ABSTRACT
The main reason behind the scarcity of polyphonic settings of Meine Seele erhebt den Herren from the first generations of Lutheran composers. The latter preserves the tradition of tenor falsobordone, whereas the canticle places the psalm-tone in the top part. When the tonus peregrinus first appears in contrapuntal Meine Seele erhebt den Herren versions, it occurs several times within the same work: Deutsche Magnificat auff die acht Tonos Musicales, deren ein jeglicher zwey mal und Peregrini toni drey mal gesetzt. This distinct style has merged with another sixteenth-century trait proper to the German-speaking area in general and to Lutheran music in particular: a fondness for free melodic diminution here displayed in the middle part, where the passaggio-like writing is unambiguously an ornamented diminution of the mediatio figure. There are very few Latin Magnificat settings in motet style from sixteenth-century Lutheran composers, and seemingly none at all of Meine Seele erhebt den Herren.
