Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/141

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man of the time, and the fact that he lived at a princely court, with its free and shifting society, in the heart of the music-loving German highlands, gave him great influence. But the musical strength of South Germany was not dependent upon him alone. Other geniuses appeared to give at this point an impetus that did not cease for centuries.


The line of distinguished Bavarian masters includes—

Ludwig Senfl (d. 1556), born about 1492 at Zurich, a pupil of Isaac at Innsbruck and his successor there for a short time. In 1519 he was in the Imperial Chapel at Vienna and from 1520 in Augsburg, and from 1526 court-choirmaster at Munich, remaining till his death. His works (from 1526) were masses, motets, hymns, German part-songs, etc., in a style that united the old strictness with something of Venetian richness. Although a Catholic, he was a friend of Luther, and the latter greatly admired his music.

Ludwig Daser (d. 1589), born at Munich in 1520, was from 1552 court-choirmaster there till displaced by Lassus in 1560, then from 1571 court-choirmaster at Stuttgart. Though a worthy composer, his works, mostly masses, remain in MS., except a Passion (1578).

Orlandus de Lassus [Orlando di Lasso] (d. 1594) was born at Mons (Hainaut) in 1532. His boy's voice gave him a dangerous notoriety, so that about 1544 he was abducted and taken to Palermo and Milan in the service of Ferdinand Gonzaga. About 1550 he passed into another noble's service at Naples and Rome. He is said to have visited England, but settled at Antwerp. Called thence in 1556 to Munich, he became court-choirmaster in 1560, and continued in office and in great honor till about 1590, when he broke down mentally through overwork. His life and Palestrina's were almost exactly contemporaneous, but it is not known that they ever met. Lassus had the great advantage of travel and of constant contact with culture amid unbroken appreciation. Though his office was laborious and difficult, requiring great executive ability, his patron spared nothing to keep the Chapel one of the best in Europe. The duke being a stanch Catholic, most of Lassus' sacred works were of the mass or motet class, but freedom of treatment was encouraged. His most celebrated work was the Penitential Psalms (1584). Secular works of every description were also welcomed, including not only stately madrigals, but also sprightly canzonets, drinking-songs—even musical jokes. The list of his compositions (from 1552) is enormous—almost 2500 separate works, now published in a standard edition. He had many pupils, of whom Eccard and Reiner were perhaps the foremost.

Of Lassus' co-laborers, mention may be made of Ivo de Vento (d. 1575), a Spaniard, organist from 1569 (motets and good German part-songs from 1569).

Not far west of Munich is the much older Augsburg, the capital of Swabia, prominent in the 16th century as a centre for music-publishing. Here a notable patronage came from the wealthy Barons Fugger. Among earlier composers were Sigismund Salbinger, an ex-monk, who edited valuable collections of part-songs (1540-9); Jacob van Kerle (d. c. 1583), a Nether-