Gunar Letzbor - Psalms from Sacri Concentus 1681 - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

It was a sensational find in many respects when Gunar Letzbor discovered the Passion by the composer and Augustinian canon Franz Joseph Aumann in the archives of St. Florian's Abbey (near Linz, Austria) and other monasteries. This oratorio de Passione Domini nostri Jesu Christi was not only a highly expressive work from the early classical period, but also, contrary to what the Latin title might suggest, the only known surviving Catholic Passion composition in German. And the work, which lasts around two hours, does not recount the Passion of Christ as is usually the case; instead, it's atmospheric images and reflections focus on the emotional coping with the incomprehensible - Jesus' death on the cross. The Aumann Passion was probably performed on Good Friday in St. Florian's Abbey. It's music is reminiscent of compositions by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach or Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross. Daring harmonic turns repeatedly heighten the expression, impressive choral movements sung by the four soloists and complex fugues make the suffering of Christ and the grief of the faithful sound impressive.

Two years after the highly acclaimed recording of Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli's Opus 4, Gunar Letzbor returns with the Antonio Pandolfi Mealli's Opus 3, published in Innsbruck in 1660 and dedicated to his compatriot, the reigning archduchess Anna De' Medici (featured on the front cover). Letzbor revives the strange work of murderer-composer with a full-blooded performance that succeeds in captivating US from beginning to end.

It's been just a few months since Guided By Voice's faux rock opera Earth Man Blues garnered four-star and five-star reviews, with Rolling Stone proclaiming that it Inchsquarely hits all the marks that make Guided by Voices great-again and again and again.InchInchAgain and again and againInch, is perhaps GBV's credo, with Robert Pollard's never-ending supply of fascinating and supremely catchy rock. Just when one thinks one's got them pinned down, album number thirty-four opens with bizarre percussion, mariachi trumpets, strings and acoustic guitar. The adventurous spirit pervades yet another killer album from the greatest and most versatile GBV line-up. The golden boys (Doug Gillard, Bobby Bare Jr, Mark Shue, Kevin March) can do no wrong. Hooky singles InchMy (Limited) EngagementInch, InchHigh In The RainInch and InchDance of GurusInch intermingle with occasionally dark lyrics and the oddest of GBV oddballs, the ridiculous InchRazor BugInch, InchPsycho HouseInch, and the InchMaintenance Man Of The Haunted HouseInch. The horns and strings return intermittently, with InchThe Bells Get Out Of The WayInch going full Burt Bacharach. It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! Is a creative tour-de-force full of surprises from the most prolific and captivating band on the planet.