Music by Hassler, Lassus & Lechner
VOICES & INSTRUMENTS
Tutor: Roger Wilkes
Location: Morley Green Club, Wilmslow
Reviewer: Cath
Music by Hassler, Lassus & Lechner, with Roger Wilkes
The March workshop on works by Lassus, Lechner and Hassler with Roger Wilkes was one for both singers and instrumentalists. In the workshop description, “the envisaged repertory will sound especially well on loud winds (thus, cornetts and sackbuts in particular), while players of viols and recorders (favouring the larger instruments in both categories) will also be an asset.”
The “loud winds” were, fortunately, confined to the instruments rather than the wild weather of the following day. There were four sackbuts, one cornett, a bass curtal (also known as dulcian) and one tenor recorder as well as three viols. Throughout the day the instrumentalists were repeatedly praised for their intonation and, indeed, the playing was very fine. The singers were, as Roger put it, “in some parts not exactly overstaffed” which created a few difficulties, especially in the 12 part Duo Seraphim. Where were all the top sopranos? With only three sopranos in all, that meant one first soprano, two seconds, four altos, three tenors (divided in all the works) and only one bass. As the singers were not numerous and seated behind the instrumentalists, I’m not sure how well they would be heard by a hypothetical audience and whether the sensitive word painting and clarity that Roger encouraged would have come through. He made a particular point of explaining the texts to help with the phrasing and to give emphasis to such words as quam admirabile est nomen tuum in the Lassus. Roger, as the only person who could hear the overall effect, seemed pleased with the sounds we were producing and I hope he felt we did justice to all his preparation beforehand and the music, which he so clearly loved and which, incidentally, we were able to take away at the end.
We began the day with Orlandus Lassus motet Domine, Dominus noster in 6 parts, based on Psalm 8. This ends with the words “All things you have made subject under his feet: all sheep and oxen, and, furthermore, all the beasts of the fields, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea which make their way through the paths of the seas” followed by a gloriously affirmative “Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra. This was followed by Leonhard Lechner Missa Domine, Dominus noster in 6 parts, which, consisting of Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, took the remainder of the morning. Lechner had been a chorister in Munich while Lassus was Court Kapellmeister there and this work clearly showed Lassus’ influence. The final work, Hans Leo Hassler Duo Seraphim à 12, was, for me, the most interesting and effective but, unfortunately, we were only able to spend a relatively short time on that, as time was running out. We ended by singing the Lassus Domine, Dominus noster once again, having spent a day transported back to the courts of late 16th century Germany in the company of our knowledgeable and enthusiastic Kapellmeister, Roger Wilkes.
The venue, Morley Green Memorial Hall, was a good location with generous facilities, including a bar-lounge for the AGM during the lunch break. Acoustically, the hall was not very rewarding and was missing the feeling of the court chapels and churches for which these works were composed. Although rather inaccessible by public transport, it was, however, easy to reach by car – an enjoyable drive through the daffodil-lined roads of Cheshire.
Cath
First published in April 2019 Newsletter
