The continuo in this recording is richly varied, shared by organ, harpsichord, harp, lute, theorbo, bassoon, and cello.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The textual content of the arias is influenced by Pietism, a movement centered in Halle that emphasized music's role in conveying faith.
Composition History
Handel's Nine German Arias, though published as a cycle in 1921, have an unknown original composition date, occasion, and intended scoring.
Performer Biography
The Lautten Compagney, one of Germany's renowned baroque ensembles, has been performing for nearly three decades and has received awards like the Echo Klassik 2010.
Composition History
The Nine German Arias and the Brockes Passion are the only surviving examples of Handel setting texts in his native German tongue for voice and an obbligato solo instrument.
Composer Biography
George Frideric Handel and the poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes, whose texts Handel set, both studied at the University of Halle and met between 1702 and 1706.
Interpretation
For this recording, the performers opted for colorful sonorities, using flute, oboe, and violin for the obbligato instrumental parts, sometimes playing together.
