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Friedrich Christian Samuel MOHRHEIM (1719 - 1780): "Cantatas & Arias"
Siri Karoline Thornhill, soprano; Franziska Gottwald, contralto; Virgil Hartinger, tenor; Stephan MacLeod, bass
Goldberg Vocal Ensemble; Goldberg Baroque Ensemble
Dir: Andrzej Szadejko
rec: Oct 6 - 8, 2021, Gdańsk, Trinity Church
MDG 902 2254-6
(© 2022) (73'47")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/D/F
Cover & track-list
Spotify
[Auserwählte Schar]; Der Herr ist Gott, der uns erleuchtet; Der Herr ist mit mir; Ehre sey Gott in der Höhe; Tochter des Himmels (Aria Communio); Uns ist ein Kind geboren
[GVE] Maria Krueger, Maja Zalesińska, Magdalena Zięba-Lewandowska, soprano; Justyna Barbarska, Karolina Borowczyk, Pamela Chłodna-Chylińska, Aleksandra Zawada, contralto Piotr Bruździak, Barłomiej Fic, Miłosz Janiak, Adam Kupper, tenor; Szymon Chyliński, Bartłomiej Dratkowski, Damian Giczewski, Dominik Mazan, bass
[GBE] Paweł Hulisz, Piotr Kowalkowski, Filip Pysz, Wojciech Brzozowski, trumpet; Dominika Stencel, Paweł Piętka, horn; Maja Miro-Wiśniewska, Aleksandra Wiśniewska, transverse flute; Aleksandra Mutwicka, Hanna Piasny, oboe, oboe d'amore; Małgorzata Malke, Bernardeta Braun, Łałgorzata Malke, Aleksandra Radwańska, Angelika Leśniak, Gabriela Żmigrodzka, violin; Anna Luiza Aleksandrow-Bertasch, Ivan Bertasch, viola; Bartosz Kokosza, Adela Czaplewska, cello; Michał Bąk, violone; Leszek Wachnik, bassoon; Henryk Kasperczak, theorbo; Agnieszka Wesołowska, harpsichord; Piotr Wilczyński, organ; Paweł Szewczyk, Anna Szadejko, timpani
Danzig (today Gdańsk, Poland) was an important musical centre in 17th- and 18th-century Germany. Since many years the Polish organist and conductor Andrej Szedejko explores the musical heritage of this city. He is not the only one. The second instalment of the series with music from the towns which were once part of the Hanse, performed by the Europäisches Hanse-Ensemble under the direction of Manfred Cordes, is also devoted to Danzig. Whereas that disc focuses on music of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Szadejko's interest mainly concerns the music of later stages in the town's history. He recorded music by Johann Daniel Pucklitz (Cantatas and Masses; Oratorio Secondo), Johann Jeremias du Grain and Johann Balthasar Christian Freislich. The latter is especially interesting, as he was the father-in-law of the composer whose music is the subject of the disc to be reviewed here.
Friedrich Christian Samuel Mohrheim was from Neumark in Thuringia; his first teacher may have been his father, who was the local Kantor. In 1733, at the age of fourteen, he entered the St Thomas' School in Leipzig. There he became a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach and also acted as his copyist. He may even have been Bach's private pupil. Given his role in Bach's activities, it is rather surprising that he has no entry in New Grove. Even in books on Bach he is hardly mentioned or not at all (like in Christoph Wolff's Bach biography and in Alfred Dürr's book on Bach's cantatas). According to Szadejko, in his liner-notes, Mohrheim copied parts of the Christmas Oratorio and several cantatas, but this is not mentioned in the sources I was able to check. He left Leipzig in 1738 to study law at Jena University and later in Halle. From that time organ pieces have been preserved.
Apparently it is not known when Mohrheim settled in Danzig. His first appearance is documented for 1747, when he gave some harpsichord recitals and accompanied his wife in arias by Italian composers. The next year he performed an oratorio and a Singspiel of his pen. In 1749 his wife died, and when the next year he was appointed Freislich's substitute as Kapellmeister at St Mary's, he married the latter's daughter. In the course of time, when Freislich's health deteriorated, he stepped in and took over some of his duties. Freislich died in 1764, and Mohrheim succeeded him. During the third quarter of the century he performed many works, both sacred and secular. More than 100 compositions by Mohrheim are known, but only a small part of his oeuvre has been preserved: some organ works, one harpsichord concerto and twelve sacred works, some of which incomplete.
Mohrheim is of the generation of the sons of Bach. That was a time of change, and in the oeuvre of many composers of that generation we find a mixture of tradition and innovation. The choruses in Mohrheim's cantatas and the orchestral parts of the arias and duets bear the traces of the contrapuntal tradition which he had taken in during his years in Leipzig. They also include modern elements, such as the use of homophony. Especially in the arias and duets he makes use of the galant idiom. In the latter the two voices mostly act in parallel motion.
The present disc offers a variety of cantatas, covering the entire ecclesiastical year, from the feast of the Annunciation (March) to Christmas.
Der Herr ist mit mir is a cantata for the feast of the Annunciation, and dates from 1765. Rather than the Gospel of the day, the text refers to the Epistle, from Isaiah 7, where the coming of the Messiah is announced. The prophet mentions the name Immanuel: God with us. The opening chorus is connected to that: the text is taken from Psalm 118: "The Lord is with me, sherefore I shall not fear. What can men do to me?" The orchestra includes parts for horns. The ensuing aria for tenor opens with the same thought: "The Lord with me! What can be better for me?" After a recitative for bass, which mentions the appearance of "the mediator and saviour of the world", soprano and alto sing a duet about "Immanuel, our fathers' hope". The B part ends with a contrast between "zerrissen" (torn up) and "gestillt" (fulfilled). An accompanied recitative for bass once again refers to Immanuel. The cantata closes with the first stanza of the hymn Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich (Nikolaus Herman, c1480-1561).
Next are two cantatas for the first day of Christmas. Uns ist ein Kind geboren is not dated in the booklet. It is also mentioned that this work has been preserved incomplete, which is a bit surprising, given that it opens with a chorus and closes with a chorale, and takes a little under fifteen minutes, which means that it is about the same length as the cantata just discussed. The opening chorus has again a text from Isaiah, this time from chapter 9: "Unto us a child is born". Obviously, the orchestra includes trumpets and timpani. Here we find the names of the new-born: "Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of Peace". In the German text three of these epithets - Rat, Kraft, Held - are repeated several times, sung in forte chords. In the ensuing recitative for soprano and bass the Saviour is greeted. It is followed by a chorus: "To God on high be praise!" In a recitative the alto urges mankind to praise God's grace. Next is a duet of soprano and bass, addressed to God the Father. It is mentioned that man is "a shadow, a naught", and that is effectively depicted in the music. The cantata closes with two stanzas of the hymn Wir singen dir, Immanuel (Paul Gerhardt, 1653).
Ehre sey Gott in der Höhe is a late cantata, written in 1778. It opens with the chorus of the angels from Luke 2. As one may expect, it includes parts for trumpets and timpani. In the ensuing recitative the alto addresses the angels: "Ye angels, see for yourselves, now unfolds a childishly great secret, that God appears in the flesh". He then turns to himself in an aria, with two obbligato transverse flutes: "Melt, my heart, for this grace". The cantata closes with the hymn Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Philipp Nicolai, 1599), with trumpets and timpani.
Auserwählte Schar is a fragment of a cantata for St Michael's Day. Whether this is the title of the original cantata is not mentioned in the booklet. It probably is not, as the first fragment that is preserved is an aria opening with these words: "Company of the elect, sing before the throne!" Cantatas for this feast usually have a belligerent character, reflected by a scoring which includes trumpets and timpani. That may be the case here as well. The aria is scored for tenor with an obbligato part for trumpet. Notable is the trumpet's imitation through a short rising figure of the last line of the aria (which has no dacapo): "Fly, proclaim his teaching". The second fragment is problably the closing chorus, the second stanza of the hymn O Gottesstadt, du Himmelsschloss (Christoph Ludwig Hartmann, 1666-1740).
The programme closes with a cantata for the second day of Whitsun (Pentecost), Der Herr ist Gott, der uns erleuchtet. The text seems not to be connected to the Gospel (John 3, vs 16-21) or the Epistle (Acts 10, vs 42-48) of the day. The text of the opening chorus is taken from Psalm 118: "The Lord is God, who gives us light". The tenor has three recitatives, and an accompagnato; the arias are for bass and soprano respectively. The bass aria includes parts for horns: "So adorn your hearts with faith and love." It is followed by the fourth stanza of the hymn Liebster Jesu, lass mich nicht. The identity is not quite clear: the libretto says it is from Johann Neinherz, but that seems not to be true. The text of the fourth stanza also does not match the only hymn of this title (by Zacharias Hermann, 1643-1716). Maybe Mohrheim or his librettist changed the text. The tenor accompagnato expresses the faith that God will not leave him. In the ensuing aria the soprano expresses the wish to follow Jesus until the end of his life; this is a link to the hymn just mentioned, which refers to "the night of death". After another recitative of the tenor, the cantata closes with a repeat of the opening chorus.
The programme also includes a single aria, with the indication Aria Communio. This means that it may be written for performance during the Lord's Supper. However, I can't connect the text to it: "Daughter of Heaven, tender Love, to thy appealing invitation every heart must submit." The only religious meaning of the term "daughter of heaven" seems Luther's use of it to characterize the gift of music. In such cases one misses the discussion of the single works on this disc in the liner-notes, which are mostly about Mohrheim's career and oeuvre in general. That is one shortcoming with regard to the production. Another is that the booklet does not include the line-up of each track or the scoring of the cantatas.
However, that should in no way compromise the importance of this recording. It shows that Mohrheim was an excellent composer, and it is highly regrettable that the largest part of his oeuvre has not been preserved. What we have here is quite impressive, and the performances do it full justice. A returning issue in this kind of repertoire is the number of singers involved. Here we have four solo voices and a choir of fifteen voices. I don't known how many singers Mohrheim had at his disposal. In any case, it is preferable that the 'soloists' are part of the tutti. It is regrettable that this is not the case here. That said, the four soloists do an excellent job. Their singing is stylish, their voices blend well in the duets, and they pay much attention to the text, making sure that it is communicated to the audience. The choruses and chorales are sung very well. The orchestra is outstanding, and the players of trumpets and horns deserve special praise.
There is every reason to look forward to the next releases of music from 18th-century Danzig.
Johan van Veen (© 2026)
Relevant links:
Franziska Gottwald
Virgil Hartinger
Stephan MacLeod
Siri Karoline Thornhill
Goldberg Baroque Ensemble