This anonymous six-part setting of the ancient Christmas sequence, Laetabus exsultet fidelis, comes to us from the early 16th century Copenhagen wind band manuscript (Gl. kgl. Samling 1872), from the court of Christian III of Denmark.
Christian III of Denmark
A Renaissance wind band typically consisted of louder instruments–shawms, sackbutts, and the like. A wind band in the employ of a court could expect to play at ceremonies, celebrations, official events, and also just for people’s enjoyment. Here’s a modern version of a Renaissance wind band:
The York Waits, nearly 20 years ago, playing shawms and sackbutts
The only reason we have this music at all is that Christian III managed to hire a musician away from his position in Munich. The new arrival brought a set of part books with him. We don’t know whether he did so with permission or whether they just happened to find their way into his suitcase, but that’s how this particular music survived, because nothing comes down to us from that Munich collection.
Laetabundus (the sequence, not this Renaissance setting of it) dates way back. There are iterations of it as early as the 11th century, and it may possibly be the oldest sequence in the Roman Missal. For quite some time it was thought to be the work of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, but that no longer seems to be the scholarly conclusion.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux – not the author
Tim and I are playing it here on recorders. There are only two of us, so it took the wonders of modern technology to morph us into six players, but it has been done, for your listening pleasure. And we have accompanied the music with a slideshow of various nativity scenes roughly contemporary with this early 16th century music. You’ll notice it consists of several discrete sections – you’ll think we’re done and then we’re off and running again. It’s longish, but it really is a lovely arrangement, and we hope you’ll enjoy it. We do have shawms and a sackbutt, but given the difficulties of recording with those instruments in a small living room, we stuck with recorders.
If you would like to hear this piece with a combination of voices and loud instruments, you’ll find a very nice version by searching YouTube for the Copenhagen Cornets and Sackbutts. You will probably also be able to find recordings of the simple chant, for comparison.
