RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Philipp DULICHIUS (1562 - 1631)
Sacred Motets
Quaerite primum à 7 (PDV 292) [2:08]
Benedic anima mea Domino - Non secundum peccata nostra à 8 (PDV
288) [7:25]
Christus humiliavit semetipsum à 8 (PDV 237) [4:16]
Anni nostri sicut aranea à 5 (PDV 44) [3:48]
Ecce quomodo moritur iustus à 7 (PDV 223) [4:07]
Iustorum animae in manu Dei sunt à 7 (PDV 279) [3:30]
Nolite solliciti esse à 5 (PDV 159) [1:59]
Magister, licetne censum dare à 5 (PDV 168) [2:59]
Ecce quam bonum à 8 (PDV 215) [3:49]
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden à 6 (PDV 328) [2:42]
Deus noster refugium à 7 (PDV 270) [3:01]
Cantate Domino à 8 (PDV 238) [3:00]
Beatus homo, qui corripitur à 7 (PDV 225) [4:14]
Dixit Iesus discipulis suis à 5 (PDV 129) [2:46]
Beati qui habitant in domo tua - Elegi abiectus esse à 8 (PDV
243) [6:05]
In domo patris mei à 7 (PDV 222) [2:54]
Gaudens gaudebo in Domino à 7 (PDV 295) [2:49]
Lobet und preiset den Herren à 8 (PDV 240) [2:52]
(PDV refers to the catalogue of Dulichius' works, edited by Otfried von Steuber)
Weser-Renaissance/Manfred Cordes
rec. 18-20 August 2008, Stiftskirche, Bassum, Germany. DDD
Texts and translations included
CPO 777 352-2 [64:46]
Philipp Dulichius is one of the German composers from around 1600 whose oeuvre
has been almost completely neglected, despite the fact that in 1896 a German
musicologist devoted a study to him. Whereas other composers took profit from
the emergence of the phenomenon of the amateur church choir in Germany, Dulichius
was overlooked. There are several reasons for this. One of these is that almost
all his motets were written on Latin texts which made them less suitable for
the Lutheran liturgy. Another is that they are scored for five to eight voices
whereas the church choirs always consisted of four voices.
When he was rediscovered in the late 19th century he was nicknamed "the Pomeranian
Lassus", after Pommern, the region which today is partly in Germany and partly
in Poland. Its main city was Stettin (now Szczecin) where Dulichius worked
for many years as Kantor. He was born in Chemnitz as son of a cloth
merchant who belonged to the middle class and several times took the position
of mayor. He matriculated at Leipzig University in 1579. Held in high esteem
in his time, his collections of music were widely disseminated and individual
pieces, in particular those for double choir, included in anthologies.
Dulichius's oeuvre comprises only sacred compositions which were printed in
12 collections between 1588 and 1630. The last year before his death he planned
a publication of 100 motets; only 36 were printed. Until the end of his life
he stuck to the traditional polyphony of the 16th century, the prima prattica.
There is little text expression in the sense that individual words are depicted.
In this respect the nickname "Pomeranian Lassus" is not really fitting, because
in Lassus we quite often find elements of text expression and especially madrigalisms,
which are largely absent from Dulichius. That doesn't mean that there is no
connection between text and music, though. The dialogue between Jesus and
the Pharisees about paying taxes to the Roman emperor (Magister, licetne
censum) is realised through reduction and augmentation of the number of
voices. The piece eloquently ends with just two voices singing unisono, expressing
the text that the Pharisees left Jesus and "went away". The joyful character
of Cantate Domino and Gaudens gaudebo in Domino (I rejoice in
the Lord) comes across impressively, thanks to the lively rhythms. The disc
closes with Lobet und preiset den Herren which is largely homophonic.
Because of the rapid exchanges between the two choirs and the exhilarating
rhythms it is a quite exciting piece.
Now and then elements of a more immediate illustration of the text are noticeable.
Dixit Iesus discipulis tuis includes an ascending line on "resurgere"
(rise), whereas the word "mortuis" (the dead) is set to a low note. In Ecce,
quam bonum an descending line is used to illustrate "quod descendit" (which
flows down). There is also a madrigalism on "tympano" in Cantate Domino.
A number of pieces are for double choir. It has been suggested that Dulichius
had made a journey to Italy, but there is no evidence of this. He must have
been very well aware of the practice of cori spezzati in Venice, though.
He not only splits an eight-part texture in two opposing groups, sometimes
these are of a different line-up, for instance a 'high' versus a 'low' choir,
for instance in Benedic, anima mea and in Lobet und preiset den
Herren. Notable is Deus noster refugium (God is our refuge and
strength) for its use of a cantus firmus on the text "Si Deus pro nobis,
quis contra nos?" - If God is for us, who can be against us? This is repeated
several times by a tenor, supported by a sackbut.
That brings us to the issue of performance practice. The programme has been
divided into six groups of three motets each, ordered according to keys. Dulichius
himself valued the use of the various modi of his time. In each group
one motet is in an authentic mode and one in a plagal mode, with a composition
in the modus connexus at the end. The performance pays tribute to the
various ways in which sacred music was performed at the time. In some motets
the voices are doubled by instruments, in others one or two parts are sung
with the other parts played by strings or wind. In a couple of motets for
double choir the instruments are divided: the strings play with the voices
in the first choir, the wind join the voices in the second choir. This differentiation
in performance practice guarantees a large amount of variety. Not that the
music of Dulichius really needs this: even with an a cappella performance
his motets would make a lasting impression. Some of the Dulichius motets have
been included in anthologies, but this is the first disc which is entirely
devoted to his oeuvre, and that is well deserved. Apart from the fact that
comparing him with Lassus isn't quite correct, he doesn't need it: Dulichius's
music is very good in its own right. Weser-Renaissance delivers immaculate
and often exciting performances. The solo contributions of various members
of the ensemble are outstanding. The instrumentalists make much impression
with their 'vocal' executions, and the balance between voices and instruments
is perfect.
The quality of music and interpretation means that this disc fully deserves
to be labelled Recording of the Month.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Immaculate and often exciting performances.