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Thomas SELLE (1599 - 1663): "So frewe dich! - Music from the Selle manuscript of the church library of Salzwedel"
The Muses' Fellows
Dir: Monika Mandelartz
rec: May 14 - 16, 2019 & May 19 - 20, 2020, Reinbek, Nathan-Söderblom-Kirche
Coviello Classics - COV 92107 (2 CDs) (© 2021) (2.03'54")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E
Cover & track-list
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Philipp CRUSIUS (1597-1676):
O nomen Jesu;
Heinrich GRIMM (1592/93-1637):
Liebe du mich;
Bartold HEILIGENMUND (1600-1669):
Ach ist nicht Ephraim;
Nicolaus HEINECCIUS (1590/91-1660):
Allein Gott in der Höh;
Thomas SELLE:
Aria 1;
Aria 2;
Das alte Jahr vergangen ist;
Du bist die Schönste;
Et cum spiritu;
Ich dancke dem Herrn von gantzem hertzen;
Ich suchte des Nachts;
Jetzt blicken aus des himmels Saal;
Kyrie summum teutsch;
Misericordias;
Nunc dimittis;
Quam pulchra es;
So frewe dich Jüngling;
Ut, re, mi;
Wie ein Jüngling;
Wie eine Rose;
Wie manchesmahl;
Johann STEURLEIN (1546-1630):
Das alte Jahr vergangen ist
Julian von Landsberg, Elisabeth Pawelke, Anne Schneider, soprano;
Benjamin Glaubitz, Stephan Scherpe, Florian Sievers, tenor;
Sönke Tams Freier, bass
Julietta Fricke, Marika Hentzschel, Kim Lüdersen, Jacob Pensky, Jakob Schleitzer, Adriano da Silva Trarbach, recorder;
Monika Mandelartz, recorder, harp, harpsichord, organ;
Laura Fierro, María Carrasco, Maja Hunziker, Rupert Dintinger, violin;
Henriette Urban, Lina Zimmermann, harp
Hamburg was one of Germany's main musical centres in the second half of the 17th century. This was the result of excellent musicians working in the city, both in the church and in the opera. The three musicians who played a central role in church music were the organist Heinrich Scheidemann, the violinist Johann Schop and the Musikdirektor Thomas Selle. The latter position was a prestigious one, and the fact that Selle was appointed as such is an indication of his reputation. This is confirmed by the laudation of the senior of the local pastorate, calling him "a man who is very learned and excellently versed in the Muses". His oeuvre is not that well documented on disc, and that goes in particular for the music he composed before his Hamburg period.
Selle's early years are relatively poorly documented. He was born in Zörbig in Saxonia, and probably went to the Thomasschule in Leipzig, and then to the university. It is likely he was acquainted with or even a pupil of the Thomaskantor Sethus Calvisius and his successor Johann Hermann Schein. From 1624 to 1641 he lived in the region of Dithmarschen, northwest of Hamburg. He first worked as a teacher in Heide, then became rector of the school in Wesselburen and from 1634 he acted as Kantor in Itzehoe. Between 1624 and 1636 no less than eleven collections of music were printed. In addition he composed occasional pieces, for instance for weddings and funerals.
Ten years ago Monika Mandelartz, with a different ensemble, devoted a disc to secular works from several collections. This time she put together a programme with a mixture of sacred and secular works from one manuscript, preserved at the church library of Salzwedel. It is not known how this collection made its way to Salzwedel, as Selle had no connection whatsoever to this town (today in the German state of Saxonia-Anhalt). The collection includes around 250 pieces in 24 different partbooks. Unfortunately not all partbooks have survived, but at least the first and second voices and the basso continuo are entirely intact, which allows of some reconstruction.
A feature which makes this collection all the more interesting is that in includes a number of indications with regard to performance practice as well as corrections in Selle's own handwriting. One can see, for instance, which parts he was planning to perform himself and which were to be performed by choirboys (pueri). The indications concerning the use of instruments reveal that a variety of instruments was employed, including lute, chitarrone, harp and various keyboard instruments, from spinet and regal to 'grand organ' (volles Werck).
Most of the secular pieces date from Selle's time in Wesselburen and seem to have been performed frequently, given the many corrections and notes. A considerable number of these pieces are incomplete. Some were originally conceived as simple songs, which Selle had arranged later for larger forces. In Itzehoe he seems to have written mostly sacred music, and as the sacred music practice was well established there, he may have adapted earlier pieces for the more developed possibilities in Itzehoe.
The first disc opens and closes with two strictly liturgical pieces in Latin, written in the stile antico: Kyrie summum teutsch and Et cum spiritu. The use of Latin alongside German was a typical feature of Lutheran liturgical practice in Selle's time (and long thereafter, as we know from Bach's time in Leipzig). This also explains why the more sophisticated items can have either a German or a Latin text. One of the most remarkable specimens of the latter category is Misericordias, a setting of Psalm 88 (89), but not in the version of the Vulgate, but rather on a Latin translation of the original Hebrew text by Johann van Campen. It lasts more than 22 minutes and is written in a purely monodic style for a single tenor, accompanied by two violins and basso continuo. Another piece in modern style is Ich dancke dem Herrn von gantzem hertzen, scored for bass, two violins and basso continuo. Here Selle uses coloratura to single out some text passages.
A piece like Nunc dimittis is dominated by polyphony: the text - the Canticle of Simeon - is divided into three sections, scored for tenor and bass in polyphonic manner. Each stanza is followed by a refrain: "Sit Deo nostro decus et potestas" - God is honourable and mighty; this is set for the full ensemble in homophony, with echo effects.
The sacred section of this production also includes pieces by contemporaries - colleagues whose compositions Selle appreciated and included in the collection. These are largely unknown, which is hardly surprising, considering the many positions in chapels and churches that were available at the time. In particular the musical landscape in smaller towns and in villages largely escapes the attention of scholars and performers, assuming that there is any material which gives us some information about it. Nicolaus Heineccius was organist in Salza, about 30 kilometers south of Magdeburg, and later in nearby Schönebeck. From other sources only two pieces from his pen were known; the Salzwedel collection includes three other pieces, among them a chorale arrangement of Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr for two voices and basso continuo. Barthold Heiligenmund worked as headmaster in Neuenkirchen, six kilometers away from Wesselburen. Ach ist nicht Ephraim is his only extant work, scored for two sopranos, bass and basso continuo. It opens with an exclamatio on the word "Ach". Philipp Crusius was a lawyer who was mainly active in various political positions. Apparently he also had ambitions in the field of music. O nomen Jesu, for two sopranos and basso continuo, is the only piece from his pen that has been preserved. Johann Steurlein was from Schmalkalden in Thuringia and worked all his life in the region. Melchior Vulpius was one of his pupils. Among his compositions is a St John Passion. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist is his best-known work; it is scored for six voices and is performed here instrumentally.
At the second disc we find a mixture of secular pieces, some instrumental works and pieces which were written for weddings. Selle composed many wedding pieces; the collection includes thirty of such items. Here three are performed: Wie eine Rose, on a text from the Song of Solomon, Wie ein Jüngling (Isaiah 62) and Du bist die Schönste, a setting of the second verse of Psalm 45. Notable in the first of these is the vivid illustration of the words "hüpffet" (leaping [across the mountains]) and "springet" (bounding [over the hills]). Several of these pieces have been preserved in more than one version which may well attest to their popularity. There are also some pieces which are not ranked among the wedding pieces, but whose texts point in that direction. Ich suchte des Nachts and Quam pulchra es are again settings of texts from the Song of Solomon. The text of So freue dich Jüngling is from Ecclesiastes. In this section we meet another colleague of Selle. From 1619 on Heinrich Grimm, a pupil of Michael Praetorius, was director of the church music at Magdeburg Cathedral. When in 1631 Magdeburg was destroyed during the Thity Years War, he fled to Brunswick. Grimm is prominently represented in the Salzwedel collection, which is an indication that Selle especially appreciated his compositions. Liebe du mich, for five voices and basso continuo, is a setting of a free poetic text, which is a mixture of secular and sacred elements.
Two pieces are of a secular nature. Wie manchesmal es sich begiebt probably dates from early in Selle's career; Monika Mandelartz situates it in his time as a student. It is a relatively simple song, which Selle has turned into a concerto in twelve parts, with echo effects - something Selle was quite fond of. It is not known what exactly Selle's role in the composition of Jetzt blicken aus des Himmels Saal has been. The melody is not from his pen, as it is the traditional melody of a song known as Malle Sijmen (Sweelinck wrote variations on that tune). This piece is an example of a contrafactum: an existing piece of music is given a new text. That text is from the pen of Martin Opitz, the leading German poet at the time. The first two stanzas were also set by Heinrich Schütz, but then with a melody of his own.
Lastly, we get three instrumental works. The work-list in New Grove does not mention any instrumental pieces, and the four pieces that have been preserved seem to be the only instrumental music Selle has ever written. Two have been preserved in another source: the two canons on Ut re mi included here. The two arias are from the Salzwedel collection.
As one may conclude from this description of what these two discs are about, this production is a substantial addition to the discography of Selle's oeuvre and to our knowledge of his activities and his importance as a composer. The booklet does not mention which pieces are first recordings, but I assume that most of them have never been recorded before.
There are few issues I have to mention. First, not all the pieces can be performed as they were conceived because the loss of several parts. That makes the arrangement of some pieces inevitable. However, the performers have also made some transpositions and arrangements which seem not really necessary. The transposition of the two canons on Ut, re, mi is the least problematic, although I don't see the need. Ich dancke dem Herrn has been transposed downwards by a fourth; there is no explanation for this. Wie ein Jüngling has also been adapted, in this case to the range of two sopranos, tenor and bass. Most radical is the treatment of Wie manchesmal es sich begiebt. It is an example of a piece which cannot be performed as a 12-part concerto due to the loss of various parts. Mandelartz decided to perform it in her own version, which seems quite different from what Selle had in mind. One may argue that transposition and arrangement were common practice at the time and that Selle also arranged his own music. That said, especially given that Selle is not that well represented on disc, it would be preferable to stick as closely to the original conception of a piece.
Second, as much as I believe that composers should not be isolated from their time and that it makes much sense to combine their music with that of contemporaries, especially if their is any connection between them, in this case I had liked more music by Selle at the expense of the pieces by the likes of Steurlein - who deserves more attention as a composer in his own right, for that matter - for the same reason as I just mentioned: too much of Selle's output is not known.
Setting these issues aside, nobody interested in German 17th-century music should miss this production. Not only is it a demonstration of the quality of Selle's oeuvre, but the performances do it full justice. The six singers all deliver excellent performances, but I have to mention Florian Sievers with honour, because of his impressive interpretation of Misericordias, in a truly speechlike manner. The contributions of the instrumentalists also leave nothing to be desired.
Johan van Veen (© 2021)
Relevant links:
The Muses' Fellowes