Music From The Time Of Christian Iv: Church Music at Court and in Town

Featuring

Paul Hillier
Hilliard Ensemble
Mogens Pedersøn
Thomas Schattenberg
Vincenzo Bertolusi
Thomas Mancinus

Anonymous

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Composer Biography

Mogens Pedersøn, an important court composer and deputy music director for Christian IV, was ordered to issue a collection of polyphonic chorales.

Performer Biography

The Hilliard Ensemble is a renowned English vocal ensemble specializing in early music, known for its concerts, recordings, and regular tours across Europe, the USA, Japan, and Australia.

Historical Context

Christian IV, the Danish King, was a generous patron of music, employing singers and musicians to an unprecedented extent, with his Royal Chapel comparable to those of other European sovereigns.

Compositional Technique

The anonymous mass on this disc, found in a manuscript from 1590, uses all five ordinary parts of the mass and has an elaborate contrapuntal texture with a common "motto motif" in some movements.

Composer Biography

Vincentius Bertholusius, an organist employed by Christian IV in 1607, received the highest salary ever paid to a court musician, having previously served the Polish king Sigismund III.

Compositional Technique

Mogens Pedersøn's mass on this album, from his collection 'Pratum Spirituale', features simple, tuneful music with a sonorous five-part texture, effectively intermingling imitative and homophonic sections.

Historical Context

The reign of Christian IV (1588-1648) was a rich period in Danish musical history, during which Denmark and the court in Copenhagen held a significant place in European musical history.