The works on this recording range from Danzig (now Gdansk) by way of Güstrow, Hamburg and Gottorf to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Born in the early...

The works on this recording range from Danzig (now Gdansk) by way of Güstrow, Hamburg and Gottorf to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Born in the early 17th century, the choirmasters and Kapellmeisters of the Lutheran churches and courts of the North had ideal working conditions. They were greatly indebted to a composer from the preceding generation, Heinrich Schütz. His activities as a teacher, and the sheer volume of his published works, exercised a decisive influence upon his students and emulators. When the sirocco, the hot desert wind, crosses boundaries and coasts and advances into the plains of north Germany, it lends Mediterranean temper to Nordic melancholy, embraces warmly where a Hanseatic breeze otherwise blows keenly, spices coastal mists with exotic aromas. Sirocco breeze finds its musical incarnation in Ensemble Schirokko Hamburg: founded in 2007, it is composed of musicians who have studied at leading international centers of instruction in historical performance practice, specifically in Trossingen, Bremen, Würzburg, London and Amsterdam. Under the direction of their leader Rachel Harris, the ensemble complements accomplished performance on period instruments or their facsimiles with vivid interpretations that are stylistically aware. From the beginning, singing meant language and life, religion and emotion for Beat Duddeck. Through singing on concert tours all over the world and more than 100 album productions with various early music ensembles, he found not only his profession, but also family and friends.