New Senfl Edition (NSE) 2: Motets for four voices (N–V)

Ludwig Senfl (c.14901543) is a key figure in the Central European musical world between the time of Heinrich Isaac (1450/51517) and Orlando di Lasso (1532?94). In both of his positionsat the imperial court of Maximilian I, where he launched his career as a singer and composer, and in Munich, where he worked from 1523 as court composer for Wilhelm IV of Bavariahe was greatly involved in the musical developments of his time. Although the extraordinary quality of Senfls music has been acknowledged since the dawn of musicology, the major part is still inaccessible in an edition and therefore only inadequately studied by scholars and performers alike. The New Senfl Edition (NSE) aims to fill this gap by publishing Senfls uvre in a critical edition that will provide a comprehensive overview of the composers work based on up-to-date research. In comparison to earlier, unfinished editions, the NSE offers numerous advantages: the repertoire to be edited is organised systematically according to number of voices and alphabetically, and the transcriptions as well as the critical apparatus are conceived according to uniform, up-to-date editorial guidelines. Works surviving only in fragmentary form along with works whose authorship remains uncertain have been included in the edition to complete the picture, whereas clearly misattributed works are not edited. The second volume of the NSE issues the second half of the motets for four voices and provides editions for many hitherto unknown compositions. The volume, however, also presents Senfls famous psalm motet Nisi Dominuscomposed for the wealthy Fugger family in Augsburgin its original scoring for four voices, the legendary Non moriar sed vivam, which the composer sent to Martin Luther in 1530 as a consolation, three different musical approaches to the Salve Regina (including a Christological adaption), as well as the motets Quid vitam sine te, Sum tuus in vita (i), and Tristia fata boni, which show Senfls connections to humanist networks. The critical reports, which come along the musical material, provide information on each motet with regard to the texts set to music, the pre-existent plainchant material, an evaluation of the sources, as well as contextual and historical information. The edition thus provides philologically reliable musical texts, along with extensive scholarly research on each individual composition. In order to help emancipate Senfls work from narrowly conceived, nationalist historiographies of music, the NSE will be published in English. The published volume (in print and online, open access) will form part of the renowned series Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich and ensure the international dissemination of Senfls music. This will enable a comprehensive explorationscholarly and practical alikeof one of the most prominent composers of the first half of the sixteenth century.