musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Heinrich ISAAC (c1450/55 - 1517): "Choralis Constantinus 1508 - Heinrich Isaac in Konstanz"
ensemble cantissimo; Concerto Dell'Ombra
Dir: Markus Utz
rec: July 2 - 4, Reichenau, Kirche St. Peter und Paul
Carus - 83.524 (© 2022) (61'50")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E/D
Cover & track-list
Spotify
[in order of appearance]
[Christmas]
Puer natus est nobis, introitus;
Dies sanctificatus, alleluia;
Natus ante saecula, sequentia;
Viderunt omnes, communio;
Vidimus stellam, alleluia
[Mary]
Responsum accepit Simeon, communio;
Rorate coeli desuper, introitus;
Ave Maria, tractus;
Magnificat, alleluia
[Easter, Ascension, Whitsun]
Resurrexi Domini, introitus;
Haec dies, graduale;
Pascha nostrum, alleluia;
Viri Galilei, introitus;
Dominus in Sina, alleluia;
Spiritus Domini, introitus;
Veni sancte Spiritus, alleluia
[Feast of St Conrad]
Sacerdotes tui Domini, introitus;
Ecce sacerdos, alleluia
[ec]
Iris-Anna Deckert, Marie-Christine Köberlein, Clara Brunet i Vila, soprano;
Alexandra Busch, contralto;
Korneel Van Neste, Roland Faust, alto;
Philipp Claßen, Henning Jensen, Hannes Wagner, tenor;
Israel Martins dos Reis, Uli Bützer, Andreas Meixner, bass
[cdo] Teresa Ortner, Jedidiah Allen, cornett;
Ádám Jakab, Maximilien Brisson, sackbut
Heinrich Isaac was one of the most celebrated composers of his time, but in our time he is largely overshadowed by his contemporary Josquin Desprez. It seems that the remark of a contemporary that Josquin was the better composer, has contributed to the relative neglect of Isaac's oeuvre. He was first in the service of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, and in 1497, five years after the death of Lorenzo, he was appointed court composer by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. James D. Feiszli, in the liner-notes to the disc to be reviewed, sums up that this was quite remarkable. "The emperor sought Isaac out, not the other way around. Isaac was not required to be in attendance at the court - unthinkable at the time - but continued to live in Florence as Maximilian's official representative, making occasional trips to meet with Maximilian's court. [Rob C.] Wegman (2011) points out that Isaac is the first musician in history to be labeled a 'composer' in any official administrative documents, thereby raising the status of his profession."
Isaac was a versatile composer and his output is very large; his main contributions to the sacred repertoire of his time are his mass compositions. Apart from 36 settings of the Ordinary he wrote a number of separate mass movements and a large number of Propers. The latter are included in the largest collection of sacred music by a single composer of the Renaissance, the Choralis Constantinus, which was published in three volumes in 1550 and 1555 respectively. The second volume is the subject of the present disc.
The name of the collection is derived from the German town Constance (Konstanz), where in 1507 an Imperial Diet took place. The Imperial Diet (Latin: Dieta Imperii or Comitium Imperiale; German: Reichstag) was the deliberative body of the Holy Roman Empire. It was not a legislative body in the contemporary sense; its members envisioned it more like a central forum where it was more important to negotiate than to decide. Its members were the Imperial Estates, divided into three colleges. The diet as a permanent, regularized institution evolved from the Hoftage (court assemblies) of the Middle Ages. From 1663 until the end of the empire in 1806, it was in permanent session at Regensburg.
From Ascension Day 1507 (13 May) Maximilian and his chapel stayed in Constance on the occasion of the Imperial Diet. When Maximilian departed in August of that year, he left his chapel (together with Heinrich Isaac) in Constance. In 1508, the Constance cathedral chapter commissioned Isaac to compose Mass Propers. In May 1509 he delivered a first group of settings to the chapter. Another part arrived in Constance later that year, a few months after the departure of Isaac and the court chapel.
The whole collection in three volumes comprises 375 pieces for the Sundays and feastdays of the ecclesiastical year. The music commissioned by the Constance cathedral chapter comprises the 25 cycles included in the second volume. It is not entirely clear for which institution the 48 cycles in the first volume and the 25 in the third were intended. It has been suggested they were written for the Vienna court chapel, since they correspond to the appropriate items in the Graduale pataviense of 1511. (This codex contains the liturgical music of the Passau archbishopric, according to which the services in the imperial court were held.). However, Reinhard Strohm, in New Grove, states that "[it] has been objected that the printed gradual does not always exactly match Isaac's text or cantus-firmus melody, but it is a source representing the liturgy of Vienna Cathedral rather than that of the more eclectic Imperial chapel."
The cycles contain settings of the introit (without the doxology), alleluia or tract, sequence and communion. Each piece is based on the corresponding chant melody, which sometimes appears unchanged, in other cases is paraphrased. In some pieces the plainchant melody is quoted in one voice, whereas in others it appears in all the voices at various times.
This recording is part of a project which aims at exploring Isaac's collection. In the booklet, Markus Utz writes: "The ensemble cantissimo, based in Constance, has taken on the task of recording as many as possible of the approximately 100 motets of the Choralis Constantinus composed for Constance in sound and image. In the process, a digital platform is to be created with sheet music editions and further recordings. The present recording represents the starting signal for this project." The importance of this project cannot be overstated. It would be great if all three volumes would become available in modern editions. Obviously, it is impossible to record the entire collection; I don't think anyone, even the most ardent lovers of renaissance polyphony, would purchase such a large number of discs. But it would allow vocal ensembles to include pieces from it in their programmes. The present disc offers an example of how this could be done.
The programme is divided into four sections, each of them devoted to a particular feastday. The first section comprises Propers for Christmas, and this could be part of a programme of Christmas music from the Renaissance. Another possibility is to combine these Propers with a Mass ordinary. That would make more sense than a performance of the Ordinary without any liturgical context.
As far as performance practice is concerned, Utz decided to perform the pieces either with voices alone or in a mixture of voices and instruments. The latter certainly was a common practice at the time, especially at the main feasts of the ecclesiastical year. Exactly when instruments were indeed used will probably never be known, and their participation will always be a matter of speculation. However, it certainly adds some colour and variety to the programme.
One aspect is noteworthy: the performance of the sequences. "[The] sequence can be described as a piece of sacred chant of ample dimensions, in length as well as melodic range, set syllabically with a Latin text. The text consisted mostly of a series of couplets each having two isosyllabic lines sung to the same melody; each couplet was different from the preceding couplet in melody and usually in length" (New Grove). Feiszly mentions that sequences can be quite long. The sequences in the Choralis Constantinus only set every other verse in polyphony. It has been suggested that the missing verses were replaced by organ improvisations. The Gregorian chant scholar Mary Berry believes that in the 15th century the organist improvised about the chant melody, while the choir sang long-held notes. The practice of organ improvisations seems to be confirmed by settings of sequences by Hans Buchner, who from 1506 to 1529 was organist of Constance Cathedral. "Buchner set-
tings of three sequences exist, the missing verses from Isaac's settings in the same key." It is a bit of a shame that this practice is not applied here. In this recording the missing verses are sung in plainchant. It would be nice if a sequel would include organ improvisations.
There is every reason to look forward to such a sequel. This is great music, and that comes clearly to the fore in these excellent performances. The singing is outstanding; the ensemble is perfect, and Philipp Claßen deserves much praise for his performances of the plainchant, both intonations and verses. The balance between the voices and the instruments is just right, as is the treatment of dynamics. Although the intelligibility of the text was not the main concern of composers in Isaac's time, in most cases that is pretty good here.
I am looking forward to the next instalment of this important project.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
ensemble cantissimo