Taco Tuesday #113: Taco-mus Maximus
Danny Johnson
Hi, y’all! It’s been two weeks–it’s time for some Musical Tacos!
Or, as Maximilian I might have said, “Es ist Zeit für Musikalische Tacos!”
Yes, we’re returning to last week’s concert from 2022. In case you missed the last Taco, here’s a short version of the back-story: “Maximilian I (1459-1519) is the primary subject. Learning about Max was enlightening, to say the least: He was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, during a time of constantly shifting allegiances and with many enemies. Max is also known as an essentially modern, innovative ruler who carried out important reforms and promoted significant cultural achievements. He had notable influence on the development of the musical tradition in Austria and Germany; several historians credit Maximilian with playing the decisive role in making Vienna the music capital of Europe. He initiated the Habsburg tradition of supporting large-scale choirs, which he staffed with brilliant musicians like Paul Hofhaimer, Heinrich Isaac, and Ludwig Senfl. At least for our musical concerns, we can presume to say that there is much to praise about the Emperor.”
But he had kids who followed his traditions even while he was alive: Maximilian, the power of the Habsburgs in most of Europe by marrying Mary of Burgundy in 1477. They had two children who survived beyond infancy: Philip I of Castile (1478–1506), also known as Philip the Handsome, and Margaret of Austria (1480–1530). Philip was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and was the titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a brief time. Margaret was Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515 and again from 1519 to 1530. Both of them were supporters of the arts, especially music.
Philip’s Burgundian chapel had some of the most distinguished musicians in Europe, including Pierre de la Rue, Alexander Agricola, and Josquin des Prez. Margaret made her home in Mechelen, halfway between Brussels and Antwerp. She was arguably the most accomplished musician of the Habsburg family as a singer, a fine keyboard player, and possibly a composer. Margaret possessed a rich library consisting mostly of missals, poetry, historical, and ethical treatises, which included the works of Christine de Pizan and the famous illuminated Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry. She possessed several chansonniers, songbooks, which contained works by Josquin des Prez, Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, and Pierre de la Rue, who was her favorite composer.
And now to some music.
When Max was Emperor:
Musical Splendor for the Holy Roman Court
October 8 & 9, 2022
Mater patris et filia 🙞 Antoine Brumel (c. 1460–c. 1512–13?); A. Brumel: Collected Works, ed. B. Hudson,
Corpus mensurabilis musicae, Neuhausen nr. Stuttgart: American Institute of Musicology, vol. 5, pp. 63–64, 1969–72
Singers
Antoine Brumel was the most famous of the French-born composers of the Franco-Flemish school. He was one of the most celebrated singers of his day, with “a new style of singing: sweet, pleasant, devout, and beautiful” (Éloy d’Amerval, Le Livre de la deablerie, 1508). After working for Margaret’s husband (Philibert II, Duke of Savoy), Brumel was master of the choristers at Notre Dame from 1498–1501. This three-voice motet alternates close imitation polyphony with completely chordal sections to great effect and it was the basis for Josquin’s Missa Mater patris et filia. One of the more unique aspects of Brumel’s style is his repetitive technique, which can be heard in the “Maria, propter filiam…”
Mother of your father, and daughter,
Source of joy of women,
Wondrous star of the sea, hear our sighing.
Queen of the court of the heavenly vault,
Mother of mercy, in this valley of distress,
Mary, by means of your Son, bring us healing.
Good Jesus, Son of God, hear our prayers,
And by our prayers grant us healing. Amen.
Tous les regretz 🙞 Antoine Brumel; Brussels, Album de Marguerite d’Austriche, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique,
B-BR MS 228, ff. 3v.–4r, 1515–1523
Cayla Cardiff, Ryland Angel, David Lopez, & Morgan Kramer
Tous les regretz is an extremely intimate homophonic chanson by Brumel for four voices. It demonstrates his repetition technique, one of the more unique aspects of his style.
All the sadness that has ever been of this world,
Come to me, wherever I may be.
Take my heart in its deep grief
And cleave it so that my lady may see.
Tous les regretz 🙞 Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452–1518; poem by Henri Baude (1415-1490);
Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, vol. 2, no. 35, p. 26, 1502; Album de Marguerite d’Austriche,
Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, B-BR MS 228, ff. 3v.–4r, 1515–1523
Jenifer Thyssen & Ryland Angel, soloists
Mary Springfels & John Walters, bass violas da gamba
Pierre de la Rue, also known by his Flemish name Peter vander Straten and a multitude of other nicknames, was born in the early 1450s in Tournai, in the Hainault province of modern Belgium. He was the least peripatetic of our four composers and the only one who didn’t work in Italy. From 1492, he was a full member of the Confraternity of the Illustre Lieve Vrouwe in ’s-Hertogenbosch and he was a member of the musical establishment of the Grande chapelle of the Burgundian-Habsburg court of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. Did we mention that he was Margaret’s favorite composer? La Rue’s version of Tous les regretz, which does have a slightly different text from the one that Brumel set, is constructed similarly, employing imitation and mode shifting.
All remorses that torment the hearts,
Come to mine and settle in it
To shorten the rest of my life;
For I lost her, who was filled
With good habits and perfect qualities.
Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis 🙞 Heinrich Isaac; Polyphonic Introit for Septuagesima Sunday
München: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, D-Mbs Mus. MS 39, ff. 89v–92r, c. 1510
Singers
Heinrich Isaac was in Konstanz in 1508 for the Reichstag there and part of his duties included providing music for the Imperial court chapel choir. While he was there, he received a commission from the Cathedral in Konstanz to set many of the Propers of the mass unique to the local liturgy. The result was the creation of the Choralis Constantinus, a huge anthology of over 450 chant-based polyphonic motets for the Proper of the Mass. After the deaths of both Maximilian and Isaac, Senfl, who had been Isaac’s pupil as a member of the Imperial court choir, gathered all the Isaac settings of the Proper and placed them into liturgical order for the church year. The motets remain some of the finest examples of chant-based Renaissance polyphony in existence. It was published in Nürnberg in three volumes in 1550–1555, more than thirty years after Isaac’s death. Among them is Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis, the Polyphonic Introit for Septuagesima Sunday: the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday.
Introit:
The sorrows of death have assailed me,
The pains of hell have encompassed me:
And I called upon the Lord in my distress,
And from his holy temple he heard my voice.
We will return soon to this concert, but in the next couple of Tacos we’ll prepare you for the upcoming Celtic concert on Feb. 22-23 (have you gotten your TICKETS yet?). The blog for that much loved concert (well, we love it!) is coming up at the end of the week. Check out our Director’s Blog here soon!
We are also less than a week away from our Midwinter Madrigal Sing! Let madrigals warm your wintery heart on Monday, Feb. 3 with special guest conductor Trevor Shaw from Inversion Ensemble sharing the podium with me. Come sing madrigals with other early music buffs. No experience required! More details HERE!
Stay safe, stay sane! We’re trying to help.
Danny
