A German Passion - 17th C. Music for the Time of Lent and Easter

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
November 10, 2023
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Johann Michael Bach, Dieterich Becker, Dieterich Buxtehude, Gregorian Chant, Johann Christoph Demant
    • PERFORMER
      Margaretha Consort
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 10, 2023
    • UPC
      730099148436
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8551484
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Baroque Era
    Works ⌄

    1. Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, BuxWv 62 (1st version)

      Composer: Dieterich Buxtehude

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    2. Weissagung des Leidens und Sterbens Jesu Christi

      Composer: Christoph Demantius

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    3. Kleine geistliche Concerte, Part I, Op. 8: No. 4. O süßer, o freundlicher Herr Jesu Christ, SWV 285

      Composer: Heinrich Schütz

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    4. O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

      Composer: Hans Leo Hassler

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    5. Ecce quomodo moritur iustus

      Composer: Jacobus Handl

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    6. Jesu, meine Freude: Sinfonia

      Composer: Dietrich Becker

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    7. Jesu, meine Freude (organ improvisations)

      Composer: Sietze De Vries

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

    8. Halt, was du hast

      Composer: Johann Michael Bach

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    9. Ach, Jesus stirbt

      Composer: Andreas Hammerschmidt

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    10. Weine nicht, es hat überwunden

      Composer: Matthias Weckmann

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    11. Victimae paschali laudes

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    12. Victimae paschali laudes, WV 68

      Composer: Heinrich Scheidemann

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    13. Christ lag in Todesbanden, WV 3: Versus 1: Pedaliter

      Composer: Heinrich Scheidemann

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

    14. Christ lag in Todesbanden

      Composer: Hans Leo Hassler

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    15. Cantiones sacrae: No. 22. Christ lag in Todesbanden, SSWV 22

      Composer: Samuel Scheidt

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs

    16. Buxtehude: Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn, BuxWV 43: Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn - Crüger: Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn

      Composer: Dieterich Buxtehude, Johannes Crüger

      Ensemble: Margaretha Consort

      Performer: Sietze De Vries

      Conductor: Marit Broekroelofs


The Hanseatic wealth of North Germany in the 17th century is reflected in its magnificent cathedrals, and the enormous grandeur of its church music was composed to fill the rich acoustics of these spaces. This programme presents a wide range of Easter music that displays the wealth of inventiveness in this period, enhancing the texts and finding different colors and surprising effects through improvisation and adaptation of the manuscripts. This early music is brought vividly to life by the acclaimed Margaretha Consort.

REVIEW:

This recording offers an excellent overview of the kind of Lutheran Church music one would have heard in the major cities and noble courts of northern Germany in the 17th Century. Jacob Handl’s ‘Ecce, Quomodo Moritur Iustus’ stands out as the only Latin motet on the program. Otherwise, it consists of German sacred concertos of varying dimensions. For instance, ‘Jesu Meines Lebens Leben’ by Dietrich Buxtehude sounds like a polychoral concerto, and Schütz’s ‘O Süsser, O Freundlicher’ sounds more like a sacred cantata, scored for solo tenor and continuo. Some pieces sound as though they replicate the timbre of a church congregation performing a strophic chorale melody to Sietze De Fries’s improvised organ part. Between the choral works, De Fries offers further improvisations, for example on the chorale melody ‘Jesu, Meine Freude’.

I am very taken with this recording, both for the selections and for the quality of the performances. Most of these works exhibit hallmarks of the stile moderno and indulge in the expressive properties of chromaticism and unusual harmonic juxtapositions. The notes are in English, but one will have to look elsewhere for the texts.

-- American Record Guide