Andreas HAMMERSCHMIDT (1611-1675)
Ach Jesus Stirbt
Details after review
Vox Luminis/Lionel Meunier
with the participation of Clematis
rec. Gedinne, Église Notre-Dame, September 2019
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as lossless (wav) press preview
RICERCAR RIC418
[70:47]
Regular readers will know that the music of the German baroque is something
that I turn to regularly. It’s not always comforting – Lutheranism has some
less than exuberant aspects; its founder urged all Christians to live a
life of constant repentance – but it also has a considerable upside. Both
are represented in this recording of music by Hammerschmidt, from the
opening lament for the death of Jesus to the triumphant Easter shout Triumph! Victoria! (track 10).
The notes aptly describe Hammerschmidt as forgotten. He seems to have been
a pupil of Demantius, himself not over-represented in the catalogue by
comparison with his contemporary Schütz. I’m certainly not complaining that
Schütz has received plenty of attention on record, with a complete opus on
Carus, but Demantius and Hammerschmidt don’t deserve to languish in
neglect. Full marks, then to all concerned for this new recording, not
least to Rémy Claverie for having transcribed most of it and his team of
proof-readers from the vocal ensemble La Compagnie des Humbles. Ploughing
through ancient tomes with such enticing names as
Geistlicher Dialogen ander Theil, darinnen Herrn Opitzens Hohes Lied
Salomonis
and
Chor Music auff Madrigal Manier, Fünfter Theil, Musicalischer Andachten
can’t have been easy, but the result is well worth the effort.
These portentous titles often contain more than a clue to the nature of the
music: that second volume, which furnishes the music on tracks 9, 11 and
13, reminds us that the Italian madrigal style was a major influence on
North German composers. (Hammerschmidt was actually Bohemian, but when
Bohemia returned to the Roman obedience he settled in Lutheran territory.)
In fact, the Italian influence, familiar from the music of Schütz, is
apparent throughout the music on this recording. As with Schütz, however,
it’s music in an Italian style with a German accent.
None of the music is claimed as receiving its first recording, but very few
of the pieces face any competition. The title track, for example, has only
one rival, a fine collection of music by Hammerschmidt and Hüttenbrenner Verleih uns Frieden (Rondeau ROP7001 –
DL News 2012/20). Similarly, Christ lag in Todesbanden is
the only work to overlap with a CPO recording from Weser Renaissance
(999846-2 -
review;
DL News 2012/20). Even if there were as wealth of rival recordings, it’s hard to imagine
the music receiving finer performances than here from Vox Luminis and their
director Lionel Meunier.
The title and cover picture of the recording are slightly misleading. The
opening work is a meditation on the death of Jesus, and several of the
other tracks are solemn, but the light of Easter breaks in on track 7 with
a version of Christ lag in Todesbanden, a text set by Bach and many
others. And three tracks later the brass bursts forth in exultation; the
trombones which have featured on track 7 are joined by trumpets and a
bassoon here. My only reservation is that this track, Triumph, Triumph, Victoria! would have brought the house down if
placed at the end, though the echo effect in the final work, Siehe, wie fein und lieblich ists, extolling the virtues of unity
– a message we could well take to heart today – is also very effective.
The only concession to music in celebration of the resurrection permitted in the English Prayer
Book at the time was the recitation or singing of the Easter sentences at
the start of Mattins, in place of the usual Venite. Even though a
composer like Byrd could make these attractive, they pale beside this
Hammerschmidt work and other Italian-influenced German music of the period,
once the little local difficulty of the 30 Years War had ended. (Byrd The Great Service and other works, Hyperion CDA67533 –
review; or In Chains of Gold 2, music by Byrd, Bull, Morley, etc. Signum
SIGCD609: Recommended –
review).
For the Ascension, the English Prayer Book makes no special musical
concessions, apart from specifying the appropriate psalm. An English
visitor hearing Hammerschmidt’s Ich fahre auf zu meinem Vater
when this piece was published in 1671
(track 14, again with trumpets and bassoon) would have had his socks
knocked off, though I don’t believe they wore socks at the time. Purcell was only 11 or 12 then, so our putative sockless
English visitor would not yet have heard any of his music.
The editorial group have given Vox Luminis fine modern texts; the
performances live up fully to the ensemble’s already strong
reputation, and they are equally well supported by Clematis on three
tracks. There are some performers so consistently first-rate that I long
ago ran out of words to praise them. Such are the Tallis Scholars, whose
project to record all the Masses of Josquin has just been completed with
its final volume (Gimell CDGIM051: Missa Dux Hercules; Missa D’ung aultre amer and Missa Faysant regretz:
Recommended –
review). Such, too, are Vox Luminis and Clematis.
The recording, as heard in lossless sound, is excellent. I also sampled it
as streamed in 24-bit, which brings even better sound at a price. Some
careless editing spoils an otherwise first-class booklet, at least in my
press preview: Hammerschmidt loses his ‘a’ in the main title, the cover
painting is ascribed to Dürer in 1405, seven decades before he was born,
‘Hohes Lied’ becomes ‘Hobes Lied’, and ‘dass’ becomes ‘das’ (track 9) in
the list of contents.
That’s a very minor complaint, however, to offset against my enthusiasm for
the rest of this recording, which should bring Hammerschmidt’s music into
wider circulation.
Brian Wilson
Contents
Ach Jesus stirbt
[5:12]
O barmherziger Vater
[3:21]
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz
[3:57]
Ach Gott, warum hast du mein vergessen
[5:20]
Erbarm dich mein
[4:55]
Bis hin an des Creutzes Stamm
[4:34]
Christ lag in Todesbanden
[6:41]
Vater unser
[6:42]
Ich bin gewiß, dass weder Tod
[4:04]
Triumph, Triumph, Victoria
[6:41]
Die mit Tränen säen
[3:39]
Wer wälzet uns den Stein
[4:25]
Ist nicht Ephraim mein theurer Sohn [
3:21]
Ich fahre auf zu meinem Vater
[3:44]
Siehe, wie fein und lieblich ists
(Zweifach Echo à 12) [4:14]
