Magnificent Choir Book of Albrecht V

It is one of the most precious treasures of the Bavarian State Library: the Choir Book with motets by Cipriano de Rore. After painstaking restoration and digitisation, the Choir Book with outstanding illuminations by Hans Mielich has now been made available online, meaning that it is now possible to view the work for everybody interested for the first time in over 450 years. The Choir Book was finished in 1559 on behalf of Duke Albrecht V (1528-1579) for the treasure vault of the Bavarian dynasty and contains 26 four-part to eight-part motets by the Dutch composer Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565). The repertoire of the music manuscript encompasses amongst other things also great state motets like the motet for the accession to the throne of Albrecht V of Bavaria, but also settings of Virgil and Horace or motets for the Christmas time. What is sensational about the work is the Choir Book's design as a magnificent codex with rich illuminations of unique quality. Besides highly detailed image adornments at the start of each motet, the manuscript contains eight full-page miniatures by the artist Hans Mielich (1516-1573).