Music at the Courts

of the Prince-Bishops in Brixen and Trent

The royal households of the prince-bishops of Brixen and Trent also included musicians. Some of the bishops had a good knowledge of music themselves: Bishop Paulinus Mayr of Brixen (†1685) had been trained as an organist in Vienna; Bishop Johann VII Platzgummer (ca. 1565-1647) is said to have composed music.[28] He had grown up as a choirboy in Brixen under the cathedral organist Andreas Andre commonly known as “Casletanus” (†1592) and studied theology in Vienna and Rome, both of which were important music centers. In 1609, when Platzgummer was still a canon in Brixen, he wrote down a “Mariale” with Latin four- to ten-part Marian songs, litanies, hymns, etc. for the prince-bishop’s seminary, Domini Andreae, i.e. of his patron Bishop Christoph IV Andreas von Spaur (†1613).[29] On the basis of this “Mariale” he has always been considered a composer. However, as he expressly states in the title: “Mariale [...] scriptum et [e]d[i]tum a Io[anne] Plazgumero” and on folio 81: “Ad laudem et gloriam Dei [...] scripsit. Joannes Plazgumer [...]” he is probably the compiler of the manuscript, not the original composer of the works it contains. As a bishop he was the dedicatee of a collection of motets Certamen Musicum(Innsbruck: Michael Wagner 1641) by one of the major 17th-century Tyrolean composers, Christoph Sätzl (1592/93-1655), who was born in or around Brixen. Sätzl worked as the choirmaster of Brixen Cathedral from ca. 1619 to 1632. During this period he dedicated his collection of motets Ecclesiastici Concentus (Innsbruck: Daniel Paur 1621) to Prince-Bishop Karl I of Austria and another motet cycle Hortus Pensilis (Innsbruck: Johann Gäch 1628) to Prince-Bishop Daniel Zen.[30]
Cardinal Andreas of Austria (†1600) had chosen Jan Le Febure († ca.1612) to be his “maestro di capella” and acquired a substantial collection of music. Brixen had outside musical connections, e.g. to the Innsbruck court ensemble of singers and instrumentalists: religious works by their director of music Johann Stadlmayr were part of the repertoire in Brixen in the early 17th century.[31]
The bishop’s musicians were not only called upon for church music but also had to play at court festivities. Around 1700 the bishops of Brixen would attend performances of operas at their court theater.[32] While designated as operas in the literature, these performances were mainly plays with interpolated music in the style of Jesuit drama. The location of the court theater (“Hochfürstliche Brixnerische Hoftheater”) can no longer be determined today. There is thought to have been a two-story hall in the east wing of the bishop’s fortified castle in the 18th century.[33]
The personnel of the “court and cathedral music ensemble” (Hoff- und Thumb Music) of Brixen, in 1742 for example, consisted of the director of music Leopold Strach (1699-1755), the organist Franz Josef Hopfgartner, the previous (“vorgewesten”) organist Josef Vonclausner, a treble singer, two alto singers, two tenors (one of whom also played the kettledrum), a bass singer and the choirboys (“Capell Knaben”), as well as two violinists (one of whom also played violoncello), a double bass (“Paß-Geiger”) and a viol player (“Violon-Geiger”), two trumpeters (of whom one was also the court gardener and waiter at mealtimes), one “Musicus” and Mathias Andreas Penz, who had no specified function but was remunerated for musical services.[34] This ensemble would be joined by other musicians from the Brixen area or by visitors, depending on the requirements of the occasion. Up to the second half of the 19th century, the canons are said to have “demonstrated their agility in graceful minuets” at court balls, something that Prince-Bishop Vinzenz Gasser (†1879) condemned mercilessly along with the bishops’ theater and all “previous gallantries.”[35]
The prince-bishops of Trent, depending on how pronounced their love of the art of music was, also kept musicians. A musician was first mentioned by name in Trent in 1429; he was called Christoph and was the piper of the prince-bishop.[36] From the mid-15th century on there was a group of trumpeters (“trummetterey”) in service.[37] The festivities at the enthronement of Cardinal Bernhard of Cles in Trent in 1514 were accompanied by music and dance. His court jester Ser Paolo was depicted with bagpipes in 1535; he presumably entertained his lord by playing this instrument.[38] Cardinal Prince-Bishop Christoph III of Madruzzo was a passionate music lover. His enthronement in 1542 had already been celebrated with splendid music, including a motet especially composed for the occasion by Cipriano de Rore. Madruzzo’s musicians came from the Duke of Ferrara’s court ensemble and were in demand at other courts too. His regency and the music at his princely residence were closely connected to both Trent, the seat of his court, and Brixen, the city he administered. Madruzzo’s esteemed director of music Giovanni Contino (ca. 1513-1574), in his services from 1539 to 1551, confidently called himself “Capellae Brixi[n]ensis Magister.”[39] Vocal and instrumental music, also with dancing, was played for the guests at parties. Contino provided a number of the new pieces of music needed at court, mainly for the performances on the occasion of the Council of Trent, when the cardinal’s musicians sometimes joined the papal singers and orchestra to form one ensemble.[40] In 1574 Madruzzo recommended his musician Thomas Seyringer to Duke Wilhelm V in Landshut.[41] Elector Moritz of Saxony was so impressed by the music at the prince-bishop’s court in Trent that he asked Madruzzo to give him six of his instrumentalists. One of those who went to Dresden was Antonio Scandello (1517-1580), who became the director of music there in 1568.[42] At the enthronement of Prince-Bishop Peter Vigil Count Thun in Trent in 1776, the music that guests heard included the cantata “Gli Orti Esperidi” with words by Pietro Metastasio set to music presumably by Gennaro Astarita (1749-1803), an opera composer appearing in Brixen and Sacco (near Rovereto) in 1778 and 1782, respectively.[43]

Fussnoten

[28] Lambert STREITER, “Die Pflege der Musik in Südtirol,” Süd-Tirol: Land und Leute vom Brenner bis zur Salurner Klause, ed. Karl von Grabmayr, Berlin 1919, p. 177.
 
[29] For a facsimile of part of the manuscript, see
Ernst KNAPP, Kirchenmusik Südtirols: Ergänzungsband, Brixen 1997, p. 112ff;
for Platzgummer, cf. also Ernst KNAPP, Kirchenmusik Südtirols, Bozen 1993, p. 64f.
 
[30] Heidrun BERMOSER, “Christoph Sätzl, Ein Tiroler Komponist des 17. Jahrhunderts: Biographie und Werkverzeichnis,” Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 57 (1973), p. 57ff;

[31] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Musik, wie sie im 17. Jahrhundert in Brixen erklang: Werke von Christoph Sätzl (1592/93-1655) und Johann Stadlmayr (ca. 1575-1648),” 1100 Jahre Brixen: 600 Jahre Cusanus, Proceedings of a Conference in Brixen, 11-14 October 2001, ed. Brixner Initiative Musik und Kirche und Cusanus Akademie, Brixen 2001, n.p.
 
[32] Lambert STREITER, “Die Pflege der Musik in Südtirol,” Süd-Tirol: Land und Leute vom Brenner bis zur Salurner Klause, ed. Karl von Grabmayr, Berlin 1919, p. 175ff;
Anton DÖRRER, “Hundert Innsbrucker Notendrucke aus dem Barock: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters in Tirol,” Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 14 (1939), p. 255;
Bruno MAHLKNECHT, “Kleine Musikgeschichte Südtirols,” Südtiroler Sängerbund: Festschrift zum VIII. Bundessingen, Bozen 1969, p. 97;
Philipp MAYER, “Musik und Volksmusik in Tirol und Vorarlberg,” Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol.: Tirol und Vorarlberg, Vienna 1893, p. 379;
ANON., “Das musikalische Leben in Brixen vor 1862,” 50 Jahre des Männergesangvereins Brixen, Südtirol, Brixen [ca. 1912], p. 1.
 
[33] Karl MUTSCHLECHNER, Das Jesuitentheater in Brixen im 18. Jahrhundert, PhD Università degli Studi di Padova, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Padova 1975/76, p. 211.
 
[34]For the list of names of the musicians (based on the invoices of the domain in the Diocesan Archives of Brixen), see Karl Mutschlechner, Das Jesuitentheater in Brixen im 18. Jahrhundert, PhD Università degli Studi di Padova, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Padova 1975/76, p. 193f.
 
[35] Ludwig STEUB, Lyrische Reisen, Stuttgart 1878, p. 240.
 
[36] Clemente LUNELLI, “Trento,” Dizionario Enciclopedico universale della musica e die musicisti, vol. 4, Torino 1984, p. 581.
 
[37] Walter SALMEN, “Höfische Kultur im Hoch- und Spätmittelalter,” Musikgeschichte Österreichs, vol. 1, ed. Rudolf Flotzinger and Gernot Gruber, Graz etc. 1977, p. 123.
 
[38] Fortunat DEMATTIO, “Volkslied, Volksschauspiel und Theater der Romanen in Tirol,” Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol.: Tirol und Vorarlberg, Vienna 1893, p. 336f;
Renato LUNELLI, Strumenti musicali nel Trentino, Trento 1968, p. 17.
 
[39] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Zur Musikaliensammlung im Domkapitelarchiv Brixen,” Der Schlern 75 (2001) p. 942;
Cf. Romano VETTORI, “Note storiche sul patronato musicale di Cristoforo Madruzzo Cardinale di trento (1512-1578),” Rivista Italiana di Musicologia 20 (1985) p. 3ff;
Romano VETTORI, “Mottetti politici alla corte di Cristoforo Madruzzo (1512-1578),” Quadrivium 30 (1989) p. 5ff;
Romano VETTORI, “Musiche per i Principi Vescovi: la corte dei Clesio e dei Madruzzo,” Musica e società nella storia trentina, ed. Rossana Dalmonte, Trento 1994, p. 241ff.
 
[40] Romano VETTORI, “La musica del Rinascimento,” Dalla Polifonia al Classicismo: Il Trentino nella musica, Trento 1981, p. 65ff;
Mario LEVRI OFM, “La Cappella musicale del Madruzzo e i cantori del Concilio,” Il Concilio di Trento 2 (1943) p. 394f;
Renato LUNELLI, “Musiche del sec. XVII per strumenti ad arco in manoscritti scoperti a Bressanone,” Archivio per l’Alto Adige 38 (1943) p. 379f.
 
[41] Peter LIEBENRAIN, “Streiflichter zur Musik- und Theatergeschichte Tirols,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 36 (1961) p. 90.
 
[42] Alfred EINSTEIN, “Italienische Musik und italienische Musiker am Kaiserhof und an den erzherzoglichen Höfen in Innsbruck und Graz,” Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 21 (1934) p. 34.
 
[43] Clemente LUNELLI, “Le ultime composizioni e la morte del musicista Gennaro Astarita,” Civis studi e testi 3 (1979) p. 3.