On the Musical Sources of Maximilian's Court Chapel

Emperor Maximilian I pursued extensive cultural projects throughout his life. He staged himself, among other things, as a lover and promoter of music: for example, in weisskunig (» Abb. Weißkunig Blatt 33) or through the depiction of various carriages in the triumphal procession, which representative let his various music ensembles parade (» I. Instrumentalkünstler bei Hofe). He maintained (at least) one court chapel with well-trained singers and instrumentalists (» I. Instrumentalkünstler bei Hofe), who regularly had to travel with him.[1] And he endowed foundations and scholarships for polyphonic singing of masses (with and without organ), for example in Bruges and in Hall in Tyrol (» D. Obrechts Missa Salve diva parens, » D. SL Waldauf-Stiftung).

Contrary to this, it is peculiar that hardly any musical sources from Maximilian’s court have survived. Although the court had a musical scriptorium – Ludwig Senfl (» G. Ludwig Senfl) laimed that he alone had written „sechzechen gesang Buecher“ as “Notist”,[2] and there must have been many more. However, all the music manuscripts that originated there are lost; they did not survive in the holdings of the Bavarian State Library as was believed since Martin Bente’s dissertation of 1968.[3] [4]

Thus, in trying to get an impression of the liturgical and sacred music repertoire of the court chapel, sources must be used that are most likely indirectly connected with the court, for example, because it could be shown that they were created as copies of court sources – whereby the compositions were partly also edited or modernized. Among others, the following sources are closely connected to the Maximilianic repertoire according to current research: the choir book of the Innsbruck schoolmaster Nicolaus Leopold, in which various personalities noted the repertoire of the Innsbruck court or the cantory of St. Jakob over decades (» D-Mbs Mus. Hs. 3154);[5] the „Augsburger Liederbuch“ (» D-As Cod. 2° 142a), in which – as in the “Codex Leopold” – both secular[6] and sacred compositions are recorded; the utilitarian manuscripts among the “Jena Choir Books” (» D-Ju Ms. 30–33 and » D-WRhk Hs. A), some of which were produced as copies of Maximilianic sources for use at the court chapel of Elector Frederick the Wise;[7] a manuscript composed of various fascicles around 1520 („Codex Pernner“; » D-Rp C 120)[8] and finally, numerous Munich choir books that contain many compositions by Heinrich Isaac (» G. Henricus Isaac) (» D-Mbs Mus. ms. 3; » D-Mbs Mus. ms. 31: » Abb. Introitus Resurrexi; D-Mbs Mus. ms. 35–39; » D-Mbs Mus. ms. 53; » G. Ludwig Senfl).[9] Additionally, there are the representative motet prints Liber selectarum cantionum; (Augsburg 1520; » Abb. Liber selectarum cantionum) and the famous, posthumous print titled » Choralis Constantinus of Isaac’s Proper settings in three volumes (» G. Henricus Isaac, Kap. Isaac als Hofkomponist Maximilians I.). Of course, with all these (and many other potential) sources, research must always plausibly explain the nature of the connection to Maximilian’s court – which is more or less conclusively done on a case-by-case basis. Thus, the musical source situation for the repertoire at the Maximilian court forms a complex puzzle – and many pieces are certainly irretrievably lost.

There are two exceptions: a print dedicated to Maximilian and his grandson Charles (» D. Musik für Kaiser Karl V.) with two motets explicitly tailored to Maximilian (cf. Kap. Gedrucktes mehrstimmiges Herrscher- und Marienlob) and a music manuscript (» A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495; cf. Kap. Ein Geschenk für den frischgebackenen Kaiser: Das Alamire-Chorbuch A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495 and Kap. Zum Repertoire der Handschrift A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495) from the Burgundian-Habsburg manuscript complex, which reached Maximilian during his lifetime and whose usage marks give the impression that it was used intensively.