Sex missæ novæ duabus vocibus cantandæ - Wansing, Frederik (Amsterdam Tetroode, van, 1780)
incomplete. first part only, no continuo
'Six new masses to be sung by two voices. The following are the Six Modulations of the same author. which can be sung after Elevation. To which, for the more perfect excellence of Harmony, was added the General Bass, with the necessary Arithmetic for the Organ, elaborated by a Musician of Amsterdam. First part'
according to Rudolf Rasch, "During the seventeenth century, numerous clandestine roman catholic churches in the Netherlands were fitted with organs, which must have led to Gregorian chant with organ accompaniment, a method of performance that was also becoming common internationally at this time. ... In addition to an organ and an organist, many clandestine churches in the course of the seventeenth and especially in the eighteenth century often acquired a church music ensemble, often called 'Choor' or 'College' or even 'Collegium musicum' and often consisting of musical amateurs. The directors of the performances of these ensembles, the music director and the organist will often also have been amateurs. The male choir members are usually citizens who are members against payment of a contribution (thus providing the financial means for church music), if there are female members, they are probably often so-called 'pats': women who lead a kind of unofficial monastic life in the Republic. (Real monasteries are forbidden.) Such ensembles have been documented for instance in Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Breda, as well as other places in Brabant, but they will undoubtedly also have existed elsewhere. ... In many cases Gregorian chant will have been sung in the hidden churches. In addition, from time to time (and certainly not everywhere) simple polyphony (usually two-voice) may have been performed, of the kind found in the Dutch liturgical hymnals of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and also in manuscripts from this period""The Dutch Gregorian chant books from the seventeenth century, but especially those from the eighteenth century, contain numerous additions to the South Netherlandish examples, both monophonic and polyphonic. They are partly hymns for the feasts of new (mainly local) saints, partly Gregorian chant in a 17th or 18th century guise, the so-called neo-Gregorian chant, partly primitive two-part settings of hymns (often called cantiones) and partly polyphonic settings of masses in an idiom that crosses Gregorian chant, simple counterpoint and simple classical harmony. Everything is originally printed with Gregorian note types, whereby mensural meanings are given to the different note shapes, with dots and bars! In the eighteenth century, a considerable amount of this neo-Gregorian chant was published in the Republic (mainly Amsterdam), which is not only characterized by the use of modern time signatures, but also by the use of tempo indications, dynamic directions, sharps and flats and a completely tonal composition. Usually it concerns the ordinarium missae with a Tantum ergo. From the second quarter of the eighteenth century there is clearly a local production. Around the middle, two-part masses in simple (yet 18th-century) counterpoint are also newly composed and published. The culmination of all this are the six masses by the Utrecht musician Gerardus Nielen, which have been preserved in manuscript: a continuous mixture of monophonic and polyphonic voices, whether or not neo-Gregorian or modern and whether or not with bass and/or basso continuo. Furthermore, the repertoire is almost entirely anonymous. Close to this repertoire is the remarkable Sex missae novae duabus vocibus cantandae, published anonymously around 1780. The style is that of the duet, with mainly third and sixth parallels, so that Frederik Wansing, organist of the Mozes-en-Aäronkerk, can effortlessly put a figured bass under it."
according to Rudolf Rasch, "De toegevoegde continuo is vrijwel zeker van Frederik Wansing, maar de componist van de vocale partijen is nog onbekend, aangezien de toeschrijving aan Johannes Baptista Scheepens op niets gebaseerd lijkt."
Cover mentions 'Primo Party' on plate in the form of a heart
multiple (illegible) manuscript names and text on endpapers and title page, manuscript notes throughout the score ('tutti, duo...').
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Plainchant; Mass; Duet; Vocal music; Catholicism; Church music; Amsterdam (Netherlands)