Daniel reminds me that the Richard Allison Psalmes of David were brought to North America with two lutes on board the Mayflower. There is much religious music for lute, as several readers of this list have already indicated. Some of the earliest cantional settings of psalms and hymns are in the lute repertory. Cantional settings have the cantus firmus in the TOP part, not buried in the tenor as Goudimel does.
Among 16th century Protestant repertory are the fantasias on "Durch Adams Fall" and "Ich rufe zu Dir" in Reymann's tablature (1598), also mentioned by Daniel These are really what might later be called chorale preludes (as Howard noted). Reussner's are of this variety. There is in fact a doctoral dissertation now underway that will explore chorale settings in the lute repertory. The topic is long overdue for an in-depth study. And then there is my favorite ascription to "van Ghelingho" (a Dutch composer according to one writer) in that Naples manuscript (ex-Berlin 40032). It really a misspelling of vangelo, "gospel" in Italian. In other words it is a rubric indicating that the pieces were to be played before the reading of the Gospel at mass. It is one of the few indications that lute was used during the service. (It is always possible the practice was so widespread nobody commented on it.) The otherwise untitled pieces are the tripartite motet "Benedicta es celorum" by Josquin. Probably the most popular sacred piece in the Renaissance lute repertory. Francesco wrote two ricercars on it (Nos. 87a and 87b; cf. App. 30 for an intabulation of the motet), and Marco did another (Munich No. 32). --ajn ----- Original Message ----- From: Daniel F Heiman To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 2:02 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: Overtly religious ouvre? Chris: In response to your query I have not yet seen reference made to: Richard Allison - The Psalmes of David in Meter (London, 1599), available in facsimile from the Scolar Press, which provides relatively easy lute accompaniments for standard melodies plus the option of up to 3 additional voices and/or cittern. The texts are from the English translation published by Sternhold & Hopkins, 1562 (obviously pre-King James) Nicolaes Vallet - Regia pietas (Amsterdam, 1620), facsimile published by the Nederlandse Luit Vereniging, but currently out of print, I believe. Contains wonderful lute arrangements of the 150 Psalm melodies standard in the Netherlands at that time. Requires a 10-course instrument for smooth playing of most of them. The texts and melody line are not written out, but they are available from other sources. Adrian LeRoy - Psaumes, ed. CNRS, Paris, 1962, taken from his Tiers livre, 1552 and Instruction, 1574. This modern edition has a keyboard transcription of the lute part in addition to the melody and text. In the "Turpyn Book," an English MS from around 1610, there is one interesting song, "Miserere, My Maker," very Lenten in character. This collection is available as a facsimile and in a transcription published by the Early Music Centre, London, 1981. Matthaeus Reymann - Noctes musicae, Leipzig, 1598, contains a series of (difficult) fantasias on German chorale tunes, a bit like the chorale preludes that organists of the 17th and 18th centuries wrote. As several other people mentioned, Latin motets and mass movements are available in abundance in dozens of collections published during the 16th century for lute or vihuela. Regards, Daniel Heiman On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:41:16 +0900 Christopher Witmer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > My listening in lute music is not very broad, so I would not be at > all > surprised if there were many lute songs that have overtly > religious/pious themes; however, I have not heard many. (I'm of > course > aware that Bach uses the lute in some of his Cantatas, but I'm > thinking > more of solo or small ensemble pieces.) How much such music is > there, > and can anyone recommend any works (either recordings or scores)? > > I suspect that there might be some pieces by or for Reformation-era > > Protestants, not necessarily for use in congregational worship so > much > as for personal devotions and enjoyment? > > Any leads would be appreciated. > > Chris Witmer > Tokyo > > P.S. This post was stimulated by a new CD of Carolyn Sampson singing > > English lute songs from the time of Shakespeare. That disc includes > one > piece with an overtly religious theme, by an anonymous composeer. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > --
