Christoph Graupner, the composer, and Johann Conrad Lichtenberg, his librettist, were brothers-in-law, connected through Graupner's marriage to Sophie Elisabeth Eckhardt and Lichtenberg's marriage to her younger sister Catharina Henriette.
Compositional Technique
Graupner's cantatas often feature a symmetrical seven-movement structure, with framing choral movements and arias for soprano and bass.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Graupner's compositional style was characterized by continuous experimentation, especially in instrumentation, to compensate for the lack of visual elements present in opera.
Performer Biography
Florian Heyerick, the conductor, is a versatile musician from Flanders who founded the vocal ensemble Ex Tempore in 1989 and also leads the Mannheimer Hofkapelle.
Historical Context
The cantatas on this album are part of a specific Lutheran tradition where Passion-themed cantatas were performed on Sundays throughout Lent, not just during Holy Week.
Interpretation
The Mannheimer Hofkapelle, led by Florian Heyerick, plays on historical instruments to reconstruct the original sound and performance practices of 17th and 18th-century court music.
Composition History
Johann Conrad Lichtenberg, the librettist for these cantatas, wrote 25 yearbooks of church music for the Darmstadt court, totaling 1659 cantata texts.
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