Stoltzer: Missa duplex per totum annum & Psalm Motets

Featuring

Manfred Cordes
Weser-Renaissance Bremen
Thomas Stolzer

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Compositional Technique

Stoltzer's 'Octo Tonorum Melodiae' are eight five-part, fantasia-like instrumental compositions ordered according to church modes, a collection almost unique for its time.

Historical Context

Stoltzer's death in 1526 may have been connected to the Turkish invasion, as King Ludwig II also died in the devastating Battle of Mohács that year.

Compositional Technique

Stoltzer's masses are considered incomplete by modern standards because they lack the Credo, and some other ordinary parts do not have complete polyphonic settings.

Composer Biography

Thomas Stoltzer, a significant German composer of the early 16th century, was a priest at Breslau Cathedral who was not required to maintain continuous residence there.

Composer Biography

Stoltzer was appointed 'magister cappellae' at the royal court in Ofen (Buda) by King Ludwig II in 1522, following Queen Maria's recommendation.

Performer Biography

Weser-Renaissance Bremen, led by Manfred Cordes, is an internationally renowned ensemble specializing in 16th and 17th-century music, focusing on repertoire from Josquin Desprez to Dieterich Buxtehude.

Interpretation

To perform a Stoltzer mass today, missing chant melodies for un-set texts must be found in the Graduale Romanum, leading to an alternation between monophonic chant and figured parts.