Ludwig Daser (c. 1526 – 27 March 1589) was a German renaissance composer and choirmaster. His career is marked by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation struggles of his time. A noted composer in his day, Daser has been largely overshadowed by Orlande de Lassus, who replaced him in Munich.
Ludwig Daser | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1526 |
| Died | 27 March 1589 (aged 62–63) |
| Occupation(s) | kapellmeister, composer |
| Spouse | Magdalena von Haffner |
Biography
editDaser was born in Munich near the year 1526, the son of fisherman Achacius Daser.[1][2] At an early age he joined the Bavarian Hofkapelle in Munich.[3] There he received formal education in theology and music, the latter as a pupil of Ludwig Senfl.[4][5] An ordained priest,[4] he entered the Bayerische Hofkapelle in 1550 alongside Mattheus Le Maistre.[6] He became the Munich court choirmaster in 1552, replacing Andreas Zauner.[2] Daser earned extra money as a music copyist while he held the Kapellmeister position.[7] In addition to conducting and composing, Daser was responsible for training boys for the choir, and for hiring vocal and instrumental musicians for the chapel.[5] His position afforded him a salary, food and clothing allowances, and monetary bonuses on various occasions, not limited to the New Year.[5] Le Maistre's sudden departure from Munich in 1554 caused Daser to also assume duties as court composer.[2] Although the court of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria was decidedly Catholic, Daser's predilection towards Protestantism was stated in his Missa Ave Marie, where in the Credo section he added a word to the confession of faith "Et in unum Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum", at the time a clear signal of intent.[4] In 1556 Orlande de Lassus arrived at the Munich court.[4] The universal acclaim accorded to de Lassus caused discomfiture for Daser, as his role as primary musician became supplanted by de Lassus.[4]
In the 1560s, Albert V began actively pursuing a course of establishing Catholicism at his court.[8] There is some controversy surrounding Daser's activities between 1563 and 1572. Daser was subject to an Inquisition,[8] and was shortly removed from his position of Kapellmeister in 1563 on grounds of "ill health".[8] Iain Fenlon suggests that he was found to be "Lutheran", and that the "ill health" was a pretext upon which allowed the Duke to give Daser a retirement pension of considerate amount.[8] Bernhold Schmid posits that Daser really did suffer from poor health for a period of time.[2] In any case, he was replaced by Orlande de Lassus.[1] Nevertheless, Daser's music continued to be performed at the Munich chapel under de Lassus.[5] Daser moved to Stuttgart in 1572 and became kapellmeister there, openly converting as he found no resistance to his Lutheranism from the Duke of Württemberg.[1][4][8] Daser's "retirement" pension from Bavaria was thus revoked.[8] He remained Kapellmeister at Stuttgart for seventeen years.[8] He died in Stuttgart on 27 March 1589.[3] His son-in-law Balduin Hoyoul succeeded him as Kapellmeister in Stuttgart.[3]
Influences, style, and impact
editDaser's compositional output consisted mainly of masses, of which 22 manuscripts are extant.[1][2] He also wrote motets.[2] His works continued to be performed in a court context as late as 1616.[9]
Daser was significantly influenced by the Franco-Flemish School, demonstrated by his methodology for tying the cantus firmus to the Ordinary.[10] The sources of his melodies often originate from the Netherlands.[2] He employed a variety of methods of treating plainchant melody within his masses, including canon, ornamentation, cantus firmus, and juxtaposition.[10] Daser would move the cantus firmus from the tenor to the highest voicing, in order to highlight the main melody.[11]
Daser was highly respected by his contemporaries, receiving high commendation from Bavarian court chronicler Massimo Troiano.[2] Much of his work is held in manuscript form at the Bavarian State Library.[2] His works are ambitious in nature, notable for their complexity.[2] His contemporaries particularly valued his lyrical abilities.[3] His style was conservative in nature for his time, evidenced by his four-voice masses and his reliance on the cantus firmus technique.[3] However, his style became more "modern" during his time at Stuttgart.[3]
Orlande de Lassus' mass number 40 Ecce nunc benedicite was directly modeled on a work by Daser.[6]
Works
editMasses
edit4 voices
edit- Ave Maria
- De virginibus
- Dominicalis (i)
- Dominicalis (ii)
- Ecce nunc benedicite
- Grace et vertu (attributed)
- Mins liefkins braun augen
- Paschalis
- Per signum crucis (attributed)
- Qui habitat
- Un gay bergier
5 voices
edit- Beati omnes
- Dixerunt discipuli
- Ferialis
- Fors seulement
- Jerusalem surge
- In feriis quadragesimae
- Inviolata
- Maria Magdalena
- Pater noster
- Sexti modi
6 voices
edit- Praeter rerum seriem
Mass Propers
edit- De Sancto Spiritu infra septuagesima (4 voices)
- De veneratione (4 voices)
In addition to the masses, he composed a work for four voices entitled Patrocinium musices; passionis Domini nostri Jesus Christi historia, a Magnificat for four voices, a Magnificat for eight voices, 24 motets for four to eight voices, and 34 hymns and psalms in German.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Pratt, Waldo Selden (1907). The History of Music. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc. p. 135.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Schmid, Bernhold (2007). "Cantus Firmus und Kanon. Anmerkungen zu Ludwig Dasers Missa pater noster". In Schiltz, Katelijne; Blackburn, Bonnie J. (eds.). Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th–16th Centuries: Theory, Practice, and Reception History ; Proceedings of the International Conference, Leuven, 4–6 October 2005 (in German). Peeters Publishers. pp. 283–302. ISBN 9789042916814.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sadie, Stanley, ed. (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 7. Grove Dictionaries, Inc. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.
- ^ a b c d e f Groote, Inga Mai; Vendrix, Philippe (2012). "The Renaissance Musician and Theorist Confronted with Religious Fragmentation". In Karremann, Isabel; Zwierlein, Cornel; Groote, Inga Mai (eds.). Forgetting Faith?: Negotiating Confessional Conflict in Early Modern Europe. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-3-11-027005-1.
- ^ a b c d Fenlon, Iain (1990). The Renaissance: From the 1470s to the end of the 16th century. Springer. pp. 244–255. ISBN 978-1-349-20536-3.
- ^ a b Crook, David (2014). Orlando di Lasso's Imitation Magnificats for Counter-Reformation Munich. Princeton University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-4008-6378-5.
- ^ Lenneberg, Hans (2003). On the Publishing and Dissemination of Music, 1500–1850. Pendragon Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-57647-078-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fenlon, Iain (2002). Early Music History: Volume 20: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music. Cambridge University Press. pp. 223–225. ISBN 978-0-521-80773-9.
- ^ Kopp, James B. (2012). The Bassoon. Yale University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-300-18364-1.
- ^ a b Schiltz, Katelijne; Blackburn, Bonnie J., eds. (2007). Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th–16th Centuries: Theory, Practice, and Reception History ; Proceedings of the International Conference, Leuven, 4–6 October 2005. Peeters Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 9789042916814.
- ^ Schiltz, Katelijne; Blackburn, Bonnie J., eds. (2007). Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th–16th Centuries: Theory, Practice, and Reception History ; Proceedings of the International Conference, Leuven, 4–6 October 2005. Peeters Publishers. p. 231. ISBN 9789042916814.