Ludwig Senfl: New Edition of the Collected Works (NSE) II

Ludwig Senfl (ca. 14901543) is considered the leading composer of the generation between Henricus Isaac and Orlando di Lasso in the German-speaking lands. Nevertheless, a great part of his uvre is still not accessible in a modern edition. Two attempts to publish a collected edition of Senfls works remain fragmentary. The difficulties in working with these editions are obvious: they are based on a small segment of the extant source material, and their editorial principles are inconsistent; but the main problem is that they present only a small portion of Senfls uvre. This lack of basic information means that a comprehensive and thorough investigation of one of the most prominent Renaissance composers of the German-speaking lands has until now not been possible. One consequence of these fragmentary editions is a lopsided perception of Senfl simply as a composer of Lieder. The New Senfl Edition aims to correct this image. Planned in four self-contained modules, the collected edition will present philologically reliable musical texts edited according to consistent editorial guidelines. It will be based on the current state of research and provide comprehensive descriptions of musical sources, scores informed by a transparent decision-making process and extensive contextual information, thereby becoming a flexible working tool. The aim of the second module is to edit Senfls 6vv and 8vv motets, the canons, the Magnificat settings, and the settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. The few compositions among them that have been edited are only available in obsolete, inaccessible editions that no longer comply with modern editorial standards. The works will be published in three volumes as part of the renowned series Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich.

The research project Ludwig Senfl: Sämtliche Werke (New Senfl Edition) II is the second of five modules in which the works of Ludwig Senfl (c.1490-1543) are systematically edited in a critical edition. The aim of this long-term project is to provide a comprehensive overview of Senfl's oeuvre based on up-to-date research. The importance of this renaissance composer, who - together with his famous contemporaries N. Gombert, C. Festa and C. Janequin - can be considered one of the leading composer personalities of the generation between H. Isaac and O. di Lasso, was already recognised in the 19th century. Nevertheless, his extensive oeuvre, which encompasses all the vocal genres of the time, has so far only been insufficiently accessible. This is all the more surprising as Senfl was active at two central courts of the time: at the court of Emperor Maximilian I he pursued a career as a singer and composer from an early age; from 1523 he was active as court composer for Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. In the second module, the edition of Senfl's motets was completed. In addition, those works that were conceived by Senfl as pure (riddle-)canons have been made accessible. Further compositions that can be presented for the first time on the basis of a complete overview of sources are Senfl's Magnificat settings for the Liturgy of the Hours (they were presumably among the first works that Senfl composed for the Munich court after his employment in 1523), as well as the seven polyphonic mass ordinaries, which also consist of several individual movements. Finally, a new project website was developed, as well as far-reaching questions about the development of the genre of the motet in the German-speaking world in the first half of the 16th century. The works were compiled in two volumes, forming Volume 4 and Volume 5 of the New Senfl Edition. Volume 4 contains the motets for 6 and 8 voices as well as the canons. Volume 5 contains the Magnificat settings as well as the polyphonic mass ordinaries (15 compositions). For the edition of each composition, all sources were consulted in the original or in the form of digital reproductions. While special significance is placed on the clear legibility of the musical notation in the edition, the critical reports provide comprehensive information on the texts of the motets (including German and English translations) and, if applicable, the cantus firmus used (including transcriptions of relevant plainchant melodies). Synoptic descriptions of the sources, an evaluation of these sources, detailed documentation of variant readings, as well as further contextual information on the work are likewise provided. The volumes are to be published in the renowned series "Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich".