Ludwig Senfl

1486-1543

Ludwig Senfl was subject to the Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”. Born in Basel and brought up in Zurich he joined the Imperial Hofkapelle of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I. He travelled with the choir, trained under choir master Heinrich Isaac and flourished. At some point he was ordained as a priest.

However his fortunes changed dramatically when Maximillian died and Charles V was elected Emperor in 1519.

The new Emperor dismissed most of the Hofkapelle and it is said he refused to pay the annual pension Senfl had been promised in the event of Maximillian’s death.

Thrown out and forced to earn a living he travelled extensively looking for employment. This he found as a copyist, editor and proofreader in various places.

It helped that he happened to be living and working at the very moment the printing press was changing publishing across Europe. During this period he composed a large number of pieces, many sacred but also secular lieder too.

He managed to secure a place (presumably as a priest) at the Diet of Worms in 1521. This was the moment when the Emperor challenged Martin Luther to appear and defend his 95 theses.

Senfl met Luther and befriended him. He started a long correspondence with the reformer and some of his followers, including the Duke of Prussia who eventually offered Senfl more permanent employment at his court in Munich.

Whilst his style has never been considered revolutionary and follows Josquin des Prez his melodies were widely admired and his music was popular throughout Germany for much of the 200 years following his death. However of all the polyphonists today he is one of the most overlooked.