The Eagle Loved a Good Quodlibet!
Danny Johnson
Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and Pillow, 1493
I remember being a fan of Albrecht Dürer’s work when I was mere polywog of a music student. Anytime we listened to music from Renaissance Germany, one of Dürer’s works was likely to grace the cover or be prominently placed in some part of the album notes (which were reasonably sized, since they were LPs!) And then in Europe, I saw his self portrait and saw that outsized thumb and felt real kinship with him; no I don’t have an overly large thumb, but I was a polydactyl at birth and my right thumb is a bit, um, odd, as a result of the surgery to remove that extra thumb. And so I wondered if he felt the same amount of pain that I did when I would catch a baseball slightly wrong and it would hit my thumb in just the wrong place…holy-moly!, and he probably didn’t have a mitt as good as mine. Anyway, if he did, he has my sympathies.
The other thing that I should mention about this concert is that when I saw the New York Pro Musica in concert in at Texas Tech in 1970 (or ‘71?), the program they did was very similar to the program that we are doing. It was from Renaissance Germany and it was heavy on music by Ludwig Senfl, at any rate, and I remember falling in love with the song Ach Elselein, which we are doing, of course. Also, one of the viol players on their tour was on her first tour with them: Mary Springfels! And she’s in our concert as well!
So come to our concert, and 1) hear both gloriously extravagant and calmly intimate music by Senfl and his teacher, Heinrich Isaac; 2) say hi to our frequent guest, Mary Springfels; 3) try not to think too much about Dürer’s freakishly large thumb; 4) hope that I don’t hit my right thumb on a music stand or something, because when I hit it in just the ‘right’ spot where there’s a bit of nerve lurking just under the surface, I’m likely to say something very unconcert-like.
Did I mention that Sara Schneider will be our pre-concert lecturer and we will be offering pre-signed copies of her book? The Eagle and the Song Bird is about the subject of our concert, Emperor Maximilian I, and members of his court, including our friends Senfl and Dürer (she doesn’t mention his thumb.) Click on the book image to pre-order your signed copy now!
See the details below and we hope to see you there!
-Danny
When Max was Emperor
Musical Splendor for the Holy Roman Court
Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 9, 2022, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue
Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church,
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.
Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.
Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!
For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.
Our first full concert of the 2022-2023 season explores early Renaissance music from the courts of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1508-1519. Though he was known as “the last knight,” he was also an ardent supporter of the arts and sciences, and his royal court reflected his interests, whether with music, visual arts, philosophy, cartography, literary arts, and more.
In the same ways that Albrecht Dürer represented the visual arts in the royal court, there were two musicians who epitomize the musical life of Maximilian’s empire. The Flemish master Heinrich Isaac and his student, the Swiss-born Ludwig Senfl, were both active as court chapel masters to Emperor Maximilian’s Hofkapelle, whether in Innsbruck, Augsburg, or other places that the Emperor and his court traveled for numerous imperial congresses or for seasonal changes.
Maximilian’s royal children, Margaret and Philip, inherited his passion for music. Both supported excellent chapels in Brussels and Mechelen, with musical masters such as Antoine Brumel, Pierre de la Rue, Jacob Obrecht, and others. We will sample a few strikingly intense pieces from these satellite courts as well as many pieces from Maximilian’s own imperial chapel. One of the striking and virtuosic works in the program will be Iaaac’s six-voice motet Virgo prudentissima. Composed by Isaac in 1507 while he was in Constance for the imperial Reichstag of that year (which was organized to prepare for the coronation of Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor), this amazing motet has grandeur, polyphonic complexity, and textural diversity, but never loses its forward motion or becomes static.
The music splendor of Maximilian’s Holy Roman Court will be interpreted by eighteen singers, a consort of viols, two lutenists, and three sackbut (early trombone) players. As a special treat, we will have a pre-concert lecture by Sara Schneider, host of KMFA’s “Early Music Now”, TEMP Board member, and author of the historical novel The Eagle and the Songbird, which is about the Emperor and members of his retinue, both historical and fictional.
Pre-concert Lecture:
Leaving Innsbruck: On the Road with Kaiser Max and his Musicians
Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:45 PM & Sunday, Oct. 9 at 2:15 PM
Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) ruled from the saddle as he traveled all over his empire: modern-day Belgium, Germany, and Austria. And wherever he went—court, cathedral, or battlefield—his musicians went with him! We'll follow him on some of his travels, and learn about the ways music enriched life and was used as a political tool at the imperial court.
Remember what they say: “Life is a quodlibet, old friend!”
COVID Protocols
TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.
Click on the image above to buy tickets now!
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