Spiritus Domini
Paul Sartorius (1569-1609)
Johann Stadlmayr (c1575-1648)
Sacred Works
Marini Consort Innsbruck/Bernd Oliver Fröhlich
rec. 2022, Seminary of the dioceses Innsbruck and Feldkirch, Austria
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a 16/44 download
Musikmuseum CD13068 [52]
The Tiroler Landesmuseen Ferdinandeum owns a large music collection. The instruments are employed in recordings which are released on disc. The repertoire mostly comprises music by composers connected in one way or another to Tyrol. The latest in this series is the subject of this review. The programme consists of music by two composers: Paul Sartorius and Johann Stadlmayr.
Sartorius was born as Paul Schneider in Nuremberg. There he attended the grammar school of St Lorenz; one of his teachers was Leonhard Lechner. He then went to study in Italy where he met some of the leading composers of the time, among them Palestrina. In 1594 at the latest, he became organist to Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (1558-1618), the son of emperor Maximilian II. The archduke had received a thorough musical education. Although music and a chapel of highly qualified musicians were important from the angle of representation, there is no doubt that the Habsburgs had a genuine interest in and love for music. For some time Maximilian acted as regent for Ferdinand II, the under-age son of his brother Karl in Graz. There he became acquainted with Italian musicians, who occupied the leading positions in the chapel.
In the 1580s Maximilian had formed a chapel of his own, and Sartorius became part of it. He followed his employer to Innsbruck in 1602, where Maximilian ruled Tyrol and the Swabian territories until his death. Sartorius was the most important composer in the chapel until the appointment of Johann Stadlmayr as Kapellmeister in 1607. Sartorius’s oeuvre includes sacred and secular music. In 1599 a collection of masses for eight voices was published in Munich. Two years later he published a collection of secular songs on German texts in Nuremberg. That same year his Sonetti spirituali for six voices came from the press. In 1602 the last collection of music was printed: Sacrae cantiones sive motecta for six to twelve voices. The number of voices of these motets and of his masses of 1599 shows that he was well aware of what was going on in the musical world of his time. Part of that was a widespread use of the cori spezzati technique, not only in Venice.
The core of the programme is the Missa Laudate Dominum. It is a parody mass, but the composer of the motet on which it is founded, has not been identified. The treatment of the text shows that Sartorius was open to the tendency towards a closer connection between text and music. Contrasts in the text, for instance in the Credo, are emphasized through a shift in rhythm. The Agnus Dei is an <i>alternatim</i> setting; the second Agnus is sung in plainchant.
The sections of the mass are separated by motets. The programme opens with Alleluia. Surrexit Dominus, a motet for Easter, whose jubilant character is emphasized by the scoring for twelve voices. Two other Easter motets are Maria Magdalena et altera Maria (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the grave in the morning) for eight voices, and the seven-part Exaltata est hodie super omnes coelos gloria (Today the glory of God was raised to heaven in virtue und glory). The last motet of the programme is a piece for Whitsun: Spiritus Domini descendit de coelo – The Spirit of God descended from Heaven. Each line ends with an Alleluia. The scoring is for ten voices in two choirs.
As written above, in 1607 Johann Stadlmayr entered the service of Archduke Maximilian. He was born in Freising in Bavaria. The first sign of his activities as a composer is a collection of eight-part masses which – according to a catalogue from 1611 – was printed in 1596; this collection has been lost. After the turn of the century he entered the service of the archbishop of Salzburg; in 1604 he was appointed vice-Kapellmeister and then Kapellmeister. Maximilian held him in high esteem, helped him out financially and entrusted him with important tasks.
The three pieces included here show Stadlmayr’s versatility. Regina coeli is a sacred concerto in the style of an Italian monody for two voices and basso continuo. Veni creator and Dum complerentur are both for Whitsun. The former is a hymn in the strict contrapuntal stile antico. It has an alternatim structure: the versets are alternately sung in plainchant and in polyphony; the latter are based on the Gregorian melody. In contrast, Dum complerentur shows Stadlmayr’s use of the cori spezzati technique.
Given the splendour at the Habsburg court and the conventions of the time, it is right that the performers decided to employ instruments in some of the pieces in the programme, especially the polychoral items. Whereas the qualities of Stadlmayr’s oeuvre have been displayed in several recordings, the present disc offers a perfect opportunity to get to know the music of Sartorius. The Habsburgs had a good ear for music, and were keen to engage composers of high quality. No wonder, then, that Sartorius turns out to be a fine composer. He is served very well here with these performances by an excellent group of singers and players.
This disc is an important contribution to our knowledge of musical life at one of the Habsburg courts around 1600 – a time of stylistic change, which is amply demonstrated here.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
Contents
Paul Sartorius (1569-1609)
Alleluia. Surrexit Dominus a 12
Missa Laudate Dominum a 8:
Kyrie
Gloria
Johann Stadlmayr (c1575-1648)
Regina coeli a 2
Paul Sartorius
Exaltata est hodie a 7
Missa Laudate Dominum a 8:
Credo
Maria Magdalena a 8
Missa Laudate Dominum a 8:
Sanctus & Benedictus
Repleti sunt omnes a 8
Missa Laudate Dominum a 8:
Agnus Dei
Johann Stadlmayr
Veni creator a 4
Dum complerentur a 12
Paul Sartorius
Spiritus Domini a 10
