musica Dei donum
CD reviews
"Musik aus dem alten Stralsund" (Music from old Stralsund)
Europäisches Hanse-Ensemble
Dir: Manfred Cordes
rec: June 7 - 9, 2022, Bassum, Stiftskirche
CPO - 555 578-2 (© 2023) (73'54")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E/[D]
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores Vierdanck
Spotify
Eucharius HOFFMANN (c1540-1588):
Cantabo Domino [1];
Desime ab ira [1];
Doce me, Domine [1];
Vigila super nos [1];
Caspar MOVIUS (1610-1671):
Gott ist unser Zuversicht und Stärke [3];
In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr [2];
Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen? [2];
Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein reines Herz [3];
Johann VIERDANCK (1605-1646):
Capriccio in a minor [4];
Das ist ein köstlich Ding [5];
Der Herr Zebaoth ist mit uns [6];
Ich beschwöre euch [6];
Ich freue mich im Herren;
Ich suchte des Nachts [6];
Meine Harfe ist zur Klage worden [5];
Sonata à 4 [4];
Sonata in d minor [4];
Sonata in d minor
Sources:
[1] Eucharius Hoffmann, XXIIII Cantiones ad 12 tonos, 1577;
Caspar Movius, [2] Hymnodia Sacra, 1639;
Caspar Movius, [3] Triumphus Musicus Spiritualis, 1640;
Johann Vierdanck, [4] Ander Theil, darinnen begriffen etliche Capricci, Canzoni und Sonaten, 1641;
Johann Vierdanck, [5] Erster Theil Geistlicher Concerten, mit 2. 3. und 4. Stimmen, nebenst dem Basso continuo, 1641;
Johann Vierdanck, [6] Ander Theil Geistlicher Concerten, mit 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. und 9. Stimmen, nebenst einem gedoppeltem Basso Continuo, 1643
Magdalena Podkoscielna, Baiba Urka, soprano;
Helena Poczykowska, contralto;
Jan Van Elsacker, Christian Volkmann, tenor;
Martin Schicketanz, bass
Frithjof Smith, Clément Gester, cornett;
Simen Van Mechelen, Emily Saville, Maximilien Brisson, sackbut;
Enrico Gatti, Marina Kakuno, violin;
Thomas Dombrowski, Frauke Hess, Alma Stoye, viola da gamba;
Barbora Hulcová, chitarrone;
Marcin Szelest, organ
Manfred Cordes is a specialist in German music of the 16th and 17th centuries. In his work the music written or performed in the towns which belonged to the Hanseatic League, takes a special place. He is the founder and director of the Europäisches Hanse-Ensemble, which each year offers young performers from across Europe the opportunity to follow masterclasses in this kind of repertoire. Those who have excelled, are then invited to participate in concerts the next year. On the disc under review, the ensemble includes singers and instrumentalists which have a wide experience in early music, and especially the music that is the subject of this recording, and most of whom also participate in Cordes's other ensemble, Weser-Renaissance Bremen. However, the list of performers also includes names which I have not met before; these may well have come forward from masterclasses of recent years.
The present disc is the first in a series with music from towns that were part of the Hanseatic League. "The Hanseatic League was a medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the League expanded between the 13th and 15th centuries and ultimately encompassed nearly 200 settlements across eight modern-day countries, ranging from Estonia in the north and east, to the Netherlands in the west, and extended inland as far as Cologne, the Prussian regions and Kraków, Poland." (Wikipedia).
At the time the composers included in the programme were active, the heydays of the League were already over. However, the Hanseatic towns were still important, economically and culturally. That was also the case with Stralsund, a town located on the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland. It became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1293. In the early 17th century it became the battleground of the opposing forces in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). As a result it became part of Sweden, and this was confirmed in the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Stettin (1653). In 1815 it became part of the Prussian province of Pomerania, one of the outcomes of the Congress of Vienna.
The largest part of the programme is devoted to music by two composers who worked in Stralsund during the Thirty Years' War: Johann Vierdanck and Caspar Movius. The earliest composer in the programme is Eucharius Hoffmann. He was from Franconia and had studied in Jena. in 1563 he became Kantor at the Latin School in Stralsund. This position included the musical instruction of the students who participated in the service in the main church, the Marienkirche. Hoffmann not only composed music, but also wrote some treatises. His first collection of music dates from 1577: 24 cantiones on the twelve church modes for four to six voices. Obviously they are written in the stile antico, but his treatment of the text shows the influence of the madrigals of his time. Four of them are performed here in different ways, by voices a capella or with organ, and in a mixture of voices and instruments, reflecting the various practices in his time. It is notable that each piece is dedicated to a prominent councillor of Stralsund.
Caspar Movius was also active as teacher at the Latin School, where he made it to its deputy director. Four printed editions of his works are known; one of them is lost. Pieces of his pen were also included in anthologies. The four pieces on this disc are taken from two collections, published in 1634 (reprinted in 1639) and 1640 respectively. The former collection comprises pieces for two voices and basso continuo. However, the basso continuo part is texted, which indicates that it may be sung instead (in this performance the bass parts are sung and played). In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr is an arrangement of the first stanza of the hymn by Adam Reusner (1533), based on Psalm 31. The chorale melody is treated freely; the two upper voices follow and imitate each other. Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen is a setting of verses from Psalm 22.
The 1640 collection comprises pieces for six and eight voices with basso continuo. The two pieces for eight voices in two choirs show the influence of the Venetian cori spezzati practice: the two choirs are of different scoring (high vs low). Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein reines Herz is a setting of the verses 10 to 12 of Psalm 51. The text of Gott ist unser Zuversicht und Stärke is taken from Psalm 46 (vs 1-7); this Psalm was also used by Martin Luther for his hymn In feste Burg. In Movius's setting we hear some marked text expression, especially on texts like these: "Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof" and "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted." The latter verse strongly contrasts with the closing one: "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah."
The main composer on this disc is Johann Vierdanck. He was born from a Saxonian-Thuringian family and started his career as a choirboy in Dresden under Heinrich Schütz, who described him as a "fine, modest person and making a very good, solid beginning in composition". He became a violinist in the court chapel in Dresden, worked at the court in Güstrow and in 1632 he travelled north to Lübeck and Copenhagen. In 1635 he was appointed organist of the Marienkirche. He published two collections of sacred concertos in 1641 and 1643 respectively. The former includes concertos for two to four voices, the second concertos for three to nine voices, all with basso continuo. In some concertos he added two instrumental parts. One of the pieces from the latter collection is Der Herr Zebaoth ist mit uns, another setting of verses from Psalm 46. Here we not only hear violins, but also cornetts and sackbuts. The liner-notes suggest that this is in accordance with the score. The list at the Petrucci Music Library does not mention cornetts; I assume these play in alternation with the violins (and sometimes colla parte.
Das ist ein köstlich Ding is a setting of verses from Psalm 92 for two sopranos and bass. It is taken from the 1641 edition, as is Meine Harfe ist zur Klage worden, whose text is taken from the Old Testament book of Job. It is an extended setting of just one verse; the entire piece takes almost five minutes. The scoring is for four voices and basso continuo. It is not far-fetched to assume that a piece like this was inspired by the misery of the Thirty Years' War.
Notable are the two settings of texts from the Song of Songs, an Old Testament book of love poetry, which since ancient times was given an allegorical interpretation. Whereas the Catholic church identified the young woman with Mary, and Christ with the young man, representing the church, Martin Luther returned to the allegorical interpretation of the early church. In the foreword to his translation of the Hohelied Salomos, he states that "this booklet describes in guarded terms the great love and blessings, which Christ, the heavenly bridegroom of his spiritual bride, renders the dear Christian churches here on earth, and every verse needs a special interpretation (...)". That said, the fact that settings of these texts appear in collections such as those by Vierdanck, does not necessarily indicate that they were used in the liturgy. They may also have been used as part of private worship, or as Tafelmusik.
In both pieces Vierdanck creates a kind of dialogue. In Ich suchte des Nachts at first the high voices dominate, but at "the watchmen that go about the city found me", the low voices manifest themselves. Vierdanck goes a step further in Ich beschwöre euch, where the words of the woman are sung by the soprano, who enters a dialogue with alto and tenor, who ask her who her friend is and offer her to help her searching him. The last line, "I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine", is then sung by all three voices.
The disc appropriately ends with Ich freue mich im Herren, which is a setting of Isaiah 61, vs 10; this piece was written for a wedding. The first line is used as a refrain; the two next lines are sung solo by soprano or tenor (here the former option has been chosen), whereas the refrain is for the tutti. Here the entire ensemble is involved.
The vocal items alternate with instrumental pieces by Vierdanck. In 1637 he published his first collection of music, Erster Theil newer Pavanen, which are suites for two violins and basso continuo. They are notable for being arranged by key and for their trio sonata texture, making Vierdanck one of the first German composers following this Italian concept. He was also one of the first to be influenced by the Italian violinist Carlo Farina, who lived and worked in Dresden, as shows Vierdanck's second volume of instrumental music, published in 1641. This is the edition from which most of the pieces included here are taken. Such pieces were intended as entertainment, for special occasions or as pedagogical material. Here the cornetts play an important role. The line-up may have varied from where the music was played: outdoors or indoors. One of the Sonatas in D minor is based on the popular song Als ich einmal Lust bekam, in the other the cornett plays a solo role.
Of the three composers represented on this disc only Johann Vierdanck is relatively well-known, although his music is seldom performed. We mostly hear some of his instrumental works in anthologies; the ensemble Parnassi Musici devoted an entire recording to that part of his oeuvre. That seems to be the only recording ever to be completely devoted to Vierdanck. It is to be hoped that more from his two collections of sacred music is going to be recorded. The other two composers are very likely entirely new to the catalogue. From the angle of repertoire this is a highly important and interesting production. It is also a mouthwatering start of what should be a most fascinating collection of discs documenting music life in some of the most important towns from the Baltic region. There is no better guide through this repertoire than Manfred Cordes, who knows it inside out, and understands its stylistic features and the way it was performed at the time like nobody else. He has a very good ear for voices, and always has the singers needed to make sure that each piece, whether vocal or instrumental, receives the best-possible performance. The text is always in the centre, as it should be, and the singers know exactly how to communicate it to an audience.
A second volume has already been released, devoted to Danzig (Gdańsk), which I hope to review later.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
Europäisches Hanse-Ensemble