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Johann ROSENMÜLLER (1617/19 - 1684): Sacred Concertos

[I] "Laudate Dominum - Sacred Concertos"
Ensemble 1684
Dir: Gregor Meyer
rec: June 6 - 8, 2017, Rötha, Marienkirche
CPO - 555 187-2 (© 2017) (67'14")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet [1]; Christus ist mein Leben; Die Gnade unsers Herrn Jesu Christi [1]; Fürchte dich nicht; Laudate Dominum omnes gentes; Nun danket alle Gott; Nun gibest du, Gott, einen gnädigen Regen; Seine Jünger kamen des Nachts und stahlen ihn; Sonata XII à 5 in d minor [4]; Suite for 5 strings and bc [2]

Monika Mauch*, Viola Blache*, Leonore Thiem, Angela Voßmeier, soprano; Ulrike Kase, Maria Küstner, Linda Straumer, contralto; David Erler*, alto; Tobias Hunger*, Florian Sievers*, Alexander Hemmann, Kim Grote, Axel Straube, tenor; Felix Schwandtke*, Tobias Ay, Markus Berger, Jonas Timm, bass (* soloists)
Friederike Otto, Sebastian Kuhn, ,i>cornett; Sebastian Krause, Julia Nagel, Fernando Günther, Masafumi Sakamoto, Janos Orban, sackbut; Eva Salonen, Saskia Klapper, violin; Magdalena Schenk-Bader, Anne Kaun, viola; Katharina Litschig, cello; Tilman Schmidt, violone; Nelly Sturm, bassoon; Stefan Maass, lute; Bernadett Mészáros, organ

[II] "Magnificat - Sacred Concertos"
Ensemble 1684
Dir: Gregor Meyer
rec: Sept 24 - 26, 2019, Rötha, St. Georgen
CPO - 555 174-2 (© 2021) (70'58")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E
Cover & track-list

Bleibe bei uns, denn es will Abend werden; Confitebor tibi, Domine; Der Name des Herren; Domine probasti me; Ego te laudo; Magnificat anima mea Dominum; Nunc dimittis; Sinfonia I [3]; Welt, ade! ich bin dein müde

Alice Ungerer, Isabel Schicketanz, soprano; Florence Pettet, Helene Erben, contralto; Christopher B. Fischer, Alexander Hemmann, tenor; Tobias Ay, Markus Berger, bass
Friederike Otto, Alma mayer, cornett; Julia Nagel, Carl-Philipp Kaptain, Masafumi Sakamoto, sackbut; Nora Hansen, dulcian; Birgit Schnurpfeil, Yumiko Tsubaki, violin; Magdalena Schenk-Bader, Gundula Beyer-Rauterberg, viola; Tillmann Steinhöfel, violone; Clemens Harasim, lute; Bernadett Mészáros, organ

Sources: [1] Andere Kern-Sprüche, 1652/53; [2] Studenten-Music, 1654; [3] Sinfonie e sonate da camera, 1670; [4] Sonate a 2, 3, 4 è 5 stromenti da arco & altri, 1682

Scores

Johann Rosenmüller was one of the main composers of the generation after Heinrich Schütz in Lutheran Germany. His music was widely admired, for instance by Schütz, the 'father of German music'. As late as 1739, the theorist and composer Johann Mattheson, in his treatise Der vollkommene Capellmeister, recommended him as a model for composers of his time. Johann Sebastian Bach paid his respect by inserting Rosenmüller's chorale setting Welt ade, ich bin dein müde unchanged in his cantata Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende (BWV 27). Although some of his output has been lost, a substantial number of works have survived. They can be divided into two groups: pieces on German text, which date from his time in Germany (until 1655) and works in Latin, written during his stay in Italy (1655-1684). Each of the two discs under review here focus on one of these parts of his career. The Ensemble 1684 specialises in German music from the time before Bach, with particular interest in Rosenmüller. The year in its name is not chosen arbitrarily: 1684 was the year that Rosenmüller died.

The first disc includes mainly pieces from Rosenmüller's German period. Most of them open with a sinfonia. The first piece is Nun gibest du, Gott, einen gnädigen Regen; the text is taken from Psalm 68 (vs 9-12): "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain". It is scored for seven voices (SSTTTBB), with a five-part Capell-Chor and an instrumental ensemble of winds (cornetts, sackbuts) and strings. This concerto is divided into three sections, separated by ritornelli. The solo parts include quite some coloratura, which documents Rosenmüller's Italian leanings, long before his stay in Venice. Here, as in other works, there is plenty of text expression; Rosenmüller was an ardent student of the works of Heinrich Schütz. In this piece, for instance, the words "das dürre ist" (that was barren) are sung by the low voices. There is a strong contrast in the next phrase, on the words "erquickest du" ([which] you refreshes). "Kings of armies did flee apace" is then again sung by the low voices. It is notable that here the German text derives from that in Luther's translation of the Bible. The booklet does not give any explanation, as the individual pieces are not discussed. The last phrase - "she that tarried at home divided the spoil" is then sung at first by the high voices.

Christus ist mein Leben opens with texts from the New Testament (St Paul's letter to the Philippians and the gospel after St Luke) and then turns to a well-known chorale, So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ, the fifth stanza of the hymn Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist. In the opening section, the word "Sterben" (to die) is set to descending figures, sung in a slow tempo. The next quotation from the Bible are Jesus's words to one of the criminals crucified with him: "Verily I say unto thee: today shalt thou be with me in paradise". This is sung by a bass, acting as vox Christi.

Seine Jünger kamen des Nachts is a dialogue between the guards at Jesus' tomb and his disciples. The former repeatedly sing: "His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept." The latter react by stating that Jesus really rose from the dead. After the first exchange, the faithful sing "Halleluja", performed here by the Capell-Chor. After a while, Jesus himself, sung by a bass, enters the scene: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and death". The piece ends with a kind of chorale.

Die Gnade unsers Herren Jesu Christi is a four-part setting of a verse from St Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, still used as the blessing at the end of Protestant sermons. It is part of the collection Andere Kern-Sprüche, one of the two only printed editions of Rosenmüller's sacred works. It is a mixture of tutti and solo passages. Nun danket alle Gott is a well-known text from the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus. It has been the basis for a hymn, but that is not what Rosenmüller has set; here he uses the original text. It is divided into four sections: A/A1/B/A2. In the middle is a ritornello. The work ends rather abruptly with a repeat of the words "Nun danket alle". It is scored for six voices (SSATTB), cappella and an ensemble of four sackbuts and strings.

Fürchte dich nicht is a setting of the first three verses from Isaiah 43; the first was also used by Bach for his motet of that same title. It is a sacred concerto for five voices (SSATB) and strings. After a sinfonia, the tenor opens with the words in the title on a musical motif which is the same as the opening of Heinrich Schütz's sacred concerto Es steh Gott auf. It seems very unlikely that this is a coincidence. Words as "waters", "rivers", "fire" and "flame" are illustrated through coloratura. At the end Rosenmüller returns to the vocal opening.

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet is not only a setting of a well-known text (John 3, vs 16-17), but also one of Rosenmüller's best-known pieces. It is again taken from the Andere Kern-Sprüche and is scored for five voices and instruments. In this performance the parts are divided among the ensemble of soloists and the cappella. The disc ends with a work in Latin from Rosenmüller's Venetian period. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes is a setting of Psalm 117. The scoring clearly reflects Venetian practice: eight voices (solo and cappella) and an instrumental ensemble of cornetts, sackbuts and strings. The closing "Amen" is fugal.

The second disc opens where the first ended: with a piece for the same scoring, this time a setting of the Magnificat. It is a mixture of solo passages in declamatory style and tutti. Domine, probasti me is a setting of Psalm 139; the text is quite long, but Rosenmüller needs (at least in this performance) less than seven minutes. There are no repeats, and the eight singers perform the text at quite some speed and in declamatory style. It has alsmost the character of a rap song, but then with better music. Some episodes are singled out through homophony and a slower tempo: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" and "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" Confitebor tibi, Domini is comparable with this work, but has a more modest scoring: four voices and strings. Again Rosenmüller singles out a particularly important passage: "The works of his hands - for ever and ever". Nunc dimittis has the same scoring.

Each of these discs pretends to offer a representative cross-section of Rosenmüller's works. To that end each includes some instrumental music; that part of Rosenmüller's oeuvre is rather well represented in the catalogue. One genre is omitted: sacred concertos for a solo voice. These are the subject of two discs with the alto Alex Potter and the bass Wolf Matthias Friedrich respectively. The one piece that comes close to this genre is Ego te laudo, scored for three solo voices (SSB) and basso continuo. It is a setting of a free poetic text by an unknown author, appealing for comfort in the hour of death. The intimate nature of this text explains the scoring for solo voices.

The remaining three pieces bring us back to Rosenmüller's German period. Der Name des Herren has the scoring which shows Italian influence in German sacred music, as we find it also in the oeuvre of Schütz: five voices (SSATB), two violins and basso continuo. The text is taken from Psalm 113 and from Proverbs. Bleibe bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ is based on verses from St Luke and St Matthew, with an addition by an anonymous author. It has the character of a dialogue. The first section ends with the tutti singing "abide with us", which is followed by the words of Jesus, sung by a bass: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world". The faithful (tutti) react by singing "We shall all be glad, Jesus desires to be our comfort. Alleluia!" It is scored for five voices, two violins, two cornetts and three sackbuts.

Lastly: Welt ade, ich bin dein müde, Rosenmüller's famous funeral chorale, which is performed here complete (Bach used only the first of the three stanzas). It is part of a tradition in Germany to set a text in which the deceased person addresses the bereaved. The second stanza opens with the words "I have already arrived there, have yielded my sickness, my pain is taken away". The last stanza ends with the phrase: "Here with me for all time is peace, joy and serenity".

Johann Rosenmüller may be one of the better-known composers of the 17th century, and his oeuvre may be well represented on disc, but it is by far not fully explored. These discs show that there are still many pieces that are unknown and have not been performed and recorded before. From that perspective, they are substantial additions to the discography. They bear witness to the brilliance of a composer, who was a master in mixing elements of the German and Italian styles. The quality and character of his music comes off perfectly in these performances. The Ensemble 1684 focuses on Rosenmüller's oeuvre, and that shows. We get fully idiomatic performances here, in which the singers and instrumentalists go to the bottom to explore and reveal the expressive features of Rosenmüller's sacred works. I am very much looking forward to future recordings of Rosenmüller's oeuvre by this excellent ensemble.

Johan van Veen (© 2021)

Relevant links:

Ensemble 1684


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