This is the first recording of sacred music by the German Renaissance master Ludwig Daser (1526-89). It includes the Proper Mass for the Veneration of the Virgin Mary, complete with polyphonic settings of the Ordinary and motets in place of the Propers. Daser served as Kapellmeister at the court of Munich under the patronage of Duke Albrecht V. Following the arrival of Lassus, only a few years Daser's junior, duties of composition were divided at court. Daser tended to the church music while the internationally renowned Lassus saw to the chamber music, which required a composer of greater sophistication. In 1571, Daser moved on to the Protestant court of Stuttgart, where he built a grand ensemble of 45 singers. The Protestant alterations that occur in the Mass text performed here, together the large musical forces it requires, suggests that this work was intended for Stuttgart. The program concludes with a six-voice modification of Josquin's famous four-voice motet 'Ave Maria'. This revision may actually have been the work of Daser himself.

Daser's style of composition is first rate. He is, in general, more reserved than Lassus. The alternation of imitative and chordal writing that persists in Daser's music is similar, but Daser is more cautious in his use of dissonance. Cornets and trombones accompany voices here, as was traditional for the concerto motets and Mass movements of this period. Notes and Latin texts appear with English translations.

LOEWEN