Christian Geist was
born in Güstrom in Northern Germany
probably around 1650. His early musical
training was from his father, a cathedral
Kantor and his early appointment was
in the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg.
He moved to Stockholm as an organist,
remaining there until 1680, and on marriage
to the widow of the previous occupant
took up the position of organist at
several churches and cathedrals in Copenhagen.
In 1711 he and his third wife and children
died of the plague.
The works recorded
here are sacred concertos written for
small ensembles of voices and strings.
They date from the 1670s and a number
were inspired by the accession in 1672
of King Karl XI - for whose coronation
service a number were written. Geist
also wrote music for the New Year’s
Day celebrations, though the impetus
to write the Dixit Dominus, Domine qui
das salutem I and Domine qui das salutem
III remains obscure. Clearly he had
a firm grounding in counterpoint, a
product of his rigorous early training,
and even more obviously Geist was greatly
influenced by the prevailing musical
wind of change blowing from Italy.
The original instrument
group Capella Rediviva – five singers
and seven instrumentalists, though here
augmented by five guests because of
the need for brass and timpani reinforcements
– perform capably and enthusiastically,
though the brittle and dry castle acoustic
does them no favours at all. Thus the
resonant brass figures of Quis hostis
in coelis never really expand as
eloquently or dramatically as they should.
This piece, with its rhythmic incision,
little harmonic lurches and palpable
Italianate models is the most ambitious
structure of all the works essayed here.
Geist’s gift was one of some expressive
distinction; the texts he set, often
– as here – Psalm settings respond well
to his word painting though clearly
he was not the equal of a German contemporary
such as Buxtehude. His celebratory music
- Exaudi Deus orationem is a
good example – is not florid or ornate
though it is attractively shaped and
the 1671 setting Io, Musae, novo
Sol rutilat has elements of staccato-legato
style that keeps interest alive. Geist
was a more than competent example of
cosmopolitan music making; his academic
training fused with Italian lyrical
impulses to produce eventful, entertaining
and stimulating music. Capella Rediviva’s
vocal group, as I said, are let down
by the recording acoustic which tends
to emphasise some faults of voice production
but they acquit themselves with attractive
engagement.
Jonathan Woolf
Capella Rediviva/Boo Peter Tillberg