It was one of the darkest
moments of the Second World War and
certainly one of the most controversial
when Allied bombers destroyed the beautiful
city of Dresden in response to the Nazi
destruction of Coventry, Warsaw, London
and elsewhere. It took some considerable
time for Dresden to rise again phoenix-like,
but it has indeed done so, retaining
much of its ancient charm. This disc
is in honour of the rebuilding and re-dedication
of its greatest church, the ‘Frauenkirche’
in Autumn 2004. The front cover of the
booklet is adorned with an elegant picture
of what it might have looked like.
And the composer featured
was one of its ‘greatest ornaments’,
Gottfried Homilius, four of whose two
hundred or so cantatas are featured
here. Cantatas in fact for Ascension,
and its following Sunday, Whitsun and
Trinity Sundays. Like the great J.S.,
Homilius wrote cantatas for all of the
special feasts and for each Sunday.
Some Sundays therefore having two or
three to chose from. But to most music
lovers Homilius will be unknown. He
worked at the two main churches in Dresden,
the Kreuzkirche, destroyed in 1760 by
invading Prussian forces and then at
the Frauenkirche. The advertising which
accompanies the CD talks of Homilius’s
work "finding widespread acceptance
outside the capital of Saxony".
He had attended Leipzig university and
studied under Johann Scheider organist
in Leipzig. He was recommended to the
Frauenkirche and eventually worked there
after a five year spell at the Kreuzschule.
His life was, it seems, quite uneventful
thereafter.
It is difficult when
listening to the music to decide if
the composer is basically high baroque
or classical. Each cantata has elements
of both, so that Homilius, in a way,
forms a link between J.S. Bach and Mozart.
The plan and form of
the cantatas is more or less the same
for each. Let me give, as example, the
Cantata for the Sunday following the
Ascension. This falls into five sections
beginning and ending with the full choir,
the last item being a simple harmonized
chorale. The central sections consist
of recitatives and in the middle of
the sandwich an aria, the longest single
item in the work. The Cantata for Trinity
Sunday has more sections and has three
arias, one for alto, one for tenor and
one for soprano.
The texts for each
cantata verge on the philosophical.
They certainly use biblical quotations
as a starting point. They were performed
alongside liturgical readings and linked
with pastor's sermon. There is a verse
from the Bible at the head of the work
and a hymn for the congregation at the
end. It is not known who wrote the texts
for the arias and the non-biblical recitatives.
The inside of the booklet
is given over to a lovely photograph
pictures the many young voices singing
in a hearty and attentive manner. The
picture sums up their ecstatic contribution
which is for me a real highlight. The
soloists are good although a lighter
more gentle approach in the recits would
have pleased me more.
But no matter how good
the performers are the music is no more
than second-rate and although it is
worth hearing it really does not stir
the soul or make a lasting impression.
All texts are given
both in German and in English. There
is biographical detail on the performers
and a succinct but handy essay by Gerhard
Poppe. The recording is well balanced
and very immediate with a not particularly
church acoustic.
Gary Higginson
Vasiljka Jezovsek (soprano); Anne Buter (alto);
Hubert Nettinger (tenor); Christian Hilz (bass).
Dresden Kreuzchor; Dresden Barockorchester/Roderich
Kreile 
