Erbe Deutscher Musik, Bd. 114: Gemischter Chor mit Begleitung

The “Annaberger Chorbuch II” is the second part of the sole surviving musical source from the music collections of the church library of Annaberg in the Erz Mountains. It was long housed there until it was acquired in 1968 by the Sächsische Landesbibliothek Dresden and restored. The two volumes contain many anonymous compositions which considerably expand the previously published repertory of German music from the early 16th century. This elevates the work manuscript to the rank of an important source. It contains a variety of pieces in all sacred genres and generally in four-part writing: masses, single mass movements, Magnificat settings, motets and a collection of hymns and Introit pieces. Thanks to concordances, certain pieces can be attributed to composers such as Antoine Brumel, Loyset Compère, Alexander Agricola and Heinrich Isaac.