Eine bisher unbekannte Gelegenheitskomposition von Philippe de Monte aus dem Jahr 1589 in der Handschriftenabteilung der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Abstract

In the course of cataloguing manuscripts in the series ‘Manuscripta latina in folio’ in the Manuscripts Department of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin in 2015, a hitherto completely unknown work of Philippe de Monte from 1589 was discovered. This seven-part piece was composed for a marriage, as the title Dialogus Nuptialis indicates, and dedicated to the Nuremberg couple Jakob Hack (1553–1633) and Martha Gugel von Brand (1561–1639). The lyrics begin with ‘Salve festa dies, ad sacram ducitur Aram’, and were written by Salomon Frenzel von Friedenthal (1564–1605), who at that time lived at the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. The structure of both the poem and the composition is in dialogue form: a four-part choir of lower voices sings the bridegroom Jacob’s words, and a three-part choir of high voices those of Martha, the bride. This article describes the source, provides information about the context of both contemporary epithalamiapoetry and occasional music, and considers the classification of the piece within the oeuvres of both the poet and the composer. It also provides a translation of the text and a first edition of the music. The manuscript also preserves the complete text of a second poem by Frenzel (for the same couple), Votum pro conjugio. The poem was set as double-choir work, but unfortunately only the Chorus secundus music been preserved. As the Chorus primus and title page are missing, it is unclear whether this is a fragment of a further unknown composition by Philippe de Monte, or a work of a different composer.