Andreas Arend, Jan Kobow, Dorothee Mields - Das Heidelberger Lautenbuch (2022)

The alchemy of sounds

Sebastian Ochsenkun’s Tabulaturbuch auf die Lauten consisting of Latin motets (premiere recordings!), German psalms and songs and also Italian and French pieces, was published in 1558 as a collection of contemporary vocal music arranged for the lute. As far as the placement of the music in the collection and quantitative factors are concerned, Josquin des Préz is the most prominently represented composer. In addition, pieces by other renowned composers such as Nicolas Gombert from the Spanish court of Emperor Charles V and Ioannes Mouton from the court of King Francis I of France can be heard on this recording. Ochsenkun was the lutenist of Prince Elector Ottheinrich of the Palatinate.

Rising to what was a technically challenging task, Ochsenkun always produced the complete texture for his instrument by transcribing all the voices into lute tablature. His intabulations stand out from those of his contemporaries, who often limited themselves to three voices and sometimes to two. Nevertheless, Ochsenkun’s intabulations are excellently suited for »having a voice sing to them« – which will be demonstrated on this recording, also with several voices and in outstanding interpretations by the renowned singers Dorothee Mields and Jan Kobow.

Viewed historically, Ochsenkun’s work is regarded as testimony to the high level of music and lute playing during the middle years of the sixteenth century, also in Southern Germany. It shows us a musician who with his aspiration to quality and system is able to offer far-reaching impulses even beyond his times and his instrument.