Kurt Thomas - Magnificat / Cantatas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. Singet Dem Herrn Ein Neues Lied BWV 225 (Motette) 2. Der Geist Hilft Unsrer Schwachheit Auf BWV 226 (Motette) 3. Jesu, Meine Freude BWV 227 (Motette) 4. Fã¼Rchte Dich Nicht BWV 228 (Motette) 5. Komm Jesu, Komm BWV 229 (Motette) 6. Lobet Den Herrn, Alle Heiden BWV 230 (Motette)

If you have been a choir or choir director at a Marien church for over 30 years, it is difficult for you as an evangelical Christian to evade the subject of Maria. Although the Protestants are assumed to have a rather cool relationship with the mother of Jesus, in such a church one literally stumbles across texts, representations and references to a piety from Mary - a piety that Mary does not necessarily make an advocate for God, but she is a role model for faith Especially when, after a strenuous day of rehearsals in a 12th century cathedral in medieval melodies of young voices, the old words from the New Testament sound InchMy soul exalts the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my SaviorInch, one thinks As a Lutheran - MAGNIFICAT! Magnificat settings therefore form the framework for the new, fourth album of the youth choir of the cathedral in Wurzen. Of course, one cannot deal with Maria musically without singing about her son Jesus, to tell the whole story, so to speak. So does the youth choir on this (Hairston - InchAmenInch). There is also the example speech of the wandering preacher such as InchI am a right vineInch (Schütz), which encourages clinging to God, the question of right prayer, which Jesus answers with the InchOur FatherInch (Wermann), the longing for God Closeness and presence in InchKyrie and GloriaInch by Rheinberger or in Mendelssohn's InchI lift my eyes to the mountainsInch. The Kingdom of God plays a central role in Jesus' sermon, which can already be felt here in this world and endures transience. Jesus himself lived in this hope of inseparable communion with God and the spirituals also sing about it in the images of their time.

The English composer Christopher Wright, born in Suffolk in 1954, declares that he is 'not fettered by fashion, style, ideology or gimmickry or some insatiable desire to be original'; instead, he writes music that aims to communicate directly with the listener - although it can also be thorny and challenging. This first-ever album of his sacred choral music reveals it to be in the British-cathedral tradition of composers like Benjamin Britten, William Mathias, Bernard Rose and Malcolm Williamson the melodic lines may on occasion be angular and the harmonies sometimes tart, but Wright's concern with immediacy of expression ensures that the 'personal prayers' embodied in these pieces can be readily understood and appreciated.