In his will, Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) decreed that every single one of his compositions should be destroyed after his death. It is quite unimaginable that the composer’s last will should have been carried out! Fortunately, posterity preserved the musical memorial, and so today we find his musical legacy in the library of the ‘Darmstädter Hofkapelle’. To date, very little of Graupner’s extensive vocal oeuvre has been recorded, and thus the Anton-Webern-Chor Freiburg together with the Ensemble Concerto Grosso conducted by Hans Michael Beuerle present imaginative baroque vocal music recorded for the first time. A program of four passion cantatas was selected from the enormous body of Graupner cantatas – altogether 1414 sacred cantatas grouped in 46 annual cantata volumes are extant!

This world premiere recording presents Christoph Graupner's complete surviving cantatas for solo tenor, a remarkable cycle that occupies a unique place within the nearly 1,450 church cantatas of one of the Baroque era's most prolific masters. Performed by Georg Poplutz with L'arpa festante led by Florian Heyerick, these six cantatas reveal a composer whose striking harmonic imagination, expressive intensity and dramatic originality place him firmly alongside his contemporaries Bach, Telemann and Handel.

Christoph Graupner had spent five years as an opera composer in Hamburg before the Landgrave Ernst-Ludwig called upon him to take up the position of Hofkapellmeister in Darmstadt in 1709. He became the best-paid music director of his time and would continue to define the musical style of the court until his death in 1760. His relative isolation there apparently enabled and allowed him to develop a personal style that does not exactly conform to the norms that had been set during the past centuries through the reception of Bach's monumental oeuvre; the slow rediscovery of Graupner's music has also meant that he was not included in the musical picture we now have of that era. This album presents a varied sample of Graupner's musical activities during his almost fifty years in service in Darmstadt - we hope that it will spark the listeners' curiosity to discover more of this extraordinary composer.

The Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum, under the direction of Reinhard Goebel and outstanding soloists such as Max Volbers on recorder and Clemens Röger on horn, present the first instalment in the series The Leipzig Collegium Musicum, Vol. 1: Music before Bach, offering a vivid exploration of a formative musical world. The term Collegium Musicum refers to an assembly of musicians who gathered regularly, under direction, to study and perform vocal and instrumental works, an idea that flourished in many cities, yet found particular resonance in Leipzig. By the early 18th century, this landscape of competing ensembles and personalities stood on the threshold of transformation, as musical life gradually evolved towards the later institutional structures that would shape the city's enduring legacy. In practice, however, these societies existed within a complex and often unsettled environment, where overlapping groups, shifting roles, and competing interests made the musical scene difficult to define and reconstruct with certainty. This programme offers a glimpse into that dynamic and, at times, elusive world, where music was shaped as much by collaboration and exchange as by individual voices. The works presented reflect a period before Bach's arrival in Leipzig, when compositional language was still evolving and stylistic boundaries were fluid. Drawing on influences from across Europe while asserting their own character, these pieces reveal a rich interplay of invention, contrast, and expressive immediacy. Composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Friedrich Fasch, and Georg Melchior Hoffmann were part of this environment, where musical ideas were shared, adapted, and developed through collective practice.

Christoph Graupner must have made a deep and lasting impression on his contemporaries. Otherwise, more than two decades after his death, an admiring epitaph would scarcely have attested that he regarded church music as "so lofty, venerable, and sacred that he distinguished it from operatic and chamber styles as far as heaven from earth; the stranger who heard him for the first time marveled and believed himself transported into another world." Our catalogue now offers ample opportunity to test the truth of these words of praise. The cantatas released thus far represent only a small fraction of the nearly fifteen hundred works Graupner left behind. Yet, in every single one, we hear that he approached this genre "with diligence, punctuality, quiet serenity, and joy of heart." These same qualities have clearly inspired the performers, who now join forces for the sixth time in their commitment to the long-serving Kapellmeister of the Darmstadt court.

This album is the debut release from the Irish Baroque Orchestra. The tracks chosen take the listener on a journey through the German courts of the 18th century. Concertos by Fasch, Telemann, Heinichen, Vivaldi, and Graupner have been chosen for this programme. “…what really makes the IBO so worth hearing is the unified artistry and joyous, focused energy of its music-making under Huggett.” (The Sunday Times)

Listening to these works is synonymous with pure joy: Graupner's expressive chromaticism, the uncommonly manifold instrumental color artistry in the arias, and the most highly proficient application of the Baroque doctrine of the affections are enchanting and gripping. All of this is more immediately understandable and emotionally more heartfelt than the works of Bach. This is what klassik-heute. Com wrote following the release of our Vol. 2 with the Passion cantatas of Christoph Graupner. And now - for the Passion season - we are releasing Vol. 3. Once again the instrumentation has been designed with great variety, and it is here that the key to Graupner's personal style is to be found: he captivates listeners not so much with impressive, highly memorable »melodies« but with intensive playing with the various tone colors made available to him by the court chapel members and their instruments on each particular occasion. For all their individuality and rich variety, however, the cantatas are linked together: the three works for Quinquagesima, Passion Sunday, and Holy Thursday presented here adhere to the formal structure with seven numbers as a rule most frequently employed by Graupner. Their design is largely symmetrical, with framing choral numbers and one soprano aria and one bass aria. These cantatas have in common a contrast principle assigned central importance and employed on a textual and dramatic level as well as in the musical design. It is precisely here that Graupner's original background as an opera composer is reflected, a circumstance that had enabled him to gather experience with pronounced dramaturgical oppositions.

There is hardly a better way to get to know Graupner's individual vocal style than with this disc.

One of the most remarkable things about German composers of the 17th and 18th centuries is the size of their oeuvre. One wonders where they found the time to compose so many works, considering the general slowness of life. It took days to travel from one part of Germany to another, and weeks to go from Germany abroad. Writing a composition by hand, copying parts for all performers, teaching, rehearsing - it is just amazing how much work they had to do. And in addition, there was an insatiable demand for music which they had to satisfy. This is also the main reason they composed so much.

Take Christoph Graupner: the number of his cantatas is estimated at about 1400! He had to deliver a cantata for every Sunday, plus all feastdays, plus special events like the birthday of his employer. And then there was the instrumental music, both chamber and orchestral music, which was played as entertainment. Reusing old material was no option: music which was more than 10 years old was considered old-fashioned. As Graupner worked in Darmstadt from 1709 until his death there was no material his employer hadn't heard before.

But by good fortune he had some assistance. From 1713 to 1738 the cantatas for the first and third Christmas days - one of the busiest periods of the year - were written by his assistant chapel master, Gottfried Grünewald. The second Christmas day was also the birthday of his employer, so the music for that day, which had to be particularly festive, was written by Graupner himself. He also composed the music for New Year, and the following Sundays, including Epiphany and Candlemas.

Four of the five cantatas on this disc date from the 1740s. Graupner used texts which were provided by his brother-in-law, the theologian Johann Conrad Lichtenberg, who for a number of years wrote a cycle of cantata texts every year. The cantatas consist of a sequence of recitatives, arias and chorales, but the texture varies.

Frohlocke, werte Christenheit, begins with a chorus on a free poetic text. This is followed by two pairs of recitative and aria, for bass and soprano respectively, and closes with a harmonisation of two stanzas from the old hymn 'Ein Kind geborn zu Bethlehem'. The vocal parts are embedded in lively orchestral figurations which is typical of Graupner's treatment of chorales. This practice has its roots in the 17th century, and was often used by composers like Johann Kuhnau and Johann Ludwig Bach.

Der Herr hat mich gehabt im Anfang and Das Licht scheinet in der Finsternis both begin with a dictum, a quotation from the Bible. The former has a recitative for bass and a duet for alto and tenor, who mostly sing in parallel motion, which is only broken at the end. The duet is followed by a recitative and an aria for tenor, and closes with a stanza from Luther's hymn 'Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ'.

The latter also contains a duet, this time for tenor and bass. There is a strong contrast in the vocal and instrumental parts between section A and section B, reflecting the juxtaposition of light and darkness in the text. The preceding recitative for bass is a perfect example of Graupner's effective treatment of the text.

Das Licht des Lebens scheinet hell opens with an accompanied recitative for bass, who then sings an aria. This is followed by a chorale - a stanza from 'Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist'. Then the soprano sings a recitative and an aria, and the alto has a recitative which ends in an accompagnato at the last line. The cantata ends with another stanza from 'Ermuntre dich'.

The last cantata of this disc, Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, is the only one which dates from the period that Grünewald was active. It was written for the second Sunday after Epiphany, 18 January 1728. But during the winter season 1727/28 Grünewald was ill. Because of that he wasn't able to compose, and Graupner had to write all cantatas himself. As Grünewald also participated in the performances as a bass, Graupner omitted bass parts in his cantatas. This shows that at that time cantatas were performed with one voice per part, which is also practised in this recording. This particular cantata is the only one from this period that has a bass part. One may conclude that Graupner temporarily had a bass at his disposal, but probably a not very experienced one as he only participates in the three chorale settings.

These are three stanzas from the hymn 'Von Gott will ich nicht lassen' (1563). The cantata opens with the first stanza, which is followed by a recitative for the tenor, who then sings a duet with the alto which is an eloquent expression of the text: "Jesus provides. Now away, you cares!" This is followed by another stanza from the hymn. Next are a recitative and an aria for soprano. In the latter she is accompanied by a trio of two oboes and bassoon which are joined by the strings in the ritornelli. The cantata closes with another stanza from the hymn 'Von Gott will ich nicht lassen'.

During his career Graupner has developed a musical language of his own, which is not comparable with anything written in his time. His compositions are certainly not easy-listening stuff as recent recordings of his instrumental oeuvre show. Of his vocal music very little has been performed and recorded as yet. There is hardly a better way to get to know his vocal oeuvre than with this disc.

These five cantatas are varied in scoring and offer a number of beautiful arias and duets. It is particularly advisable to pay attention to the way Graupner uses the instruments to express the Affekte of the texts. Things could hardly be better. The four soloists are completely congenial and their voices blend perfectly, as the chorale settings show. The individual performances of the singers are also excellent; the delivery is immaculate thanks to good diction and pronunciation. The instrumental parts are engagingly given by the members of Das Kleine Konzert.

The booklet contains extensive programme notes and all the lyrics have an English translation. In tracks the lines are printed in the wrong order.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

The present recording of Christoph Graupner's Passion Cycle of 1741 concludes on Vol. 4 with the highly expressive cantata for Laetare Sunday GWV 1123-41. Laetare Sunday ("Joy" or "Refreshment" Sunday), the fourth Lenten Sunday, actually assumes a certain special positive status with it's central focus on God's action, which alone can rid human beings of their failings. However, Johann Conrad Lichtenberg, the author of the text, had a different view: here the dominant theme is the inequity of the rulers and judges who pronounce on Jesus while he bears everything with patience. In the end the verdict concerns the collective guilt of humankind, for which there initially seems to be no remedy. Here two things stand out: the decision in favor of two duets (instead of two arias) and the instrumentation of the cantata as a whole. The blend of instrumental color renders audible what is a direct musical realization of the textual content. The selection of chorales from Graupner's oeuvre between 1713 and 1751 illustrates the extraordinary variety of his compositional production, and the constantly changing coloration brought about by the nuanced instrumentation conveys this to the listener with special clarity. "The Baroque boom - here it in fact has brought new gems to light" (klassik-heute. Com of Vol. 3).

In 1711 Christoph Graupner was already appointed court conductor and he would continue to work in Darmstadt for the rest of his life. Graupner’s focus shifted to sacred vocal music, which explains the sheer abundance of the 1,400-plus cantatas he composed. In 1723 the Leipzig city magistrates were looking for a new cantor at the Thomas School – and wanted him, above all. Alas, Graupner’s patron did not release him from his contract an so they had to hire Bach. Graupner, famous and widely celebrated during his lifetime, was soon thereafter forgotten. As we rediscover and hear more and more of his works, however, the judgment of his contemporaries would appear to us as increasingly germane. The present recording spans the liturgical arc from Maundy Thursday via Good Friday and Easter Sunday to Easter Monday and presents one liturgical work for each of the festive days – and each of them a world premiere recording!

REVIEW:

As one might expect, even though the accompaniment is limited to strings, the emotional content of the words, appropriate for the season, are reflected in Graupner’s progressive music. The text is never obscured, and he takes great pains to insure that rhythmic and textural variations are done gracefully. The performance by the Pulchra Musica ensemble is quite exact, with good intonation and a sense of style that allows for the variety of the music to emerge easily. Conductor Christian Bonath keeps things moving along, and the chorus Capella Vocalis works well. Sebastian Hübner’s tenor and Johannes Hill’s bass have the lightness of sound and flexibility for this sort of music, and the richness of countertenor Jan Jerlitschka complements them well. My only concern is that the one-on-a-part strings are perhaps too thin, and there are times when the orchestral accompaniment fades almost into obscurity. The recording of these sensitive and lyrical cantatas would have been enhanced by a thicker orchestral texture. But that being said, the performances are well worth adding to the growing collection of this master of the Baroque church cantata.

-- Fanfare

Tenor Richard Resch presents a moving Christmas album that explores the season's deeper meaning through sacred and folk music. Named after Jochen Klepper's powerful Advent hymn, the album traces the symbolic journey from darkness to light, weaving together Baroque masterpieces, traditional carols, and lesser-known gems from across Europe. With works by Rosenmuller, Briegel, Graupner, Buxtehude, and others, the recording offers a musical meditation on hope, faith, and the light born at Christmas. Highlights include the mystical Maria durch ein Dornwald ging, the Byzantine chant Miladuka, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Von guten Machten-a testament to trust in the darkest of times. For Richard Resch and his ensemble, this album is both personal and profound. "These pieces remind us that Christmas is not just a tradition-it's a message of light in the midst of night."

Very often discussions regarding the composer Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) places him in comparison with J.S. Bach. If one has heard of Graupner, it is usually the bit of trivia that he was offered the Leipzig Thomaskirche cantor position before Bach. Of particular interest, however, is the vastness of extant material Graupner composed. There are scores for over 1,400 of Graupner’s church cantatas. Forty-seven of these are for solo bass voice with a variety of instrumental pairings. One can assume that the majority of these works were written for the bass (and composer) Gottfried Grünewald (1665-1739), whom Graupner knew in Leipzig and with whom he worked at the opera in Hamburg. Grünewald served as the vice-capellmeister in Darmstadt under Graupner from 1713 until his death. In addition to the forty-seven solo bass cantatas, Graupner also wrote seventeen duet cantatas for soprano and bass. Alongside the staggering number of cantatas, Graupner composed a wealth of instrumental music including keyboard works, more than 100 sinfonias, and a canon with 5,626 inversions.

The sheer volume of this relatively unexplored repertoire is thrilling but also overwhelming, making categorization of Graupner’s overall musical style problematic. This recording, featuring cantatas and instrumental works composed between 1720 and 1745, offers the listener an introduction to Gaupner and an important, if small, piece in the larger puzzle that is Graupner’s life and work. It premieres Graupner to a wider music world largely ignorant of this talented and nearly unknown Baroque composer by baritone Michael Hix, Chair of the Department of Music at the University of New Mexico, praised by critics for his “expressive voice” and “commanding stage presence”, and whose research has brought Christoph Graupner to light through this album.