On the Repertoire of the Manuscript A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495
With the exception of the first composition, Jacob Obrecht’s Missa Salve diva parens (» D. Obrechts Missa Salve diva parens), all the masses recorded in the Viennese splendid choir book A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495 are highly modern works created by contemporary composers who were (in the narrow or broader sense) associated with the French court: Antoine Févin, Loyset Compère, Antoine Bruhier, Pierrequin Thérache, and – the famous, still living and intensively received at the French court – Josquin Desprez.[12] Compared to earlier manuscripts from the Burgundian-Habsburg manuscript complex, the extraordinarily strong presence of modern French repertoire represents a striking change.
The reason for this repertoire change seems to lie in the political events of 1507/08: Maximilian had been decisively striving for the imperial crown for some time, which was successfully prevented by the French with their allies, the Venetians. Thus, a war seemed inevitable to Maximilian, and at the Diet of Constance in 1507 (» D. Isaac und Maximilians Zeremonien, Kap. Musik für den Konstanzer Reichstag 1507) he initiated a smear campaign against the French and Venetians. They ultimately prevented Maximilian from traveling to Rome and thereby from being crowned emperor by positioning almost ten thousand men in the Verona area. Finally, on February 4, 1508, Bishop Matthäus Lang was able to proclaim Maximilian as the elected emperor in a solemn ceremony in Trento Cathedral and announce his right to the imperial crown. The Pope confirmed the new imperial title.[13]
Soon after, in June 1508, the newly crowned Emperor Maximilian traveled to the Netherlands. His daughter, Archduchess Margaret, prepared a fundamental political shift there, a reconciliation with France. After weeks of negotiations in autumn 1508, an agreement was finally reached on December 10, leading to the “League of Cambrai,” which was announced during a festive service in the cathedral there. Maximilian signed the treaties on December 26, 1508, and ratified the league at the Brussels court on February 5, 1509. Officially, it represented a pact against the Turks, but in reality, it was also an attack pact (with the stronger of the formerly allied enemies) against the Venetians. For King Louis XII of France as well as for Maximilian, this meant a radical reversal of previous alliance policies. The current “French” repertoire of the manuscript A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495 seems to directly reflect this fundamental political shift: The repertoire apparently acquired during negotiations with the French court and incorporated into the manuscript can be understood as a reflection of the new political and intellectual orientation that decisively shaped Europe at that time for years to come – and remained present in the Burgundian-Habsburg manuscripts for a long time, starting with A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495.
[12] Missa Faisantz regretz and Missa Une mousse de Biscaye – the latter of which, although passed down under Josquin’s name, was probably not composed by him.
[13] For the historical-political context, see among others, Wiesflecker 1971–1986, Vol. 4, 1–27.
[1] For this, see recently Gasch 2015, especially pages 362–371.
[2] Petition to King Ferdinand I in 1530; A-Whh Finanz- und Hofkammerarchiv, Niederösterr. Kammer, Rote Nr. 7. Reprinted in Birkendorf 1994, Vol. 3, 248.
[5] Strohm 1993, 519–522; Edition in 4 volumes: Noblitt 1987–1996.
[6] For the secular sources („Liederbüchern“) related to Maximilian’s court, see » B. Lieder 1450–1520, Kap. Aufschwung der Liedkunst unter Maximilian I. and » B. Lieder 1450–1520, Kap. Liederdrucke.
[7] See Heidrich 1993.
[8] Birkendorf 1994. The compositions are often recorded without text.
[10] For this, see among others, Kellman 1999; Bouckaert/Schreurs 2003; Saunders 2010; Burn 2015.
[11] Lodes 2009, 248.
[12] Missa Faisantz regretz and Missa Une mousse de Biscaye – the latter of which, although passed down under Josquin’s name, was probably not composed by him.
[13] For the historical-political context, see among others, Wiesflecker 1971–1986, Vol. 4, 1–27.
[14] The print was produced in two editions (one with a summary in Dutch, the other with a summary in Latin) and is available as an annotated facsimile: Nijhoff 1925, with a translation of the two motets by Charles Van den Borren as an appendix. See also Schreurs 2001 and Wouters/Schreurs 1995. For a complete digital copy of the Latin edition, see: http://depot.lias.be/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE4756261.
[15] Earlier in Antwerp, a music print with the imperial coat of arms and that of the Margraviate of Antwerp had already been produced: » Principium et ars tocius musice, Antwerpen: Jost de Negker (c. 1500–1508). However, this is a representation of the Guidonian Hand with mensural notes and comments, not a polyphonic composition. See Schreurs/Van der Stock 1997; also a facsimile on page 173.
[16] Schlegelmilch 2011, esp. 443–447.
[17] Benedictus held the position of organist at the Antwerp Church of Our Lady from 1512 to 1516 and then went to the English court. Only these two compositions of his are known.
[18] Victoria Panagl particularly points out the lines “Ergo Cesar quum nec deus / rerum metas neque tempus / tuo dat imperio” (7th stanza; “Therefore, Caesar, because God sets no spatial or temporal limits to your rule”), which as a quotation from Virgil emphatically refer to Maximilian’s claim to power (as successor to the Roman Empire): In the Aeneid (1,278: “his ego non metas rerum nec tempora pono”), Jupiter speaks these words, looking ahead to the glorious rulers of the Roman Empire (see Panagl 2004, esp. 73–81, here 78).
[19] See Dunning 1970, 61–64.
Empfohlene Zitierweise:
Birgit Lodes: “Musikalische Huldigungsgeschenke für Maximilian I.”, in: Musikleben des Spätmittelalters in der Region Österreich <https://musical-life.net/essays/musikalische-huldigungsgeschenke-fur-maximilian-i> (2017).