Johannes Wannenmacher

Johannes Wannenmacher (Vannius) (* approx. 1485 in Neuenburg am Rhein , † approx. 1551 in Interlaken ) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance . He initially worked as a cantor in Bern , later in Freiburg in Üechtland . He sympathized with the Reformation (among other things he was in correspondence with Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich), which resulted in his arrest and the "embarrassing interrogation" with colleagues there in 1530. He was released from prison and expelled from the country through the intercession of the Reformation-minded city of Bern. Wannenmacher spent the last two decades in Interlaken as a land clerk. 27 compositions by Wannenmacher are known, including motets, psalms, hymns, sacred and secular songs. The composer was probably related to the priest Melchior Kaspar Wannenmacher (approx. 1490–1517), who worked in Neuenburg am Rhein together with a Hans Hoffmann as the “spiritual and secular caretaker of the buwes our dear frowen münster”.

Origin and life

Johannes Wannenmacher was born around 1485 in the Zähringer town of Neuenburg am Rhein. The father was presumably Caspar Wannenmacher, who has demonstrably studied in Basel in 1475 and 1480/81. There was also a brother with the same first name - a Melchior Kaspar Wannenmacher from Neuchâtel - a priest and conductor for the Neuchâtel Minster (approx. 1490–1517). This (unlikely, since he probably died in 1517) or another relative of the composer appeared in a document after Wannenmacher's death in an inheritance dispute against the composer's widow in 1553.

After Geering, Wannenmacher arrived “like a shipwrecked man” in Bern in 1510. It is unclear where he had previously received his musical training. Perhaps, like his father, he had spent his apprenticeship and study years in Basel (perhaps similar to Franz Kolb, the well-known imperial reformer from Inzlingen near Lörrach, who joined the University of Basel in 1492 and received his master's degree ...). Apparently he had to get financial support at first. On February 13 of the same year, Wannenmacher was accepted as cantor in Bern. Initially, however, there were disciplinary measures against him, as he had apparently not properly performed his duties as a choir director due to his preference for “a good drop”. Later, however, his reputation improved because of his hard work. He earned services for the expansion of the choir and was even forgiven his debts.

The time as a cantor in Bern came to an end in 1513: On April 6, 1513, Johannes Wannenmacher probably went to Neuchâtel for a 14-day vacation in order to then take up the position of succentor in Bern. Wannenmacher then left Bern entirely on September 17, 1513 and moved to Friborg, Switzerland, where he was appointed by the council as cantor at St. Nicholas Church. As it were, bribed by Cardinal-Bishop Matthäus Schiner, Wannenmacher immediately made a detour to the episcopal court in Sion, presumably because of his rather low income as a cantor. The city council of Friborg even had to try to get their cantor approved by Schiner. Under Wannenmacher's direction, however, the local singing school prospered in the following years. After all, Wannenmacher became the first collegiate cantor here and was thus at the high level of other church dignitaries.

Wannenmacher presumably spent a very happy time in Freiburg before his fate later turned badly: During this time Freiburg was dominated by humanism and the Reformation. This probably found its origin in the entry of the bilingual Friborg state into the Swiss Confederation. In particular, the mayor of Freiburg, Peter Falk , helped the city to flourish. a. was shaped by the choice of Wannenmacher and shortly afterwards the famous organist Hans Kotter. Falk and Wannenmacher may well have been good friends. Johannes Wannenmacher made the acquaintance of the famous Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli through Falk. Falk wanted to bring Zwingli to Freiburg in order to give the city further new impulses in the course of the reformatory efforts. With Falk's death in 1519, the fate of the learned circle of Freiburg humanists soon took an unfavorable turn: the famous doctor Agrippa soon left Freiburg, to which he had only moved as a city doctor in 1523. Wannenmacher was one of Agrippa's intimate friends - with the scholar's departure, the position of the Freiburg free spirits, who were surrounded by a very differently minded city population, was again weakened.

As a result, the city council stepped up its anti-Reformation efforts. Under the external pressure, the friendly ties between the two great musicians Wannenmacher and Kotter also strengthened.

A letter from Wannenmacher to Zwingli (29 August 1526) has survived from this stormy period of upheaval in the Reformation:

Gracia et pax domini nostri Iesu Christi sit semper tecum, dilectissime frater. Min hertzallerliepster bruoder! Wissin min bad health from the grace of god; I have to take it for good, I wouldn't have looked at it. I also want to hear vil guots from üch and speak from heart. For a long time I never received greater joy from any brother, because Ruodolff brought me the letter from üch. I thank you to the highest amount of early writing; wolte got, dz i should blame it for umb üch könd etc. Eß is a priest by us, is called dominus arnoldus; I mean, ir should know in wol. The will to reform and govern all ; he is the biggest figure because of dz ich guots from those from Zurich and from üch red; he wants to have quoted me for my confederates etc .; he personalizes the stupid brothers all, etc. We would like to know how he has held up to Zurich, since he can not go against it. He complains vast vil and still runs the gentleman and practiced; one would soon be tired; when the gentlemen don't like to hand it, etc. Hec aput te maneant propter fratres, quos odit et persequitur etc. Min dear master Uolrich, let me know how things were going, whether the word of god is by the Tütschen mere or minre. We hope the be? R will soon become a real euangelist; god give grace darzuo. If I do not mess with miner ineptly speaking or writing, I assure the gentleman; the wave all zyt with his graces bywonen. Min bru or Hanß Kotter, organist, let us salute in the morning. Date Friburgi August 29th. Greetings from üweri hussfrowen and alls üwer gsind. Ioannes Vannius, cantor, din bruoder.

At the end of 1530, Catholic agitators brought the Freiburg supporters of the Reformation to trial: Wannenmacher, Hans Kotter and other friends were captured and tortured ("embarrassing interrogation") despite their fame and their services to the city of Freiburg. Wannenmacher was also accused of no longer tending his altar himself and employing others to do so. He defended himself, citing sickness as the reason for his failure. The following statements from him from the embarrassing interrogation are recorded:

Oh wow, why does it rip me? I know Nyemandts In uwer myner Herren instead of Keyn Leydt, undulating also nitt ansechen myn clumsy, but that I am not alone, who had understood the strange ending dyser cytt ...

In the end, Wannenmacher was lucky - advocates from the reformatory-minded Bern brought about his release from prison and after his previous earnings and debts were paid off, Wannenmacher, Kotter and a dean named Johannes Hollard were expelled from the country forever.

Wannenmacher spent the last decades of his life in Interlaken as a land clerk. Interlaken belonged to the state of Bern, so it tolerated the Reformation. Having escaped the hangman, however, his life in Interlaken was from now on very poor, marked by illnesses and - in relation to the work of a land clerk (including, for example, setting official accounts) - certainly did not correspond to the extraordinary musical inclinations and skills Tub maker. The people of Interlaken tried to keep him and his first wife Barbara Friess happy by running a small farm and donating wine.

Despite these difficult circumstances, some of Wannenmacher's compositions also date from the difficult Interlaken period, e. B. the bicinia and the song motet "On water rivers Babylon".

After the death of the first wife in 1546 (died of the plague in the Gasthaus zur Krone in Bern), Wannenmacher married a second time (second wife Madlen Ybach), whom he left with a silver cup after his death - the subject of the inheritance dispute with the Neuchâtel relatives mentioned above.

The relationship between the couple in the first marriage does not have to have been the best, because Barbara Friess decreed in her will that their son Israel Wannenmacher should inherit clothes and jewelry, but in the event of his death, the proceeds should only be given to the poor, while her husband was on the other hand should come out empty-handed! Wannenmacher probably died around 1550/51. More precise data is missing, as are the official accounts for the years 1549/50, for which he would have been responsible as land clerk.

Works

27 compositions from Wannenmacher's oeuvre are known, including motets, bicinias and the aforementioned song motet. In terms of content, all secular and spiritual genres are represented at Wannenmacher: Mass sentences, hymns, psalms, sacred and secular songs and motets. In 1553, at the instigation of master Johannes Kiener, the book printer Matthias Apiarius in Bern published two-part sacred and secular songs from Wannenmacher's estate under the title “Bicinia, sive Duo germanica ad aequales”. The music was intended for the town whistle.

literature

• Arnold Geering: Vocal composition in Switzerland in the first half of the 16th century and its main representatives, Bartholomäus Frank, Johannes Wannemacher and Cosmas Alder , dissertation 1933, Vocal music in Switzerland at the time of the Reformation, In: Swiss Yearbook for Musicology 6, 1933, University Library Basel
• Dieter Speck, Jürgen Treffeisen: Neuchâtel am Rhein - town and state estates in Breisgau in Upper Austria , TS Verlag, Neuenburg am Rhein, 2000

Web links

• Music prints from Mathias Apiarius' office in Bern: Johannes Wannenmacher
• Roots in Neuchâtel - Johannes Wannenmacher: A tortured composer , article in the Badische Zeitung from July 15, 2013
• On water rivers Babylon (Wannenmacher, Johannes) , directory of the work

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Speck, Treffeisen 2000
2. ↑ Little 1933