Mats Lillhannus

For about as long as I have been working with early music, the song collection Piae Cantiones has followed me. For many years I used the modern 'school' edition published in the late 1960s. More recently I have, however, grown increasingly dissatisfied with this edition, mainly for two reasons: In order to keep the publication compact, the editors chose to omit a large portion of the verses in the strophic songs; the editors also made quite liberal changes in text underlay and, on occasion, melody, without including a critical apparatus describing the modifications. They also omitted some of the songs completely as being less suitable for modern use, notably all the longer songs in estampie or sequence form.

In order to remedy this, I decided to start making a new set of editions of the songs, following the original print more closely, and, when changes have been necessary, including critical notes. All songs will be available in original note values and at original pitch, but I will on occasion also include transposed versions, to make certain songs more accessible. As you will find, the work is not yet finished, and I will keep adding songs as I have them ready.

Piae Cantiones was originally published in Greifswald in 1582, but the origins of the collection lie in the cathedral school of Turku, Finland. The collection contains a wide variety of songs for school use, with sacred or moral texts. Many of the songs have been traced to Central or Western Europaean origins, but many others have been uniquely preserved in this collection and may have been locally produced. The chronological compass is equally diverse, with songs clearly dating from mediaeval times sharing space with other songs in a late renaissance idiom. One of the purposes for printing the collection seems to have been keeping these songs from falling out of use, and this goal certainly was achieved. The collection was reprinted in 1625, with the addition of a few polyphonic songs by Daniel Friderici, a composer working in Rostock. New prints and selections continued to appear in the following centuries, and some of the songs seem to have been kept in use in Finnish schools even in the 19th century.

It is my hope that the editions below will contribute in some modest way to the continued use and popularity of these attractive songs. All of the editions may be freely printed out, copied and used in concerts and recordings. They may not, however, be reissued in print or online without my prior consent. Feedback, comments, questions and requests are welcomed; my email address may be found on my main page.