Cell 12
Music in Humanist Circles 16th Century
Music theory and practical practice were a natural part of education in scholarly circles in the 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1511, the first printed textbook on musical instruments in German by Sebastian Virdung, Musica getutscht und außgezogen, illustrated with woodcuts by Urs Graf, was published in Basel.
The Basel jurist Bonifacius Amerbach (1495-1562) owned a considerable music library and various instruments. His manuscripts later became the property of the university and have been preserved in the university library to this day; some of his instruments, now unfortunately lost, were taken over by the physician and musician Felix Platter (1536-1614).
The music manuscripts from Amerbach's environment and a Flemish virginal of 1572 from the possession of the Basel merchant and councillor Andreas Ryff (1550-1603) still bear witness to the domestic music-making of that time.
A large-scale oil painting, The Castalian Fountain, completes the exhibition. It is said to have come from the estate of Felix Platter and was probably painted in southern Germany around 1540. The allegorical depiction of music shows the nine muses, each with an assigned instrument, as well as musical ensembles common at the time.
A selection of musical examples:
Claudin de Sermisy (1490? - 1562)
Tant que vivra
Maria Christina Kiehr, sporano, Gerd Türk, tenor, Willem de Waal, bass-baritone, Otto Rastbichler, bass, Nicolas Stressen, recorder, Renée Stock, viola da gamba, Brian Feehan and Karl-Ernst Schröder, lute, Brett Leighton, virginal, Willem de Waal, conductor
P 1989/C 1987; Ex libris CD 6093
Claudia de Sermisy (1490? - 1562) (musical setting)
Ein Christliches Leben, unnd rechte freide
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano, Gerd Tür, tenor, Willem de Waal, bass-baritone, Otto Rastbichler, bass
P 1989/C 1987; Ex libris CD 6093
trad. France
Turlubino
Jean Clament, Hurdy-gurdy
P/C 1994; silex Y225109
French folk-music with a single hurdy-gurdy
James Harden (before 1560 - 1626)
A fancy for four recorders /alto, tenor, basset and bass)
Flanders Recorder Quartet
Bart Spanhove, Paul van Loey, Joris Van Goethem, Rumiharu Yoshimine
P/C 1999; OPS 30-239
Anonymus, ca. 1700
March for trumpet ensemble and kettle-drums
Trumpet ensemble of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, conducted by Edward H. Tarr
P/C 1990; HM851-2
Although the music is of later origin, the function of the ensemble remained the same.
Antonio de Cabezòn (1510 - 1566)
Discante sobre la pavana italiana
Ilton Wjuniski, clavichord
P/C 1997; HMB 905236
Jacques Arcadelt (1505 - 1568)
Il bianco e dolce cigno, Madrigal a 4
1539
Labyrinth (Concerto di Viole), dir. Paolo Pandolfo
P/C 1997; HMC 905234
Arcadelt’s setting of the madrigal is also preserved in the Basler Lieder Handschriften originating from the 16th century, which are accommodated in the Basel University Library
Ach jungfraun wolt ihr mit tantzenn mit Nachtanz für Laute aus der Tabulatur von Emanuel Wurstisen, Handschrift, Basel 1591
Karl-Ernst Schröder, Renaissance lute
P 1989/C 1987; Ex libris CD 6093
This piece represents the Basel repertoire of the late 16th century. The Wurstisen manuscript from 15912 is now preserved in the Basel University Library
Salve puella mit Nachtanz für Virginal
Aus der Tabulatur von Emanuel Wurstigen, Handschrift, Basel 1591
Brett Leighton, Virginal
P 1989/C 1987; Ex libris CD 6093
This musical example originates from the Basel Wurstisen manuscript from 1591, thereby coinciding with 1574 Basel virginal as regards both the time and the place of origin.
