This release features three Georg Philipp Telemann works for countertenor. More precisely, it presents three early works by Telemman (for countertenor). Not that I could hear much difference. Telemann in his twenties was already a skilled composer. There are no awkward moments in any of these works. And while his style grew in complexity, these pieces benefit […]
choral music
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Early Beethoven cantatas hint at greatness
The Emporer is dead, long live the Emporer. In 1790 a nineteen-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas. The first was an elegy for Emperor Joseph II. The second for Leopold II, who inherited the throne. Maestro Leif Segerstam presents both works. It continues Naxos’s series of Beethoven choral works. Apparently, the […]
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Homilius Christmas Cantatas beat the rush
This release had me scratching my head. Why was an album of Advent and Christmas music released in February? Most folks (even me) have our Christmas decorations dismantled and packed away for another year. Of course, these cantatas by Gottfried August Homilius don’t really have a Christmassy sound. Homilius wrote in the empfindsamer style, which supplanted the […]
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Ecco la Musica perform Johann Samuel Welter cantatas credibly
Johann Samuel Welter is the only name on the cover of this release. But he’s not the only composer features. The early music ensemble Ecco la Musica presents a varied program of music from 17th Century Germany. Five of Welter’s choral cantatas are interspersed with instrumental works, by some of Welter’s older contemporaries. Welter’s considered […]
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Margaret Bonds – The Ballad of the Brown King
Margaret Bonds is considered one of America’s most important 20th Century composers of color. And yet, because most of her work remains unpublished, little of it gets recorded. Which is why I was so excited to get this release. Malcolm J. Merriweather, the conductor of the Dessoff Choirs in New York City, has become a […]
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Ockeghem Songs Blue Heron’s latest and greatest
There are two things I can count on: blue-chip stocks, and Blue Heron recordings. The former retain their value year after year. The latter produces top-flight recordings. This new release is no exception. It’s the first installment of a new series, traversing the songs of 15th Century composer Johannes Ockeghem. Ockeghem was one of the […]
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Christoph Graupner: Passion Cantatas III maintain series quality
CPO’s ambitious cycle of Christoph Graupner cantatas continues. Graupner wrote over 1,200 cantatas. This series is limited to the ten he wrote for Lent in 1741. The first of the three cantatas included in this release is the first of the Lenten cycle. Kommt, Seelen, sied in Andacht stille (Come, ye souls, be silent in worship) sets […]
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Leopold Kozeluch Masonic music well-crafted
Leopold Kozeluch’s career somewhat paralleled Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s – as did his music. Both were pianists. Like Mozart, Kozeluch wrote many symphonies (30) and piano concertos (22). He succeeded Mozart as the Hofmusik Compositor of the Viennese court. And Kozeluch, like Mozart, was a Freemason and wrote music for the Order. Kozeluch’s contribution was a […]
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Telemann Inauguration Cantatas interesting sidelights
This release features three cantatas, Georg Philipp Telemann. All were written to mark special occasions. Two were in Hamburg, where Telemann served from 1721 to 1767. One was for the neighboring town of Altona, which didn’t have a resident composer. Altona’s 1744 cantata Geschlagene Pauken, auf was inauguration music for a new school. The music is somewhat […]