Instrumentalists in the church service of 16 March 1494

It is not possible to identify all the musicians who performed in the church service of 1494 described by Collenuccio. When Maximilian inherited the Tyrol, payments to the choristers of St Jacob’s, who had provided the music for liturgical services of Sigmund’s reign, stopped. Maximilian presumably brought his own group of singers with him to Innsbruck: in the early years of his reign (and before he moved his Kapelle to Vienna in 1498), the king is known to have had a travelling group of eight singers in his employ, who were paid in various cities in southern Germany during the early 1490s.[45] Furthermore, a group of singers accompanied the King on his travels to the Low Countries in 1494, which followed soon after the celebrations in Innsbruck described by Collenuccio. On 24 August 1494, Maximilian, Bianca Maria, and Maximilian’s son Philip, Duke of Burgundy, attended Mass in Mechelen, where „Da ward von des Königs oberländischen und französischen Singern ein köstlich Meß gesungen“ (a splendid Mass was sung by the King’s “oberländisch” and French singers).[46] The use of the term “oberländisch” here implies that these musicians were in some way affiliated to Maximilian’s Upper Austrian lands, and presumably sang for him, and Bianca Maria, in Innsbruck.[47]

The identities of the instrumentalists who performed in Innsbruck’s church on 16 March are also not entirely clear: the account books of the court for 1493-4 list only seven trumpeters, a trombonist (Conrad Kayser), a drummer as well as the organist Hofhaimer, who presumably played on the “fine organ” described by Collenuccio[48]. The construction and upkeep of the organs of the church appear to have been of particular interest to Maximilian: a number of instruments were built there under his instruction (including one erected under Hofhaimer’s supervision in 1491 and 1492) and there are numerous references in court records to the building and maintenance of these notable instruments (Referenz zu C. Orgeln und Orgelmusik).[49]

There is no specific mention of cornettists or additional trombonists in the Innsbruck accounts of 1494. However, civic payment lists do make reference to players on trombone and cornett who were in Maximilian’s employ at that time. For example, Augsburg city council made payment to “Augustin Schubinger, der k. Mt. trumbetter” in February 1495 and then to “Hans Sturtzenbacher, des Rö. kunigs zinggenplaser” (cornettist) in autumn 1495,[50] neither of whom are listed in the accounts of Maximilian’s court for that year. Schubinger, trombonist in the Augsburg civic ensemble during the early 1480s, had been named as the “kaysers busaner” (i.e. the trombonist of Maximilian’s father, Friedrich III) when visiting the city in 1488.[51] Following a brief appointment, until 1493, in the civic ensemble of Florence, he appears to have returned to the service of the Imperial court, being identified in various civic and court payments as the King’s trombonist, trumpeter, piper, as well as cornettist.[52] Little is known of Hans Sturtzenbacher: in the Augsburg accounts of 1507, he is identified as a “pfeyffer von Sterzinng” and in those of the following year as being “von Innsprugk”.[53] An unnamed cornettist belonging to the King likewise played in Basel in 1495.[54] Whether any of these musicians performed for Maximilian’s wedding celebrations in Innsbruck is difficult to ascertain owing to the nature of their work for the royal court. Many instrumentalists seem to have been employed by Maximilian on an ad hoc basis, the King calling on their services when suitable occasions arose. The musicians, meanwhile, retained their association with the King, even when absent from court.