This recording includes several world premiere recordings of motets from Melchior Franck's "Geistliche Gesäng und Melodeyen."
Composition History
Melchior Franck's collection "Geistliche Gesäng und Melodeyen" (1608) is his first to use German texts and is the largest German collection of wedding motets of its era.
Compositional Technique
Franck's music in "Geistliche Gesäng und Melodeyen" extensively uses word-painting techniques to reflect the dramatic contrasts and imagery of the Song of Solomon.
Composer Biography
Melchior Franck was a highly prolific composer, publishing over 1,000 works, with only Michael Praetorius among his contemporaries being more productive.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Franck's motets in this collection primarily set passages from the Song of Solomon, a traditional source for wedding texts, and reflect a madrigalistic and dramatic approach.
Interpretation
The performers on this recording used three different instrument families—recorder, viola da gamba, and cornetto/sackbut consorts—combined with a vocal ensemble, omitting basso continuo for greater dynamic range.
Composer Biography
Melchior Franck, born around 1580, served as court music director for Duke Johann Casimir of Saxe-Coburg for thirty years.
