Juan Ullibarri: cornetto
Benjamin Hoadley: dulcian
Daniel Pelagatti: shawm, pommer
Félix Stricker:  slide-trumpet, trombone
Keal Couper: trombone
Annie Dufresne: soprano
Marc Lewon: lute, voice

Programme:

Thomas Crecquillon (ca. 1505 – 1557):
Der fünffte theil schöner frölicher frischer alter und newer Teutscher Liedlein mit fünff stimmen nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen (1556):
Grüss dich got, mein Künigund

Thomas Crecquillon (ca. 1505 – 1557):
Der fünffte theil schöner frölicher frischer alter und newer Teutscher Liedlein mit fünff stimmen nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen (Georg Forster, Nürnberg, 1556):
Grüss dich got, mein Künigund

Thomas Stoltzer (ca. 1480 - 1526):
Octo Tonorum Melodiae, Ratsschulbibliothek Zwickau, Ms. 106.4 (ca. 1554):
1. toni

Thomas Stoltzer (ca. 1480 - 1526):
Tricinia tum verum tum recentiorum in arte musica symphonistarum, Latina, Brabantica et Gallica (Georg Rhau, Wittenberg, 1542):
In Domino confido

Thomas Stoltzer (ca. 1480 - 1526):
Octo Tonorum Melodiae, Ratsschulbibliothek Zwickau, Ms. 106.4 (ca. 1554):
3. toni

Thomas Stoltzer (ca. 1480 - 1526):
Neue deutsche geistliche Gesänge für die gemeinen Schulen (Georg Rhau, Wittenberg, 1544):
Herr, wie lange willt du mein so gar vergessen

Hans Gerle (ca. 1500 – 1570):
Eyn Newes sehr Künstlichs Lautenbuch (Nürnberg, 1552):
Preambel

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Das dritt Buch. Ein New künstlich Lauten Buch (Hans Neusidler, Nürnberg, 1544):
Vita in ligno

Johannes Lupi (ca. 1506 - 1539):
Das Ander Buch. Ein new künstlich Lauten Buch (Hans Neusidler, Nürnberg, 1549):
Apparens Christi

Hans Gerle (ca. 1500 – 1570):
Eyn Newes sehr Künstlichs Lautenbuch (Nürnberg, 1552):
Postludium

Primož Trubar (1598 – 1586):
Catechismus in der Windischen Sprach (Morhart, Tübingen 1550):
Nu freut euch lieben Christen gmein

Benedictus Ducis (ca. 1492 – 1544):
Neue deutsche geistliche Gesänge für die gemeinen Schulen (Georg Rhau, Wittenberg, 1554):
?

Johann Walter (1496 – 1570):
Geistliches Gesangbüchlein (Wittenberg, 1551):
?

Alexander Agricola (ca. 1446 – 1506):
Der ander theil des Lautenbuchs (Hans Neusidler, Nürnberg, 1536):
Si dedero

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Der fünffte theil schöner frölicher frischer alter und newer Teutscher Liedlein mit fünff stimmen nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen (Georg Forster, Nürnberg, 1556):
Aus gutem grund

Georg Forster (ca. 1510 – 1568):
Der fünffte theil schöner frölicher frischer alter und newer Teutscher Liedlein mit fünff stimmen nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen (Georg Forster, Nürnberg, 1556):
Mit freuden gehen wir in das haus

Matthias Hermann (ca. 1505 – 1574):
Der fünffte theil schöner frölicher frischer alter und newer Teutscher Liedlein mit fünff stimmen nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen (Georg Forster, Nürnberg, 1556):
Mein herz und gmüt

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Das erst Teil: hundert und ainundzweintzig newe Lieder (Hans Ott, Nürnberg, 1534):
Tandernak

Wolfgang Striccius (ca. 1555 – ca. 1615):
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Wien
Exulta satis filia Sion

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Breslau, Stadtbibliothek, Ms. Mus. 10
Da Jakob nu das Kleid ansach

Primož Trubar (1598 – 1586):
Catechismus in der Windischen Sprach (Morhart, Tübingen 1550):
Vater unser im Himmelreich

Johann Walter (1496 – 1570):
Geistliches Gesangbüchlein (Wittenberg, 1551):
?

Arnold von Bruck (ca. 1500 – 1554):
Neue deutsche geistliche Gesänge für die gemeinen Schulen (Georg Rhau, Wittenberg, 1554):
?

Paul Hofhaimer (1459 – 1537):
Ms. Codex 142a, Staats und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg (1500+):
Omnes peccaverunt (Contrafacta)

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Das erst Teil: hundert und ainundzweintzig newe Lieder (Hans Ott, Nürnberg, 1534):
Im Maien

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Trium vocum carmina (Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1538):
Ich stuend an einem morgen

Stephan Zirler:
Frische teutsche Liedlein, dritter Teil (Georg Forster, Nürnberg, 1549):
Ich armer Gsell

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486 – 1543):
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex. 18 810 (1500+):
Carmen in re

Iacomo Gorzani (ca. 1520 – ca. 1575)
Intabulatura di Liuto di messer Iacomo Gorzanis cieco Pugliese, habitante nella citta di Trieste (Antonio Gardano, Venezia, 1561):
Ricercar terzo / Pass’e mezzo / Padoana / Saltarello / La barca del mio amor

Jurij Prenner (? – 1590)
Novi thesauri musici liber primus(Antonio Gardano, Venezia, 1568):
Assumpta est Maria

Jurij Prenner (? – 1590)
Thesauri musici tomus quartus (Montanus & Neuber, Nürnberg, 1564):
Considerate dilectissimi

Considerate dilectissimi

 About the Programme:

“Als offt man zu Labach/ Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist/ oder Ozha/ Syn/ Duh/ nebseki Kral/ &c, mit fünff stimmen beim Regal/ Posaunen/ Zincken/ und Scholmaien in der Kirche hat gesungen...”

In his introduction to the earliest known songbook in the slovenian language, Eni psalmi, Protestant reformer Primož Trubar describes the practice using trombones, cornetts and shawms together with singers to perform church music in Ljubljana in his time. Far from being virtually banned in church services, as it was in some countries in Europe during the sixteenth century, polyphonic music played a very important role in Protestant and Catholic circles in Slovenia, and in southern Germany as well, where Primož Trubar spent almost half of his life.

The pieces to be performed this evening are a selection of the kinds of music Trubar would have been accustomed to hearing during his lifetime. The program focuses on works by composers associated with the Protestant movement in southern Germany, as well as works by composers who had particular links to Slovenia, including Wolfgang Striccius, Arnold von Bruck and Jurij Prenner.

One of the important aims of Protestant reformers in the sixteenth century was to make biblical texts and teachings readily accessible and understandable to members of the general public by translating them into the local language. Active participation by the congregation in church services, in the form of chorale singing, was encouraged, in order to help spread Protestant beliefs. Therefore, the performance of chorale settings also became an important part of Protestant church services.

Two editors and printers of music of the time particularly stand out for their support of the Protestant movement: Georg Rhau of Wittenberg, and Georg Forster, who studied in Wittenberg and Tübingen. The editions of Rhau and Forster contain dozens of motets and chorale settings, as well as secular works, which, as Rhau describes on the title page of his of his “Neue deutsche Gesänge” (Wittenberg, 1554) are intended “for the common schools”. In other words, their collections were to be used to spread the teachings of the Protestants amongst young people by providing good-quality music to sing and play.

In his Catechismus of 1550 and Eni psalmi of 1567, Trubar included chorale melodies taken from various existing sources, including those found in the collections of Rhau and Forster, and composed new texts to be sung to them, in the early Slovenian language. Even though the melodies printed in Catechismus and Eni Psalmi are monophonic, in performance, other parts may have sometimes been improvised in counterpoint to the given melody, as was typical of performance practice at the time.

In his five volumes of “Frische teutsche Liedlein” (“Fresh Songs in German”), Forster also explains that the music in his editions is not only for singing, but can be played on all sorts of instruments as well (“nicht allein zu singen sonder auch auff allen Instrumenten zu brauchen”). The practice of playing vocal music on instruments was very common in the sixteenth century, with and without singers.

The group of loud wind players, or Stadtpfeiffer ensemble, as it was known in German-speaking lands, played secular and sacred vocal music, as well as instrumental-conceived pieces and improvised music. Stadpfeiffer groups, which usually consisted of around four to six musicians, were employed in many renaissance cities and towns, as iconographical and archival evidence shows. In Ljubljana, a professional Stadtpfeiffer ensemble was employed to play at state festivities, as well as in Catholic and Protestant church services. (See: Cvetko, Musikgeschichte der Südslaven).This formation, of cornetts, shawms and trombones, reached its peak of popularity around the mid-sixteenth century, after which time it began to be replaced by the ensemble of cornetts and trombones alone.

Many of the songs found in the prints of Forster were also transcribed and adapted for performance on the the lute. Several collections of lute intabulations were dedicated to members of the Krainer noble family Khisl, including the Italian Iacomo Gorzani’s Intabulatura di Liuto of 1561, as was Trubar’s Eni psalmi. Contact between Slovenian and Italian musicians took place quite often, and several well known Slovenian musicians, including Jurij Prenner studied and worked in Italy in the sixteenth century. The Italian style can clearly be heard in Prenner’s music.

 

Bio:

The Basel Renaissance Winds. The swiss ensemble The Basel Renaissance Winds specializes in the historical performance of music from the late 15th to mid-16th centuries. Depending on the exact repertoire involved, the group varies in size from three to seven players, reflecting the typical combination of loud wind instruments, known as the alta capella or Stadtpfeiffer ensemble that was so popular in Renaissance. The members of the Basel Renaissance Winds have played together for several years and have performed a variety of repertoire. Our most recent project was a recording made with Swiss Radio DRS 2, of music from the court of Charles the Bold, in conjunction with an exhibition at the Historical Museum in Bern.