Description
This 5 part piece, Greiner, Zanner, by Heinrich Finck (1445-1527) survives in two very closely related manuscripts (both written by Lucas Wagenrieder), MS mus. 18810 of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and MS 328-331 of the Universitätsbibliothek in Munich. The Munich source does not include the Vagant; however this part does not give the appearance of an added part, containing quite a few essential phrases.
The melody has come down in other settings, going back to the Glogauer Liederbuch (a 3), with others by Hofhaimer (a 3, printed in LPM TM55) and Heinrich Isaac (a 4, printed in LPM AN11). While it is possible that Finck’s piece may have been conceived for voices, my feeling is that this is an instrumental treatment, not that different in principle from Finck’s own Wer ich eyn Falck ↣, though much simpler rhythmically. A striking feature is the limited range of the parts, which may suggest the use of wind instruments.
