Taco Tuesday #112: Tacos to the MAX
Danny Johnson
Hi, y’all! Here we are, firmly ensconced in 2025, so I guess we’d better start making Musical Tacos for your low-cal delight! Making its first visit as provider of tacos, we have this concert from 2022, in which Maximilian I (1459-1519) is the primary subject. Learning about Max was enlightening, to say the least: He was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, during a time of constantly shifting allegiances and with many enemies. Many terrible things were done in his name for the sake of the Empire. And yet, he is also known as an essentially modern, innovative ruler who carried out important reforms and promoted significant cultural achievements. He had notable influence on the development of the musical tradition in Austria and Germany; several historians credit Maximilian with playing the decisive role in making Vienna the music capital of Europe. Under his reign, the Habsburg musical culture reached its first high point and he had within his service some of the finest musicians in Europe. He initiated the Habsburg tradition of supporting large-scale choirs, which he staffed with brilliant musicians like Paul Hofhaimer, Heinrich Isaac, and Ludwig Senfl. At least for our musical concerns, we can presume to say that there is much to praise about the Emperor.
When Max was Emperor:
Musical Splendor for the Holy Roman Court
October 8 & 9, 2022
Im Maien 🙞 Ludwig Senfl (c. 1486–1543);
Ulm: Münster Bibliothek, D-Usch 235 (c) tenor partbook, ff. 31v–32v, late 16th c.–early 17th c.
Gil Zilkha, soloist, with viols, sackbuts, lutes, & vocal ensemble
Born in Basel, Ludwig Senfl joined the choir of the Hofkapelle (court chapel) of Emperor Maximilian I in Augsburg in 1496. Through the Hofkapelle, he studied composition with Heinrich Isaac, who was already an acclaimed master, hence the influences of Franco-Flemish techniques that appear in Senfl’s secular and sacred works. Here we have a set of songs, or lieder, that illustrate several of the techniques and styles in Senfl’s toolbox for lieder. In many of these songs, homophonic and polyphonic elements often mix without restraint, but the first, Im Maien, is a homophonic, or chordal, song that strikes one as a folksong, perhaps because of the rural setting in the text. It is also a tenorlied, meaning the melody is in the tenor voice, a very popular genre of the day. The songs with a tenor melody are often preexisting, familiar ones, which also lend to the folksong effect.
In May one hears the roosters crow:
“Be glad, you beautiful brown-haired girl;
Help me sow the oats!”
“You are much dearer to me than the farmhand,
I shall give you your due.”
Ding, my dear, dong.
“I delight in you all around and completely,
When I come to you in friendship,
Behind the oven and all around.
Be glad, you beautiful brown-haired girl;
I am coming to you!”
Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen 🙞 Heinrich Isaac (c. 1450–1517), Ein auszug guter alter und neuer Teutsche
Liedlein…, Georg Forster, ed., vol. 1, no. 36, Nürnberg, 1539
Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, & David Lopez, soloists, with Bruce Brogdon, lute
With viols, lutes, & vocal ensemble
After this raucous piece by Senfl, we have a beloved piece by Heinrich Isaac, who was Senfl’s primary composition teacher. Isaac ranks as one of the most eminent composers of his generation, along with Obrecht and Josquin. One of the first true musical cosmopolitans, Isaac combined German, French, and Italian elements in his musical vocabulary. Born about 1450 in Flanders, Isaac spent a good portion of his life away from his homeland, whether in the service of the Medici in Florence or later in the service of Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire.
Isaac’s best-known secular work may be Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen, of which he made at least two versions. It is possible that the melody itself is not by Isaac, and only the setting is original. We present it in three styles; first, as a lute song with the original intabulation and then as a tenorlied, in which the two middle voices have the melody in imitation. The third verse is the original four-voice setting, which is mostly homophonic with the melody in the top voice with some imitative elements. According to Sara Schneider, “Emperor Maximilian is often credited with writing the verses that Isaac set to music. This may be apocryphal; but Maximilian was known to write poetry, and these three simple stanzas can be seen as a summing up of his complicated life. Innsbruck and Tyrol had a special place in his heart, since Tyrol was the first territory he ruled as Landesfürst (territorial prince). Tyrolean mines at least partially alleviated his cash-strapped existence. He could also relax and unwind there with his favorite leisure activities: hunting and fishing. And knowing his fondness for the ladies, he probably comforted a heartbroken sweetheart with promises of eternal devotion every time he left town.”
Innsbruck, I must leave you,
For I am traveling the road to a foreign land there.
My joy is taken from me,
And knowing not how to get it back,
I will be in misery.
I am burdened with great sorrow,
That I alone do lament
To my dearest sweet love.
O my love, leave me not bereft
Of compassion in your heart
For I must part from you.
My comfort above all other women,
I remain yours forever,
Always faithful, in true honor.
And now, may God protect you,
Keep you in perfect virtue
Until I return.
Quodlibet: Maria zart, von edler Art/ Maria, du bist Genaden voll 🙞 Ludwig Senfl;
Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, V-CVbav Ms. Vat. Lat. 11953, ff. 45v.–47r, c. 1515–1530
Joel Nesvadba, soloist, with viols & lutes
Next we have a quodlibet! What’s that, you might wonder! The term is most frequently applied to a musical piece that takes several different tunes, usually tunes that are well known to their original audience, and mixes them together, usually in some clever contrapuntal way: it’s really a mash-up, one of favorite things! Maria zart, is a devotional song favored in the Tyrol; it was a popular tune that was set by several composers. In fact, Jacob Obrecht composed a four-voice mass based on the melody: Missa Maria zart, tentatively dated to around 1504. It requires more than an hour to perform, it is one of the longest polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary ever written, and is considered to be among Obrecht’s finest works. Thankfully, for our purposes Senfl’s setting is much shorter. The other tune in this quodlibet is performed on tenor viol, in long notes, like the sung text. The higher of the two bass viols and the treble viol both provide active countermelodies.
Gentle Mary, of noble nature,
A rose without thorns;
By your power you have returned
What had been long lost through Adam’s fall.
You have been chosen by Saint Gabriel’s promise.
Help that my sin and guilt may not be avenged.
Procure my grace,
For there is no consolation without You.
Gain mercy for me at the end.
I pray to You: turn not away from me at my death.
Das Geläut zu Speyer 🙞 Ludwig Senfl; Zurich: Zentralbibliotek, CH-Zz Car.V.169d partbooks,
ff. 63r–64r, 1552–1553
Tutti
Of all of Senfl’s various compositional techniques, text-painting is not one that he overused. In fact, the next piece for six parts might be his only example. The voices all have different texts in addition to imitating the sounds of ringing bells; the printing of all the texts would take up almost two pages of texts in these notes, and since the piece will be finished in about 110 seconds and you would not be able to read all the texts in that time, we decided to forego printing them. If you are curious, you can find them HERE.
Now, you might be wondering what interested us in Max and his musicians in the first place. Well-known KMFA announcer and producer Sara Schneider wrote a book about Maximilian and his court, so we knew that would provide lots of inspiration for repertoire. Sara’s book, The Eagle and the Songbird, is available on Amazon and is also usually available for sale at TEMP concerts. I recommend it!
So that’s it, our first Taco of 2025! We will come back to this concert soon; it has plenty of ingredients for another tasty taco.
Hey, what are you up to in February? How about some TEMP to liven up your month? We’ve got our first TEMP-Oh Community Madrigal Sing on Monday, Feb. 3 with special guest conductor Trevor Shaw from Inversion Ensemble sharing the podium with me. Come sing madrigals with other early music buffs. No experience required! More details HERE!
We’ve also got our wonderful Celtic Memories concert coming up on Feb. 22-23. Scottish ballads from the 18th century have been a part of TEMP’s core repertoire since the late 90s. With musical sources dating from the 16th–18th centuries and poems coming from an exciting roster of known and unknown poets, featuring poems by Robert Burns, the concert will give wonderful insight into the people who created this very popular and accessible music. Irish instrumentals by Turlough O’Carolan and others complete the memory! Saturday, February 22 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 23 at 3:00pm at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Get tickets HERE!
Stay safe, stay sane! If you’re wondering, blue is my favorite color.
Danny
