Torre Guaceto

The great “composer of the millennium” Johann Sebastian Bach stands like a solitary rock in the landscape of music history. There is less talk about where he came from and what influenced him stylistically. Chorwerk Ruhr embarked on a search for clues with highly interesting results: the young Johann Sebastian also listened to and studied works that were already around 100 years old. In any case, during his later years as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, he ensured that the collection of motets Florilegium selectissimarum Cantionum was purchased anew – it was used so frequently in lessons under his aegis that the music material was completely worn out. The collection by the early Baroque master and school cantor Erhard Bodenschatz, first published in 1603, illustrates the then new compositional technique of the Baroque in a clearly comprehensible way in songs mostly by German or Italian masters.

Capella de la Torre is a German early music ensemble led by Katharina Bäuml, founded in 2005. In 2016 Katharina Bäuml and Capella de la Torre won the ECHO Klassik Ensemble des Jahres for their CD Water Music. In 2017 Capella de la Torre was awarded again with ECHO Klassik for the CD "Da Pacem" with Rias Kamerchor conducted by Florian Helgath. The ensemble is a wind ensemble, but has enlarged to include singers, lute, organ and percussion.

‘Luther’s Wedding Day’ attempts to reconstruct a programme of music that may have been played at the great German religious reformer’s marriage. It is performed by the highly-regarded early music ensemble Capella de la Torre and its leader/musical director Katharina Bauml. The disc features pieces by some of the greatest composers of the time including Josquin Desprez, Heinrich Isaac, Ludwig Senfl, and Johann Walter.