Andreas HAMMERSCHMIDT (1611/12-1675)
Machet die Tore weit [1:40]
Meine Seele Gott erhebt [3:20]
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren [5:41]
Fürchtet euch nicht [2:04]
Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe [3:24]
Das Wort ward Fleisch [3:04]
Wo ist der neugeborne König? [4:23]
Das ist je gewisslich wahr [3:01]
Singst dem Herr nein nneues Lied [2:41]
Alleluja! Freuet euch, ihr Christen [4:12]
Johann ROSENMÜLLER (1619-1684)
Magnificat [13:50]
Gli Scarlattisti/Jochem Arnold
rec. February (Rosenmüller) and September 2011 (Hammerschmidt),
Reutlingen-Gönningen
Texts and translations included
CARUS 83.375 [47:30]
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611/12-1675) is celebrating, give or
take a year - no one is quite sure - his 400th birthday. The
Bohemian-born composer moved to Saxony in his youth, becoming an
organist in the prosperous city of Zittau. Much information
about the composer was lost in a disastrous fire in the city
in 1757. This disc places his works in liturgical context,
in a sequence that will be continued in the forthcoming second
volume devoted to his music. Each disc will also feature a work
by his contemporary Johann Rosenmüller, who is considerably
the better known of the two.
Hammerschmidt is represented here by ten compositions starting
with Machet die Tore weit, a six part motet on Psalm
24, festive and jubilatory. Each of the works is brief, and
none, in fact, lasts more than six minutes in length.
One of the most impressive and moving is Meine Seele erhebt
den Herren written for accompanying cornetts and trombones.
This warmly textured work, also festive, has rich dance patterns
at its heart and is notably well-balanced with the vocal writing
and orchestral passages complementing each other perfectly.
A sequence of Christmas pieces follows. Ehre sei Gott in
der Höhe is particularly well performed by the ensemble,
Gli Scarlattisti directed by Jochen Arnold. Here the affirmative
and flowing tempo is subtly modified. The echoing polyphony
and brass writing in Das Wort ward Fleisch is in the
best German style, conveying its textual message with both richness
and directness. Deft echo effects enhance the motet Das ist
je gewisslich wahr where, once again, that burnished German
School brass writing presents a warmly supportive cushion of
sound.
Rosenmüller’s Magnificat offers nine brief movements,
but each is charged with a very plausible sense of character.
These range from the energy and thwack of the Fecit potentiam
with its incisive fiddles and energetic chorus, to the vitality
of the solo voices elsewhere.
Extremely well recorded, and scrupulously performed, this celebratory
tribute makes a good case for Hammerschmidt's small-scale but
enjoyable works.
Jonathan Woolf
A celebratory tribute making a good case for these small-scale
but enjoyable works.