L'arpa Festante, Christoph Hesse Johann Christoph Pez: Duplex Genius (2024)

Period-instrument ensemble L'Arpa Festante gives new life to neglected instrumental and choral works from the Baroque to the Romantic eras. The group has recorded for various German labels. L'Arpa Festante is a durable survivor among German historical instrument groups, having been founded in 1983 by violinist Michi Gaigg. She remained its director and concertmaster until 1995. The group was sometimes known as the Barockorchester L'Arpa Festante ("Baroque Orchestra L'Arpa Festante") or even BOLAF, but since its repertory expanded forward into the Classical and Romantic eras, this has been used less often. The name L'Arpa Festante comes from that of a cantata by Giovanni Battista Maccioni and means The Festive Harp; that work had its premiere in 1653 as part of the inauguration ceremonies for what would eventually become the Bavarian State Opera. In its earlier years, the group focused on lesser-known works of the German Baroque, especially those by members of the Bach family.

L'arpa festante was founded in Munich in 1983 by a group of musicians around the violinist Michi Gaigg, who also directed it until 1995. The ensemble borrowed its name from the dramatic cantata of the same name by Giovanni Battista Maccioni († c. 1678), which was performed in 1653 for the inauguration of the Munich Opera. L'arpa festante performs in changing ensembles, often with choirs or vocal soloists, using historical instruments.

The identity of the composer Johann Abraham Schmikerer (also Schmierer, Schmirer, Schmicerer, Schmicorer) seems to be shrouded in a mysterious darkness. It is thanks to Albert Göhler (1879–1914) that we even know him by name as a composer. So who was J. A. Schmikerer? According to current knowledge, he was born in Augsburg in December 1661; his parents were Georg and Anna Dorothea (née Schnuerer) Schmikerer.

The 12 vocal works on this new double CD with L'arpa festante follow without exception the type of the choral cantata "per omnes versus", i.e. a type in which (almost) all the verses of a chorale poem are set to music, and represent a representative cross-section of the most diverse composers. This genre is to be distinguished from a cantata with chorale, which is characterised by a mixture of different texts. It is also distinguished from the historically older chorale motet, which does without obbligato instruments, and from the chorale concerto, which is often through-composed. The "heyday" of the chorale cantata "per omnes versus" mentioned at the beginning lies in the period after the Thirty Years' War until shortly after 1700. After that, the chorale - including the chorale poem - loses its importance; it is only with Johann Sebastian Bach that the chorale is given a new, pre-eminent position in the church music of his time, albeit under changed stylistic conditions.

L'arpa festante is a German chamber orchestra, specializing in the revival and performance of unknown works, especially from the Baroque era. It was established in Munich in 1983 by Michi Gaigg, who also led the ensemble as concertmaster until 1995. The ensemble takes its name from Giovanni Battista Maccioni's dramatic cantata L'arpa festante (The Festive Harp) which was first performed in 1653, inaugurating what was to become the Bavarian State Opera.

Here's a superbly performed collection of little-known Baroque music, all tied together through its connection to a specific place: the court of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, around 1700 (such electors were princes who picked the Holy Roman Emperor). International musical tastes ruled at Maximilian Emanuel's court – indeed, it could hardly be otherwise, since a series of poor military decisions forced the prince to relocate as far away as Brussels. He employed Italians and admired the French court as the pinnacle of pomp and ceremony.

Today Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) is considered the most important and influential German composer of the early baroque era. In his 55 years of service as chapel master to the court of Saxony in Dresden, he taught not only the choirboys in his chapel but music students sent to him from other German courts. His pupils were highly sought after as (court) chapel masters, orchestra leaders or church music directors throughout northern Europe.