Arnold von Bruck

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Arnold von Bruck (* around 1500 in Bruges ; † February 6, 1554 in Linz ) was a Franco-Flemish composer , bandmaster and cleric of the Renaissance who was in the Habsburg service for most of his life .

Live and act

The origin and place of birth of Arnold von Bruck were controversial for a long time, until the Austrian music researcher Othmar Wessely proved beyond doubt in his publications from 1955 and 1958 that the part of the name “von Bruck” refers to the city of Bruges, mainly because of the often encountered Latin variant of his Name "Arnoldus Brugensis" and because of the proven fact that relatives of his came from Flanders and were resident in Bruges. With regard to the composer's youth, there is only written information from himself and from King Ferdinand I , which allows the conclusion that Arnold von Bruck was accepted into the court chapel of the Duchy of Burgundy around 1506, initially probably as a choirboy . After the death of Duke Philip the Fair , this chapel was nominally the chapel of Duke Karl, later Emperor Charles V , who had also become Duke of the Habsburg Netherlands in 1506 at the age of only six. Like Karl, Arnold spent his youth at the court of the regent Margaret of Austria in Mechelen . He stayed here until around 1519 and was probably under the formative musical influence of the band masters and composers Marbriano de Orto and Pierre de La Rue . For the next eight years or so, no direct information about his path has been passed down. From later sources, however, the news comes that he was ordained a priest in the diocese of Thérouanne (today's Pas-de-Calais ) during these years and then worked for a certain time at the court in Vienna .

There is only direct evidence for the second half of 1527, when he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Austrian regent Archduke Ferdinand (later King and Emperor Ferdinand I) in Vienna, as successor to Heinrich Finck . He held this position for over 18 years; his vice-bandmasters were Pieter Maessins (around 1505-1562), also of Flemish descent, and Stephan Mahu . During this time, Arnold acquired from Bruck several livings in what is now Slovenia and Croatia, namely from 1528 to 1548 at the Cathedral of Ljubljana , from December 1529 at the Cathedral of Zagreb , and from July 1531 in the town of Laas in Kočevje. At the end of 1545 he was retired from the imperial court. He stayed in Vienna for some time and was a chaplain at one of the altars in St. Stephen's Cathedral ; He also composed some pieces here for the cathedral choir . There is evidence that he lived in Linz from 1548, where he had held the highly respected and best-endowed Trinity fringe ( Beneficium Sanctae Trinitatis ) in the Trinity Chapel of Linz Cathedral since 1543 ; However, he did not perform any official duties here. Arnold von Bruck died in Linz as a wealthy man on February 6, 1554.

meaning

The Viennese court orchestra was regarded as a prominent institution in the Austro-Habsburg music world, and Arnold von Bruck enjoyed a special reputation as the director of this band. This is evident from the commemorative coin with von Bruck's image minted by Ludwig Neufarer in 1536. In addition , around 1540 Antonius Margarita (Magolith), professor of Hebrew at the University of Vienna, dedicated the “Kurtze exposition on the word Hallelujah” to him. Arnold's pupils were Johann Zanger (1517–1587) and Heinrich Finck's great-nephew Hermann Finck (1527–1558), although Zanger expressly named him as a role model in his publication “Practicae musicae praecepta” ( Leipzig 1554) alongside Erasmus Lapicida , Heinrich Finck and Stephan Mahu . In line with his sphere of activity, von Bruck's compositions were mainly distributed through southern German publishers and through manuscripts from the area of ​​Habsburg rule. Even the arrangement of the motet “Sancta trinitas” by Antoine de Févin , perhaps already written in his earlier time at the Burgundian court orchestra, was first published in 1537 by the Nuremberg publisher Hieronymus Formschneider . Furthermore, a collection of sacred and secular songs was published in Nuremberg in 1534, dedicated to Arnold von Bruck, in which 20 compositions by himself are in the first place, as well as pieces by Ludwig Senfl and Wilhelm Breitengraser (around 1495 - 1542). The Wittenberg publisher Georg Rhau published the sacred hymn book "Newe deudsche sacred singing for the common schools" in 1544, which contained 17 movements by Arnold.

After the new melodies and texts became cross-denominational in the middle of the 16th century, Arnold von Bruck set not only Catholic but also many Protestant texts to music, which then appeared in the above-mentioned Lutheran hymn book by Georg Rhau. From today's perspective, Arnold's main merit in music history is basically the setting of German texts. The chorale arrangements as well as the secular songs show a cantus firmus arrangement typical of the genre with a dense, thoroughly imitated counterpoint ; here the tenor and top voice are firmly bound to one another and mostly process the given melody completely and in octave imitation . Homophonic cantional clauses are rare. In contrast, his sacred music, along with the manuscripts of the Vienna court orchestra and the chapel of St. Stephen's Cathedral, has largely been lost. The motets that have been preserved show the typical Franco-Flemish vocal polyphony of the mid-16th century with its imitation in a dense, sonorous movement; However, his two- to four-part movements are unusual only for high voices “ad voces aequales”, which were written for the boys' choirs of the Vienna court orchestra or the Schottenkloster. Here, too, as in the other types of composition, the composer's preference for “maximum contrapuntal difficulties” is evident, which is expressed in the execution of often longer passages in the strict canon as well as the variety and mastery of the cantus firmus processing. The most impressive example of this is the four-part “Dies irae”, in which the complete sixty-line poem is processed in ever new constellations using the method of strophic-repetitive chorale-cantus firmus (Thomas Schmidt-Beste in the MGG source).

Works

  • Latin hymns
    • “Adesto nunc ecclesiae” with four votes
    • “Audi benigne conditor” with four voices
    • “Gloria laus et honor” to four votes
    • “Jesu quadrangariae” to four votes
    • “O crux ave spes unica” with four voices
  • Latin liturgical works
    • “Dies irae” to four votes
    • Magnificat [octavi toni] for three-part boys' choir
    • Magnificat [octavi toni] for four-part boys' choir
    • Te Deum laudamus to four votes
  • Latin motets
    • “Ascendo ad patrem” with five votes
    • “Da pacem domine” for four-part boys' choir
    • “Deus misereatur nostri” for four-part boys' choir
    • “Grates nunc omnes”, in three versions for two-, three- and four-part boys' choir
    • “In civitate domini” to five votes
    • “Laudate dominum omnes gentes” for four-part boys' choir
    • “Pater noster” - “Ave Maria” for four-part boys' choir
    • “Pater noster” - “Ave Maria” to five voices
    • “Quomodo miseretur” to three votes
    • “Virgo prudentissimae” to three votes
  • Latin works of uncertain authorship
    • "Lumen ad revelationem", number of voices unknown, only bass preserved; Attributed to "AB"
    • "Pater peccavi" with four voices, attributed to "Arnoldus"
    • “Rosa de spinis protulit” with five voices, attributed to “Arnoldo”
    • "Si quis vult post me venire", "A. de Ponte ”
  • Sacred German chorale arrangements
    • “Out of deep need I cry to you” to four voices
    • "Christ has risen" (I) to four voices in two versions
    • “Christ is risen” (II) to four votes
    • "Christ was in death bonds" to four votes
    • “These are the holy ten commandments” to four votes
    • "It is salvation and we come here" to four votes
    • “God the Father live with us” to four votes
    • “Lord, who will dwell in your hut” to four votes
    • “Let it be your commandment” to four votes
    • "Come Holy Spirit" to four votes
    • “Come to me” to four votes
    • "We are in the middle of life" to four votes
    • “O Almighty God” to five votes
    • “Our Father in the Kingdom of Heaven” to four votes
    • “We all believe in one God” to four votes
  • Secular choral movements
    • “Fortitudo dei regnantis” with six voices, state motet, probably for King Sigismund I of Poland
  • Secular German songs
    • "Oh help me," Quodlibet to five votes
    • “Alls von Gott” with four voices, in two versions
    • “To all of the world” to four votes
    • “Beschaffens Glück” to four votes
    • “The force of the accident” to four votes
    • “Time brings a lot” to four voices
    • “A beautiful woman makes me happy” to three votes
    • “Misery I cried” to four votes
    • “It's going to be this summer” to four votes
    • "There was a Landsknecht" to four votes
    • “Patience hopes grace” to four votes
    • “I stood this morning”, Quodlibet to six votes
    • “I know a Mülnerin” to four votes
    • “You Christians all alike” to four votes
    • “No eagle in the world so beautiful”, Quodlibet to five votes
    • “Labor and work in the world” to four votes
    • “ O you poor Judas ” to six votes
    • “This is how we all drink” to five votes
    • "Cordially trust" to four votes, in two versions
    • "How are you" to four votes
  • Arrangements of works by other composers
    • Antoine de Févin: “Sancta trinitas” to four voices, extended by two voices by Arnold von Bruck

Literature (selection)

  • Array by Dommer:  Arnold von Bruck . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 376.
  • J. Wirth: Arnold von Bruck: his life and his works . Dissertation at the University of Vienna in 1910.
  • L. Nowak: The German society song in Austria from 1480 to 1550 . In: Studies on Musicology (Supplements to the Monuments of Music Art in Austria) No. 17, 1930, pp. 21–52.
  • Hans Albrecht:  Arnold von Bruck. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 380 ( digitized version ).
  • Othmar Wessely: On the question of Arnold von Bruck's origins . In: Communications from the Commission for Music Research No. 1, Rohrer, Vienna 1955.
  • Othmar Wessely: Arnold von Bruck. Life and Environment , habilitation thesis, Vienna 1958.
  • H. Osthoff: The Te Deum of Arnold von Bruck . In: AA Abert (Hrsg.): Festschrift for Friedrich Blume. Kassel 1963, pp. 252-257.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Arnold von Bruck. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 233.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive  on June 30, 2007)
  • W. Pass: The four-part »Magnificat« by Arnold von Bruck in the choir book A-Ws Sign.2a 19, which was rediscovered a few years ago . In: Studies on Musicology (Supplements to the Monuments of Music Art in Austria) No. 42, 1993, pp. 467–474.
  • Othmar Wessely: The late years of Arnold von Bruck . in: E. Th. Hilscher (Ed.): Festschrift for Th. Antonicek. Tutzing 1998, pp. 43-50.
  • Thomas Schmidt-Beste:  Arnold von Bruck. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 1 (Aagard - Baez). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1111-X , Sp. 987-991 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  • Markus Grassl: Franco-Flemish music. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7001-3043-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas Schmidt-Beste:  Arnold von Bruck. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 1 (Aagard - Baez). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1111-X , Sp. 987-991 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 1: A - Byzantine chant. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1978, ISBN 3-451-18051-0 .
personal data
SURNAME Arnold von Bruck
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arnold Brugk; Arnold Prugg; Arnold de Prugkh; Arnold von Prigkh; Arnoldus Brugensis (Latinized spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer, bandmaster and cleric of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH around 1500
PLACE OF BIRTH Bruges
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1554
Place of death Linz