As Gerhard Poppe remarks
in his very useful booklet notes, in
terms of Lutheran church music the period
between Schütz and Bach was "long
regarded as a sort of interim period
hardly meriting more than purely historical
interest." I suspect that this
attitude stemmed, in part at least,
from sheer ignorance of much of the
music composed in late seventeenth century
Germany. However, in recent years that
lacuna of knowledge has gradually been
filled, at least partially, not least
through recordings such as this present
one.
Poppe tells us that
all the pieces on this disc are included
in a substantial library of music originally
assembled at the Fürsten- und Landesschule
St. Augustin in Grimma, Central Saxony
and which is now lodged in the Sächsische
Landesbibliotek - Staats- und Universitäts-bibliotek
in Dresden. He explains that, as was
common practice in smaller German towns
in the period, compositions by composers
not connected with the place itself
were copied for use in local services.
Thus the music on this CD comes from
the pens of a variety of composers.
Much of it was probably added to the
Grimma collection during the time that
Samuel Jacobi (1653-1721) was Kantor
there – he served from 1680 until his
death.
The works assembled
here, all of which are quite short,
follow the style of the concerto-aria
cantata, or variants on the form, Poppe
tells us. I think it would be fair to
say that none of these works seems to
break significant new ground. Rather,
they sit firmly in the tradition of
Lutheran church music, as it existed
before Bach’s time. In most cases the
instrumental scoring is fairly modest
but several of the works employ festive
trumpets and drums.
The opening work is
one such. Indeed, it makes an absolutely
splendid opening to the programme. Johann
Schelle was a predecessor of Bach as
Kantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig,
serving from 1677. His cantata, Machet
die Tore weit (‘Open wide the gates’)
was written for the First Sunday in
Advent. It begins with an exuberant
tutti in which the trumpets and
drums are prominent. There follow four
fluent verses, one each for the four
soloists with continuo and all using
the same musical material. After all
four of them have combined in a fifth
verse the opening tutti is restated.
The performance here is hugely enjoyable
and really whets the appetite for the
rest of the programme.
Basilius Petritz was
Kantor of the Kreuzschule in Dresden
from 1694. His Die Herrlichkeit
des Herrn (‘The glory of the Lord’)
is also an Advent piece, this time for
the Third Sunday. Unlike Schelle, he
opens with an instrumental sinfonia
before a relatively substantial chorus,
which is reprised at the end. In this
piece, again unlike Schelle’s, each
of the solo verses has different music.
The soprano verse is particularly plaintive
and Birte Kulawik does it justice –
but it’s only fair to point out at once
that all her colleagues acquit themselves
well too, here and elsewhere.
The next piece, Fürchtet
euch nicht (‘Do not fear’) is by
Philipp Heinrich Erlebach. Though it
doesn’t say so in the notes, I infer
from the words of the first solo verse
that it’s a Christmas Day piece. The
opening tutti is joyful, with trumpets
and drums well to the fore, and much
is made of lively rhythms. In fact Erlebach
uses lilting compound time rhythms throughout
the cantata and does so to very good
effect. It’s a most engaging and attractive
work. The fourth verse, a tutti, is
especially smiling and culminates in
a short, brisk fugato Amen.
Also hat Gott die
Welt geliebet (‘God so loved the
world’) is by Christian August Jacobi,
the son of the aforementioned Samuel
Jacobi. It may be that the piece won
its place in the Grimma collection due
to his father’s influence but, to be
honest, I think it justified inclusion
in the library on its own merits. It’s
more lightly scored than most of the
other pieces here recorded – trumpets
and drums are absent – and the structure
is more unusual. The fairly substantial
first movement begins with the four
soloists, joined later by the choir.
The music here is quite thoughtful,
as befits the text – the words are the
same as those employed much later in
Stainer’s famous chorus. In a couple
of movements Jacobi uses the great Lutheran
hymn, Von Himmel hoch: the second
verse is a short fugue on a melodic
fragment from the hymn and the concluding
verse employs the familiar melody. In
between come a couple of duets and a
short, lithe chorus. The second of these
duets is for soprano and alto. I bow
to the experience of Matthias Jung but
it seems to me that the brisk tempo
he adopts is at odds with both the words
and the music; both seem to invite a
gently lilting lullaby.
Christian Liebe’s O
Heiland aller Welt (‘O Saviour of
all the world’) is more Lutheran in
tone than the other works on this CD
in that the texts of the first two strophic
verses – one each for soprano and tenor
soloist – ponder the wretched sinfulness
of man. The mood changes for the third
and fourth verses, also strophic, which
reflect on Redemption through the birth
of Christ. Finally the final verse,
for which different music is provided
and in which the chorus and all the
soloists join, celebrates the triumph
of the Christian over the flames of
hell. The music here is suitably extrovert.
The programme is completed
by Johann Ernst Bessel’s Komm, du
schöne Freudenkrone
(‘Come, you beautiful crown of joy’).
To judge by its text, which uses the
metaphor of the eagerly awaited bridegroom,
as does Bach in his cantata Wachet
auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV
140, this is another Advent piece. This
is the only piece that uses more than
a quartet of soloists for a second soprano,
Dorothea Wagner, a member of the Sächsisches
Vocalensemble, is brought in to sing
the last aria in the piece, a florid
and jubilant proclamation with a particularly
demanding tessitura. Miss Wagner’s voice
is somewhat piping in tone but that’s
not inappropriate for a piece that would
have been written for a boy treble and
she copes very well with the cruel demands
of the aria. The final section of the
cantata sets three verses of Von
Himmel hoch followed by a
fugal Amen and so the disc ends as joyously
as it began.
I’d not heard any of
this music before, with the exception
of the Schelle offering. It would be
idle to pretend that any of it rivals
the genius of Bach, or Schütz for
that matter, but it’s all extremely
well crafted, often very interesting
and always most enjoyable. The performances
are a delight. The solo work is extremely
good; the twelve-strong choir is light
and clean in tone and their spirited
singing gives great pleasure. The playing
of the small Batzdorfer Hofkapell is
crisp and stylish and Matthias Jung
directs the proceedings with skill and
evident enthusiasm.
Production values are
very high. The recorded sound is exemplary
in its clarity; the artwork is both
appropriate and excellent; and the booklet
notes, which are in German, English
and French are interesting and informative
– it should be noted, however, that
there’s no French translation of the
texts. I’d describe this project as
scholarly but without any academic dryness.
This unfamiliar music
is most enjoyable and it’s very well
served by these sparkling performances.
John Quinn
Birte Kulawik (soprano I); Dorothea Wagner
(soprano II); David Erler (contralto);
Hans Jörg Mammel (tenor); Matthias
Lutze (bass) 
