Abermals vom Antichrist: Orlando di Lassos Theaterchöre und die Musikdramaturgie der frühen Jesuitenbühne

Abstract

Antichrist reloaded: Orlando di Lasso’s choruses for the theatre, and the musical dramaturgy of the early Jesuit stage The music of sixteenth-century Jesuit dramas has remained a grey area: contemporary descriptions focus on the staging of the dramas and their impact on the audience, while surviving musical pieces are often brief and simple, which sits oddly with the large-scale, festive performances staged at court or university, such as Orlando di Lasso’s contributions to Samson and Hester. Franz Körndle’s discovery that a group of late motets by Lasso was written for insertion in the drama Christus Iudex by the Italian Jesuit Stefano Tuccio allows us to study the contribution of the choruses to the overall dramaturgy, as well as the musical means Lasso employed to fit them to the dramatic situation and the practicalities of performance. The article traces the performance history of Christus Iudex from Rome to Graz and Olomouc, suggesting that Lasso’s choruses were possibly intended for an abandoned performance as part of the dedication of St Michael’s church in Munich.