On the Musical Sources of Maximilian's Court Chapel

Emperor Maximilian I pursued extensive cultural projects throughout his life. In doing so, he portrayed himself – among other things – as a lover and patron of music, for example in the Weisskunig (» Abb. Weißkunig Blatt 33) or through the depiction of various wagons in the Triumphzug (Triumphal Procession), which representatively display his different musical ensembles (» I. Instrumentalists at the Court of Maximilian I). He maintained a court chapel with highly trained singers and instrumentalists  who regularly had to accompany him on his travels.[1] He also endowed foundations and scholarships for the performance of polyphonic Masses (with and without organ), for instance in Bruges and in Hall in Tyrol (» D. Obrecht’s Missa Salve diva parens, » D. SL Waldauf-Stiftung).

Although so many sources attest to the rich musical life at Maximilian’s court, almost no musical sources have survived from this context. We have some indirect evidence that members of Maximilian’s chapel acted as music scribes, and this skill was evidently passed down from older to younger singers. Ludwig Senfl (» G. Ludwig Senfl) claimed that he alone, as a scribe (“Notist”), had written “sixteen volumes of vocal music” (“sechzechen gesang Buecher”),[2] and there must have been many more. Yet all the music manuscripts produced for Maximilian’s chapel have vanished. They have not – contrary to what Martin Bente argued in his 1968 dissertation[3] – survived in the holdings of the Bavarian State Library.[4]

To gain an impression of the liturgical and sacred music repertoire of Maximilian’s court chapel, one must rely on sources that are, in all likelihood, only indirectly connected to the court. This is often because it has been shown that they were created as copies of courtly sources. During the process of copying, compositions were sometimes adapted or modernised. According to current research, the following sources transmit music closely linked to the repertoire of Maximilian’s chapel: the choir book of the Innsbruck schoolmaster Nicolaus Leopold, in which various scribes recorded repertoire from the Innsbruck court chapel or the parish church (now cathedral) of St. James, Innsbruck, over several decades (» D-Mbs Mus. Hs. 3154);[5] the ‘Augsburg Songbook’ (» D-As Cod. 2° 142a), which, like the ‘Leopold Codex’, contains both secular and sacred compositions;[6] the practical manuscripts among the ‘Jena Choir Books’ (» D-Ju Ms. 30–33 and » D-WRhk Hs. A), some of which were copied for use by the court chapel of Elector Frederick the Wise, from sources related to Maximilian’s chapel;[7] a choirbook compiled from various fascicles written between c. 1500–1508 (» D-Sl Cod.Mus.Fol.I 47) that contains 10 Mass compositions, 1 Agnus, 1 Te Deum and 2 motets;[8] a manuscript compiled around 1520 in various fascicles, known as the ‘Pernner Codex’ (» D-Rp C 120);[9] numerous Munich choirbooks; through the mediation of Ludwig Senfl, containing many compositions by Henricus Isaac (» G. Henricus Isaac) (e.g., » D-Mbs Mus. ms. 3; » D-Mbs Mus. ms. 31 with the » Abb. Introitus Resurrexi; D-Mbs Mus. ms. 35–39; » D-Mbs Mus. ms. 53; » G. Ludwig Senfl);[10] the representative printed motet book Liber selectarum cantionum (Augsburg 1520; » Abb. Liber selectarum cantionum) and the famous posthumous edition of Isaac’s settings of the Proper of the Mass in three volumes, » Choralis Constantinus (» G. Henricus Isaac, Kap. Isaac als Hofkomponist Maximilians I.). Of course, for all these (and many other potential) sources, research must always plausibly demonstrate the nature of their connection to Maximilian’s court – something that can be more or less conclusive depending on the case. Thus, the question of musical sources for the repertoire performed at Maximilian’s court forms a complex puzzle – and many pieces are certainly lost forever.

Two further sources have a strong connection to Maximilian’s chapel. One is a printed edition dedicated to Maximilian and his grandson Charles  (» D. Musik für Kaiser Karl V.), which contains two motets explicitly tailored to Maximilian (» Ch. Printed Polyphonic Praise of the Ruler and the Virgin Mary). The other is a musical manuscript (» A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495; see 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. Traces of use suggest that it was intensively used.