Jacob Handl

Jacobus Handl Gallus, a portrait from 1590

Aliases: Jacobus Gallus; Jacobus Gallus Carniolus; Iacobus Gallus

"Gallus" redirects here. You may be looking for Antonius Gallus. See also the disambiguation page for Gallus.

Life

Born: 03 July 1550

Died: 18 July 1591

Biography

Jacob Handl (as he is known from archival material) or Jacobus Gallus (as his title pages proclaim) was born in 1550 in Corniola (now Ribnica), part of present-day Slovenia. Both German Handl and Latin gallus mean "rooster" and it is presumed the original must have been the Slovenian name Jakob Petelin. He is best known for his sacred music. A Cistercian monk, Gallus travelled in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, and went to Melk Abbey, in Lower Austria. He was a member of the Viennese court chapel in 1574, and was choirmaster to the bishop of Olomouc, Moravia between 1579 and 1585.

He used the Latin form of his name, to which he often added the adjective Carniolus, thus giving credit to his home land, Carniola. His most notable work is the six part Opus musicum, 1577, a collection of motets that would eventually cover the liturgical needs of the entire ecclesiastical year. The motet O magnum mysterium comes from the first volume (printed in 1586) which covers the period from the first Sunday of Advent to the Septuagesima. This motet for 8 voices shows evidence of influence by the Venetian polychoral style, with its use of the coro spezzato technique.

His wide-ranging, eclectic style blended archaism and modernity. He rarely used the cantus firmus technique, preferring the then-new Venetian polychoral manner, yet he was equally conversant with earlier imitative techniques. Some of his chromatic transitions foreshadowed the breakup of modality; his five-voice motet Mirabile mysterium contains chromaticism worthy of Don Carlo Gesualdo. He enjoyed word painting in the style of the madrigal, yet he could write the simple Ecce quomodo moritur justus later used by George Frideric Handel in his funeral anthem The ways of Zion do mourn. Gallus died on July 18, 1591 in Prague.

The above is an excerpt from Wikipedia. For the full article, click here.

List of choral works

Ab Oriente venerunt Magi Adiuro vos filiae Jerusalem a 12 Adoramus te, Jesu Christe a 6 Adoramus te, Jesu Christe a 8 Alleluia, Cantate Domino a 12 Alleluia, In resurrectione tua Christe Ante Luciferum Ascendens Christus Ascendit Deus Ascendo ad Patrem meum Ave Maria a 4 Ave Maria a 5 Ave Maria a 8 Beati estis Benedicta sit Benedictus Benedictus Dominus Deus Canite tuba Cantate Domino a 12 Cantate Domino a 9 Christus factus est Civitatem istam Confirma hoc Deus Congregati sunt inimici De coelo veniet Dicunt infantes Dies sanctificatus Domine Deus Domine Deus meus, exaltasti Domine Iesu Christe a 6 Domine quinque talenta a 5 Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur Domum tuam, Domine Dum aurora finem daret Duo Seraphim Ecce concipies Ecce quomodo moritur justus Ego flos campi a 4 Ego flos campi a 8 Ego sum vitis vera Egredietur virga Elisabethae vero impletum est tempus Exultate Deo adjutori nostro

Facta est cum angelo Factus est repente Filiae Jerusalem nolite flere Fulgebunt justi Gaudeamus omnes fideles Haec dies Heroes, pugnate Hic est Martinus Hodie Christus natus est Hodie completi sunt dies Pentecostes Hodie nobis cœlorum rex Impetum inimicorum ne timueritis In coelestibus regnis a 6 In nomine Jesu a 4 Ingemuit Susanna Jerusalem, gaude gaudio magno Jesu dulcis memoria Laetitia sempiterna Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus a 16 Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus a 24 Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus a 4 Lesser litany & responses (Handl) (Adrian Wall) Media vita a 8 Michael, coeli signifer Mirabile mysterium Miserere mei a 8 Misit Herodes rex manus Missa Ich stund an einem Morgen Missa Pater noster Missa super Sancta Maria a 6 Missa super Undique Flammatis a 7 Missa Transeunte Domino Musica dei donum optimi Musica Musarum germana Natus est nobis O admirabile commercium O bone Deus O Herre Gott, in meiner Not O magnum mysterium O quam metuendus O salutaris O veneranda Trinitas

Obsecro Domine Omnes de Saba Orietur stella Pater noster Planxit David Praeparate corda vestra Preis, Dank, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit Pueri concinite Pueri Hæbreorum Quam pulchra es Quasi cedrus exaltata sum Qui manducat meam carnem Quia vidisti me Quo mihi crude dolor tantum dominare Quod chorus vatum Radix Jesse Recessit Pastor noster Regali ex progenie Regem natum Resonet in laudibus a 4 Resonet in laudibus a 5 Resonet in laudibus a 6 Rorate coeli Sanctus Bartholomaeus Sapientiam omnium a 12 Sepulto Domino Stella quam viderant magi Stetit Jesus Super flumina Babylonis Super solium David Surge, propera amica mea Te Deum laudamus a 8 Tempore felici multi numerantur amici Tota pulchra es amica mea - Vulnerasti cor meum Tribus miraculis Vae nobis Veni redemptor gentium Veni sancte Spiritus Venit lumen tuum Jerusalem Verbum caro factum est Vespere autem Sabbati Viri sancti Vox de coelo sonuit

 
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Publications

Sacred

• Missarum VII. & VIII. vocum, liber I (Prague, 1580)
• Missarum VI. vocum, liber I (Prague, 1580)
• Missarum V. vocum, liber I (Prague, 1580)
• Missarum IIII. vocum, liber I (Prague, 1580)
• Opus musicum, 4 vol. (Prague, 1586 - 1590)
• Sacrae cantiones de praecipuis festis per totum annum (Nuremberg, 1597)

Secular

• Quatuor vocum liber I, harmoniarum moralium (Prague, 1589)
• Quatuor vocum liber II, harmoniarum moralium (Prague, 1590)
• Quatuor vocum liber III, harmoniarum moralium (Prague, 1590)
• Moralia (Nuremberg, 1596)

External links

• Works by Jacob Handl in the Petrucci Music Library (IMSLP)
• HOASM Biography
• Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (German)