Gunar Letzbor - Oratorium Germanicum de Passione - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Is the greatest song cycle ever written. - at least Glenn Gould is very clear in his judgement of Paul Hindemith's Marienleben. This superlative does not necessarily have to be shared, but it is certainly worth hearing and marvelling at what the 27-year-old, who was already one of Germany's best-known musicians in 1923, achieved. Celebrated as an instrumentalist, Hindemith was considered a bourgeois terror as a composer, provoking with sayings such as InchTonschönheit ist NebensacheInch (beauty of tone is a secondary matter) or InchNimm nehmen keine Rücksicht auf, was Du in der Klavierstunde gelernt hastInch (have no regard for what you learned in piano lessons). In Mary's Life, based on a collection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, he shows a completely different, internalised side. InchThere is something in these songs that forces and fascinates the listener beyond all habits of conventional song mannerInch wrote a contemporary reviewer, and to this day there is nothing to add. Yvonne Friedli and Constantin Alex make it palpable in their sensitive interpretation.

In music, InchostinatoInch (Latin obstinatus InchobstinateInch) is a constantly repeated sequence of notes. A constantly repeated bass motif is perfect for improvisation - which in turn inspired many Baroque composers to write numerous masterpieces. Gunar Letzbor has put together a splendid program from this fund of pieces, including the well-known Ciaconnas by Bertali and Schmelzer and two ostinato-dominated sonatas by the violin virtuoso Biber, but also works by lesser-known composers such as Georg Arnold, Heinrich Döbel and Johann Josef Vilsmayr. In the question of the continuo instrumentation, the Ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria breaks new ground according to new research, the magnificent Salzburg court, where Biber was Kapellmeister, had a special continuo accompaniment for this magnificent instrumentation with lute, chitarra attiorba and colachone, the ensemble had the instruments specially reconstructed and now let's the InchSalzburg lute continuoInch be heard again on this recording.

Gunar Letzbor - Requiem/Missa Jubilus Sacer [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/01/2012