Leben Jesu

After a St John Passion that won widespread critical acclaim (Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine's Choice, Trophee de Radio Classique), Philippe Herreweghe and his ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent continue the journey to the heart of Bach's oeuvre that has made them world-famous with a programme of cantatas. The three recorded here were composed between 1723 and 1725 for St Thomas's Church in Leipzig, where the composer held the post of Kantor from 1723 until his death in 1750.

After a St John Passion that won widespread critical acclaim (Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine 's Choice, Trophée de Radio Classique ), Philippe Herreweghe and his ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent continue the journey to the heart of Bach’s oeuvre that has made them world-famous with a programme of cantatas. The three recorded here were composed between 1723 and 1725 for St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, where the composer held the post of Kantor from 1723 until his death in 1750.

The text goes back to a Weimar cantata by Solomon Franck for the 4th of Advent. It included only the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 and another final chorus. Since no cantatas were performed in Leipzig between the 1st of Advent and the Christmas day, they could no longer be used there. With inserted recitatives and by recasting the chorale, an unknown poet gave her the new destiny for the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary on July 2, 1723. This refers to Mary's visit to Elizabeth and her praise (Magnificat) according to the Gospel reading, Luke 1, 39-56.

In the church year 1730/31, Telemann performed a volume of special conception: Regular oratorios were to be heard in the church service. And so the focus of our latest Telemann album is his magnificent oratorio for the feast of St. John, Gelobet sei der Herr, with expressive texts by the poet and musician Albrecht Jacob Zell. Zell succeeds in imagining dramatic, almost theatrical scenes, thus providing Telemann with models for tone-painting. Not only is the vocal cast extremely lush, including three basses, but the instrumentation is also very rich, including the use of four horns and three transverse flutes. Once again, Telemann unfolds a wide range of expression. The lament of the Egyptians over the slain children, in F minor and chromatic turns, is moving; the depiction of the fleeing people and their pursuers, who cannot reach them, is full of external movement and tension, with chains of sixteenth notes on the one hand and syllabic declamation on the other.

Opulent and imaginative Telemann oratorios In the church year 1730/31, Telemann performed a year of a special conception: in the divine service, downright oratorios were to be sounded.