Volume 1 of the series "Handeliana Hallensis" shows three different facets of George Frederick Handel's compositional work. The 22 movements known by the name of "Water Music" belong to Handel's most popular orchestral pieces. The composer however did not leave any autographs. Subsequent copies and prints do not always include all of the movements and sometimes they are presented in different orders. Some of the individual movements were probably created at different times. The suite performed on this album demonstrates the tonal contrasts in the overture and the diverse sonatas and dances. Handel could have discovered the form of the concerto grosso, in which a solo concertino was contrasted with the orchestra, in Italy. He had been composing special concerts for organ and in one case for harp and orchestra since 1735 in order to offer these between acts of his oratorio performances. He therefore wrote new concerts in concerto grosso form or compiled them from existing movements for the 1739/40 season in the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater. The sixth concerto in G minor which can be heard on this album is one of the totally new compositions. Although this was like several others inspired by Corelli, it can be seen to be more innovative in harmony, rhythm, and texture.

Friedrich Ladegast was one of the most important organ builders of the second half of the 19th century. He was born in 1818 in Hochhermsdorf, and so the musical world has recently celebrated his 200th birthday. On behalf of this occasion Querstand has released two albums which contain the programs of the first concerts played at two of the greatest Ladegast Organs: the Merseburg Cathedral organ and the Organ at Schwerin Cathedral. Ladegast completed the Merseburg Cathedral Organ in 1855, and the memorable inaugural concert went down in history. Four organists took part in the program: David Hermann Engel, Franz Liszt, Alexander Winterberger and Hermann Schellenberg. For this program, the works are performed by Michael Schonheit.

The joint organ sponsoring program of the Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege Hessen and the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thuringen is a success story: since 2001 the restoration of more than 130 organs has been sponsored. To document the musical significance of the instruments sponsored by the program, a series of albums has been released. In the 17th year of the organ sponsoring program, this current album is now presenting romantic organs, the restoration of which has been sponsored in recent years. With the Dreymann Organ in Trebur, district of Gross-Gerau, a regional organ workshop in the former Grand Duchy of Hesse is being honored. Also being featured on this album are the two Walcker Organs in the Luther Church in Wiesbaden and the French Reformed Church in Offenbach. Walcker was one of the major organ manufacturers who, with it's instruments from the 19th and 20th centuries, had a lasting presence in the Hessian organ landscape. When the works heard here were recorded, almost exactly 500 years have passed since Martin Luther published his 96 Theses, which gave the initial impetus to the Reformation and the emergence of the Protestant churches. The congregational hymn in German became a constitutive part of both church services and spiritual life. The quality of many hymns is not only reflected in a rich tradition to this day, but also in the many and often extensive arrangements of their melodies. Therefore, only choral-based compositions have been selected for this recording.

Friedrich Ladegast was one of the most important organ builders during the 2nd half of the 19th century. Especially with his first large organ at Merseburg Cathedral, he set the benchmark for organ building and at the same time influenced the further development of organ music: Franz Liszt and his "adlatus" Alexander Winterberger immediately recognized the new symphonic options of the organ sound and therefore with their new works established a basis for using the organ in a new symphonic manner. This development saw it's peak half a century later in Max Reger's monumental organ works and found a parallel development in France where the French symphonic organ concept was based on the organs by Aristide Cavaille-Coll. Friedrich Ladegast was born in 1818 in Hochhermsdorf, therefore the musical world has just celebrated his 200th birthday. This marks the occasion for the release of two albums on the Querstand label which contain the programs of the first concerts played at two of the greatest Ladegast Organs: the above-mentioned in Merseburg Cathedral and the organ at Schwerin Cathedral.

Classical Music

Gottfried Silbermann as the greatest organ builder of the Baroque, with a conservative sound ideal, alongside the Romantic era, filled with lush tones and emotional exuberance – a contradiction in itself? No, because in the intensive study of Silbermann’s organs, Freiberg’s Cathedral Organist Albrecht Koch always found a great affinity for these instruments in romantic music. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy or Robert Schumann as its representatives knew and appreciated the “excellent Silbermann Organ.” The program on this album thereby takes up two paths: on the one hand, works by Johann Sebastian Bach, which in their pathos, their musical intensity, tonal density, and emotional statement can be associated with the Romantic era and its emotional approach. On the other hand, Romantic organ works by Niels Wilhelm Gade, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, which can be performed on the Great Silbermann Organ of the Freiberg Cathedral without any problems, as the range of the keyboard allows it.

AND WE ALL SHINE ON

SINGT

MUSIK AUS VIER JAHRHUNDERTEN

ADVENTSKONZERT IM BAROCKEN DOM

RECITAL

V2: GEWANDHAUSORCHESTER LEIPZI

ZIONS TROST

DORT ZWISCHEN OCHS UND ESELEIN

LIEDER