Times of change are often interesting. That is certainly the
case with episodes in music history in which aesthetic ideas
were changing. One such period was the time around 1600. In
Italy the stile concertato was born and gradually broke
the dominance of the old polyphonic style. This soon spread
around Europe and also reached Germany. Some composers, like
Heinrich Schütz, embraced it without ever abandoning counterpoint.
Others offered strong resistance and largely held to the dominant
church music tradition. One of them was Christoph Demantius.
In the preface to his collection Triades Sioniae of 1619
he stated that music written in the modern style was nothing
more than a whim of fashion and wasn't even worth being used
as "bags for incense and pepper". Unlike Schütz he
hardly ever wrote music with a basso continuo part. In his vocal
music he was strongly influenced by Orlandus Lassus, the main
composer in Germany in the second half of the 16th century.
That is especially reflected in the way Demantius translates
texts into music.
As Demantius is one of the lesser-known composers of the early
17th century it is useful to give some biographical information.
He was born in Reichenberg in Bohemia - now Liberec in the Czech
Republic. He studied at the University of Wittenberg, and then
moved to Leipzig. Here his first collection of music was published
in the 1590s. In 1597 he was appointed Kantor at Zittau
and in 1604 moved to Freiberg where he took a similar position
at the cathedral. Here he remained until his death. The fact
that he bought his own house and was granted citizenship bears
witness to his success and prosperity. He was a versatile composer
who wrote sacred and secular vocal music as well as dance music.
In addition he published several books, among them the first
alphabetical musical dictionary in German.
In his sacred music Demantius preferred a six-part texture,
probably reflecting the number of singers he had at his disposal
in Freiberg. Although he held firm to the traditional counterpoint
there is a much stronger connection between text and music than
in most polyphony of the renaissance. Here he showed himself
a follower of Lassus, whose music also contains eloquent text
expression, among them what is generally called 'madrigalisms'.
The six motets which open this disc contain some striking examples
of text expression, like Und wie Moses in der Wüsten
and Denn wer sich selbst erhöhet. Es ward eine Stille
is a masterpiece which begins with an eloquent depiction of
the "silence in heaven" and then leads to a vivid
description of the battle between the dragon and the archangel
Michael. This was written for the Feast of St Michael. In fact,
all the motets on this disc were composed for a specific Sunday
or feast day of the ecclesiastical year. Unfortunately this
is not indicated in the booklet. The texts are all part of the
readings of the respective Sundays.
In his motets Demantius also effectively juxtaposes high and
low voices. He does the same in his St John Passion which
dates from 1631. This is the last example of a motet Passion
in history and is set for six voices. Some passages are for
high voices, others for the lower, for instance the words of
Jesus. There are also short passages for reduced forces, like
that about the two thieves crucified at Jesus's left and right.
Demantius even goes as far as giving the word "einer"
(one - in "one of the soldiers") to a single voice.
Like the motets this Passion contains many passages in which
the text is vividly illustrated in the music. It begins with
an introduction: "Hear the suffering of our Lord Jesus
Christ from the Gospel of St. John" and ends with a prayer:
"We believe, dear Lord, increase our belief. Amen."
To his Passion Demantius added three motets on texts from Chapter
53 of the prophet Isaiah, under the title Weissagung des
Leidens und Sterbens Jesu Christi (Prophecy of the suffering
and death of Jesus Christ). The first begins with the words
"Surely he has borne our griefs", the second with
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted", and the
third with "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin". Parts of these texts were also used by Handel in
his oratorio Messiah.
In her programme notes Doris Blaich writes: "Demantius
showed in dramatic form in his St John Passion that it was still
possible, well after 1600, to compose in an expressive and dramatic
way without abandoning the old rules entirely". I fully
agree with this judgement, and I would like to extend it to
the motets. The way Demantius translates texts into music is
most impressive, and in his very own way he is no less expressive
than composers who had adopted the modern stile concertato
from Italy. The qualities of his music are aptly demonstrated
in this recording from 1997 which has now been reissued. As
Demantius is rather badly represented on disc this reissue is
most welcome. The KammerChor Saarbrücken delivers a completely
convincing interpretation of the St John Passion in which
every detail of the score is meticulously worked out. Some passages
in the Passion are performed with solo voices. I don't know
if the score gives any indication about that, and I also don't
know how many singers Demantius had at his disposal. But a performance
with a choir like this - the booklet doesn't give the number
of singers - seems to me justified, at least musically.
This disc is a very interesting and worthwhile addition to the
catalogue of discs with Passion music. Demantius is one of the
German composers of around 1600 who deserves much more attention.
Those who would like to hear more of him should look for a recording
of "Vespers for Whitsunday" by the Huelgas Ensemble,
directed by Paul Van Nevel (Harmonia mundi).
Johan van Veen
KammerChor Saarbrücken/Georg Grün 
