Abendmusiken

Although his name might not rate very highly on the recognition meter even of classical music buffs, Franz Tunder was a consequential entity in the early history of the German Baroque. Tunder served as organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck from 1641 to his death in 1667, and during that time instituted the Abendmusiken, the first series of public concerts to take place in Germany. Seventeen vocal "concertos" exist from Tunder's pen and they were created for these special events; little more than half of them appear on this generous and well-performed CPO disc, Franz Tunder: Concerti. Conductor Hermann Max leads Das Kleine Konzert and the singing group Rheinische Kantorei in 10 concerti, which uses a variety of singers in frontline combinations. Tunder must have had some good basses in his chorus, as they have most of the hardest music in the Concerti, and five of these ten works are sung by bass or basses alone. Both men used here, Ekkehard Abele and Yoshitaka Ogasawara, do an excellent job. The string parts are crisp and do not dawdle, and Max never allows the music to get too grandiose, wisely keeping it within the boundaries of the chamber idiom to which it belongs. The music is never ornately busy and has a relaxed, soothing effect.

Buxtehude & Co - Caecilia-Concert
Krieger - Weckmann - Becker - Buxtehude - Theile
Classical, Baroque | 1 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 383 MB | RS
Recorded: 10, 11 & 13 Nov. 2006, Laurentiuskerk, Mijnsheerenland, NL
Released: 2007 | Label: Challenge Classics CC72179 | TT: 76:18
Caecilia-Concert (Fiona Russell - cornetto/cornettino, Adam Woolf -
trombone, Wouter Verschuren - dulcian, Kathryn Cok - harpsichord
& organ, Annabelle Ferdinand - violin)

The program represents a musical view of the 17th-century North German collegia musica and the Abendmusiken, which were special concerts presented for merchants, lawyers, and other successful members of society. Inherently secular in nature, this repertoire is highly virtuosic and presents many demands upon the performers. […] Members of this ensemble ably meet those challenges and more. Their expressive musical lines are perhaps slightly less over-the-top than some cornett and sackbut ensembles, and to my mind, this approach is more enjoyable. […] The performance is flawless. (Jeffrey Nussbaum, historicbrass.org)

The organ in the church of the former Velesovo monastery, built in 2007, represents the most consistent attempt so far in Slovenia to construct a new organ that would permit an authentic performance of the organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries from Central and Northern Germany. The selection of music, recorded on this CD, has been made accordingly.

Cantatas for an evening's music. Buxtehude's major contribution to mid-baroque German sacred music lay in the Abendmusiken, the evening concerts organized before Christmas by the organist of Lübeck outside the context of his official duties. While most contemporary cantors had to produce a cantata a week, Buxtehude placed his genius in the service of works of the highest artistic demands. Here are some of the most dazzling examples.

Cantatas for an evening's music. Buxtehude's major contribution to mid-baroque German sacred music lay in the Abendmusiken, the evening concerts organized before Christmas by the organist of Lübeck outside the context of his official duties. While most contemporary cantors had to produce a cantata a week, Buxtehude placed his genius in the service of works of the highest artistic demands. Here are some of the most dazzling examples.

Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707) was a Danish-German composer and organist. He is recognized for bridging Renaissance and Baroque musical traditions, influencing composers such as J.S. Bach and George Frideric Handel. Born in either Helsingborg, Sweden, or Helsingor, Denmark (the exact location remains uncertain), Buxtehude spent much of his career in Lubeck, Germany, where he served as organist at the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church) from 1668 until his death. As a composer, Buxtehude is recognized for his organ works, including preludes, fugues, and chorale variations. His music blends intricate counterpoint with an expres- sive, almost improvisational character, making him one of the most significant figures in early Baroque music.