The category of instrumental music was not yet fully independent in the time of Alexander Agricola, who was born in the late 1450s and died in 1506. That explains why this album of Agricola's instrumental music contains a good many vocal pieces: most of the instrumental works of this era were linked to vocal models. In several cases here, most extensively with the little three-part song In minen zin, the vocal piece is presented first, with a sequence of instrumental treatments of it following in the manner of a set of ...
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The category of instrumental music was not yet fully independent in the time of Alexander Agricola, who was born in the late 1450s and died in 1506. That explains why this album of Agricola's instrumental music contains a good many vocal pieces: most of the instrumental works of this era were linked to vocal models. In several cases here, most extensively with the little three-part song In minen zin, the vocal piece is presented first, with a sequence of instrumental treatments of it following in the manner of a set of variations, with a small and variable ensemble of strings, winds, harp, and at times plectrum lute. There are works presented singly, without their vocal models (if any), and works by other composers than Agricola, with Agricola involved either as the composer of the original model or of that of the instrumental variations. This is all to the good, for Agricola's instrumental works were part of a larger compositional matrix in which individual authorship was not yet the most important...
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