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Daniel Friderici’s RULES FOR CHORAL SINGING

Martin Ruhnke begins his biographical article on schools of the time, presenting the basic music funda-
Friderici with a startling, indeed shocking, piece of in- mentals of the day. The title of chapter seven of the
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formation. He informs us that Friderici while still a book in which his rules appear is somewhat misleading,
young boy left his home in the small village of Klein “Von etliche Regulen zierlich zu singen” [On Some Rules for
Eichstedt to earn his living in the town of Querfurt as a Singing Elegantly], for the rules cover far more than
Kurrende singer and later became a member of the chorus vocal aesthetics and are equally directed to directors as
symphoniacus. The Kurrende was a band of indigent beg- to the typical chorister, symphoniacus, in training. Florian
gar boys loosely associated with a school and church Grampp calls this chapter the eigentliche Neuheit [real in-

who were often officially licensed by towns to sing and novation] of the book. This depends on the defi nition
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beg in the street in order to survive. Klaus Niemöller of “innovation,” for Conrad von Zabern had certainly
rejects the conventional etymology of the word from provided a more extensive coverage of aesthetics for
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Latin currere, to run, and argues for corradere, “to scrape monophonic chant choirs as early as 1474, and Her-
together,” or those who scrape together a living by sing- mann Finck had provided some of his own in his Prac-
ing for their bread. These were the poorest boys with tica Musica (1556); indeed, such lists, usually small ones,
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the least musical training who were allowed to course are fairly common in the literature of the time, espe-
through the streets singing simple monophonic songs, cially for the German Protestant Latin school tradition.
in exchange for which they received alms, but mainly What makes Friderici’s rules exceptional is their
food. practical orientation, breadth of coverage, and rela-
That Friderici later became a member of a chorus tively succinct statement in imparting a wealth of in-
symphoniacus also tells a tale. The Kurrende boys’ utterly formation. They vary from advice on vocal produc-
impoverished state usually prevented them from receiv- tion, aesthetics, and pronunciation to organization of
ing much education or advancing in musical skill; thus, the choir, deportment, conducting, and performance
they usually remained at a low level of training because practice. Of the many points related to performance
of their poverty and need to provide for their own sur- practice, among the most important is his confi rmation
vival. Some few, however, by what must have been ex- of Vicentino’s earlier (1555) assertion that the tempo of

ceptional effort managed to advance in training and a performance must vary according to the text. Judged
enter the more highly trained chorus symphoniacus, which on the criteria of vocal aesthetics, performance prac-
performed “figural” [i.e., polyphonic mensural] music 6 tice, and interpretation, Friderici would seem rightfully

and were employed in the more lucrative performances to claim the laurel for the finest set of such rules up
at weddings, funerals, and other celebrations. In this until his time, and arguably for some time beyond.
chorus the boys received a small stipend and additional This article provides a translation of the twenty-two
tips for extra performances. Friderici managed such an rules that appear in the 1638 edition of the Musica Fig-
achievement from such a background and then went uralis along with occasional comments in comparison
on to earn the master’s degree, become a composer, with the earlier statement of the rules in 1619, when
choir director, pedagogue, and author, which amounts that would seem to offer some value for consideration. 9

to an almost Herculean achievement. It is certainly The music examples present a problem; like the rules
humbling to many of us today, and makes his relative- themselves, the illustrations in the 1619 edition avail-
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ly early death at about the age fifty-four all the more able on IMSLP Petrucci are good quality but diff er in
tragic. It also goes far to justify the impatience with me- details from the 1638 edition. It is also desirable to use
diocre choral directors and lazy boys that occasionally the original examples in their earlier notation because
emerges in his writing. In 1618, Friderici settled perma- modernization of the notation somehow diminishes
nently in Rostock as cantor of Marienkirche and ulti- the effectiveness. Fortunately, IMSLP Petrucci comes to

mately became capellmeister of all Rostock’s churches. the rescue, for it also offers the 1677 last edition, whose
The book as a whole is a solid but rather typical ex- examples are not only identical to the 1638 edition but
ample of the pedagogical texts for the Lutheran Latin also high quality for reproduction. 11

22 CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11