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Consort Music from the Court of Maximilian I – Volume I, Nos. 1-20, in 3, 4 & 5 parts

Composer: Various Composers (c.1530)

Instrumentation: Recorders, viols & other instruments

Author/editor/arranger: Hatcher

Publisher: Peacock Press

Format: Sheet music

Product code: PEMS081

Tags: Recorder, viola da gamba

£25.00

This scholarly and beautifully presented music makes a wonderful library of varied secular instrumental music typical of the court of Maximilian and his successor Charles V.

The five part-books now housed in the National Library of Austria, Vienna, Vienna ONB Cod. 18810, originate probably from Munich, some time in the third decade of the 16th century and contain 86 short pieces in three, four and five parts (and one in six), fourteen of which are texted. The repertoire consists of pieces by some of the greatest composers of the turn of the century, including Josquin (three pieces), Isaac (sixteen pieces), Senfl (twenty-five pieces) and Pierre de la Rue (six pieces), as well as anonymous pieces and those by lesser known contemporaries. The style of the manuscript is rather plain and evidence suggests that the part-books were compiled over a number of years. The year 1524 is given on the cover of the tenor part-book, suggesting a start date for the compilation. In his introduction to the 1987 publication of the facsimile by Alamire, Matthias Schneider surmises a date of 1535 for the last entries and also suggests that the manuscript might have been closely associated with Ludwig Senfl, the Court Composer of Maximilian I. At some point in the sixteenth century it was in the possession of the Fugger family, wealthy merchants of Augsburg, from where it was transferred to Vienna when Emperor Ferdinand III bought the Fugger family library in 1656.

Although the manuscript has been available until recently in the Alamire facsimile edition mentioned above, errors and anomalies in the part-books mean that a number of the pieces are difficult to perform directly from the original notation. The editor believes that this new edition, published in four volumes, will provide viol and recorder players with a varied collection of secular instrumental music typical of the court of Maximilian and his successor Charles V.

The editor is viol and recorder player David Hatcher.

All four volumes may be purchased for £75.00.
Each volume is supplied with a set of parts and extra parts may be purchased separately.

The product images shown are for illustrative purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product, e.g. an image of the full score may illustrate an instrumental part.