Cordes

The term “Hanseatic” in this program titled Festive Hanseatic Music originates from the word Hansa, which simply means a company of merchants trading overseas. The selections here were mostly composed during the waning years of the so-called Hanseatic league–an alliance of primarily prosperous northern European cities that began in the 13th century and ended in the 17th. While commerce for the Hanseatic league may have been on the decline during this period, the quality of the works offered on this new CPO CD clearly gives the impression that its musical life was thriving.

" La théorie des cordes n'a pas tenu ses promesses ", affirme Lee Smolin qui fut pourtant lui-même partisan de cette approche. En effet, après plus de vingt ans de mobilisation des esprits et des crédits de recherche, parfois au détriment d'autres domaines de la physique, la théorie des cordes reste en réalité une simple conjecture…

Lovers of high-Renaissance polyphony will find much to enjoy with this new CPO release of works by the German composer Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). Like his contemporary and friend Giovanni Gabrieli, Hassler’s advanced use of polychoral techniques (which would acheive ultimate fruition in the settings of Heinrich Schütz) earned him great fame and recognition in his day. While it’s unlikely that Hassler ever heard his music performed in a program like this, one that intersperses various combinations of solo, instrumental, and choral works, the performances nevertheless provide a fascinating musical glimpse into the work of this rarely recorded master.

Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1510-1586) was one of the first native Venetians to hold the positions of Second and then First Organist in the basilica of San Marco. These were the highest musical appointments in the city, and their holders was expected to compose much of the music they played. In the event, like his predecessor Merulo and his successor (his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli), Andrea was adept at all musical forms, especially the new and up-to-date (very secular) madrigal, a sort of vocal chamber music. A splendid selection of these, interspersed with instrumental canzoni (in which one can see the influence he had on his more-famous nephew) that offer welcome contrast to the vocal music. Manfred Cordes leads Weser-Renaissance Bremen in pungent period-instrument performances.

Die sogenannte ,,Alte Musik-Szene" ist in einer noch vor ein paar Jahren für undenkbar gehaltenen Expansion begriffen. Fast jeden Tag werden neue Ensembles gegründet und neue ,,alte" Werke zum ersten Mal der stummen Vergangenheit entrissen. Wir leben - wie wohl nie zuvor - auf Du und Du mit unserer jahrhundertealten Musikgeschichte.

These quartets were recorded in sumptuous sound from December 1967 to the middle of ’68. Remastering can lead to shrillness which undermines intonation – but not here. This sounds fabulous above the stave.

On their latest recording, the acclaimed Molinari Quartet delves into the complete string quartet cycle of iconoclast Italian composer, Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988).