Baroque Christmas Cantatas from Central Germany II

Featuring

Matthias Jung
Anne Stadler
Dorothea Wagner
Stefan Kunath
Alexander Bischoff
Felix Schwandtke

Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Sächsisches Vocalensemble
Johann Schelle
Christian Liebe
Philipp Heinrich Erlebach
Johann Rosenmüller
Gottfried Vogel

Did you know?

1/7

Historical Context

The institutional basis for Protestant church music, involving Latin schools, organists, and town pipers, remained stable well into the 18th century after the Lutheran Reformation.

Composition History

Many excellent works from the period between Schütz and Bach are known today exclusively through manuscripts from the Fürsten- und Landesschule St. Augustin in Grimma.

Recording & Production

This recording exclusively features older types of church cantatas, aligning with the focus of the Grimma collection from which the works were sourced.

Performer Biography

The Sächsisches Vocalensemble (Saxon Vocal Ensemble), founded by Matthias Jung in 1996, is an internationally acclaimed ensemble known for its stylistic perfection and virtuosity in early music.

Historical Context

The decades between Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) were long considered a mere transitional stage in the history of Protestant church music.

Compositional Technique

The most widespread type of church cantata around 1700 was the 'concerto-aria cantata,' typically starting with an instrumental piece, followed by a Bible verse, and then alternating soloists for aria stanzas.

Composer Biography

Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684), one of the composers on this album, was arrested in 1655 on charges of pederasty and fled to Italy, where he worked as a trombonist at San Marco in Venice.