Stephan Mahu

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Stephan Mahu (also Étienne Mahu , * between 1480 and 1490 in the then County of Flanders ; † 1541 or after) was a Franco-Flemish composer , singer , trombonist and conductor of the Renaissance .

Live and act

Secure information about the origin of Stephan Mahu is not yet available; his family name could either indicate an origin from the Lille area or the Hungarian or Slovak region. Perhaps there is a connection with the furniture dealer Mahu Prynberger , in the service of Emperor Maximilian I since 1500 , and his servant Stephan . Mahu may have been a member of the court of Queen Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547), the wife of Ferdinand I , as a singer and trombonist from the beginning of the 1520s ; from November 14th, 1528 he then contractually committed himself to lifelong service with her and Ferdinand. In return, he was assured a substantial pay increase; However, this was not paid out until 1539. In addition, between September 1529 and March 1532, he took over the position of Vice Kapellmeister of the Viennese court music band from Archduke Ferdinand under Arnold von Bruck , until 1539. As a trombonist in this band, his name appears for last time in 1541. The place and date of his death are not known.

meaning

Above all, the sacred works of Stephan Mahu point to the coming style of Palestrina ; in his compositions he used homophonic , polyphonic and canonical elements. His most extensive and most important composition is the setting of nine readings of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah for Holy Week for two to six voices, which was reprinted in 1568. This cycle has been in the tradition of lamentation settings since the end of the 15th century, but Mahu made maximum use of the possible scope of this recitative genre: he allows the cantus firmus of Gregorian origin to wander between treble and tenor or he leads it imitatively in all voices by; he grades from two-part to six-part and writes a sentence that ranges from pure homophony to the densest counterpoint .

The Magnificat scoring is not quite as demanding, but is written in the same way in technique and style. His motets are in the Franco-Flemish- Habsburg style typical of his time with their dense imitation. In his song arrangements, Stephan Mahu, like most of his contemporaries, abandons the strict cantus firmus in favor of a contrapuntal dense and thoroughly imitated processing, but with a slight preference for treble and tenor as the melody-bearing voices. A recognizable influence of his superior Arnold von Bruck can be seen here, as well as directly in the settings of the German Our Father song “We believe all in one God” available by both composers . This also includes the unusual, quodlibet- like arrangements of the song “Ach hilf mich Leid” / “Von noble Kind”.

Before the Council of Trent (1545–1563), cross-denominational musical interest was the rule; therefore the Habsburg-Catholic composer Mahu and others took part in the Protestant song project of the Wittenberg music publisher Georg Rhau (1488–1548; Leipzig Thomaskantor from 1519 to 1520 ). Rhau began his activities as a publisher and printer in 1523, and various individual works by Stephan Mahu appeared in his anthologies from 1535. Mahu's only demonstrable pupil, Johann Zanger (1517–1587), was probably a close personal acquaintance of the composer from 1527 and also praised him as an authority on music theory .

Works

  • Liturgical works
    • Lamentationes Hieremiae to two to six voices
    • Magnificat octavi toni (I) to four voices
    • Magnificat octavi toni (II) to four voices
  • Motets (unless otherwise noted, sacred motets)
    • “Accessit ad pedes Jesu” to four votes
    • “Anima mea liquefacta est” to four votes
    • “Cur quisquam corradat” to four voices; Erroneously attributed to Mahu, by Nicolas Gombert
    • “Da pacem domine” with eight votes
    • “Domine libera animam meam” with five voices
    • “Ecce concipies et paries filium” with four voices
    • “Ecce Maria genuit nobis salvatorem” with five voices
    • “Ecce quam bonum”; only received bass
    • “Ego sum resurrectio” to four voices; Erroneously attributed to Mahu, by Johann Walter (1496–1570)
    • “Gratia musa tibi” for two voices, secular motet
    • "In convertendo"; only received bass
    • “Media vita in morte sumus” with five votes
    • “Panem angelorum” to five votes
    • “Sancta et immaculata virginitas” with five votes
    • “Si bona suscepimus” to five votes
    • “Spes mea” to five (?) Votes
  • Choral arrangements and arrangements of secular songs
    • "Oh help me sorry" / "Of noble kind", secular song arrangement with four voices
    • "Christ has risen", chorale arrangement with four voices
    • "Christ has risen", chorale arrangement with five voices
    • “A strong castle is our God”, chorale arrangement with five voices
    • "It went a wording ducal servant", secular song arrangement with four voices
    • “It wolt an old man to go to the bulschaft”, secular song arrangement with five voices
    • “Lord God, hear my voice”, chorale arrangement for five voices
    • “Ich poor Keutzlein kleine”, secular song arrangement with four voices; Erroneously attributed to Mahu, by Ludwig Senfl
    • “Praise God you Christians”, secular song arrangement for five voices
    • "O Lord God, pardon me", chorale arrangement with five voices
    • "Our Father", chorale arrangement with four voices
    • “Who is noble at this time”, secular song arrangement with four voices
    • “We all believe in one God”, chorale arrangement with four voices
  • Other compositions
    • 1 piece with the heading “Ste. Ma. ”(Meaning: Stabat mater and not“ Stephan Mahu ”), in the organ tablature of John of Lublin (1st half of the 16th century), arrangement of Josquin's motet

Literature (selection)

  • Robert Eitner:  Mahu, Stephan . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, p. 98 f.
  • C. Dreher: The Lamentations of Stephan Mahu. In: Monthly books for music history No. 6, 1874, pages 56–66
  • L. Nowak: The German society song in Austria from 1480 to 1550. In: Studies on musicology (supplements to “Monuments of music art in Austria”) No. 17, 1930, pages 21–52
  • H. Federhofer: Biographical contributions to Erasmus Lapicida and Stephan Mahu. In: Die Musikforschung No. 5, 1952, pp. 37-46
  • Othmar Wessely: Contributions to the life story of Johannes Zanger. In: Congress report Vienna 1956 (Society for the Publication of Monuments of Music Art in Austria), Graz / Cologne 1958, pages 708–726
  • The same: The musicians in the court of Queen Anna, wife of Ferdinand I .. In: Festschrift for KG Fellerer, published by H. Hüschen, Cologne 1973, pages 659-672
  • Thierry Levaux: Dictionaire des Begique du Moyen-Age à nos jours , Editions "Art in Belgium" 2006, ISBN 2-930338-37-7 , page 411

Web links

swell

  1. ^ The Music in Past and Present (MGG), Person Part Volume 11, Bärenreiter and Metzler, Kassel and Basel 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1121-7
  2. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 5: Köth - Mystical Chord. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18055-3 .
personal data
SURNAME Mahu, Stephan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Machu, Stephan; Mahu, Stephanus; Mahu, Etienne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Flemish composer, singer and trombonist of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH between 1480 and 1490
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: County of Flanders
DATE OF DEATH after 1541