Hans Gerle (c. 1500,
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
- 1570, Nuremberg) was a German
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
nist and arranger of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
. Little concrete information is available regarding Gerle's life. His father was probably
Conrad Gerle (died 1521), one of the city's better-known lute makers. Gerle likely spent his entire life in Nuremberg.
Biography
Gerle published three volumes of lute music through
Hieronymus Formschneider, a Nuremberg publisher. The first two were issued in 1532-33, and the last in 1552; this third volume refers to Gerle as "the elder" on the title page, so it is presumed that Gerle had either a son or another relative with the same name. The first publication contains an introduction to the performance of lute,
viola da gamba
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...
(''Grossgeigen''), and
rebec
The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings.
Origi ...
(''Kleingeigen''), as well as an explanation of
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
, and is a significant source of information on
performance practice
Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...
. The book is primarily made up of
intabulation Intabulation, from the Italian word ''intavolatura'', refers to an arrangement of a vocal or ensemble piece for keyboard, lute, or other plucked string instrument, written in tablature.
History
Intabulation was a common practice in 14th–16th c ...
s of German composers such as
Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl (born around 1486, died between December 2, 1542 and August 10, 1543) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy R ...
,
Johann Walter
Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period.
Life
Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...
,
Heinrich Isaac
Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450 – 26 March 1517) was a Netherlandish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs (in French, German and Italian), and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin de ...
,
Thomas Stoltzer
Thomas Stoltzer, also Stolczer, Scholczer (c.1480–1526) was a German composer of the Renaissance.
Life
Nothing is known of Stoltzer's early life, though he is thought to have come from the same family as Clemens Stoltzer, who was a town clerk in ...
, and
Paul Hofhaimer
Paul Hofhaimer (25 January 1459 – 1537) was an Austrian organist and composer. He was particularly gifted at improvisation, and was regarded as the finest organist of his age by many writers, including Vadian and Paracelsus; in addition he ...
.
His second volume, for solo lute, features works from many older composers, such as
Hayne van Ghizeghem
Hayne van Ghizeghem ( 1445 – 1476 to 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance Burgundian School.
While many of his works have survived, little is known about his life. He was probably born in Gijzegem (near Aalst, in mode ...
,
Josquin des Prez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
, Isaac, and
, as well as popular contemporaries such as
Claudin de Sermisy Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490 – 13 October 1562) was a French composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance.Isabelle Cazeaux, "Claudin d Sermisy", "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. (London, Macmillan ...
,
Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert ( – 7 December 1562) was a Flemish composer of High Renaissance music. Mainly active in Italy, he was the founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers ...
,
Jean Mouton
Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Ve ...
, and Senfl. The third volume was a transcription into German tablature of pieces previously only available in Italian tablature, including works of
Giovanni Maria da Crema,
Domenico Bianchini,
Simon Gintzler,
Francesco Canova da Milano
Francesco Canova da Milano (Francesco da Milano, also known as ''Il divino'', ''Francesco da Parigi'', etc.) (18 August 1497 – 2 January 1543) was an Italian lutenist and composer. He was born in Monza, near Milan, and worked for the papal cou ...
,
Pietro Paolo Borrono
Pietro Paolo Borrono, or Petro Paulo da Milano or Petter Paul Borrono (born about 1490, Milan - died 1563) was an Italian composer and lutenist of the renaissance.Douglas A. Smith: ''A history of the lute from antiquity to the Renaissance'', Lute S ...
, and
Alberto da Ripa.
Publications
*''Musica teusch, auf die Instrument der grossen unnd kleinen Geygen, auch Lautten'' (1532)
*''Tabulatur auff die Laudten'' (1533)
*''Eyn newes sehr künstlichs Lautenbuch'' (1552)
References
*
Howard Mayer Brown Howard Mayer Brown (April 13, 1930 – February 20, 1993) was an American musicologist.
Brown obtained his BA from Harvard in 1951 and his Ph.D. in 1959, studying under Walter Piston and Otto Gombosi among others. He conducted and performed o ...
and
Lynda Sayce, "Hans Gerle". ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'' online.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerle, Hans
1500 births
1570 deaths
Composers for lute
German classical composers
German lutenists
Renaissance composers
German male classical composers