Georg Christoph STRATTNER (1644/45-1704)
Ich will den Herrn loben allezeit [4:00]
Ach, mein Vater, ich habe gesündigt [11:11]
Getreuer Schöpfer [8:27]
Ich stelle mich bei meinem Leben [12:00]
Du Hirt Israel, höre [6:52]
Herr, der du uns hast anvertraut [7:26]
O Gott, du Ursprung aller Liebe [10:21]
Miriam Feuersinger, Monika Mauch (soprano)
Alexander Schneider (alto), Daniel Schreiber (tenor), Markus Flaig (bass)
Les Escapades/Cosimo Stawiarski
rec. 28-30 September 2020, Altkatholische Kirche Karlsruhe, Germany
CHRISTOPHORUS CHR77454 [60:20]
Listed as premiere recordings, this recording by Les Escapades of seven sacred concertos is a fascinating addition to our knowledge of 17th century Protestant church music. Georg Christoph Strattner is hardly known at all today, though he is thought to have been one of southern Germany’s most important musicians in his time. Born in the small Hungarian town of Gols in Burgenlande, he was apparently trained at an early age by his cousin Samuel Capricornus, who took him to Stuttgart where he was employed as a chapel boy. Details of his life and career are often sketchy, but his first major post came at the age of 21 as Kapellmeister at the court of the Margrave of Baden-Durlach. In 1682 he was appointed as music director in the city of Frankfurt am Main, where he was responsible for church music at the main Protestant church and his work was much appreciated by the city elites. This might have been Strattner’s lucrative lifetime position were it not for a scandal involving the maid at his residence who, unmarried and pregnant, gained a confession at trial from both Strattner and a student named Christian that they had both had an affair with the poor girl while in Strattner’s employ. Expelled from the city, Strattner had to search far and wide for a new position, ending up in Weimar as a vice Kapellmeister where he would no doubt have made the acquaintance of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1703.
All of this naughtiness takes nothing away from the quality of the music in this recording. These cantatas are characterised by the Italian concertato style, setting their German texts with disarming and imaginative skill, weaving sophisticated polyphony while keeping an essentially lyrical feel that has an irresistible immediacy and attractiveness. If you are looking for some kind of orientation, Strattner’s music is approximately comparable to that of Johann Rosenmuller in terms of style and quality, thereby forming a further important link between Schutz and J.S. Bach.
With admirable singers and the eight musicians of Les Escapades this recording is notable for its transparency and refinement. All of the texts for these cantatas are printed in the booklet, though without translation from the original German. Strattner’s skill in balancing narrative structure with musical expression is clear from the outset. Drama is subsumed into the detachment of a musical discourse that avoids standard recitative, while taking advantage of the contrasts afforded by a single voice alternating with vocal ensemble textures. Strattner doesn’t offer the recitative/aria structure of Bach’s cantatas, but there is no shortage of expressiveness in the music. While not getting into too much detail it is easy to hear why the church leaders in Frankfurt would have valued Strattner’s music so highly. There are some lovely scrunchy harmonies from time to time, making emotional points with elegant clarity while always remaining within the bounds of good taste.
With informative booklet notes and a luminous recording this is a release of some unheard sacred vocal works that collectors of music from this period will not want to miss.
Dominy Clements
