The most important musical setting of the Nativity before Johann Sebastian Bach

Telemann's practicality enabled him to recognize at a very early stage the cantors' desire for cantatas that are easy to perform. For this reason the collection entitled "Der Harmonische Gottesdienst" quickly became popular and no doubt earned him a handsome profit. The publication of this collection made him one of the most popular cantata composers of his time. In 1728 Mattheson referred to "Der Harmonische Gottesdienst" in his "Musicalischen Patrioten" as a standard work of valuable domestic music.

In the eighteenth century, a special genre of instrumental ensemble playing developed in church music: works were written for a wind instrument and obbligato organ. The geographical center of this genre was the kingdom of Saxony along with Thuringia. The majority of these works specify oboe as the wind instrument, less frequently horn or even trumpet, flute, or bassoon. Besides a few compositions in a free style, these were predominantly chorale preludes in which the wind instrument played the cantus firmus (the chorale melody), and the organ, usually in trio textures, performed elaborate, often very virtuoso figurations.

Among the large number of passions that Telemann wrote, the St. Luke Passion of 1744 occupies an important place due to it's special interpretation of the text.

Music is an indispensable component of the early theater. This is true not only of Shakespeare's and Moliere's dramas in which there was singing, playing, and dancing, but also for the theater pieces of German-speaking authors. Yet, this beautiful and characteristic music lies dormant, like the pieces themselves, forgotten and unrecognized in libraries and archives. They are to be heard here again for the first time in centuries. This is a rediscovery of entirely unknown things. Baroque theater music - music not intended for the opera, but for the theater of the spoken word - comes to life again.

An interpreter portrait of one of the most important German organists and composers in the second half of the 20th century

Two magnificent masses by the most important German representative of the "Messa concertata" at the beginning of the 17th century

Memento mori or the "Ars morendi" have always been intended as an aid to a meaningful life. Viewing life as a path, as a journey, encourages a sense of balance and calls for spiritual viaticum.

Ehmann and the Westfalische Kantorei were among the pioneers in the field of historically informed performance practice. In particular, they brought the work of Heinrich Schutz back into public awareness.

Classical Music

Boxberg worked as an organist in Grossenhain from 1692 to 1702. From here he worked simultaneously as a singer, opera director, opera composer and also as a librettist, in Leipzig and at the courts of Wolfenbuttel, Ansbach and Kassel, and later as an organist in Gorlitz. The cantatas he composed do not follow the model common at the time in terms of form and instrumentation, with choirs, solo arias, recitatives and chorales, with an orchestra consisting of strings, wind instruments and continuo. A large part of the works are chamber music with a singing voice and two melody instruments, plus bassoon and organ. Formally, many of the solo cantatas consist of a dictum (Bible text appropriate to the Sunday of the church year) and an aria, usually four verses long. The name of these works is "Conncert con Aria". Another cantata form uses psalms and chorales in it's content. In formal terms, these cantatas can be assigned to the earlier, motet-like style.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The historic organ of the St. Michaels Church in Bobenthal, Palatinate, is a unique work of art in several respects. The instrument was built in 1817 by the organ maker Wendelin Ubhaus (er) from Kirrweiler. In 1879, as part of the church renovation, the organ was removed and stored by the Schlimbach company from Speyer. Actually there was a desire for a new instrument, but this (luckily from today's perspective!) Failed for financial reasons; the old Ubhaus organ was repaired by Hermann Schlimbach and set up again. The organ case was originally untreated; today's color scheme dates from 1964. Some special features make the instrument a rarity not only in the rich Palatinate organ landscape: the pedal does not have a 16' voice, but the manual is unusually completely expanded from the low C to f', whereas the pedal has a (typical of the time) small amount of just over an octave (C-d). The disposition contains a quarter of string parts, which may pay homage to both baroque traditions and a certain late classical sound ideal. The mixture contains a third chorus, which enriches the overall sound magnificently. For a long time the organ was in shadow and increasingly desolate, but luckily more than 90% of the original substance had been preserved. In 2016/17, at the initiative of some Bobenthal organ lovers, the valuable and qualitatively remarkable historical instrument was subjected to a fundamental restoration by Johannes Rohlf (Neubulach), in which the old bellows pedal system was also restored and made usable again. In the 200th year of it's existence, the organ shines in old splendor and new sound freshness.