Ludwig Senfl “Es hett ein Biedermann ein Weib“

Ludwig Senfl (born around 1486, died between 1542/43) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. Was music director to the court of Maximilian I, and was an influential figure in the development of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic style in Germany. Senfl was the most significant representative of Netherlands-German motet and lied composition in German-speaking regions during the Reformation. His music, which includes seven masses, eight Magnificats, numerous Latin motets and German lieder, four-voice Latin odes and a few instrumental pieces, forms both the climax to the old German music and a highpoint of the new styles at the beginning of the Reformation. His motet style is based on that of Isaac and Josquin. He developed a wide range of techniques, above all in his polyphonic settings of the Proper, using as structural bases archaic patterns (such as isorhythm), ostinatos, canon and cantus firmus techniques. His textures are rich in sonority, with much movement in parallel 3rds and 6ths. His lieder, which range from courtly love-songs, through the folksong to the comic or satirical song, use techniques that originated in the German Tenorlied of the early 16th century. His Latin odes, with the tune in the descant set in a simple homophonic manner, were later taken up in German Protestant hymn settings. Images: Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Baldung, Lucas Cranach, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein, Martin Schaffner