Hans-Leo Hassler worked almost his whole life in southern Germany,
which in the second half of the 16th century was one of the
cultural hubs of Europe. He was born in Nuremberg, son of an
organist, and had two brothers who also became musicians. They
were all trained as organists, and all three were connected
for some time with the influential and wealthy Fugger family.
Although they were also active as composers only Hans-Leo Hassler
wrote compositions in almost any genre in vogue at the time.
The two discs to be reviewed here give a broad survey of his
oeuvre which comprises sacred works in Latin and in German,
secular vocal pieces on German and Italian texts as well as
instrumental music.
Hassler received his first music lessons from his father. At
the time Leonhard Lechner, pupil of Orlandus Lassus, was archimusicus
in Nuremberg. It seems likely he had some influence on the young
Hassler, although there is no firm evidence that he was ever
Lechner's pupil. In 1584 Hassler went to Venice where he became
a pupil of Andrea Gabrieli. He also became acquainted with Giovanni
Gabrieli and with Claudio Merulo, one of Italy's greatest organ
virtuosos. He didn't stay for long though, as in 1585 Andrea
Gabrieli died and Hassler returned to Germany. In Augsburg he
took up the position of Cammerorganist of one of the
members of the Fugger family. It is with this family that he
was connected almost his entire life. In 1608 he moved to Dresden
where he first became chamber organist and then took up the
duties of Kapellmeister. Soon he was hit by tuberculosis
which caused his death in 1612.
The influence of what Hassler had heard and learned in Venice
is noticeable in his music. Several pieces are set for eight
voices in two groups, like Hertzlich lieb hab ich dich,
Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes and O Domine Jesu
Christe. In his motets for six parts Hassler also makes
use of the cori spezzati technique in that he splits
the six voices into high and low 'choirs'. Examples are Deus,
Deus meus and Vincula dum Christus terit. Even in
his secular music he makes use of this procedure, as in Schöns
Lieb, du machst mir angst and Musica è lo mio core.
At the end of the 16th century there was a growing amount of
text expression. That is clearly noticeable in the music of
Orlandus Lassus, and this disc contains various examples of
Hassler fitting in with this fashion. A telling example is the
joyful motet Exsultate Deo, but also Ad Dominum cum
tribularer. The opening phrase - "In my distress I
cried to the Lord" - is set to a chromatically ascending
figure, and the closing line - "and a deceitful tongue"
- is dominated by a chromatically descending figure.
The multi-religious landscape in the region where Hassler worked
is reflected in his oeuvre which comprises pieces for the Roman
Catholic liturgy as well as compositions which reflect the liturgical
reforms of Martin Luther. The latter aspect comes to the fore
in the pieces which open and close the first disc. Hertzlich
lieb hab ich dich is one of the most famous German protestant
hymns. The last stanza, 'Ach Herr, laß dein liebe Engelein'
was used by Bach at the end of his St John Passion. Another
Passion hymn is O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß. It
is first performed here in the form of a harmonisation, and
then as a polyphonic motet. Auß tieffer noth is a chorale
melody which was composed by Martin Luther himself. Here the
stanzas 1, 4, 5 and 6 are performed; two of them with one voice
group (tenors and sopranos respectively) singing the cantus
firmus, with the instruments taking the other parts. Another
Passion hymn turns up where one wouldn't expect it: Mein
Gmüth ist mir verwirret was later to be used for the famous
text O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.
The secular part of this recording is equally interesting. There
is quite a lot of text expression, and the madrigals by Hassler
are often no less expressive than those of his Italian contemporaries.
That is the case, for instance, in Schöns Lieb, du machst
mir angst (Sweet love, you frighten and hurt me) and Von
dir kann ich nicht scheyden (I cannot leave you).The Italian
madrigals O dolci lagrimette (O sweet tears) and
Vettene pur crudel (Away, cruelty) are of the same calibre.
A title like Lustgarten (pleasure garden), as a collection
of secular pieces of 1601 was called, suggests light-heartedness.
The exalted Tantzen und springen certainly belongs to
that category, but the above-mentioned Mein Gmüth ist mir
verwirret most definitely does not: "My mind is all
confused, and the cause is a sweet maiden". The Canzonette
of 1590 are also less cheerful than one might expect: "I
feel - alas! - that I am dying", "I fled through woods,
forests and across mountains (...) so as not to feel Cupid's
sharp arrows" and "O you who gives me pain".
The last of this group is more like a 'light vocal piece', as
New Grove defines a canzonetta. It is a joyful pastoral
song: "May the shepherds always live among delightful and
sweet Cupids".
The variety and consistently excellent quality of Hassler's
oeuvre is impressively demonstrated by this recording. The sacred
pieces are performed by the vocal ensemble which comprises twenty
singers. As the track-list gives no information about which
musician participates in the various pieces I can't tell whether
they were all involved in every piece. But given the fact that
chapels in the south of Germany were mostly not small a performance
with more than one voice per part seems plausible. The extensive
use of instruments is also justified; they give support to the
voices or replace some of them. The ensemble is quite colourful,
with recorder, cornett, three sackbuts, two renaissance violins,
two viols, violone, lute, theorbo, organ and percussion. They
also participate in the secular pieces, which are mostly sung
with one voice per part. That is a most sensible decision: these
pieces are meant to be sung at home and in social gatherings,
and a choir would be inappropriate here. Only the acoustic in
the secular repertoire could have been more intimate: the reverberation
is a bit too large.
The level of the performances is high: the singing and playing
is excellent. The delivery is as good as one can expect in polyphony.
Erik Van Nevel has found the right approach to this repertoire
in regard to dynamics and articulation: there is less legato
singing than is necessary in earlier music. There is also more
dynamic gradation and more attention to specific elements in
the text, but not so much as to suggest that this is a kind
of 'baroque' music.
There are only a couple of disappointments in these performances.
Nos autem populus ejus is the second part of the motet
Jubilate Deo, omnis terra. It would have been better to
perform the whole motet, and it should have been mentioned in
the booklet that it is only partially performed. The same can
be said of the hymn Auß tieffer noth. Likewise the second
part of the madrigal Vattene pur crudel has been omitted,
again without making mention of it. It is also difficult to
justify the Italian pronunciation of Latin in the motets.
But those are very minor blots on a production which deserves
the full attention of every lover of renaissance music. The
booklet omits recording dates, and as the discs give 2010 as
the year of production and copyright one may think that these
are recent recordings. But a look into the catalogue of my local
public library revealed that these discs were first released
separately by the small Belgian label Eufoda in 1999 and 2000
respectively. That may have been the reason they have never
received the attention they most certainly deserve. At that
time very little of Hassler's music was available on disc, and
unfortunately little has changed since. This production underlines
Hassler's importance and the variety and quality of his output.
Johan van Veen
Full track listing
CD 1
Hertzlich lieb hab ich dich (1607) [6:33]
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß (1607) [5:45]
Deus, Deus meus (1591) [3:27]
Exsultate Deo (1601/12) [2:39]
Veni, Sancte Spiritus (1601/12) [2:35]
Hodie completi sunt dies Pentecostes (1601/12) [3:59]
Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes (1591) [3:03]
Nunc dimittis servum tuum (1591) [3:56]
Vincula dum Christus terit (1591) [3:38]
Ricercar in G (organ) (1591) [2:38]
Ricercar in C (organ) (1591) [2:52]
Ad Dominum, cum tribularer (1601/12) [4:02]
Laudem dicite Deo nostro (1601/12) [2:38]
Nos autem populus ejus (1591) [3:08]
O Domine Jesu Christe (1601/12) [3:57]
O sacrum convivium (1601/12) [3:38]
Domine, Deus meus (1601/12) [5:57]
Auß tieffer noth schrey ich zu dir (1607) [9:36]
CD 2
Intrada I (1601) [1:47]
Intrada II (1601) [1:45]
Intrada III (1601) [1:17]
Intrada IV (1601) [1:53]
Intrada VII (1601) [0:53]
Nun fanget an ein guts Liedlein zu singen (1596) [3:24]
Schöns Lieb, du macht mir angst (1596) [3:36]
Feinslieb, du hast mich gfangen (1596) [2:44]
Herzlieb, zu dir allein (1596) [1:31]
Von dir kan ich nicht scheyden (1596) [2:19]
Canzona (1601/12) [4:47]
Musica è lo mio core (1596) [4:08]
Tessea catena d'oro (1596) [3:18]
O dolci lagrimette (1596) [3:21]
Vattene pur crudel (1596) [2:38]
Care lagrime mie (1596) [3:59]
Mein Gmüth ist mir verwirret (1601) [4:42]
Tantzen und springen (1601) [2:15]
Mi sento ohimé morire (1590) [4:24]
Fuggendo andai per boschi (1590) [2:03]
O tu che mi dai pene (1590) [3:33]
Vivan sempre i pastori (1590) [4:02]
Intrada V (1601) [1:29]
Gagliarde (1601) [1:00]
Currende/Erik Van Nevel 
