The style concertato which emerged in Italy in the early
17th century soon disseminated over large parts of Europe. In
Germany some composers resisted the new fashion and stood by
the polyphonic style of the 16th century. Others embraced the
new style, without completely doing away with the traditional
counterpoint. Heinrich Schütz and Michael Praetorius both belonged
to this category. Their oeuvre is very different in character,
though. The main difference is their attitude towards the hymns
which had become such an important part of liturgical music
in Protestant Germany.
These were the direct result of Martin Luther's liturgical reforms.
He wanted the congregation to sing, and to that end he wrote
texts and sometimes also music - partly adapted from existing
material - which were easy to learn and to memorize. Others
followed in his footsteps and wrote large numbers of hymns.
In his oeuvre Heinrich Schütz paid little attention to these
hymns. Only now and then they turn up in his sacred works, but
on the whole their role is marginal. That was very different
in the oeuvre of Michael Praetorius, which is largely based
on these hymns. That comes as no surprise at several moments
in his life he came in close contact with some prolific composers
of hymns.
Praetorius was born in Creuzburg an der Werra, near Eisenach,
where his father, who had studied with Martin Luther, worked
as a pastor. As he did belong to the strict Lutherans he regularly
lost his job and had to move. Two years after Michael's birth
he had to move again, this time to Torgau. Here Praetorius senior
became a colleague of Johann Walter, one of the main composers
of hymns, at the Lateinschule. His successor, Michael
Voigt, was Michael junior's first musical teacher. He matriculated
at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in 1582, where he
became acquainted with Bartolomäus Gesius, another composer
of hymns.
In 1595 he entered the service of Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolffenbuttel
as organist. His reputation was rising steadily, and in 1604
he was appointed Kapellmeister. Around 1610 he published
a large number of collections of music. When his employer died
his successor allowed him to work elsewhere for some time. He
was in Dresden, where he met Schütz. He also worked in Magdeburg,
Halle, Sondershausen and Kassel, and he visited Leipzig, Nuremberg
and Bayreuth. It is probably due to overwork that his health
deteriorated, which led to his death at the age of 49. His high
reputation is reflected by the fortune he left, which was largely
to be used to set up a foundation for the poor.
Praetorius oeuvre is unique for its wide variety of forms ad
scorings. This is mainly the result of his pursuit to provide
directors of music with pieces they were able to perform with
the forces they had at their disposal. Therefore we find simple
four-part settings of Lutheran hymns and bicinia - largely
written for pedagogical purposes - as well as large-scale polychoral
pieces in Venetian style. Larger-scale works often included
passages for solo voices which show the influence of the Italian
stile concertato. In addition Praetorius offered the
possibility to adapt his music to local circumstances. Many
pieces contain ad libitum parts, which could be left
out if only a small number of performers were available. This
way his music could be used in large as well as in smaller churches.
Praetorius's oeuvre is huge: he published no less than 12 volumes
under the title of Musae Sioniae; the scorings vary from
four to twelve voices. Es ist ein Ros entsprungen is
taken from one of these volumes. The largest-scale pieces are
to be found in the collection Polyhymnia caduceatrix et panegyrica
of 1619, with pieces for up to 21 voices. Four pieces on this
disc are from this collection: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,
Puer natus in Bethlehem, Vom Himmel hoch and Wie schön
leuchtet der Morgenstern. In these we find the whole array
of forces which were used by directors of music at the time:
passages for solo voices, episodes for ripieno voices
- often used in refrains - and extended parts for instruments.
These not only play colla voce but also have independent
parts, sometimes as a ritornello, and Praetorius also writes
embellished parts for some instruments, like the violin and
the cornett.
A special collection was printed in 1621 under the title of
Puericinium, which contains pieces for four equal voices,
more specifically - as the title indicates - trebles. Lutheran
hymns are set in the manner of the stile concertato;
the voices are only accompanied by basso continuo. Here again
Praetorius offers additional possibilities, like the use of
a chorus adultorum, a string ensemble (capella fidicinia)
and extra basso continuo instruments.
With the choice of pieces from various sources this disc provides
an interesting survey of Praetorius' oeuvre. It also sheds light
on the multi-coloured performance practice of his time, as various
options suggested by the composer are practiced. In the three
pieces from Puericinium (Pueri nostri concinite, Quem
pastores laudavere, Nun helft mir Gottes Güte schon preisen)
we hear not only various solo trebles from the choir, but also
the full choir as chorus adultorum and additional instruments.
On the whole the performances are quite impressive. The singers
and players strike the right chord here, which is not self-evident
in performances of non-German interpreters. I was especially
pleased by the phrasing and articulation and the accentuation
of single words, which is very much what is needed in German
music but sorely missing in so many performances. The German
pronunciation is a bit of a problem, though. In particular some
vowels are wrong, for instance the "e" which is often
too sharp - as the "a" in "and" instead
of the "a" in "make". In Nun helft mir
Gottes Güte preisen both pronunciations are used at the
same time - very odd. But that doesn't take anything away from
my great appreciation of this disc. The singing of the solo
trebles is very good, and the full choir is sounding great.
The acoustics of Westminster Cathedral have been effectively
used. In the pieces for solo trebles we hear the four voices
from different spots.
The Parley of Instruments delivers colourful performances of
the instrumental parts. They are heard independently in the
dances from Terpsichore, in our time by far the most
famous collection of music by Praetorius. When the music of
the renaissance and early baroque was rediscovered these dances
were frequently played, usually at a wide variety of instruments,
from cornetts and sackbuts to recorder and viol consorts. It
seems unlikely this is in line with Praetorius' intentions.
These dances are mostly not composed by him, but rather arrangements
of existing material, in particular by the French violinist
Pierre Francisque Caroubel. Praetorius himself indicates the
French origin of these dances and that implies the use of an
instrumental ensemble as was in vogue in French dance music.
So we hear violin, two violas and a large bass violin. As The
Parley of Instruments also uses renaissance violins rather than
baroque violins the sound is rather mild and close to renaissance
viols.
From every point of view this is an intriguing and captivating
disc. Praetorius' sacred music makes a great impression; in
large scorings it can be outright overwhelming. His dance music
is very entertaining, and the way it is played here offers a
new impression of the character of this music. It is great that
this disc is available again. I would have liked Hyperion being
more specific about the singers - no names are given - and about
exactly which dances are performed. Just telling the listener
that 'dances' are played doesn't suffice.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral, The Parley of Instruments/David
Hill 
