Ludwig Güttler

Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745) is one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of Baroque music. Very little is known of his early years, where he studied and who taught him. Born in a village to the south of Prague, he later travelled to Dresden where he joined the court of the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich August I. His position at the court was a lowly one, but he nonetheless composed many works there and his output of church music was particularly prolific.

Following the appearance of the first CD recording of the new organ in the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche (with organist Samuel Kummer, Carus 83.188) at last, the first live concert performance has just been released on the Carus label. The G minor Mass is the “Opus ultimum” of the 84-year-old Johann Adolf Hasse, who for almost three decades dominated musical life at the Saxon Court of Dresden and who was regarded as the musical idol of his era. The centerpiece of the work of a type known as a “Missa solemnis” is a seven-movement Gloria, with brilliant, extended trumpet parts.

All of Fasch's music that I've heard is extremely attractive and pleasurable to listen to without being shallow. Many have said that he sounds similar to Telemann. I disagree. His harmonies are richer and more masculine without sounding plodding, and he has an excellent command of melody. He uses the woodwinds in these suites very cleverly, inserting very rich sounding interjections between the tutti sections. The suite for double orchestra is a wonderful example of his lushness of sound.

As the organist of the Dresden Frauenkirche, the composing of chorale preludes was one of the main activities of Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785). In addition to the classical chorale prelude for solo organ, Homilius also cultivated a remarkably unique form: the arranging of a chorale with the use of an obbligato melody instrument. Like no other composer, Homilius concerned himself with this genre. The majority of the twenty-eight known chorale preludes of this type survive in a Dresden manuscript which is preserved in a library in Northampton, Massachusetts.

This anniversary has prompted the Berlin Classics label to release a Ludwig Güttler Edition on a scale never offered before. It essentially brings together the whole series of recordings that Ludwig Güttler made with his Virtuosi in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The history of music in Dresden understandably provides the core repertoire.

Johann Michael Haydn never quite reached the fame of his older brother Joseph, but still introduced an impressive oeuvre into the classical repertoire. J. M. Haydns Serenade in D was composed in Salzburg in 1767. The ten movement work displays Haydns affinity for chamber compositions. Founded in 1986, the Virtuosi Saxoniae is made up of principal members of the Dresden Staatskapelle. The ensemble concerns itself with 18th century European music, devoting themselves to the great figures of the Hasse era.

This disc recycles some performances by the German historical-instrument group Virtuosi Saxoniae, originally issued between 1986 and 1995. As such, it improves not only on most of the budget compilations issued by the label involved, Berlin Classics, but on the majority of such compilations in general. The same group is involved all the way through, for one thing; there are different vocal soloists, but the interpretive environment is consistent. More important, the compilation rearranges the original material into something new and interesting. The selection of music turns on the double use of the sentence "Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" (Glory to God on high, and peace on earth to people of good will), unfortunately mistranslated in the English booklet notes, although the German is correct. The utterance is given by Luke as that of the Host above the stable in Bethlehem after the birth of Christ; it is also more general, opening the Gloria of the Catholic Mass. The selection of Baroque works here accordingly brings together pieces of various types. There are big settings of the Gloria, either freestanding like the well-known Gloria in D major, RV 589, by Vivaldi, or taken from missae breves or full-length masses.