Ludwig Senfl

A new edition of Ludwig Senfl's works is currently being prepared at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna and at the Institute of Musicology and Interpretation Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna by Stefan Gasch, Scott Edwards, and Sonja Tröster; the first volume of the New Senfl Edition was published in 2021. • Ludwig Senfl: Motets For Four Voices (A-I), ed. by Scott Lee Edwards, Stefan Gasch, Sonja Tröster (=New Senfl Edition 1 / Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Vol. 163.1). Hollitzer, Vienna 2021,

Senfl was an eclectic composer, at home both in the worlds of sacred and secular music, and he modeled his style carefully on models provided by the Franco-Flemish composers of the previous generation, especially Josquin des Prez. In particular, he was a gifted melodist, and his lines are warmly lyrical; his music remained popular and influential in Germany through the 17th century. His sacred music includes masses, motets, vespers settings, and a Magnificat. Technically his music has many archaic features, such as the use of cantus firmus technique, which was more in vogue in the 15th century; he even occasionally employs isorhythm. However he also has a typically Germanic liking for singable melodic passages in parallel imperfect intervals (3rds and 6ths). Senfl also wrote numerous German lieder, most of them secular (the handful on sacred texts were written for Duke Albrecht of Prussia). They vary widely in character, from extremely simple settings of a cantus firmus to contrapuntal tours-de-force such as elaborate canons and quodlibets.

• 1983 – Musik Der Lutherzeit. Studio der Frühen Musik, capella antiqua München, Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg. Telefunken – Das Alte Werk label – 2 LP box. Contains recordings of Christ ist erstanden, O du armer Judas, Da Jesus an dem Kreuze hieng, Das G'läut zu Speyer and Ich stund an einem morgen. • 1993 – Deutsche Lieder. Michel Piguet and the Ricercar Ensemble. 28 tracks. Capitol Records. • 1998 – Margarete – Maximilian I. Musik um 1500. Capilla Flamenca with La Caccia, Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino Aalst, Schola Gregoriana Lovaniensis. ORF CD 265 (2 CDs). Contains a recording of Adieu mes amours by Josquin des Prez. Contains a recording of « Ach Elslein – Es taget » by Ludwig Senfl. • 1999 – Missa Nisi Dominus. Motets. Officium, Wilfried Rombach, Christophorus • 1999 – Senfl – Deutsche Lieder – Carmina. Susanne Rydén, Harry Geraerts, Jan Stromberg. CPO Records • 2004 – Missa L'homme armé: Sacred Music of Ludwig Senfl. The Suspicious Cheese Lords, Clifton "Skip" West. CD • 2004 – Ludwig Senfl - Im Maien, Lieder & Consort Music, Charles Daniels (tenor), Fretwork. Harmonia Mundi HMU907334 • 2005 – Ludwig Senfl: Lieder, Motets, Instrumental Works. Farallon Recorder Quartet. 23 tracks. Pandore Label. • 2009 – Missa Paschalis, Motetten and Lieder. The Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, QuinEssential, Andrew Lawrence-King (Harp), Christopher Watson (Tenor), Robert Macdonald (Bass). Directed by David Skinner. Obsidian Records. • 2013 – Luther's Wedding Day: Kyrie and Gloria from Missa Nisi Dominus, Capella de la Torre, directed by Katharina Bäuml. Challenge Classics CD, CC 52798.