Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Vespro Della Beata Vergine

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BIBER Vespro della Beata Vergine. Sonata. KERLL Missa In fletu solatium obsidionis Viennensis. Delectus sacrarum cantionum, op. 1: Excerpts • Konrad Junghänel, cond; Cantus Cölln; Concerto Palatino • ACCENT 24286 (73:38 Text and Translation)


Johann Caspar Kerll (1627–1693), one of the two Catholic composers of 17th-century German lands whose works are coupled on this disc, was born to Bohemian Lutheran parents who were living in a German town just over the border to avoid persecution. Yet his musical talent led him to study in Rome, where he became an organ virtuoso and a Catholic. He played organ and sometimes directed the cappella in Vienna, Brussels, and Munich before returning to Vienna in 1674 to become first court organist. Hard times followed, including a plague that took his wife and the Turkish siege of 1683 that is commemorated in this Mass, published in 1689. He died in Munich.


The desperate siege of Vienna and its relief by an imperial army reinforced by the forces of the Polish king, Jan Sobieski (who is not mentioned in the notes), were the immediate occasion for the composition of this Mass. The music reflects as much the straits of the defenders as the jubilation of the victors. The Amens at the conclusion of Gloria and Credo weave chromatic effects of unusual intensity. Not much of Kerll’s sacred music has ever been recorded until lately. I have both versions of his Requiem under Paul van Nevel (14:5) and Franz Raml (21:2), but not the recent version of this Mass ably reviewed by colleague James Altena (36:3) or another Mass reviewed by Bertil van Boer (35:6), which was one of two Masses reviewed by Ron Salemi (33:1). I need not repeat Altena’s thorough treatment of the composer and his Mass, but I can recommend the new recording for its excellent soloists and its generous coupling.


Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704) is the better known of the two composers. He fled from his service to the archbishop of Olomouc (Moravia) to take a lucrative position with the archbishop of Salzburg in 1670. He became Kapellmeister in 1684 and was renowned as a violin virtuoso. In 1693 he published a collection of psalms and canticles for Vespers, including three complete cycles (psalms and a Magnificat), the second of which is recorded here. The antiphon substitutes that go with the five psalms on this recording are taken from Kerll’s collection of Motets (op. 1) published in 1669. The notion of antiphon substitutes is familiar from Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine . One wonders what the attitude toward the chant antiphons was in the 17th century. Each of Biber’s psalms is followed by one of Kerll’s motets, while his canticle is preceded by one of his own sonatas. Like Kerll’s Mass, this music bears the earmarks of Baroque elaboration and the Salzburg archbishop’s prescriptions for music at his court and cathedral. The vocal and instrumental effects have moved far beyond the restraints of the Renaissance. The two composers are a likely coupling and the results are worth hearing. I just don’t know what has occasioned this sudden interest in Kerll’s music, for there is no anniversary in sight. But who needs an excuse to issue a record? Try it.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber


Product Description:

  • Release Date: October 01, 2013


  • Catalog Number: ACT24286


  • UPC: 4015023242869


  • Label: Accent


  • Number of Discs: 1


  • Composer: Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Johann Kaspar Kerll


  • Conductor: Konrad Junghänel