Throughout the world Christmas is celebrated – and everywhere, singing Christmas carols is part of the celebrations. This limited special edition offers over 100 of the most beautiful German and international carols: For the first time, the “Weihnachtslieder” (German Christmas Carols) as well as the “Weihnachtslieder aus aller Welt” (Christmas Carols of the World) of the prize-winning LIEDERPROJEKT are being issued together in an incredible four-release set. The LIEDERPROJEKT is a charity project produced by Carus and Southwest German Radio. For every album set sold, 2 EUR will be donated to projects which promote singing with children.

A worthy addition to the repertoire for Passiontide.

About ten years ago the German label Carus started a project of recording compositions by Gottfried August Homilius and publishing the scores. This has borne fruit in a series of remarkable productions, with cantatas, motets and passions (see below). No fewer than three of the latter genre have been released so far, the latest being this setting of the St Mark Passion. It is not documented when it was written, but there is evidence that it was performed a couple of years before 1765 in Berlin. Homilius' Passions were quite famous and were performed in the German-speaking world well into the 19th century. That is the more remarkable as they had to compete with the then most celebrated Passion, Der Tod Jesu, by Carl Heinrich Graun, which dates from 1755.
 
The latter is a so-called passion oratorio. This was mostly a combination of a paraphrase of and contemplation on the story of the Passion. Passion oratorios were usually performed outside the church, in the form of a concert, but in the second half of the century they became part of religious services as well. This St Mark Passion belongs to the older type of the oratorio passion like those by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is based on the Biblical account of the suffering and death of Jesus, with additional chorales and arias. Even so, this work is quite different from Bach's Passions in various ways.
 
It is interesting to compare Homilius's Passion with Bach's St Matthew Passion. This will reveal in what way the Passions from the Enlightenment differ from those of the previous era. Bach's Passion is written in the spirit of Luther's theology of the Cross, which emphasized that the suffering and death of Jesus for the sins of mankind are an absolute precondition to receiving the grace of God. In order to imprint this into the minds of the congregation it should 're-experience' as it were Jesus' sufferings and take part in the unfolding of the events as described in the gospels. To that end the references to the happy outcome of Jesus' passion are very limited. It is telling that Bach's St Matthew Passion ends with an expression of grief on Jesus' death. This Passion by Homilius ends on a positive note: "God is reconciled, he layeth down his thunders. (...) The heavens exult, with hallelujahs echoing. Join forces with them in this solemn song!" The scene which describes the Last Supper is followed by an aria of an uplifting character, referring to the Lord's Supper which is celebrated in the Christian church: "If by sin ye are distressed, come and the Lord will refresh you. (...) O taste and see how gracious he is!" It is followed by a chorus which expresses the same thought. This connection is completely absent in Bach's Passion.
 
The purpose of the congregation 're-experiencing' the events also explains the dramatic character of Bach's St Matthew Passion. Homilius's St Mark Passion is considerably less dramatic. A typical example is the scene where the High Priest asks Jesus whether he is the son of God. Jesus answers: "I am, and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." In Bach's Passion the Evangelist immediately mentions the High Priest rending his clothes and saying that Jesus has spoken blasphemy. Homilius inserts a chorale, and only then the Evangelist recounts the response of the High Priest. The same happens in the scene of Peter denying Jesus. After his last denial Bach's Evangelist tells that the cock crew and that Peter wept bitterly. In Homilius's Passion the last denial is followed by an aria: "Do not misconceive the God of gods! His anger flares, go, kiss the Son!" In these passages the inclusion of a chorale and an aria respectively interrupt the dramatic flow of the story.
 
The aria just mentioned reveals a feature of this Passion which clearly reflects the spirit of the Enlightenment. In Bach's Passions the arias express the emotions the congregation is supposed to feel while witnessing the sufferings of Jesus: "May my weeping and my mourning be a welcome sacrifice" (Buss und Reu), "I wish my heart to offer thee" (Ich will dir mein Herze schenken), "Have mercy, Lord, on me" (Erbarme dich). It is the congregation speaking; in Homilius the congregation is addressed. They are warned: "Be merciful, o mortal man, break thou thy bread with the hungry". That is the opening sentence of the first aria which follows the scene when Jesus' disciples complain about the woman pouring ointment on Jesus' head. This shows that the arias often have a strong moral content. In other arias participants in the story are addressed: "Condemn him, if ye must, ye unjust judges", but "when the Son of Man shall return as judge on the clouds of heaven, then flee, evildoers, flee!"
 
The recitatives of the Evangelist bear witness to the less dramatic character of Homilius's St Mark Passion as well. They are more straightforward, and the text is less drastically depicted in the music. The compass of this part is considerably narrower and there are far fewer modulations. The most dramatic parts of this Passion are the arias. The tenor aria mentioned above, 'Verdammt ihn nur, ihr ungerechten Richter' is a kind of operatic rage aria. There’s drama also in the two accompanied recitatives of the soprano in the second part, which strongly contrast with the ensuing arias. Some arias are quite long: several take seven or eight minutes. The most expressive of these is also the longest: 'Ich geh, von Leiden ganz'. The words are put into the mouth of Jesus (another feature of Enlightenment Passions): "I go hence, surrounded by sorrow on all sides, and there is none to ask: Whither goest thou?" Its expressive character is reinforced by the strings playing with mutes.
 
The mixture of 'old' and 'new' elements has resulted in a compelling Passion with music of great beauty and incisive expression. The performance does full justice to its character and quality. Hans Jörg Mammel gives an excellent account of the part of the Evangelist, in a true declamatory manner. The part of Jesus is lighter than in other Passions: Thomas Laske is a baritone rather than a bass, and his agile voice perfectly suits this part. His aria which I already mentioned is one of the most moving parts and is exquisitely sung. His voice is more powerful in the aria 'Mit Preis und Ruhm gekrönt'. Monika Mauch has a beautiful and clear voice; especially moving is the aria in the second part, following the death of Jesus: "Flow, flow, ye tears!" The dramatic accompanied recitatives I referred to are not lost on her either. No less beautiful is the voice of Ruth Sandhoff, whose warm timbre suits the aria 'Wenn euch eure Sünden drücken'.
 
The Basler Madrigalisten are a vocal ensemble of twenty voices and sing the turbae in a fitting dramatic fashion. The chorales are often a weak spot in recordings of works like this, but not here. Words and phrases are effectively singled out, for instance through dynamic accents, such as in the last lines of 'O weh demselben' (CD 1, track 13). The articulation is also immaculate. The orchestra gives full weight to the dramatic aspects, and displays its expressive powers in the arias.
 
This recording shows why Homilius was considered the greatest German composer of sacred music in his time. It is a worthy addition to the repertoire for Passiontide.
 
-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

The result of all these collaborations is a work of pure beauty and joy.

In 2008 the concert and opera singer Cornelius Hauptmann initiated the charitable "The Lieder project" to further singing with children. The following year the "Wiegenlieder" (lullaby) collection was published. Once again, more than 50 singers have voluntarily, without remuneration, given their voices to sing the most beautiful German folk songs. This project will be continued with two further collections of children’s songs and songs for Christmas. The present collection of the most beautiful German folk songs is sung by leading concert and opera singers, choirs and children. The CD includes an extensive booklet with colour illustrations and song texts with English translations.

Featuring: Juliane Banse · Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau · Christoph Prégardien · Stella Doufexis · Calmus Ensemble

Track listing:
1. Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen (Franz-Josef Selig, Gerold Huber)
2. Horch, was kommt von draußen rein (Dorothee Mields, Ludger Rémy)
3. Da unten im Tale (Christoph Prégardien, Juliane Ruf)
4. Nun will der Lenz und grüßen (instrumental)
5. Muss i denn zum Städele hinaus (Michael Volle, Ann-Sophie Volle)
6. Grüß Gott, du schöner Maien (Lydia Teuscher, Juliane Ruf)
7. Wach auf, meines Herzens Schöne (SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart)
8. Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust (Hans Jörg Mammel, Michael Freimuth)
9. Leise zieht durch mein Gemüt (Stella Doufexis, Camillo Radicke)
10. Ein Jäger aus Kurpfalz (Dietrich Henschel)
11. Im schönsten Wiesengrunde (Peter Schreier, Konrad Ragossnig)
12. Im Frühtau zu Berge (instrumental)
13. Kein schöner Land (Christian und Pauline Elsner, Leonhard Elsner)
14. Es klappert die Mühle (Michael Nagy, Juliane Ruf)
15. Ich fahr dahin (Ruth Sandhoff, Les Escapades)
16. In einem kühlen Grunde (Marcus Ullmann, Klaus Melber)
17. Komm, lieber Mai (Sibylla Rubens, Elisabeth Föll)
18. Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär (Klaus Mertens, Juliane Ruf)
19. O, du lieber Augustin (instrumental)
20. Feinsliebchen (Juliane Banse, Olaf Bär, Helmut Deutsch)
21. Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust (Julian Prégardien, Götz Payer)
22. Ward ein Blümchen mir geschenket (Ruth Ziesak, Juliane Ruf)
23. Am Brunnen vor dem Tore (Calmus Ensemble Leipzig)
24. Die Schwälble ziehet fort (Christoph Sökler, Anne Le Bozec)
25. Ade zur guten Nacht (Instrumental)
26. Papir ist doch waiß (Helene Schneiderman, Götz Payer)
27. Der Gang zum Liebchen (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Daniel Barenboim)
28. Schwesterlein (Ingeborg Danz, Michael Gees)
29. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen (Franz Vitzthum, Les Escapades)
30. Hab oft im Kreise der Lieben (Cornelius Hauptmann, Sabine Schubert-Kessler)
31. Winde wehn, Schiffe gehn (instrumental)
32. Bruder Jakob (Die Kinder vom Kleispark, Berlin)
33. Kommt ein Vogel geflogen (Dörthe Haring, Arne Zauber)
34. Im Märzen der Bauer (Johannes Grimm, David T. Schmidt)
35. O Täler weit, o Höhen (Kammerchor Stuttgart)

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Volkslieder, or folksongs, from Germany, is not just a commendable charity initiative; it is also a rather interesting, unusual concept, combining an appealing, attractive and colourful book with some excellent singing and musical skill.

The initiative is called Das Lieder Projekt and it is a charitable project to promote and further singing with children. For each CD sold, a donation of €2 is made to Herzenssache e.V. This translates approximately as “a matter of the heart” and is an organisation that works with disadvantaged children. The project was initiated by German bass Cornelius Hauptmann in 2008 and its first output was a collection of Wiegenlieder (Lullabies), which is now being followed by this album of Folksongs. As stated in the informative booklet notes, the project will be continued with two further collections: One of children’s songs and the other of songs for Christmas. It promotes singing by allowing access of the music and recordings of the songs (free of charge) online and by working with amateur music societies and professional institutions. This is further aided by a wide variety of broadcasts via the ARD radio network as well as some online cooperation with well known German newspapers.

One of the main reasons for the success of the project is undoubtedly the fact that the recordings feature outstanding singers and accompanists - who all performed for free. These include Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Olaf Bär and Daniel Barenboim. A lot of the credit is also due to the lovingly made illustrations by young artist Christoph Mett. If you understand German, I would recommend watching and listening to his interview on the website mentioned above. He truly captures the essence of each song in naive drawings, almost child-like, beautifully colourful and effectively capturing the charm of postcards from a bygone era. Mett’s paintings were originally created in a large format for the song book. This was published by Carus Verlag and complements the recordings. Intelligently, some of his illustrations are reproduced in the CD booklet, alongside the texts of the songs. This transforms the CD booklet into one of the most attractive I have ever seen. The texts are in the original German, and although the English translations are excellent, this is a sequence where a good knowledge of German will be of great advantage for the enjoyment of the songs. The melodies are very attractive, with many unforgettable tunes that help one understand why Lieder have been so popular in Germany, throughout the centuries; eventually, extending to other countries and becoming a genre in itself. The CD offers folksongs from the 15 ^th to the 20 ^th centuries, some set to music more elaborately by composers such as Mozart: Sehnsuch nach dem Frühling (Komm, lieber Mai – tr. 17) but also some true art-songs like Schubert’s Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust, from Die schöne Müllerin. However, it is the combination and perfect blend of music and lyrics that make this recording so delightful. The texts often relate stories, which were once sung to “catchy” tunes in village festivities celebrating the seasons or the harvests and which were passed from generation to generation via the oral tradition. The text is therefore as important as the melody and both are essential to understand the “simple folks” that sang these songs, their stories, their beliefs and their superstitions. As such, each song really only comes into its own if one can understand the words in connection with the music.

Having lived in Germany for ten years and worked as a teacher in a variety of schools, I had a lot of contact with these traditional songs and I am familiar with many present on this CD. They are often sung during school celebrations or as part of the musical curriculum. This recording had special meaning for me and brought back many happy memories. That said, the important thing is that one does not need to have lived in Germany or be familiar with its culture to delight in this CD. There is much to enjoy. The melodies are charming. There are songs from the greats, like Brahms, Schubert, Mendelssohn or Mozart, and the musicians and singers are all outstanding. Then, there is the CD booklet, which is a treat in itself, with Mett’s beautiful illustrations, alongside interesting, informative notes, artists’ biographies and all the texts to the recorded songs.

The result of all these collaborations is a work of pure beauty and joy. Its artistic merits are clear; however, if you do not like German or do not appreciate the music, then there is always another rather important reason to buy it: You will be contributing to the work of an organisation that gives help to children in need.

-- Margarida Mota-Bull, MusicWeb International