Johann Theile was best known as an opera composer. But he did study with Heinrich Schutz and wrote a significant amount of sacred choral works. His St. Matthew Passion dates from 1673 – predating Bach’s by about fifty years. The work features two solo voices; the Evangelist and Jesus. Although it uses Matthew’s narrative of […]
Baroque music
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Christoph Graupner Passion cantata series comes to a glorious close
This release completes CPO’s traversal of Christoph Graupner 1741 Passion cantatas. For the 18th Century Lutheran church, Passion cantatas were performed throughout the Sundays in Lent, not just during Holy Week. The concluding installment is the Cantata for Laetare Sunday (the fourth Sunday in Lent). The libretti focus on the wickedness of those who judged […]
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The serene Sonetti Spirituali of Pietro Vinci
Pietro Vinci published his Quattordeci Sonetti Spirituali in 1580. These works are prime examples of the Italian Mannerist School. The text is by Vittoria Colonna, one of the most popular poets of the day. The poems of the Sonetti Spirituali are religious, but Vinci gives them secular settings. His florid polyphony compellingly illuminates the text. Every note (and concordance […]
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Majestic recording of Johann Pachelbel Magnificat
To the general public, Johann Pachelbel is a one-hit-wonder. To his contemporaries in Germany, he was much more — and recordings such as this help us understand why. During his lifetime, Pachelbel was renowned as an organist and a composer. He was especially adept at counterpoint, something he passed on to his students. One of […]
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Krisztián Kováts solves “The Mystery of the Natural Trumpet”
The limitations of the natural trumpet come down to physics. A metal tube vibrates at certain frequencies, and those frequencies have fixed mathematical relationships. When the tube (or trumpet) vibrates at a frequency in its harmonic series of overtones, a note sounds. The notes of the harmonic series are far apart at the bottom but […]
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Spirited performances of Giuseppe Tartini Violin Concertos and Sonatas
Violinist Laura Marzadori knows Italian music. Her previous releases feature works by Ottorino Respighi, Ernnano Wolf-Ferrari, and Leone Sinigaglia. This album focuses on Giuseppe Tartini, one of the most important figures in the development of violin technique. The four works Marzadori perform are all demanding. What makes this program refreshingly different is that they’re unusual […]
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Missa 1724 — bold interpretation of Jan Dismas Zelenka
The “Missa 1724” is actually an assemblage of various sacred works by Jan Dismas Zelenka. But to be fair, they all come from the same general period of Zelenka’s career, and they do make a convincing whole. The Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, ZWV 26 recycles some previous material (some only a year older than […]
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Un’Arpa Straordinaria – Fine selection of Baroque harp music
Up through the Renaissance, harps were relatively simple instruments, able to play diatonic scales. In response to more complex music of the early Baroque, an arpa doppia, or double harp was developed. These harps had a second course of strings (tuned differently than the first). This gave the player more notes, with the two courses […]
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Early Baroque gems from Varie Sonate of Giovanni Battista Vitali
For the average person, I think, the term “Italian Baroque” conjures up the music of Vivaldi. But the Italian Baroque really began around 1600, and it took a while for the music — and the instruments — to complete the transition from the Renaissance. What struck me most about this collection of sonatas by Giovanni […]