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Frische teutsche Liedlein – Pop Hits of the 1550's

  • Villa Elisabeth 3 Invalidenstraße Berlin, Berlin, 10115 Germany (map)

Zweigulden’s programme gathers German popular melodies that circulated widely in the 1550’s, whether used as a cantus firmus in Mass settings, parodied in contrafacta, or sung with new texts in broadsheets (Liedflugschriften). The title pays tribute to Georg Forster’s remarkable collection, which he advertised as “a selection of good old and new German songs in the true German style, carefully chosen for use on all kinds of instruments” (Ein außzug guter alter und newer Teutscher liedlein einer rechten Teutschen art auff allerley Instrumenten zubrauchen außerlesen). By performing this kind of repertoire monophonically, the current boundaries dividing sacred and secular, vocal and instrumental, and classical and pop music become blurred. What emerges instead is a testament to the transcendent musical vocabulary of melody that was shared and understood in the early modern era.

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September 20

La Colère de la Reine – Kriemhild chante le Nibelung

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December 17

Frölich Wesen – The Liederbuch of Ambrosius Kettenacker