taxonomy David Fallows (Manchester): Response to W. Edwards’ paper David Fallows: The two Egenolff tenor partbooks in Bern Kateryna Schöning (Wien): Isaac in Lautenintabulierungen aus handschriftlich überlieferten Quellen um 1500

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Medieval & Renaissance Music Conference, Prague, 5–8 July 2017 Panel Session ‘Commemorating Henricus Isaac’ Andrew Kirkman (Birmingham): ‘Prince of the Art of Music of Our Town’: Uncovering the Identity of a Lost Master Eleanor Hedger (Birmingham): Heinrich Isaac’s ‘Missa Comme femme desconfortée’: A Musical Offering to the Virgin Mary Sonja Tröster (Vienna): Shades of Contrafacta: Alternative German Texts for Isaac’s Music Stefan Gasch (Vienna): On some Masses of Henricus Isaac: the Evidence of the Alamire-Manuscripts David Burn (Leuven): A Recently Discovered Source for Isaac’s Mass Propers Ruth DeFord (New York): Scribal Initiative in the Manuscript Brno, City Archive 14/5

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ANMERKUNGEN ZUM TAGUNGSKONZERT

Die Musik Isaacs wurde im Rahmen der Tagung nicht nur aus einer wissenschaftlichen Perspektive diskutiert, sondern am Abend des ersten Konferenztages auch zum Klingen gebracht. Einerseits bereitete das Tagungskonzert auf den folgenden Tag vor, bei dem Isaacs Alternatim-Messen im Fokus standen, andererseits sollte so ein Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und künstlerischer Praxis eingeleitet werden. Die klangliche Umsetzung der Musik durch das Ensemble Nusmido (Shirley Radig, Ivo Berg, Milo Machover, Martin Erhardt) mit Gesang und Spiel auf Block- und Traversflöte im Wechsel mit der Orgel (August Valentin Rabe), sollte nicht nur der Illustration des wissenschaftlichen Diskurses dienen, sondern einen Beitrag liefern, der inspiriert und neue Fragen aufwirft. Mit Blick auf das Repertoire der für die kaiserliche Hofkapelle typischen Alternatim-Messen bietet sich ein solcher Ansatz besonders an: Trotz der Vielzahl an Quellen über das Alternatimmusizieren im Allgemeinen ist unser Wissen über die konkrete Ausführung nämlich äußerst spärlich. Dementsprechend war unter anderem der kreative Umgang mit den ,blinden Flecken‘ unseres Wissens über die Alternatimpraxis von Interesse. Im Zentrum des Programms, das von Beginn der Tagungsorganisation an mitgedacht wurde, stand Isaacs Missa de Beata Maria Virgine (I), ein Messordinarium zu Mariä Himmelfahrt, ergänzt um das Choral-Proprium. Wie bei Messen für die Alternatimpraxis üblich, vertonte Isaac nur jeden zweiten Vers des Textes. Die übrigen Verse wurden zur Isaac-Zeit durch eine andere Alternatim-Gruppe ergänzt. Was genau geschah – ob beispielsweise ein Chor oder eine Orgel den Choral einstimmig oder aus dem Stegreif mehrstimmig musizierte, lässt sich heute nur vermuten. Sicher ist lediglich, dass es je nach Festtag und -ort sehr unterschiedliche Praktiken gegeben haben dürfte. Es konnte also nicht das Ziel des Konzertes sein, in einem ,reenactment‘ eine ,authentische‘ Einzellösung zu reproduzieren, sondern vielmehr, exemplarisch Möglichkeiten des Alternatim-Musizierens aufzuzeigen. Deshalb wurden beim Tagungskonzert Isaacs komponierten Versetten verschiedene Alternatim-Möglichkei351

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ten gegenübergestellt. Neben der schlichten Einstimmigkeit waren diverse Techniken zu hören, wie ,über dem Buch singend‘ – also ausgehend vom unrhythmisierten Choralnotat – eine einstimmige Melodie spontan mehrstimmig ausgestaltet werden kann, ohne dass weitere Stimmen aufgeschrieben sind: So wurde nach dem einstimmigen Kyrie das Gloria mit einem improvisierten freien Kontrapunkt zweistimmig ausgeführt. Das Sanctus erklang mit Fauxbourdon-Techniken dreistimmig und im Agnus dei waren zwei aus dem Stegreif realisierte Kontrapunktstimmen zum Cantus firmus zu hören, im letzten Teil als Canon geführt. Anstelle eines Credo – das Isaac unvertont ließ – war Alexander Agricolas Pater meus agricola est in einer instrumentalen Wiedergabe zu hören. Im Introitus und in der Sequenz musizierte das Ensemble im Wechsel mit der Orgel. Isaacs Sequenz Congaudent Angelorum Chori entstammt dem Choralis Constantinus und passende ,Gegenstücke‘ – also genau die Verse, die Isaac auslässt – sind vom damaligen Organisten des Konstanzer Münsters Hans Buchner überliefert. Isaac und Buchner müssen sich bei einem der Aufenthalte Isaacs in der Stadt begegnet sein. Dass auch die Orgelmusik in Konstanz sehr geschätzt wurde, bezeugt die 1520 geweihte neue Orgel von Johannes Schentzer. Von Buchner mitgeplant, war sie deutlich größer als die hiesige von Johann Wöckherl 1642 erbaute Orgel: Auf zwei Manualen und Pedal konnten mit 62 Zügen 31 Register bedient werden, darunter ,special effects‘ wie Heerpauken und Vogelsang. Dennoch dürfte die Wöckherl-Orgel als älteste Orgel Wiens Buchners ,Ideal‘ am ehesten nahekommen und bot reiche Möglichkeiten für klanglich differenzierte Registrierungen der einzelnen Versetten. Dem Konzertabend ging eine umfangreiche Vorbereitungszeit voraus. Bis auf die Orgelversetten, bei denen das Faksimile nur zur Vorbereitung diente, wurden alle Stücke im Konzert aus Faksimiles zeitgenössischer Quellen musiziert. Das Konzert erwies sich als anregender Beitrag zur Tagung, der durchaus kontroverse Reaktionen hervorrief. Einerseits wurde Anerkennung geäußert für das improvisatorische Können und die Fähigkeit, aus historischen Notationen professionell zu musizieren. Andererseits war die ungewöhnliche Stimmgebung des Ensembles – erarbeitet anhand der Notation, historischer Sprachdeklamation und Solmisationstechnik – für viele HörerInnen ungewohnt. Auch die differenziert ausgestaltete liturgische Einstimmigkeit blieb nicht unwidersprochen. All dies warf beim Roundtable am nächsten Tag grundsätzliche Fragen zu Authentizität und zum Wert historischer Notationen für die heutige Aufführungspraxis auf.

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AUTORINNEN UND AUTOREN

Ivo Ignaz Berg, Studium Instrumentalpädagogik an der HfK Bremen (Diplom 2004), künstlerisches Aufbaustudium Frühe Ensemblemusik am Fontys Conservatorium Tilburg (Diplom 2007), Promotionsstudium Musikpädagogik an der UdK Berlin (Promotion 2013). 2015 bis 2018 wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (PostDoc) an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Seit 2018 Professor für Musikpädagogik an der Universität der Künste Berlin. Veröffentlichungen u.a. in den Bereichen musikalischer Energetik und Gestik sowie zur Theorie musikalischen Embodiments. David J. Burn is associate professor of musicology and head of the Early ­Music Research Group at the University of Leuven. His research focusses on the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with particular interest for Henricus Isaac and his contemporaries, interactions between chant and polyphony, source-studies, and early-music analysis. Together with Sarah Ann Long, he is co-general editor of the Journal of the Alamire Foundation. Ruth I. DeFord is professor emerita of Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her work focuses on issues of rhythm in Renaissance music. She is the author of Tactus, Mensuration, and Rhythm in Renaissance Music (Cambridge, 2015), and is currently working on a new edition of Isaac’s mass propers with David Burn and Stefan Gasch. David Fallows (b. 1945 in Buxton) studied at Jesus College, Cambridge (B.A., 1967), King’s College, London (M.Mus., 1968), and the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1977). From 1976 until his retirement in 2010 he taught at the University of Manchester. His publications are almost all on the music of the ‘long’ fifteenth century, including books on Dufay (1982) and Josquin (2009) as well as a catalogue of the fifteenth-century song repertory in all European languages (1999). Recently he has turned his focus more to English music, with a major Musica Britannica edition of Secular Polyphony, 1380–1480 (2014) an elaborately commented facsimile of The Henry VIII Book (2014) and a book on Henry V and the Earliest English Carols (2018). He was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (République Française) in 1994, elected a Fellow of 353

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the British Academy in 1997 and was President of the International Musicological Society, 2002–7. Markus Grassl ist Professor am Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Interpretationsforschung an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (mdw). Er promovierte 1990 an der Universität Wien mit einer Arbeit über Instrumentalmusik um 1600 und wurde 2010 an der mdw mit „Studien zur Rezeptions- und Aufführungsgeschichte alter Musik im 20. Jahrhundert“ habilitiert. Er lehrt seit 1996 an der mdw, vertrat 2001 eine Professur an der Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart und ist daneben als Gastlektor an der Universität Wien, der Sigmund-Freud-Universität Wien und der Donau-Universität Krems tätig. Zu seinen Forschungsschwerpunkten zählen die frühe Instrumentalmusik, französische Musik und Musikkultur des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts sowie die musikalische Aufführungsgeschichte insb. alter Musik im 20. Jahrhundert. Eleanor Hedger completed her BMus (2014) and MA (2015) at the University of Birmingham. In September 2017 Eleanor begun her PhD at the University of Birmingham, funded by the Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. Her research explores the role of music and sound within the construction of martyrdom during the English Reformation. Franz Körndle studierte seit 1980 Musikwissenschaft an den Universitäten München und Augsburg (Magister Artium 1985, Promotion 1990, Habilitation 1997). Seit 1991 war er Assistent in München und vertrat nach der Habilitation Professuren in Tübingen, Regensburg, München und Augsburg. Ab 2001 war er als Hochschuldozent am Institut für Musikwissenschaft der Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar und der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena tätig. Seit April 2010 ist er Professor für Musikwissenschaft an der Universität Augsburg. Forschungs- und Publikationsschwerpunkte liegen in den Bereichen Kirchenmusik, Tasteninstrumente, Jesuitendrama und Landesgeschichte. Grantley McDonald (University of Vienna) directs the FWF research project ‘The court chapel of Maximilian I: between art and politics’ at the University of Vienna. He holds doctoral degrees in musicology (Melbourne, 2002) and history (Leiden, 2011). He is author of Biblical Criticism in Early Modern ­Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and co-editor of Early Music Printing in German-Speaking Lands (Routledge, 2018) and Music and Theology in the European Reformations (Brepols, 2019). He is also a freelance singer.

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Autorinnen und Autoren

David Merlin wurde in Verona (Italien) geboren. Er studierte Komposition in Verona sowie Musikwissenschaft an der Universität Pavia. 2008 schloss er sein Masterstudium mit einer Arbeit über die liturgischen einstimmigen Gesänge für den hl. Leopold III. Babenberg (1485-1506) ab. Doktorat am Institut für Musikwissenschaft der Universität Wien, Dissertationsthema ist das von Johannes Winterburger in Wien 1519 gedruckte Antiphonar. Er hat für die Universität Pavia, das Institut für kunst- und musikhistorische Forschungen der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und die Universität Wien gearbeitet. Bis dato wurden von ihm vierzehn Beiträge publiziert. Forschungsschwerpunkte sind die liturgischen einstimmigen Gesänge im Spätmittelalter und Renaissance und deren handschriftliche und gedruckte Quellen, die Heiligenoffizien sowie der Cantus fractus. Jessie Ann Owens is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of California, Davis. Her book Composers at Work: The Craft of Musical Composition 1450-1600 (1997) was the first systematic exploration of compositional process in early music. She is past president of the American Musicological Society and the Renaissance Society of America, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is currently working on a book about Cipriano de Rore’s dramatic music and co-editing with John Milsom Thomas Morley’s A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke (1597). Klaus Pietschmann ist seit 2009 Professor für Musikwissenschaft an der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Er ist Mitherausgeber der Zeitschrift „Musiktheorie“ und der Reihe MARS (Musik und Adel im Rom des Sei- und Settecento), Vorsitzender des Herausgebergremiums der Gluck-Gesamtausgabe und Projektleiter von RISM International. Zu seinen Forschungsschwerpunkten zählen die Kirchenmusik des Spätmittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit, die Musikgeschichte Italiens, Kanonisierungsprozesse in der Musik sowie die Oper des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts. August Valentin Rabe was appointed university assistant of Birgit Lodes at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Vienna, in October 2015. He studied musicology, musical practice, and art history at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar and the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Magister Artium). Additionally he studied harpsichord with Prof. Bernhard Klapprott at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar (Künstlerisches Diplom). He is currently writing his PhD dissertation on Fundamenta of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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Kateryna Schöning studierte Musikwissenschaft, Komposition, Klavier und Philosophie an der Staatlichen I.-P.-Kotljarevski-Universität für Künste Charkiw, Ukraine. 2007 promovierte sie zum Thema Fantasie für Laute des 16. Jahr­ hunderts: Entstehung der Gattung. 2008–2010 Forschungsstipendium der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung für das Projekt Instrumentalgattungen vom 14. bis zum 16. Jahrhundert:  Improvisation – Stil – Gattung, Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig. 2008–2017 Lehrbeauftragte an dieser Hochschule (Schwerpunkt – Quellenkunde der historischen Aufführungspra­ xis im 15-18. Jahrhundert. 2010–2013 wiss. Mitarbeiterin im DFG-Projekt Wissen­ schaftsgeschichte und Vergangenheitspolitik. Musikwissenschaft in Forschung und Lehre im frühen Nachkriegsdeutschland an der Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim. Seit 1. 10. 2016 wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin im Institut für Musikwissenschaft an der Universität Wien: FWF-Projekt (Lise Meitner) Solisti­ sche Instrumentalmusik des 16. Jahrhunderts im süddeutschen Kulturraum. FWF-Projekt (Elise Richter) Solistische Instrumentalmusik im mitteleuropäischen Kulturraum (ca. 1500 – ca. 1550): instrumentale Praxis und humanistische Kontexte Nicole Schwindt is Professor of Musicology in the Early Music Department of the Musikhochschule Trossingen. Specialized in secular music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, she is founder and spiritus rector of troja. Kollo­ quium und Jahrbuch für Renaissancemusik since 2001. In 2018, the Bärenreiter Verlag published her book on informal music at the Habsburg court: Maximilians Lieder. Weltliche Musik in deutschen Landen um 1500. Blake Wilson received his PhD in musicology from Indiana University in 1988, and is now professor emeritus of music at Dickinson College (PA). He has been a fellow and visiting professor at Harvard’s Villa I Tatti, and recently a fellow at the National Humanities Center, where he completed his third book, Singing to the Lyre in Renaissance Italy: Memory, Performance and Oral Poetry (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). Giovanni Zanovello is Associate Professor of Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He specializes in the history of fifteenth-century musical institutions and the composer Heinrich Isaac. He has received research grants and awards from various institutions, including the University of Padua, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Villa I Tatti – The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, and the Swiss Society of Musicology. Prof. Zanovello regularly participates in national and international conferences in Europe and the US. He has published in different languages and on a number of specialized venues, including the Journal of the American Musicological Society, The Journal of Musicology, and MusikKonzepte. 356

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ABSTRACTS

Ivo Ignaz Berg Performative Dimensionen der Mensuralnotation: Isaacs Missa de Beata Maria Virgine aus dem Chorbuch gesungen The article explores the impact of reading from orginal notation in the performance of polyphonic music at the turn of the sixteenth century. It is based on the idea that the way in which music is notated is closley linked to the musical understanding and thinking of the time it was composed and originally performed. To follow the performative implications of mensural notation is therefore seen as a way to reveal and embody aesthetic information that is not conveyed by the notational principles of modern transcriptions. Reflecting the performance of Heinrich Isaac’s Missa de Beata Maria Virgine sung from D-Mbs Mus.ms. 47 by Ensemble Nusmido three main features of the notation are discussed: the choirbook arrangement in seperate parts, which leads to a rehearsal practice that adds parts contrapunctually corresponding to their linear function rather than coordinating vertical harmonies and points in time; the specific treatment and experience of musical time provoked by the freedom of space in relation to time, which gives rise to a more flexible and declamatory way of phrasing and proportioning the individual lines; the conceptualization of music as movement in the typeface, which is traced back to principles of notating Gregorian chant, which in turn presents a main source of Heinrich Isaac’s musical inspiration. David J. Burn / Ruth I. DeFord A Recently Discovered Source for Henricus Isaac’s Mass Propers: Transmission and Scribal Initiative in Brno, City Archive, MS 14/5 In an article published in the November 2012 issue of Early Music, Martin ­Horyna and Vladimír Maňas announced one of the most spectacular source discoveries of recent times for music of the sixteenth century: two large mid-century polyphonic choirbooks from the church of St James in Brno (CZ-Bam 14/5 and CZ-Bam 15/4). A considerable part of one of the books, CZ-Bam 14/5, consists of concordances of mass propers by Henricus Isaac that 357

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were p­ ublished posthumously in the second part of the Choralis Constantinus (Nuremberg: Formschneider, 1555) (RISM I 90). Horyna and Maňas briefly ­assert that these concordances represent a transmission-path independent of the Choralis print, but do not substantiate this claim. The present article offers the first full assessment of the place of CZ-Bam 14/5 in the transmission of Isaac’s mass propers. In contrast to Horyna and Maňas’s claim, text-critical analysis suggests that the Brno source is in fact dependent on the print. However, the book nonetheless offers an interesting window into the reception and reshaping of the propers long after Isaac’s death. David Fallows The Two Egenolff Tenor Partbooks in Bern The bibliographical consequences of Royston Gustavson’s discovery of two new Egenolff partbooks are fully described in a forthcoming article by him, offering an entirely new detailed catalogue of the printer’s musical publications. He kindly allowed me to comment on the music, whose main interest lies in two directions: first, new ascriptions for secular works by Isaac, Josquin and Agricola, all of which raise questions; and second, nine new pieces that are now transcribable from the three-voice volume. David Fallows Lucas Wagenrieder as annotator of both copies of the Trium vocum carmina (Nurem­ berg, 1538) and other music books The hundred pieces in Formschneider’s Trium vocum carmina all lack either a composer’s name or a title. The two surviving copies have many of these details added by hand. What was not known is that both sets of annotations are in the same hand, nor that the hand is that of Lucas Wagenrieder, a close colleague of Senfl. He annotated the Berlin copy in about 1539 and the Jena copy – far more fully and accurately – in about 1545–6. He also made annotations to other music prints now in Jena, the most startling of which are reported here. The article includes a new inventory of Trium vocum carmina, detailing all Wagenrieder’s annotations. Markus Grassl ‘Et comenchèrent les sacqueboutes du roy’: The Liturgical Use of Instrumental Ensembles around 1500 Recent research significantly has enhanced our knowledge about instrumental music in the late Middle Ages. In particular, it became clear that the period 358

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around 1500 has to be viewed as a key phase in the development of instrumental music making. One of the many innovations entailed in this process specifically has been linked to the Habsburg courts: the involvement of wind players, especially cornettists and trombonists, with singers in sacred vocal polyphony. Yet, several questions are still open to debate. In its first part the paper tries to survey what currently is known about the use of instruments other than the organ in the church during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in general. Based on a comprehensive compilation of the sources related to wind instrument use in the liturgy and the appearance of the cornett c.1470–1520, it is then suggested that the involvement of wind instruments in alternatim practice was more widespread than it has been assumed in scholarship so far. Furthermore, there is evidence that wind ensembles could comprise only a few players and especially could consist in a duo. Finally, it is argued, that such small wind ensembles participated in a kind of improvisational practice which up to now has been regarded as the hallmark only of ‘soft’ instrumental ensembles. Eleanor Hedger Heinrich Isaac’s Missa Comme femme desconfortée: A Musical Offering to the ­Virgin Mary Sometime during the late fifteenth century Isaac composed a mass based on the chanson Comme femme desconfortée. The chanson’s illustration of a disconsolate woman offered a tacit textual analogy for the sorrowful Virgin, weeping at the foot of the cross. Consequently, Comme femme became intimately emmeshed in the discourse of Marian piety. A number of Isaac’s contemporaries also produced works that borrow material from this chanson. Many of these works comprise textual expressions of Marian devotion, including a motet by Isaac, Angeli archangeli. This essay offers a contextual and musical analysis of Isaac’s mass in order to elucidate the symbolic significance of his work. I will argue that his choice of cantus firmus, alongside his perceptive reworking of the chanson, suggests that his mass can be situated within the venerable tradition of Marian devotion. Franz Körndle Anmerkungen zu Orgel, Alternatim und Ablass um 1500 (Annotations on Organs, alternatim, and indulgences around 1500) The present article deals with organ building and the use of the organ in sacred music in the period around 1500. In particular, it concerns questions of the alternatim practice and the participation of other instruments in vocal music in the choir of Maximilian I. As can be seen in correspondences and in chronicles, 359

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the king and later emperor, took active part in the interests of his music group and showed special interest in the church organ and its smaller counterparts, regals and positive. Playing church organs in the changing residences together with other instruments of Maximilian’s chapel in most instances was not possible because of the differing pitches. Therefore, on journeys they led regals and table organs with them. The popularity of the so-called Salve services may be related to the possibilities of obtaining indulgences. These services helped to spread the alternatim practice of organ with polyphonic music in the cities. Grantley McDonald The Chapel of Maximilian I: Patronage and Mobility in a European Context The wide geographical reach of the empire of Maximilian I gave it a highly international character. As a result, his court chapel included individuals drawn from many disparate regions, from the Low Countries to present-day Slovenia. Thanks to the complex structure of his court, members of the chapel could easily move into other branches of the imperial administration, such as the chancery and treasury. The close relationship between Maximilian’s court and two important institutions in Vienna – St Stephen’s and the university – provided further arenas of activity for members of his court chapel. Finally, this paper discusses some of the ways in which Maximilian’s right of presentation to benefices throughout the empire provided a way to promote members of his chapel and place them in locations where their experience and skills could be useful, and where they could disseminate the aesthetic habits and administrative practices of the court. David Merlin Auf der Suche nach Isaacs Choralvorlagen: Die Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (I) und die gedruckten Liturgica (In Search of Isaac’s Plainchant Models: The Missa de Beata Maria Virgine à 4 (i) and Printed Liturgical Books) This paper opens by reviewing the state of research concerning the question of plainchant sources for Isaac’s masses. Isaac did not use any of the consulted printed liturgical sources, not even the Graduale Pataviense. It is, however, irrefutable that the plainchant tradition to which Isaac’s models belong is a south-German one – if he even used one, because one can indeed assume that a professional church musician would have known the melodies of the mass ordinary from memory. It is possible, at least for the present study case, to exclude affinities between the liturgy of the chapel of Maximilian I and the Italian tradition as well as those of the dioceses of Augsburg and Würzburg. Relevant but 360

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not perfect concordances with the Graduale Pataviense confirm this source as the best one available for melodic comparisons with Isaac’s masses. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the origin of Isaac’s plainchant model is not necessarily based in Passau but probably in a center close to that bishopric. Jessie Ann Owens Revisiting Isaac’s Autographs This paper re-examines Isaac’s autograph of his sequence for St. Katherine, Sanctissime virginis votiva festa, found in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Mus. Ms. 40021, from two angles. It uses archival evidence from Florentine pay records to confirm Martin Just’s hypothesis that Isaac himself was responsible for most of the writing on the bifolio, and challenges Rob Wegman’s interpretation of Isaac’s signature. It also considers aspects of Isaac’s craft: transforming the chant, using an erasable tablet, making fuga and reading the text. Klaus Pietschmann Emperor Maximilian I, Audible Ideology and Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor In a first step, the article discusses general aspects of the theological conception of court music in the period around 1500, taking as point of departure the respective passage in Emperor Maximilian’s Weißkunig. In a second step, the specific ceremonial and musical implications of liturgical vocal polyphony are examined by means of a composition that originated in the context of Emperor Maximilian’s court: Heinrich Isaac’s Optime pastor is a ceremonial motet originally composed for a specific occasion, which becomes evident through its text, implicitly referring to Pope Leo X and Emperor Maximilian, and its use of two liturgical cantus firmi. After discussing Albert Dunning’s earlier reconstruction of the context in which the motet originated, an alternative hypothesis is proposed. It is argued that the motet was not composed for Cardinal Matthäus Lang’s travel to Rome in winter 1513/14, as Dunning assumed, but rather for the reception of Lorenzo Campeggi as papal nuncio at the imperial court in 1514. Main arguments regard the explicit reference of the imperial singers in the motet text and the use of the antiphon ‘Sacerdos et pontifex’ which the Pontificale Romanum attributes to the rite of the reception of a prelate or a legate.

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August Valentin Rabe ‘Singing into the Organ’: On the Use of the Organ in alternatim Performance in H ­ enricus Isaac’s Time This article discusses the question, what organists at the time of Henricus Isaac might have played in alternatim practice, when they performed polyphonically from chant notation. The topic is approached from various perspectives. First, the function of the organ in alternatim practice is clarified departing from a wide range of documentary evidence, such as contracts and treatises (esp. Conrad von Zabern, 1474 and Arnolt Schlick, 1511). Organ and singing were together treated as a unity in the performance of chant. The musical contribution of the alternating groups was adapted to the liturgy, from the placement of the groups in the space to details of performance practice. The content of the liturgical texts was decisive for the musical realisation of the solemnity. Second, the analysis of surviving composed versets for organ and voices by Henricus Isaac, Hans Buchner, and Clemens Hör reveals an attempt to create a compositional unity between organ and choir. On the other hand, didactic sources by Arnolt Schlick and Jan of Lublin show how less experienced organists could achieve solid results by using techniques such as parallel movement, standardised imitative models, and stereotyped episodic schemes. Finally, written descriptions of organ playing from the decades around 1500 are examined. The literary testimonia by Hans Rosenplüt, Joachim Vadianus, Hermann Finck and Biagio Rossetti – of which translations are provided – display the aesthetic experience associated with hearing organ music, and thus illustrate contemporary perceptions. Kateryna Schöning Isaac in Lautenintavolierungen aus handschriftlichen und gedruckten Quellen (ca. 1500– 1562): ein Beitrag zur Intavolierungstechnik (Isaac in Handwritten and Printed Lute Tablatures (c.1500–1562): a Contribution to the Technique of Intabulation) The paper is dedicated to the intabulation technique using the example of Heinrich Isaac’s Benedictus (Missa Quant j’ay au cueur) from seven handwritten and printed lute tablatures from the first half of the sixteenth century. It can be stated that Isaac was differently received in lute music until the middle of the century: on the one hand, his setting served as an impulse for an ex tempore practice and for the ‘re-composing’, which related to the earlier music-making; on the other hand, musicians understood Isaac’s Benedictus as a binding template for a ‘literal’ transcription, in which the compositional structure, cadence structure, mode, texture-type and soggetti remained the same. Thus, the 362

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technique of intabulation is analyzed with regard to the relationship between original composition and intabulation, and also in context of ex tempore practice and the change of the medium (manuscript vs. print); and the comparison of two types of intabulation (‘literal’ and ‘elaborated’) focusses on the role of the intabulator with regard to the original composition. Nicole Schwindt / Giovanni Zanovello Isaac, Schubinger, and Maximilian in Pisa – A Window of Opportunity? A document in the Archivio di Stato Firenze, not yet considered by Isaac scholars, witnesses that the composer, along with Flemish singer Cornelio di Lorenzo, acted as guarantors for instrumentalist Augustin Schubinger. Schubinger had recently immigrated to Florence, and as a foreigner needed local underwriters as he rented a dwelling in the city in 1489. Featuring a transcription and translation of the contract text, the article proposes the possibility that in return Schubinger was instrumental in Isaac’s recruitment by Maximilian in 1496. After the decline of the Florentine musical institutions, Schubinger had returned to the Habsburg court as an appreciated musician while Isaac was still living in the Tuscan city – presumably looking for an appointment elsewhere. It can be presumed that Maximilian was following Schubinger’s advice when he hired Isaac during his Italian campaign in 1496, despite the severe financial constraints he found himself in at that time. Blake Wilson Remembering Isaac Remembering Lorenzo: The Musical Legacy of Quis dabit capiti meo aquam In a lively series of articles and communications during the 1970s, Allan ­Atlas, Martin Staehelin, and Richard Taruskin focused our attention on Isaac’s Lorenzo lament, Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, especially its relationship to his Missa salva nos. This paper seeks a fresh view of the motivic structure of Quis dabit, in particular its almost obsessive deployment of a figure drawn from the mass that is re-contextualized in the motet, and subsequently widely adopted as an expressive figura (especially in the chansons des regretz repertory). This will then provide the basis for a close look at the legacy of this iconic work in the decades after the death of Lorenzo (1492), when early madrigal composers again took up a Poliziano text dealing with the subject of mourning, this time from his Fabula d’Orfeo. Also at issue here is the extent to which the citation of musical and textual material linked to Quis dabit (esp. in the madrigal by Francesco Layolle, whose direct allusion to Isaac’s music is the particular focus of this paper) invoked Florentine cultural practice of the Laurentian era at a 363

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time (the 1520s) when its composer had been dead but a few years, and when ­Florentine cultural & political identity hung in the balance. Or to put the question a different way: what meanings did the music of one of Isaac’s most obviously Laurentian works hold shortly after the composer’s death, when the city’s political and cultural life was in flux?

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VERZEICHNIS DER VERWENDETEN ABKÜRZUNGEN

Allgemeine Abkürzungen A Altus Abb. Abbildung Anm. Anmerkung Art. Artikel BayHStA Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv B Bassus Bd., Bde. Band, Bände bes. besonders Bk. Book Bsp. Beispiel bzw. beziehungsweise ca./c. circa cf. confer ch. chapter col(s). column(s) d.Ä. der Ältere d.h. das heißt d.J. der Jüngere D Discantus ders., dies. derselbe, dieselbe Diss. Dissertation ead. eadem ebda. ebenda ed. editor, edited esp. especially et al. et alii etc. et cetera Ex. example f. folgende 365

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Verzeichnis der verwendeten Abkürzungen

Fig. figure fl Gulden fl rheinische Gulden Fn. Fußnote fol Folio HHStA Haus, Hof und Staatsarchiv, Wien Hrsg., Herausgeber(in), herausgegeben i.e. id est ibid. ibidem insbes. insbesondere Inv. Inventar Jh. Jahrhundert kr. Kreutzer M. Mensur m., measure, Ms., Mss. Manuskript n. note n.d. no date N.F. Neue Folge n.p. no printer no., nos. number, Notenbsp. Notenbeispiel Nr., Nrn. Nummer, p., pp. page, pages Ps Psalm r recto repr. reprint S. Seite s. siehe s.l. sine locum s.n. sine nomine Sp. Spalte st. stimmig T Tenor trans. translated, u.a. und andere V Vagans v verso vv voices vgl. vergleiche 366

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vol(s). volume(s) z.B. zum Beispiel Bibliographische Abkürzungen AfMf AfMw AMl AnnMl BJbHM Brown

Archiv für Musikforschung Archiv für Musikwissenschaft Acta Musicologica Annales musicologiques Baseler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis Howard Mayer Brown, Instrumental Music Printed Before 1600. A Bibliography, Cambridge, MA 1965 ­Census Catalogue Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic ­Music 1400–1550, hrsg. von Charles Hamm und ­Herbert ­Kellman, 5 Bde., Neuhausen/Stuttgart 1979–1988 (Renaissance M ­ anuscript Studies 1) CMM Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae EdM Das Erbe deutscher Musik EM Early Music EMH Early Music History FAM Fontes Artis Musicae GMO Grove Music Online HMT Handwörterbuch der Musikalischen Terminologie, hrsg. von Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht, Loseblattsammlung, Stuttgart 1972ff. JAMS Journal of the American Musicological Society JAF Journal of the Alamire Foundation JM The Journal of Musicology JRMA Journal of the Royal Musical Association KmJb Kirchemmusikalisches Jahrbuch MD Musica Disciplina Mf Die Musikforschung MfM Monatshefte für Musikgeschichte MGG 2 Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, zweite neubearbeitete Ausgabe, hrsg. von Ludwig Finscher, 29 Bände, ­Kassel/Stuttgart 1994–2008 MQ Musical Quarterly

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MTO PRMA RB RIDM RISM RMl SIMG StMw TVNM VD16 VD17 vdm ZfMw

Music Theory Online Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association Revue belge de musicologie Rivista italiana di musicologia Répertoire International des Sources Musicales: A/I : Einzeldrucke vor 1800, 14 Bde. Kassel 1971–1991 B/I : Récueils Imprimés XVIe–XVIIe siècles, München/ Duisburg 1960 Revue de musicologie Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft Studien zur Musikwissenschaft Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor ­Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachbereich erschienenen Drucke des 16. Jahrhunderts Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 17. Jahrhunderts Verzeichnis deutscher Musikfrühdrucke Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft

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PERSONEN- UND WERKREGISTER

Accolti, Bernardo | 176

Erasmus Lapidicida | 131

Agricola, Alexander | 7, 20, 124, 128, 180

Es wonet lieb bey liebe | 148

Cecus non iudicat de coloribus | 14

Fors seulement | 146

Allez mon cueur (Ales mon cor) | 126

Gabrielem archangelum | 143

Belle sur toutes | 148

Ich stund an einem morgen | 149

Caecox | 144

La Martinella | 144

Comme femme desconfortee | 144

Myn hert heft alltyt verlanghen | 145

Il tient a vous | 126, 128, 129–31

Peccavi | 145

Je n’ay dueil | 147

Plusieurs regretz | 170

Oublier vueil | 146

Se j’ay requis | 147

Se vous voulez | 126

Si bibero | 148

Si dedero (attrib. Obrecht) | 143

Tant est gentil | 146

To andernacken up dem Ryn | 149

Tota pulchra es | 148

Agricola, Martin Musica instrumentalis deudsch | 306 Aldrovandino, Isabetta | 231 Alexander VI, Pope | 235 Alford, John A briefe and plaine instruction | 307 Almauer, Erhard | 18 Alvise, Giovanni | 224, 237

Vueit ghy (Weit guy) | 146 Will nieman singen so sing aber ich | 144 Verbum bonum et suave (ascribed Josquin) | 140

Antico, Andrea / Giunta, Luc’ Antonio Chansons a troys | 146 Attaingnant, Pierre | 132, 136, 141 Tabulature pour le jeu D orgues | 269

Angerer, Johannes | 14 anon. C’est donc pour moy (Cest tant par may) | 146 Cedant / Je suis infortune / Infortune je suis | 148

Da pacem Domine | 197, 200, 203, 206–7 Da pacem Domine / Christ ist erstanden | 145 De tous biens playne | 146, 178 Du bon du cuer | 143 Elslin liebes Elslin min | 146 En lombre dung buissonet | 147

Bagatella, Bartolomeo | 234 Barbara Jagiellon [Barbara of Poland], Duches of Saxony | 233 Barbireau, Jacobus | 21 Een frölic wesen | 144 Bauldeweyn, Noel Missa sex vocum | 66 Beatis, Antonio de | 251–2 Die Reise des Kardinals Luigi d’Aragona (Livre Voyage du cardinal d’Aragon) | 252

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Personen- und Werkregister Beck, Leonhard | 237–9

Main müterlin | 145

Bedyngham, Johannes

Sancti spiritus assit nobis gratia | 279, 295

? Mon seul plaisir | 138

Buckel, Jacques | 20

Beheim, Lorenz | 13–14

Burgkmair, Hans (the Elder) | 237–9

Beheim, Michael | 230–1

Triumphal Procession of Maximilian

Bembo, Bernardo | 173–4 Bernhard from Bergen [Bernhard of Mons] | 11–2, 22

­(Triumphzug) | 9, 11, 17, 221–2, 226–7, 241, 259

Burzellis, Pietrobono de | 228

Binchois, Gilles | 157, 178 ? Comme femme desconfortée (contrafactum: O regina nobilissima) | 35, 177–8, 181 Blidenberg, Johannes | 16–7 Bodenstein von Karlstadt, Andreas | 213, 246 Bonomo, Pietro | 17, 198 Borghesi, Simone | 217–18, 236

Camilla of Aragon | 231 Campeggi, Lorenzo | 200–6 Carlier, Gilles Tractatus de duplici ritus cantus ecclesiasticus | 195

Caron, Firminus

Boutins, Fernande | 14

Helas que pourra devenir | 142

Boyleau, Simon | 175

Carpi, Alberto Pio da | 18, 198

Brandolini, Aurelio | 173–5

Casimir of Brandenburg | 244

Brascha, Erasmo | 6–7

Cavazzoni, Girolamo

Breu, Jörg (the Elder) | 248

Intavolatura … libro primo | 269

Bruck, Arnold von

Intabulatura … libro secondo | 269

Ich Weiss ein schönes weib (Ein schönes weib ­erfrewet mich) | 147 Brugheman, Nicolas | 10 Brugis, Franciscus de | 111 Brumel, Antoine | 138

Il primo libro de intabolatura d’organo | 269 Chaphoreto [Kharfrey], Antonius Primi de | 16–17 Charles [Karl] V, Emperor | 199, 203, 205, 217, 220, 227–8, 239, 244–5

Alombre dung Buissonet | 68

Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy | 189

Ave ancilla | 126

Claude de France | 243–4

En amours | 126

Cles, Bernhard von | 282–3

En ung matin | 142

Cochlaeus, Johannes

Mater patris (Pater matris) | 146 Missa de beate virgine | 68

Cosmographia Pomponii Mele | 222, 240 Compère, Loyset

Missa sex vocum | 66

Chanter ne puis | 126

Noe noe noe | 125

Guerissés moy (Garisses moy) | 146

Vray dieu d’amours | 142

Le renvoy | 125

Bubay [Visetus], Johannes de | 16–17, 20

Mes pensees | 143

Buchner, Hans ( Johannes) | 248, 261, 272,

Tout mal me vient | 148

276, 282

Constabili, Beltrando | 21

Fundamentum | 219, 269, 276–9, 307, 309

Cordier, [= Cordier, Jean?] | 19

Congaudent Angelorum Chori | 276–8

Cordier, Jean | 10

370

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Personen- und Werkregister Cordova, Francisco Fernandez de Libro llamado Arte de tañer fantasía | 285 Cortesi, Paolo De cardinalatu libri tres | 49 Craen, Nicolaus Ecce video coelos apertos | 126, 147 Craus, Stephan Lautenbuch | 312–13, 317–22 Cuspinian, Johannes | 220 Congressus ac celeberrimi concentus […] ­descriptio | 217, 220, 242

Plus nulz regretz (Plus mils regretz) | 125, 132, 136

? Quam pulchra es | 140; see also Moulu, Pierre; Mouton, Jean; and Verdelot, Philippe Stabat mater | 177–8, 180, 182 ? Te Deum | 140; see also Silva, Andreas de Dietrich, Sixt [Xystus] | 73 Elslin liebes Elslin mein | 146 Dobrau, Jan von | 248, 251–3, 255 Dowland, John Lachrimae | 169

Desprez [des Prez], Josquin | 36–7, 67, 77, 124, 127, 139–40, 144, 212, 221

Adieu mes amours | 132 ? Au bois au bois ma dame | 125, 127 Basies moy | 125 Cela sans plus | 125 Coment peult haver joye | 124–5

Drach III, Peter Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten | 224, 240, 260–1, 271–3, 281

Du Fay, Guillaume | 202 Supremum est mortalibus bonum | 205 Missa Se la face ay pale | 225 Dure [Fleran], Arnold | 16–7

Comment; see Isaac, Missa Comment peult avoir joye (Pleni)

Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg | 233

Fortuna | 126

Ebert, Jörg | 247

? Il n’est plaisir | 145

Egenolff, Christian | 123–36, 168

Je me complains | 168, 170 La Bernardina | 143 La plus de plus | 126, 148

Cantiones selectissimae LXVIII vocum trium | 125–6

Cantiones vocum quatuor | 125

Lectio actuum apostolorum | 139

Enea, Gano d’ | 242

? Mille regretz | 132–6, 168, 170;

Erasmus of Rotterdam | 213, 245, 304

see also Lemaire, Jean

Erns, Hans | 248

Missa Ad fugam | 68

Este, Beatrice d’ | 21, 232

Missa Fortuna desperata (Pleni) | 143

Este, Ercole I. d’, Duke of Ferrara | 21, 205

Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae (= Missa ­

Este, Ippolito d’, Cardinal | 21

Philippus rex Castiliae, Missa Fridericus

Este, Isabella d’ | 232–3

dux Saxoniae) | 204–5

Eyselin, Jörg | 234

Missa L’homme armé sexti toni | 186 Missa Pange lingua | 135–6

Ferdinand I, Emperor | 12, 15–16

Missus est Gabriel angelus | 139–40

Ferdinand II of Aragon | 235

Nimphes nappes | 170

Fernandes, Carolus | 228

Pater noster / Ave Maria | 140

Fernandes, Johannes | 228

371

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Personen- und Werkregister Festa, Costanzo | 174–5, 205 Qual sará mai sí miserabil canto | 162–5,

Furter, Michael Musica getutscht und ausgezogen | 270, 306

168, 175–6

Super flumina babylonis | 157, 174–5 Fevin (Antoine or Robert de) | 66 Fors seulement | 144 Fevin, Antoine de | 66, 131–2, 144 Damoiselle | 125, 131–2 N’aimés jamais | 125, 131

Gabrieli, Giovanni | 169 Gaffurius, Franchino | 127 Galiffre | 20 Galilei, Vincenzo Fronimo | 307, 312 Gardano, Antonio

Pardonés moy | 125, 131

Primo libro di madrigali d’Archadelt | 164

Petite camusette | 148

Il primo libro de intabolatura | 269

Ficino, Marsilio | 172, 194

Gareth, Benedetto | 171

Finck, Heinrich | 65, 140, 143

Garin, Egidius | 16–7

Missa Te deum laudamus | 66

George of Saxony [Georg von Sachsen] | 233

Fa ut | 68

Gerle, Hans

Finck, Hermann | 362 Practica musica | 272, 290–2, 298–302 Forestier, Mathurin Veni sancte spiritus | 140 Formschneider, Hieronymus | 67, 71, 79,

Musica Teusch | 306–8 Ghiselin, Johannes | 180 Een frolick wesen | 146 Inviolata, integra et casta es | 180 La Alfonsina | 126, 146

137–8, 307

Missa Narayge (Narraige) | 145

Choralis Constantinus; cf. Isaac, Henricus

Regina caeli | 68, 177, 180

Missae tredecim | 139

Rendez le moy | 146

Musica Teusch | 306–8 Novum et insigne opus musicum | 77, 137–40 Trium vocum carmina | 128, 131, 137–51 François I, King of France | 243 Frederick [Friedrich] I, Elector Palatine | 230–1

Frederick [Friedrich] III (‘the Wise’), Elector of Saxony | 13, 22–3, 205, 233, 235 Frederick [Friedrich] III, Emperor | 6, 11, 16–7, 20

Frederick [Friedrich] V, Margrave of ­Brandenburg | 232

Vostre a jamais | 147 Ghizeghem, Hayne van Allez regretz | 142 De tous biens plaine | 146, 178, 229 La regretee | 126 Giunta, Lucantonio Graduale Romanum | 110–19, 121–2 Glarean, Heinrich | 61–2, 84–5 Dodekachordon | 73, 77–8 Goes, Hugo van der Trinity Altarpiece | 270 Gonzaga, Francesco II | 6–7, 224, 233–4, 237

Frisius, Johannes | 279–80

Grassi, Paride de | 198, 201, 223, 243, 246

Fuchs, Conrad | 14–5

Greiter [Greitter], Matthias

Fuchs, Maximilian 12

O herte Gott begnade mich | 126

Fugger, Jakob | 252–3, 266

372

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Personen- und Werkregister Grimm, Sigmund / Wirsung, Marx Liber selectarum cantionum | 140, 197–9,

Höflinger, Johannes | 16 Högger, Melchior | 275

202, 204

Holland, Jörg | 234

Gross, Conrad | 16

Holland, Lucas | 241 Holland, Peter | 234

Hafner, Georg | 14 Hämerl, Hans | 15

Holwein, Elias Syntagma Musicum | 255, 272

Hämerl, Michael | 12, 15

Hongher, Valentin | 15, 20

Hämerl, Sebastian | 15

Hör, Clemens | 74, 131, 276, 280

Hämerl, Wolfgang | 12 Heckel, Wolff | 319–21

Missa Paschale | 279 Hungarus, Thelamonius; see Ung, Tiel

Lautten Buch | 313, 318, 322 Hellinck, Lupus Missa In te domine speravi | 66

Igg, Michael de | 17 Isaac, Henricus

Hemperger, Stefan | 16

A la battaglia | 14

Henry VII, King of England | 227

Adieu fillette de regnon | 144

Henry VIII, King of England | 227, 245

Al mein mut | 142

Henselin [Henslein] von Cöln

Alma redemptoris mater | 38–9

Wach uff mein hort | 126 Herbenus, Matthias | 203 De natura cantus ac miraculis vocis | 195–6 Herberstein, Sigmund von | 22 Hesdin, Nicolle des Celliers d’ | 18–19 ? Missa super Benedicta es | 66; see also ­Willaert, Adrian Heugel, Hans Ich hab mich recht gehalten | 131 Heyden, Sebald | 281 De arte canendi | 73, 77–8 Hiriberia, Baltasar de Musica practica Bartolomei Rami de Pareia ­B ononiae | 272 Hoffmann, Hans

Angeli archangeli | 180–3, 187–8 Benedictus (= Sanctus of Missa Quant j’ay au cueur) | 126, 144, 305, 312–24 Choralis Constantinus (CC) I: 1–2, 24–42 | 18, 35, 43, 67, 70–2, 77–9, 86–9, 91, 96, 101–2, 104–5, 119, 276, 279, 281

Choralis Constantinus (CC) II: 1 (De ­Nativitate Christi) | 69; 92, 96–7 (seq); II: 2 (De Circumcisione) | 38, 72 (all v.); 89 (seq); II: 3 (De Epiphania Domini) | 69; 40, 87 (int); 87, 89 (seq); II: 4

(De Purificatione) | 69; 87, 89–90 (int); II: 6 (De Resurrectione Domini) | 68, 103–4 (int); II: 8 (De Sancto Spiritu) | 68; 279, 294–5 (seq); II: 9 (De Corpore Christi) |

Hi in disem puchlein findet ir gar | 288

68; 81, 91 (seq); II: 10 (De S: Joanne) |

Hofhaimer, Paul [Hoffheymer, Paulus] |

68; 98, 101 (int); II: 11 (De S: Petro et

12–13, 16, 22, 191, 220, 242, 248, 253,

Paulo) | 68; 87 (all v.); 88 (int); 98–9

255, 258–9, 261, 263, 265

(seq); II: 13 (De Visitacione B: Virginis) |

Die Brünlein die da fliessen | 143

68; 88 (all v.; int); II: 14 (De S: Maria

Harmoniae poeticae | 289–90

Magdalena) 68; II: 15 (De Assumptione B:

In gotes namen faren wir | 149

Virginis) | 69; 276–8 (seq); II: 16

373

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Personen- und Werkregister (De Sancto Nicolao) | 69; II: 18 (De

Isabella of Castile | 235

­Nativitate B: Marie Virginis) | 69; II: 19 (De dedicatione Templi) | 69; II: 20 (De

Janequin, Clément

­sancta Cruce) | 69; 94, 96, 98, 100–2

La Guerre | 308

(seq); II: 21 (De Omnibus Sanctis) | 69; 96, 101, 181 (int); II: 22 (De divo Martino

Japart, Jean Je cuide | 125

[et ­Nicolao]) | 69; 78–9 (seq); II: 23 (De

Joanna of Castile | 235

­Sancta Anna) | 68; II: 25 (De Conceptione

Johann Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg | 233

Marie Viginis) | 69; 77–8, 80, 82, 84 (seq)

Johannes of Soest | 196

Choralis Constantinus (CC) III: Paschalis, Apostolis, Solemnis, 1–6, 9, 11, 13, 18, 23–4 | 38, 68, 73–4 Das kind lag in der wiegen | 142

John Frederick [ Johann Friedrich] (‘der Großmütige’), Elector of Saxony | 140, 141 John the Steadfast [ Johann der Beständige], Duke of Saxony | 234

Der Hund | 125, 128

Jorlandi, Johannes | 20

? Die Brünlein die da fliessen | 143

Josquin; see Desprez, Josquin

Fortuna desperata (Fortuna in mi) | 148

Judenkünig, Hans

Helas que devera mon cuer (Helas je suis mary) | 126, 142

? Il n’est Plaisir | 145

Ain schone kunstliche vnderweisung | 306, 313 Julius II, Pope | 194, 198–201 Juras, Primus | 16, 18

In Gottes Namen fahren wir | 27, 34, 36, 149 Inviolata | 38–9 La Morra | 126, 144, 305

Kilchen, Jakob von Graduale Romanum | 108

? Les bien amore | 148

Kindermann, Johann Erasmus | 262

Mille regretz | 125, 133–4

Kinwelmersh, Francis | 307

Missa ad Organum | 254, 267–8 Missa Comme femme desconfortée | 177–88 Missa Comment peult avoir joye | 124, 126–7, 186

Missa de Apostolis | 332 Missa de B.M.V. à 4 (I) | 105–22, 325–45 Missa Paschale (I) | 279–81 Missa Quant j’ay au cueur | 305–24

A briefe and plaine instruction | see Le Roy, Adrian Kleber, Leonhard | 248, 269 Knebel, Johann | 252 Chronik von Donauwörth | 249–50, 252 Kölderer, Jörg | 241 Triumphal Procession of Maximilian (Triumph­ zug) | see Burgkmair, Hans (the Elder)

Missa Salva nos | 155–62, 165

Krieger, Thomas | 15

Missa solemnis | 332

Kyngston, John | 307

Missa Une mousse de Biscaye | 27, 34 Missa Virgo prudentissima | 18, 239, 260

A briefe and plaine instruction | see Le Roy, Adrian

Optime pastor | 18, 189–207 Quis dabit capiti meo aquam | 153–76 Sanctissimae virginis votiva festa | 25–64, 333 Tristicia vestra | 144

Lalaing, Antoine | 219, 222, 226, 235–6, 251 Voyage de Philippe le Beau en Espange en 1501 | 236, 251

374

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Personen- und Werkregister Lampadius, Auctor | 53

Lupus, Barbarini | 269

Lang, Matthäus, Cardinal | 16, 197–201, 203,

Maffei, Celso | 194

205–6, 289

Delitiosa explicatio | 194–5

Langkusch, Christoph | 16

Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg | 232

Lasso, Orlando di

Malatesta, Roberto | 231

Ie l’ayme bien | 314 Lauwier of Valenciennes, Jean | 20 Layolle, Francesco | 162–5, 172–6

Malcort ? Malheur me bat | 126; see also Martini, ­Johannes; and Ockeghem, Johannes

Cinquanta canzoni a quatro voci | 164

Manderscheidt, Nicolaus | 262

Qual sará mai sí miserabil canto | 166–9, 171

Manuzio, Aldo [Manutius, Aldus]

Le Roy, Adrian / Ballard, Robert

Opera Omnia Angeli Politiani | 154–5

Premier livre de chansons | 144

­Marbasio, Johannes Oliverii de | 16

Second livre de chansons | 126, 128

Marenzio, Luca | 169

Sixiesme livre de chansons | 125, 127

Margaret of Austria [Margarete von

Le Roy, Adrian A briefe and plaine instruction | 307–8, 310,

­Österreich] | 227, 235, 239 Martini, Johannes | 21

314

Se mai il cielo | 143

Lemaire, Jean

La martinella | 145

? Mille regretz | 132; see also Desprez, ­Josquin Lenonus (de Lenionibus), ­Giovanni Antonio | 112

Leo X, Pope | 174–5, 192, 196–8, 200, 203, 242–3, 246

? Malheur me bat | 126; see also Malcort; and Ockeghem, Johannes Mary [Maria] of Burgundy | 9, 19 Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary | 20–1 Maurus, Hartmann | 217, 220, 245 Maximilian I, Emperor | 3, 6–23, 33, 71,

Leopold, Nicolaus | 12

106–7, 119, 189, 191–204, 216, 219, 221–

Lignoquercu, Rogier de | 19, 20

2, 224, 226, 232–4, 236–7, 239, 241–2,

Lorenzo, Cornelio de | 4–5

244, 247–51, 253, 258, 261–2, 264

Louis XII, King of France | 235

Weißkunig | 9, 191–3, 196, 222, 224, 237–8

Loys, Pasquin | 20

Theuerdank | 9

Lublin, Jan of | 269, 276–7, 291–2

Triumphal Procession (Triumphzug) |

Fundamentum | 285 Ad faciendum cantum choralem fundamentum | 272, 277, 285, 287, 292

see Burgkmair, Hans (the Elder) Mayoul, Andreas | 16 Mayoul, Nicolas | 14, 17–20

Annue Christe | 285–6

Mayoul, Nicolas (the Elder) | 16, 18

Congaudent angelorum, prosa de Assumptione |

Medici, Giovanni de’ | 174

276

Officium Virginis Mariae Salve sancta parens: Introitus | 296–7, 287 Luigi d’Aragona [Luis de Aragona],

Medici, Lorenzo de’ (‘il Magnifico’) | 5–6, 153–76

Michault | 20 Migliorotti, Atalante | 176

Cardinal | 252

375

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Personen- und Werkregister Moderne, Jacques Cinquanta canzoni a quatro voci | 164 Molinet, Jean Chroniques | 18–20 Montanus [Berg], Johannes / Neuber, Ulrich

Obrecht, Jacob | 12, 61, 117, 142 Cela sans plus | 125 J’ai pris amours | 125 ? La Stangetta | 145; see also Weerbeke, Gaspar van

Diphona amoena et florida | 73, 79

Marion la doulce | 147

Selectissimorum triciniorum | 149

Missa Fortuna (Pleni) | 143

Morone, G ­ erolamo | 198 Moulu, Pierre | 124

Missa Malheur me bat | 148 (Christe; Pleni); 149 (Crucifixus, Agnus 2)

? Au bois au bois ma dame | 127

Missa Salve diva parens (Pleni) | 148

Cum et sine Pausis | 68

? Missa Sancti Ioannis | 68

Missa Paschalis | 68

Missa Si dedero (Christe) | 143

? Quam pulchra es | 140; see also Desprez,

Si sumpsero | 126, 143

Josquin; Mouton, Jean; and Verdelot, Philippe Mouton, Jean

? Wir glauben all / Et in unum dominum | 68 Ockeghem, Johannes | 157 Fors seulement | 146

In illo tempore | 140

Ma bouche rit (Mon seul plaisir) | 138, 148

Missus est Gabriel angelus | 139–4

? Malheur me bat | 126, 148; see also

? Quam pulchra es | 140; see also Desprez,

­Malcort; and Martini, Johannes

Josquin; Moulu, Pierre; and Verdelot,

Ornitoparchus [Vogelsang], Andreas

Philippe ? Veni sancte spiritus | 140 Mouton, Pierre | 245 Mülholzer, Jakob | 249 Müller, Christian

Musicae activae micrologus | 283–4 Ott, Hans [ Johannes] | 77, 79, 281 Novum et insigne opus musicum I | 137, 139–40

Novum et insigne opus musicum II | 138–9

Lautten Buch | 313

Paganucci, Pierantonio | 3–4 Nagel, Hans | 227, 239

Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da | 37

Nagl, Jobst | 234

Pasoti, Giovanni Giacomo / Dorico, Valerio

Nagl, Jörg | 234 Narváez, Luis de Los seys libros del Delphin de musica | 132 Negelin, Valentin | 275 Neuschel, Johannes [Hans] | 222, 226, 234, 240

Newsidler, Hans Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch | 313–14, 318–19, 321–2

Ninot, Le Petit

Motetti de la corona | 139 Paumann, Conrad | 256, 287–9 Petreius, Johannes [ Johann] Ein Newgeordent Künstlich Lautenbuch | see Newsidler, Hans Harmoniae poeticae | 289–90 Modulationes aliquot quatuor voces selectissime | 139

Petri, Heinrich Dodekachordon | 73, 77–8

Helas helas helas | 125

376

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Personen- und Werkregister Petrucci, Ottaviano | 37, 155, 229 Canti B | 124–6 Canti C | 146–7 Intabulatura de Lauto | 230, 313, 318, 322; see also Spinacino, Francesco Motetti B | 154

Ratdolt, Erhard Graduale Romanum | 110–11, 113–14, 116–17, 119, 121–2

Reichenauer, Wolfgang | 250–1, 253, 264 Rein, Conrad Officium paschale | 68

Misse henrici Jzac | 177, 179

Rem, Bernhard | 138, 218–19, 267, 271

Misse obreht | 142

Rem, Wilhelm | 252

Motetti de la corona | 139

Rener, Adam | 12–13, 22

Odhecaton A | 124–6, 313

Reyser, Georg

Philip of Habsburg (‘the Fair’), Duke of ­Burgundy | 7, 18–9, 189, 205, 219, 222, 227, 234–6, 239, 243, 251

Graduale Herbipolense | 43, 110–11, 114, 116, 121–2

Rhau [Rhaw], Georg

Picart, Arnold | 16

Musica instrumentalis deudsch | 306

Piperinus, Christoph | 269

Officia Paschalia | 104, 139

Pirckheimer, Willibald | 14

Officiorum (ut vocant) de Nativitate […] &c. |

Pius III, Pope | 217, 236

72–3, 75–6, 104

Plöchl, Matthias | 15

Secundus tomus biciniorum | 73

Poliziano, Angelo | 165, 173–6

Tricinia | 126, 128

Orfeo | 162, 164 Qual sará mai sí miserabil canto | 162, 164, 166–8, 169, 171

Quis dabit capiti meo aquam | 153–5, 157, 163, 161, 169, 175

Porro, Galeazzo Graduale Romanum | 109–114, 116, 119

Rhau [Rhaw], Georg, heirs of Practica musica | 272, 290, 298 Richafort, Jean Gentil galans | 126–7 N’avez point veu | 143 Rigo [de Bergis], Cornelius Min hert hefft alltyt verlanghen | 145

Porta, Eustachio | 112

Roelkin (Roeland Wreede?) | 229

Praetorius, Michael

Rore, Cipriano de

Syntagma Musicum | 255–7, 259–60, 272, 282

Prüss, Johann Graduale Gregorianum | 110–11, 113–14, 116, 121

Strane ruppi, aspri monti | 169 Rosenplüt, Hans Nuremberg oration | 287–9 Rossetti, Biagio | 292 Libellus de rudimentis musices: Compendium musicae | 291, 303–4

Ramos de Pareja, Bartolome Musica practica Bartolomei Rami de Pareia ­B ononiae | 272 Rantzmoser, Sixt | 11, 15

Rovere, Antonio della | 198 Rowbothome, James A briefe and plaine instruction | 307 Rue, Pierre de la Ce n’est pas | 125

377

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Personen- und Werkregister Credo Angeli archangeli | 180–3, 187–8 Cueurs desolez | 170

Schumann, Valentin Musicae activae micrologus | 284

De beata virgine | 68

Schwartz, Hans | 231

Fors seulement | 125

Schwartzinger, Dietherich | 240

Missa Assumpta est | 182

Scotto, Girolamo | 141, 175

Missa Sub tuum praesidium | 139 Sancta Maria virgo | 147 Secretz regretz | 170

Intabulatura d’organo … libro secondo | 269 Scotto, Ottavio [Verdelot] Madrigali a cinque libro primo | 164

Si dormiero | 147

Seebacher, Peter | 18

Tous nobles cuers | 146

Senfl, Ludwig | 12, 16, 138 Ave, Rosa sine spinis | 177

Sabio, Stephano Libellus de rudimentis musices | 291 Samson Pater à nullo est factus | 149 Santa Maria, Tomás de Libro llamado Arte de tañer fantasía | 285

Das Lang (Fa longum) | 125, 128, 142 Fantasia | 147 Ich stund an einem morgen | 149 Senft, Eberhard | 13–14 Serafino Aquilano | 171 Serntein, Zyprian von | 1

Savonarola, Girolamo | 174, 196

Sforza, Bianca Maria | 232

Schentzer, Johannes | 272, 282

Sforza, Costanzo | 231

Schlick, Arnold | 131

Sforza, Hermes Maria | 236

Ascendo ad patrem meum | 282

Sforza, Massimiliano, Duke of Milan | 22

Gaude dei genitrix | 282–4

Sicher, Fridolin | 139, 269

Mi mi | 126

Sigismund of Tyrol, Archduke of Austria | 21

Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten |

Silva, Andreas de

224, 240, 260, 271–3, 281–3

Tabulaturen Etlicher Lobgesang | 284 Schmekell, Georg | 241 Schöffer, Peter (the Younger) Tabulaturen Etlicher Lobgesang | 284 Quinquagena carminum | 124

Regina caeli | 68 ? Te Deum | 140; cf. als Desprez, Josquin Singriener, Hans Ain schone kunstliche vnderweisung | 306 Congressus ac celeberrimi concentus […] ­descriptio | 242

Schreidur, Johannes | 17

Slatkonia, Georgius | 11, 17–18

Schreyer, Sebald | 256, 265

Soderini, Piero | 174

Schubinger, Anton | 5

Sophie von Mecklenburg | 234

Schubinger, Augustin [Augustein] | 5–7,

Spinacino, Francesco | 314, 319–21

211, 222, 224, 226, 229–30, 233–4, 236,

Intabulatura de Lauto | 229–30, 313

240–1, 243

Spira, Emerich de | 111

basse danse | 14

Sporer, Thomas

Schubinger, Michel | 5

Tota die | 126

Schubinger, Ulrich jr. | 5, 7

Staden, Sigmund Theophil | 264

Schubinger, Ulrich sr. | 5

Steudl [Steidl], Hans | 6, 222, 226, 234, 241

378

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Personen- und Werkregister Stöckel, Wolfgang Nau getzeiten von Itzt gehaltem keiserlichen Reichstag zu Augspurg | 253 Strasser, Caspar | 15 Strozzi, Filippo | 175

Qual sará mai sí miserabil canto | 168 ? Quam pulchra es | 140; see also Desprez, Josquin; Moulu, Pierre; and Mouton, Jean Quando madonna io vengo a contemplarte | 172

Strozzi, Lorenzo | 176

Vespucci, Agostino | 235

Struyss, Frantz

Vicentino, Nicola | 169

Struyss | 126 Susanna of Bavaria | 244 Susato, Tielman | 136 L’Unziesme livre contenant | 132 Liber primus missarum quinque vocum | 224

L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica | 332

Victoria, Tomás Luis de O vos omnes | 169 Vinders, Hieronymus Missa Stabat mater | 180, 183

Tadinghen, Ja Pensif mari | 125

Virdung, Sebastian Musica getutscht und ausgezogen | 270, 306

Thech [Tzech], Johannes | 261 Thiebault, Adrien | 205

Wagenrieder, Lucas | 14, 16, 128, 137–51

Thurn, Erasmus vom | 12

Waldauf, Florian | 19

Tinctoris, Johannes | 229

Watt [Vadianus], Joachim von | 289–90

De inventione et usu musicae | 230 Tondini, Giovanni | 5 Treitsaurwein, Marx | 237, 241 Triumphal Procession of Maximilian ­(Triumphzug) | see Burgkmair, Hans (the Elder) Tretzler, Caspar | 17

Webern, Anton | 107 Weerbeke, Gaspar van ? La Stangetta | 145; see also Obrecht, Jacob Weiditz, Hans Emperor Maximilian hears Mass | 11, 189–90, 258–9

Weißenburger, Johann

Tromboncino, Piero | 234

Cosmographia | 240

Tschudi, Aegidius | 139–40, 174

Hernach Volgt wie der Durchleuchtig

Türkhamer, Hans | 12

­Hochgeborn Furst | 22 Wenssler, Michael

Ugolini, Baccio | 162, 171 Ung, Tiel [Ungewitter, Tiel; Hungarus,

Graduale Romanum | 108, 111, 114, 117, 121 Werder, Lorenz | 261

Thelamonius]

Wert, Giaches de | 169

Wir glauben | 126

Wez, Pierre du | 14, 20 Wigel, Mathias | 17

Valentinianus, Gregor | 14, 18 Van den Hecke, Godefrood | 242 Verdelot, Philippe | 162–3, 174–6 Madrigali a cinque libro primo | 164

Willaert, Adrian | 67, 175 ? Missa super Benedicta es | 66; see also ­Hesdin, Nicolle des Celliers d’ Winkel, Jan van | 227

Gran dolor della mia vita | 169

379

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Personen- und Werkregister Winterburger, Johann Graduale Pataviense | 43, 78, 86, 107–10, 112, 114–16, 119–22, 276, 343

Wolff von Pforzheim, Jakob | 116, 122 Graduale Augustense | 111 Wolsey, Thomas | 245

Zabern, Conrad von | 292 De modo bene cantandi | 272–5 Lere von koe rgesanck | 273, 275 Zuckenranft, Benedict | 13

380

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