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The Choir School after Edlerawer

Reinhard Strohm

It is uncertain to what extent Hermann Edlerawer (» G. Hermann Edlerawer) was still involved in the establishment of Frederick III’s sacrament foundation; in any case, from 1445 onwards, he was heavily engaged in the municipal chancery.[96] He undertook municipal duties such as official journeys, as well as assignments for the court and the university. When the payment of his municipal salary was discontinued in 1449 (he was only paid for two quarters of the year), it was probably no longer intended for Cantorey services.[97] The position of school cantor passed between 1445 and 1449 to Conrad Lindenfels, who is first mentioned as cantor at St Stephen’s in a document dated 13 November 1449. In 1457, Lindenfels received retrospective payment for “Fridämter” as a “former” (weilent) cantor.[98] In 1479, he became a canon and cantor of the church (which proves that his previous position had been that of school cantor); he died in 1488.[99]

In the school regulations of the civic school from 1446, provisions are made for a subcantor; this office was confirmed by the city council in 1461 with the establishment of a “locatei”, i.e. a teaching post, in the school for the subcantor, who was to teach the boys singing there – thereby revoking the school regulations of 1446. For this purpose, even two choir desks (pulpidum) were made by the carpenter.[100] In the Cantorey building itself, a “Tafel zum notirn” (board for notation) had already been set up in 1457, and a painter was commissioned “darauf zu malen” (to paint on it; evidently the musical staves).[101]

As a result of a testamentary donation by Ulreich Metzleinsdorfer in 1458 (A-Wda, Charter 14580930), a weekly Marian Mass was established as a duty of the cantor of St Stephen’s; this may have been held in the town hall chapel dedicated to Our Lady and may have been of musical significance. The corresponding income for the cantor amounted to 8 tl. annually.[102]

From 1478 at the latest, the school cantor was once again granted a municipal base salary of 12 tl. annually, as long as he held no priestly prebend (“dieweil er kain beneficium hab zur Besserung seines solds”).[103] This agreement, also referred to as a “Compactat”, remained in force at least until the end of the century. It probably reflects the increased musical demands placed on the Cantorey.

[96] OKAR 9 (1445), fol. 51r; the city accounts for 1446–1448 are lost. See Rumbold/Wright 2009, 48–50.

[97] OKAR 10 (1449), fol. 32r.

[98] Mayer 1895–1937, Part II/Vol. 2, no. 3333 (for 1449); OKAR 15 (1457), fol. 41r.

[99] Zschokke 1895, 375; Rumbold/Wright 2009, 50–51. Lindenfels quickly became unpopular after his installation in 1479 by claiming, as chapter cantor, the right to choose his canon’s residence ahead of more senior canons (A-Wda, Acta Capituli 14461551, Cod. II, fol. 18r).

[100] OKAR 18 (1461), fol. 82v. The total cost for the carpenter and locksmith (for iron bars to secure the choir books) amounted to 160 d.

[101] OKAR 15 (1457), fol. 118v. The total cost for the carpenter and painter amounted to 95 d.

[102] OKAR 16 (1458); OKAR 36 (1474), fol. 22r.

[103] OKAR 42 (1478), fol. 32v.