Composer: Ludwig Daser
Performer: Cinquecento
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA68414
Release: 2023
Size: 1.31 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Benedictus Dominus
02. Pater noster
Missa Pater noster
03. I. Kyrie: a. Kyrie I
04. I. Kyrie: b. Christe
05. I. Kyrie: c. Kyrie II
06. II. Gloria: a. Gloria in excelsis Deo
07. II. Gloria: b. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
08. II. Gloria: c. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suspice
09. Ave Maria
Missa Pater noster
10. III. Credo: a. Credo in unum Deum / Pater noster / Ave Maria
11. III. Credo: b. Et incarnatus est / Et ne nos inducas / Et benedictus
12. III. Credo: c. Crucifixus
13. III. Credo: d. Et ascendit in caelum
14. III. Credo: e. Et in Spiritum Sanctum / Pater noster / Ave Maria
15. IV. Sanctus: a. Sanctus
16. IV. Sanctus: b. Benedictus
17. IV. Sanctus: c. Osanna
18. V. Agnus Dei / Pater noster
Ad te levavi oculos meos
19. I. Ad te levavi oculos meos
20. II. Miserere nostri Domine
21. Dilexi, quoniam
22. Danck sagen wir alle
Daran gedenck Jacob und Israel
23. I. Daran gedenck Jacob und Israel
24. II. Jauchtzet ir Himmel
25. Salvum me fac
26. Fracta diuturnis
27. Fratres, sobrii estote
Christe, qui lux es et dies
28. Verse 1. Christe, qui lux es et dies
29. Verse 2. Precamur sancte Domine
30. Verse 3. Ne gravis somnus irruat
31. Verse 4. Defensor noster aspice
32. Verse 5. Deo Patri sit gloria
Ludwig Daser’s life and work encompassed both Catholic and Lutheran courts, at Munich and Stuttgart respectively. Cinquecento’s programme—which, besides the substantial Missa Pater noster, includes a selection of Latin motets and German chorale settings—illustrates a variety of styles and genres from both, offering a welcome introduction to this lesser-known master from the sixteenth century.
This recording showed up on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, and it may have been a surprise to see it there. The music is by Ludwig Daser, an almost unknown German Renaissance composer, and while Cinquecento is an esteemed vocal group specializing in the music of the period, it is not commonly a chart resident. Several factors may have drawn listeners to the recording, not least the terrific cover art featuring a painting of a Munich court jester with a lion (there is also a beautiful illustration with one of the original choirbooks). There is also the fact that Daser, the predecessor of Orlande de Lassus at the Bavarian court in Munich, is all but unknown; listeners will be glad to discover him. He did not have the wide-ranging genius of Lassus, but his music, like that of Tallis and Byrd, reflected the shifts of the age between Catholicism and Protestantism. The program here presents a good overview, with an imposing, rather conservative but ingenious Missa Pater noster (it is based on one chant, but another one is worked into the all-important Credo). There are also small, intimate motets in German and an alternatim hymn setting. The small Cinquecento group (mostly two voices per part) works quite well in these but seems underpowered in the mass; sources of the day specify at least a dozen singers, more likely 16, and up to 24 at the Sistine Chapel, which would have furnished a sound ideal. Nevertheless, the singing is clear and brings out the polyphonic details in a complex piece like Fracta diuturnis. A release of great interest to lovers of the eventful 16th century.